“I’m a breakout trader, and I’ll tell you, over time I have had to learn over and over again to resist the temptation: “This thing is going to go up, I need to get in before it breaks out of this pattern.” – Peter Brandt
Facing the realities successfully while trading Forex is a must for anyone who wants to enjoy permanent success in the market. When our nature and mindset blend with what it takes to be a successful trader, the “challenges” are seen as normality. The “normality” is then seen as a real blessing.
In the past, few people were fortunate to start enjoying success as soon as they began their trading career. Many people had to grapple with the markets before they started to enjoy success. During the time, they learned hard lessons.* You too can begin to trade like the pro when you adapt your trading approaches to suit that of the pro. If you ignore the facts, then I’m sorry for you.
Here are specific suggestions. These suggestions came as a result of decades of studies of the realities of the markets, and they’ll definitely help you.
• You can’t guarantee what the markets might do next. You just need to trade what you currently see in the charts. Success isn’t about accurate prediction of price developments; it’s all about risk and money management. A gambler that trades with 95% accuracy can end up ruining her/his portfolio. A good risk manager can end up making money with only 40% a or far less.
• If a market is trend-less (in an equilibrium phase) and there is no clear direction on it, please don’t trade it unless you’re a scalper.
• Veterans of the markets agree that it pays to follow the trend. Don’t go against the line of the least resistance.
• When the dominant bias is northward, you can increase you odds of success when you trade only ‘buy’ signals and ignore ‘sell’ signals. Reverse the logic for a scenario when the dominant bias is southward.
• You’ll do yourself a great favor if you can learn from the generals of the markets and follow their trading principles and advice.
• Your trading method must fit your personality. If you’re always busy with a good job outside the trading world, an intraday method can’t pay you. If you’re naturally impatient, a position trading method can’t pay you. Your performances improve only when you use a strategy that agrees with your psychology.
• When you’re faithful to your positive expectancy trading method, you don’t make a mistake if you lose. Mistakes are made only when you betray your trading rules, even if the betrayal results in gains. The recent positive results shouldn’t make you overconfident; neither should you become too afraid to trade the next setup owing to the recent negative trade.
• Effective risk control method and optimal position sizing techniques will ensure your everlasting victory as a speculator. This is your life insurance in the markets. Risk the same amount of money on each trade, and keep the risk very small so that you’ll remain indifferent to the outcome of an individual trade. An optimal stop, regardless of its demerits, would end up serving your best interest.
• Open you orders according to the winning principles that give you an edge, not according to your irrational emotions.
You’d want to agree with me: We don’t know what the markets might do next but we can be victorious, irrespective of what the markets do. One wise author of a trading book responded to a question. He said he didn’t know which direction the next significant movement would follow, but he could survive any adverse movement or make nice profits from favorable movement. According to him, No-one knows when the next storm is coming, but we can take measures and build a ship that can withstand the storm. What more? The experience can even be satisfactory.
Always bear this truth in mind. The markets offer you financial freedom, and numerous traders have already attained it. Ultimately, you can become an affluent trader.
This piece is ended with the quote below:
“I’ve developed every type of system, fast and slow, done well with most, badly with a few, but in the end, I prefer trading the trend.” – Perry Kaufman
*There are many ways to start enjoying quick success in the markets, but that would be discussed in another article.
Subject: Realities When Trading Forex 
Fri Jan 22, 2016 5:30 am
