by Ntombi Malatsi | Dec 28, 2014 | FOREX FOR BEGINNERS, FOREX TRAINING
WHEN DOES YOUR TRADE END
What a nice image I am using here, I came across it as I was browsing the net, but be careful , do not be misled not even by me, it is not as easy as it looks. Coffee and laptop alone won’t make you any dollars, but education, patience and hard work will definitely do. I love this image though. Warm welcome to all new readers and to the regular ones, thank you for your support. It is good to know you follow.
Strange question with obvious answer I know, relax give yourself time to read and you will understand very well why I ask such question in the first place. But remember, whatever you read from my post, you don’t have to swallow everything that I ”feed you” but only if you feel it is of great use to you. DEAL…
Back to my question. When you open your position, it is when your trade starts, but it doesn’t end when you close it. This is when it should all begin, at closing, now I sound like I’m contradicting myself, be patient and keep reading. I say the closing is the beginning because this is where i think you should sit back and look at the trade that you just closed. Few things that you can do to post analyze you trade:
- Why did you enter that trade?
- Which indicators (if you use them) did you use for that particular trade and were they reliable?
- If you used the stop loss ( which I personally think it’s always good to use), was it too close or too far, do you think you could have moved it closer?, those type of questions you know.
- Again if you used a take profit do you think it was too close or too far, try to see if there is anything you could have changed if you were to take the same trade again.
- Which time frame did you use for that trade?
Sounds too much hey, I know, maybe you are reading and even asking yourself why so much admin it is just trading, NO it is not just trading, it is a business, at least to me, I’m not sure about everybody else though. But the intelligent post analysis that you do will help you in a long run to develop the strategy that really works for you as an individual, not the strategy that everyone is promoting. I don’t believe in one size fits all mentality, besides, it will help you more to master your skills instead of gloating about profits made. It is not wrong to gloat, but I’m just saying rather do the post analysis on your trades in order to keep getting that beautiful statement of profits. Keep the BEFORE and AFTER journal. Now that I’m writing about all this, it gets me thinking again and again about how on earth would the software do all this for me? but anyway this post is not about whether the so overly praised holy grail software works or not. I just get so irked though whenever I see one of those making false promises and taking advantage of people who are really interested in trading, let me not get started about it, but rather share my trading plan for 2015, thanks to my mentor, I now have this beautiful plan in place for next year, you can use it in making your own and even add-on it or subtract, it is entirely up to you.
FOREX TRADING PLAN:
1.Which currency pairs will I be trading
2.Which CFD’s will I be trading
3.Which days of the week will i be trading
4.How many hours will I be trading
5.Which time frames will I be trading
6.Which days will I not trade
7.Which economic news will I be trading
8.At what point will my stop losses be placed at
9.What would be my profit target
10.How much will I be risking per trade (max)
11.How many trades will I take per day
12.What will I do if I encounter a number of losses in a row
13.What would be my maximum risk exposure at any one time.
14.What percentage will I be looking at making per week/month
15.What will I do if I reach my percentage early
That was just my thoughts, as much as you might be admiring my writing, but bear in mind that what I write is what works for me, you decide whether you think it is good to ”SWALLOW” everything, alter it to suit you, it is your choice. I will make sure to keep the statistics of the trades that I take and I will also have to decide under which circumstances will I use the take profit. This is my last post for the year 2014 , thank you all for your support and constantly reading my posts. Happy new year to you all , till next year..CHEERS…
by Ntombi Malatsi | Dec 25, 2014 | FOREX FOR BEGINNERS, FOREX TRAINING
Nothing can substitute education. It is mostly through our errors and losses that we open our eyes and decide if we really want to pursue Forex trading or we stop right there. Many people will tell you how they have tried everything to make trading to work for them but it just didn’t work. I speak to many people on a daily basis, some would tell me how they thought they have lost interest in Forex trading until they came across my blog posts which then clarified to them where they might have gone wrong. I have spoken to people who have been trading for the whole year and I get so shocked to realize that the only thing that they know is HOW TO OPEN NEW ORDER (I was once one of them, I don’t judge) and they all jump to trading live accounts without proper knowledge.
Some do not even know the simplest things on the platform, it is scary, no wonder the success rate is minimal. And those who are posting their trading statements all over the net aren’t helping either, but I think they make people to be more naive and start thinking that Forex trading is easy. Today’s post is mainly focused on BUYING SIGNALS Or SUBSCRIBING TO SIGNALS where monthly fee is paid. Again I am not just writing about something that I researched, but something that I experienced. I am here to make sure you don’t make the same mistakes as I did. By all means, try to avoid the mistakes that I made, It will save you money. Forex signals vs Forex education is what I’m about to talk about in this particular post.
Is it advisable to use Forex trading signals?
That is a big question, I cannot decide for you whether it is good or bad. But I will share my own experience of using the paid signals then you can decide. Firstly I have absolutely nothing against the use of this service. I also used signals a few years ago. I didn’t know anything about trading, but I owned a very healthy live account, thanks to those signals. I was paying a monthly subscription fee and I must say I was a very happy ”trader”. I never really had to worry about anything at all as I knew I would receive an sms with instructions on what to trade. All I knew at the time was the term LONG and SHORT and how to open a new order, that was the only thing I knew but you wouldn’t tell by looking at my live trading account, it was doing very well as if I knew what I was doing.
I was very happy then and thought I was going to go far if things continued to work out as they did. I was basically too dependent on those signals I even added more money. I remember how I really liked showing off my statements to others and I was actually feeling like I was there you know, like I was thee dollar queen for real. One thing I failed to understand though was the fact that I was actually putting my money in someone else’s hands as my trading depended entirely on them providing the signals, I was actually part of their plans by default.
It was during this time, Christmas time when I was too optimistic about my future as a Forex trader that I actually decided to put more money to my live account in order for me to make more in the beginning of year 2011. I couldn’t wait for January so I could start receiving the signals and”roll”in dollars again. I didn’t know it was the last time I heard from those people, what a disaster!!. January came, NO signals and I had positions that I didn’t even know what to do with them, Ooh!! I almost forgot to tell you that we never used stop losses (I didn’t even know about it)
I tried to communicate with no luck at all. More money was already deposited into my live trading account and there I was getting a harsh wake up call that I didn’t know what I was doing. I had to start learning, imagine learning while I had money already, and because I was never taught anything, those signals were very detailed. They would send an sms instructing me to BUY or SELL and then later send another sms to close the trade. That was the only thing I knew. So when they decided to stop offering, they did not even send a closing sms, Ooops! I lost all the money. I did not only loose my money but I dragged few friends and family members along. I would wait for days thinking they they would send something, but no signals were coming my way, too bad hey. That live account I had was wiped out and I lost everything. I was crushed and embarrassed. I was bitter, I blamed them for my stupidity but I never blamed myself (that is what we mostly do when we mess up, we blame others). I had to stop and think to realize that I was the one fitting myself into their plans. They decided to stop and I was left stranded, they had plans and I didn’t, it was not really their fault that I was ignorant enough to think that I can depend on someone else to run things on my behalf while I didn’t even bother to learn anything .That is how my LEARNING JOURNEY began, I accepted my stupidity and moved on, I embarked on learning as much as I can and the rest is history.
Final say:
With all that being shared above, I personally don’t see it as being wise to expect someone else to care for your money as much as you would do yourself. If you want to trade, make it your business to learn as much as you can. Depending on signals while you know nothing is very dangerous. Forex trading is an information and human activity business. Learn to stand on your own. Maybe you might be thinking but Ntombi, I am not really interested in learning, I just want to make profits, I say to you if you are not interested in learning or studying or reading, do yourself a big favor and stay away from the markets because as much as you might say you are not interested in learning, it is still your money, those providing signals are in business which unfortunately does not include you.
While you think of using their services, also bear in mind that whatever they decide to do, you are part of the plan by default. One day you will find yourself with the account not knowing where to start. So WISE UP!!. I always emphasize the fact that finding a mentor helps. Believe me, I got hurt and I know that depending on signals alone and copying others will not take you anywhere because what will happen to you anyway if they decide to stop providing or being copied? you’ll be left stranded just like I was. I hope you have taken something out of this story. It is a true story after all. Thank you for taking your valuable time to read my post and please share with your social media groups if you see it fit.
by Ntombi Malatsi | Dec 21, 2014 | UNCATEGORIZED
One of the most dangerous position any person can put themselves in , is to depend on one Income for a living. Being caught up in a “rat race” where everyone is fighting/pushing for the top position is something that i could not stand anymore, because i hated being told what to do -Kim Kiyosaki.
I was introduced to Forex trading by a friend who did not only tell me good things about it, but also how challenging it is, I remember saying to myself “bring it on” I love being challenged. So i started, I must warn you though, it was not that easy. Good thing about it was that i could do it on demo account (no real cash). I started practicing for over six months on that demo account and was making it, just like many people, I also thought it would be as easy as on demo and i was actually ready to go live.
When i finally did, I realized that the profits i was making from demo account changed drastically. It was my state of mind because i was then trading with my hard earned cash and it was totally different, there were emotions involved, fear kicked in and i was totally in a different space than i was while i was doing demo, I would go back to demo on daily basis and i would “kill it”, but come live account, i would just get so nervous and mess up.
I Would make huge profits, which was a different story than what was really happening in my live account. From that experience i learned that with trading you cannot really call yourself a trader unless you have done it with real money, that is where the true test is, real money is the deciding factor. While demo account is useful as well. Now i can proudly say i am a Forex trader and i keep on empowering myself, learning as much as i can and getting as much information available to me.
IT IS EASY TO GO TARGET SHOOTING WHEN THE TARGETS AREN’T SHOOTING BACK.
by Ntombi Malatsi | Dec 9, 2014 | UNCATEGORIZED
WHICH ONE ARE YOU?
THE RESEARCHER:
There are two types of people that fascinate me lately. While I was looking around the people that I know and associate with I figured they are divided into two categories. There are those who are intellectuals, highly educated and hold numerous degrees, I tell you this type, very smart, they are intelligent and they don’t just do things without doing proper research. They research and research, collect statistics and research even more, collect more statistics and research again I mean they do research a lot. I respect this people, I like them very much; I gain so much just by being surrounded by them. These are the people I refer to as researchers. They might not be in Forex trading field, but they sure can provide you with all there is to know, they have figures and all to show, they are not just talk talk, they give evidence. They can tell you what happened to stock market dating back as far as 20 years ago, for example they can tell you all about certain religion and how it began and how bad or good it is, even when they don’t belong to that particular religion. That’s how good this people are they research about lot of things.
One thing I personally think they are missing though is action. A lot of times they are so busy looking at statistics, and at the end they don’t do anything (not generalizing, I am a strong believer in individualism). Even when they know exactly that they would like to trade financial markets or start any business, they allow their over analyzing nature to get in a way of getting started, they suffer from“analysis paralysis”, forgetting they have to start at some point. The more they research the more they fear. Research is essential because remember research provides facts, the good and the bad and usually the researchers have their eyes fixed on the negative part of a research. And that lead to unfulfilled life for this type. When statistics suggest minimal success rate, they automatically count themselves as failures instead without even being aware, read more below about researchers vs doers and their characteristics.
THE DOER:
Then there is my other group of people. They are also very smart, they read a lot, they are dreamers, they are not illiterate at all. They are educated up to some level, they have tertiary education of some sort, but there is one thing i have noticed and love about this group, this is how they operate:
They are forever hungry for opportunities, they are mostly driven by what they love other than the qualifications they possess, they are fearless, they also research a lot and while they do their own research, they also rely on the group above (researchers), this is what makes me to love this second group of people. They know that they want to trade Forex or start that business , they know what they like and they go after what they want, irrespective of the statistics and research outcomes. They are bold.
When they come across a statistic which suggest only 5% succeed in financial markets or that particular business they want to venture into, they don’t fear at all, they go for it anyway, they never count themselves among the failures, they research, they learn more instead of dwelling on the scary statistics, they are driven, they do not even once count themselves among the 95%, but they see themselves as part of the 5% success stories, their goal is to succeed in it and be counted among the winners, whether by increasing the statistics to 6% success rate or just fit in to that 5% success stories, and this group often succeed up to a point that the other group with lots of compiled research end up working for them.
Those are the DOERS, they research, they collect statistics, they get relevant education, they speak to relevant people who has been doing it already, they DO, they go back to research, they find mentor, they don’t worry about stats anymore because they have their eyes fixed on being among the winners, they read and read and they DO, and DO and DO until they master the skill. This type often live fulfilled lives as they do what they love. So if you love trading like i do. Do your research, forget the statistics,find that mentor, forget the robots, get proper education, count yourself among the winners, irrespective of your gender or statistics, just do. Thank you for stopping by and reading.
For more information on how to get started email me:Admin@learnfxtrading.net
by Ntombi Malatsi | Dec 7, 2014 | FOREX FOR BEGINNERS
LEARNING FROM THE PAST:
It is often said that life is the best teacher and we learn better from our own mistakes. But I also wish we can sometimes allow ourselves to learn from other people’s mistakes. We read blogs and books, we are warned about some things in so many ways but we seem to prefer to make our own mistakes, maybe that is just how life is. I have made my own forex trading mistakes too, truly speaking it was not because I was never warned, I guess I was just being “normal’’, I would not stop the awareness though, even when I am fully aware that my readers would still go ahead and do exactly what I am trying to warn against.
TRADING THERAPY:
Like it or not, you might have to become your own personal therapist, yesss you read correctly, personal therapist. Trading can be emotionally draining and very lonely business, not to mention daunting exercise, since most people are either misinformed or just petrified to try something out of the ordinary. Try doing it all by yourself without a mentor and you will know exactly what I mean when I say it is a lonely business, for anyone who doesn’t trade but only offer training ( believe me there are many of those) it might be a different story. I fail to understand it though, I would think someone who tells me I can make money on financial markets by trading currencies and CFD’s would also be trading right, am I the only one confused here or? . Anyway please do get that mentor, preferably the one who trades as well, they normally understand what you are going through as they went through same emotions, and they are well equipped on how to deal with them. I am also one of them, I am here supporting you by writing this post, keep that in mind.
FEW CHANGES THAT YOU CAN IMPLEMENT IN YOUR OWN TRADING:
1. “Ditch” that sloppy money management system and adopt the low risk trading.
2. Keep a diary or notebook where you can record all your trades.
3. Identify those currency pairs/ CFD’S that you do well on and try to stick to them while learning as much as you can about their movements and patterns and how they correlate with other currencies, the economic news that affect them, you don’t really have to trade everything that you see on your platform.
4. Make yourself available for your trading , no “rush” job please.
5. Monitor your progress while you focus on being more consistent than making huge profits, baby steps it’s OK, you don’t have to make it big on the go. I have heard traders literally laughing at someone who is more focused on being consistent than profits, and i have seen same traders falling flat, while the consistent ones master the skill and make it big. Rather be safe than sorry.
IS IT EASY?
No it is not , i know very well it is never easy to play by the rules and be disciplined. Maintaining few sources of mentorship makes it easier. I doubt you will feel pressured to do what will eventually hurt your portfolio if you can try to follow this few steps. Remember all the tips above works for me but maybe it can work for you as well. It won’t hurt to try some new strategies. If you are trading already keep it low risk and happy trading. Thank you for stopping by and reading my post.
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