by Ntombi Malatsi | Jun 15, 2024 | FOREX FOR BEGINNERS, FOREX TRAINING
Hello subscribers and readers, if you just stumbled upon this blog, greetings to you too. Feel free to subscribe for future blog post notifications. In this post, I share 5 things that traders need to understand.
You Will Get Scared
Being scared is normal for a beginner trader because trading can initially be scary. The biggest challenge though is when you allow it to turn into fear. Allowing it to turn into fear means you let it affect you long after you’ve experienced it. Fear can also be crippling.
Most traders deal not only with their fears but also the fears of others. They carry other people’s stories as their own. They could read stories on the internet about how others have lost money and been scammed through Forex schemes (there are plenty of those). Acknowledge that you are scared but don’t make other people’s stories yours, create your own story. I have published a mindset booklet ” titled “Shift your Mind Shift your Money” to help you fix this because winning starts in the mind.
Being scared is not a permanent state. Scared money never grows. Being too scared to take a trade will result in you parking your money in a trading account and never utilising your trading skills on a real level. The only way to get over the fear is to place trades whenever opportunities arise.
You Will Panic
If there’s one thing that a beginner trader can’t escape is panicking. We all start trading on the demo account before trading the live/real account. Whatever emotions we work on while trading on the demo will need to be worked on again after starting a live account. This is simply because you can’t assess your emotions while trading fake money, everything you feel is on a demo level. For that reason, it is in your best interest to not trade on the demo account for too long because it’s not a real thing and it doesn’t challenge you on a real level. I have published a podcast episode on this topic, you can listen HERE.
To remedy this, the best thing to do is to detach from the money and focus on getting it right while trading a small volume/lot size. Panicking a lot will make you miss great opportunities or even close your trades prematurely. When you panic, you are also likely to want to place a trade on the demo first before placing it on the live account, which delays your progress. You become a better driver by driving on the real roads not on a sport field where you don’t encounter real traffic and driving among other cars and drivers. Detach from the results and focus on the process of getting your desired results.
You Will Have A Crappy Trade
I know you don’t want to hear this one but you won’t always be 100% correct. There will be times when you won’t get the results you want, make bad decisions, and get into a bad trade. What separates winners from losers is the actions they take when that happens. You should have an exit strategy that doesn’t harm your account or lead to a margin call.
You Will Need Emotional Control
Like most beginner traders, you are likely to battle with that small voice that keeps telling you you will lose money. You have probably lost some money before and you know maybe a few people who have lost money in trading. Detach from other people’s stories as mentioned in the above paragraph and focus on creating yours. To overcome that nagging voice you need to understand that there is risk involved in trading just like there’s risk involved in any investment or business and risk can be managed.
You Will Feel Like Giving Up.
Yes, you will feel like giving up especially if you are desperate to see the results. One thing that can help you is to view your trading account as a business and understand that a business needs you to be patient and for you to nurture it to grow. I have published an episode on my podcast about what to do when you feel like giving up.
Risk can be managed, but you will need to manage yourself as well, take calculated risks, and learn how to manage your trading capital. Keep a Trading Journal to help you track your progress and do not dwell much on what you can achieve daily, rather do a weekly or monthly progress. I have published a trading journal to help you do just that.
Thank you for taking the time to read this post. Please help me reach as many traders as possible by sharing it. For all your practical and realistic trading psychology needs, you can follow and indulge in my podcast.
by Ntombi Malatsi | Nov 8, 2023 | FOREX FOR BEGINNERS, FOREX TRAINING
The past 14 years that I have been trading the markets have taught me valuable lessons that I have been sharing with my trading community via my social media platforms, this blog, App and Podcast for free. My focus has been on trading psychology which is one of the reasons why there are so many failures in the markets. I also started a podcast focusing on trading psychology.
Why So Much Failures In The Markets?
A lot of times, traders put more effort on working on strategies while neglecting themselves. I also
fell into the same trap of spending more time working on strategies. I kept on switching from one strategy to another. It was until I realized that I was the problem and I needed to fix me. I have published a podcast episode on this topic, you can listen HERE.
It took me wasting 3 very costly years of my trading career to finally understand that. I am often asked how did I gain such level of discipline and consistency in the market that is constantly devouring traders. My answer to that is very simple, I stopped focusing on strategies and started to focus more on developing myself.
What Did I Do To Change The Situation?
One of the things that helped me stay focused, disciplined and consistent, was keeping a Trading Journal. I think it was around 2013/4 when I started using one. I would just take a normal notebook and note down all my trading activities and it helped me greatly in terms of keeping track of my progress. It also helped me shift my mindset and start to view my trading account as a serious business and an investment instead of looking at it as some cash cow.
I have now decided to publish a fillable, reusable, undated and printable Forex Trading Journal because your girl also wants to move with times. It has been months since Forex With Ntombi Trading Journal has been published and on sale. I have been receiving lots of questions regarding who it is suitable for. I decided to pick the most frequently asked questions and answer them on this post. Below are the most asked questions and their answers.
Is Forex With Ntombi Trading Journal Suitable For Beginners?
Definitely, as I have mentioned above, it really helped me shape up and managed to keep track of my trading activities and to actually stick to my trading plan. I actually wish I started earlier. Journaling helps you form habits and stick to your program. I am a very big fan of journaling, I also keep a gratitude journal and a self love journal.
Just like any other journal, this Trading Journal is your personal space. I also used a journal to keep track of my eating habits and it made it possible for me to stick to my diet and I was able to reach my body goals faster. I have records of how I did it, the foods that are not good for my health and weight. I know this because I journaled everything.
Is The Trading Journal Suitable For Demo Trading?
Yes, I would say that one must start using a Trading Journal as soon as they start trading on a demo account. The main aim of trading on a demo before using your real money is to practice and get a hang of it before you start investing. So if you start implementing all the good behaviors right from demo level, it will be easier for you to teleport those good behaviors and principles into your real account. A Trading Journal does not only help you with planning, it also helps you to stick to your plan. So using it while on a demo is definitely recommended.
Is The Trading Journal Suitable For Any Trading Strategy/Method?
As I mentioned in the beginning that journaling helps you stick to your plan (whatever the plan is). I used journaling to help me stick to my eating plan. So, a Trading Journal is there to help you plan and stick to your trading plan. It also helps you identify areas that need improvement. This is applicable to any trading method or strategy. A Trading Journal is for you to note down all your trading activities as well as track your progress. So the answer to this question is definitely a big YES.
Is Forex With Ntombi Trading Journal a Hardcopy?
NO, it is a soft copy that is INSTANTLY available for download after purchase. You can purchase HERE (see WhatsApp “Chat with me” tab, should you have any questions.
Do I have To Purchase a New Journal Every Year?
NO, Forex With Ntombi Trading Journal is undated and re-usable. You only purchase it once and use every year. You can also JOIN MY AFFILIATE PROGRAM and EARN 20% commission for every copy sold. This will also help me spread the word and help more traders get organized, track their progress, stick to their trading plan and gain consistency.
Thank you for stopping by. Kindly subscribe and share this post with as many traders as possible.
by Ntombi Malatsi | Oct 22, 2023 | FOREX FOR BEGINNERS, FOREX TRAINING
Hello readers. It’s been a while since I published a blog post here. I must admit, It’s been a very hectic year. Whenever I do get some time to publish some content, podcasting comes to mind because there, I just talk and it doesn’t take much time. Anyway, things have settled a bit this side and I will try my best to update this platform like I used to do. Today I want to address the issues that cause traders to quit trading within a year or even less. Below are the top 5 reasons why this happens. There’s definitely more, but I will only mention 5.
Impatience
Most traders are so impatient with themselves and they expect to get straight to the part where they are amazing without giving themselves enough time to practice and gain the necessary experience. If you get a new job, you still need to gain experience of how to do the job no matter how qualified you are.
You are also likely to make more mistakes as compared to an experienced employee. This is the main reason why employers would prefer to hire someone who not only has the necessary qualification but the experience as well.
It saves the company a lot of money if they hire an experienced employee. As a trader, you also need to think about that and give yourself time to gain the necessary experience. As you gain it, you will also make a few mistakes and eventually master your craft. Be patient with yourself and stop wanting to be a perfectionist. Remember that all the people you read about would not have made it if they were not patient.
Wanting to make money right away and very fast
Think about starting a business. When you start a business, you need to understand that you may not live off of it right away. You need to understand that you may even be required to support it financially before it can support you.
A business needs you to take care of it before it can take care of you. You may even go for a whole year without earning a salary from your business. You do not quit just because you are not yet earning a salary from it, you do whatever it takes to learn as much as you can about your business and eventually, your business takes care of you. It is the same with trading, you may not make money right away. Also just do away with the “making money fast” mentality. Now everything that I mentioned will only make sense to you if you can start treating your trading account as a business.
Funding with a small amount but expecting miracles
Now, the internet and social media have sold Forex trading as the quickest way to make money with zero effort and a minimal investment, this is not true. Your earning potential is highly linked to your start up capital. Money gives us options. When you have more money, you also have more financial instruments to choose from.
Let’s say you start trading with $100, even if you can make 100% (which is mostly unsustainable, story for another day) this will mean you now have $200 and I doubt you can make a living with that amount. If you have small capital to start trading with, you can start with what you have and grow your account. I have published an episode on this topic and it is the most listened to episode on my podcast. LISTEN HERE.
Viewing trading as some game
Most traders think trading is some kind of a game that is not related to anything that is happening in the global markets. The change in the Interest rates/Monetary policy, GDP, CPI and many other economic factors, have a direct impact on the economy and they affect the currencies and stocks that we all trade. If one is looking for a hobby or a game, they must look elsewhere because trading can be a very expensive hobby if treated as one.
Wanting the process to fall in love with you.
Most of us would really love to see the process falling in love with us sometimes. Unfortunately, life does not work like that. Trading is the journey of self discovery. If you will have to develop confidence, patience and consistency. If you don’t fall in love with the whole process, you will definitely give up even when you are just about to make it. One of the best tools that I have been using is keeping a Trading Journal. It helps with keeping consistency, tracking my progress, identifying areas that need attention and sticking to my trading plan.
I hope you have identified your own struggles that made you quit or maybe you were about to quit. Start working on them and see if you can get back to trading and this time around, approach it with a renewed mindset.
Thank you for stopping by. If you love what you read and found value here, kindly share with your peers and stay tuned for more posts. Happy trading.
by Ntombi Malatsi | Mar 12, 2023 | FOREX FOR BEGINNERS, FOREX TRAINING
What Is Trading Psychology?
Trading psychology refers to the emotions and mental state of a trader. It determines a trader’s success or failure. In my simplest explanation, trading psychology is how you behave in the markets. If you can fix your behaviour and how you handle yourself in the markets, you can see great improvement. Most traders lose money because of their behaviour and not their strategies.
I have published an episode on my podcast titled “the importance of personal development” because working on yourself is crucial. You have to keep your trading psychology in check at all times and working on yourself should be an ongoing thing. In this post, I will be tackling 5 ways to help you to master your trading psychology. Without further ado, let me get straight to it.
1.Greed
Most traders struggle with greed, I struggled with greed a lot as well. A trader who is controlled by greed tends to make risky and uncalculated decisions and as a result take huge losses. On a very good trading day, a greedy trader makes a lot of profits but gives it all back to the markets and has nothing to show for it at the end of the day. Profits go as far as account history but they are never kept. If this is you currently, you need to focus on working on this.
2.Fear
Fear is not bad and it is an emotion that alerts us of danger. Fear is bad if you allow it to control you. As a beginner trader, you will definitely feel fearful. Just like a new driver feels scared to drive on the road alone, a beginner trader feels the same. If you buy a car after obtaining a driver’s license and just park in nicely in your garage because you are scared, you’ll never master driving.
You can only master driving if you drive alone on the road and even if you can scratch your new car, you continue driving it and eventually you will stop scratching it as the fear subsides and you get used to driving it. It is the same with trading, you have to be actively doing it and that’s how you get rid of fear and gain the necessary experience.
Traders who are fearful are likely to close good trades prematurely and try by all means to avoid risk. You cannot avoid risk but you can manage it. If you want to completely avoid risk, you should not even think about being a trader. You may like to listen to this podcast episode on how to manage your money.
3.Detach From The Money
Detaching from the money may sound like I am saying do not care for your money. That is not what I am saying, what I mean by detaching is that do not stress much about making huge profits right away but rather focus on getting it right even if you break even. When you are too attached to your money, this becomes impossible to do.
I also do not encourage traders to trade with the money that they need for rent, school fees etc. or even trading with borrowed money. All these add unnecessary pressure which may lead to making countless mistakes. As a trader, you want to be as relaxed as possible. If let’s say you have R10 000 and it’s you last money, do not fund your account with all of it. Split it into half and use the other half to create an income while you trade with the the other half. You stress less when you have cashflow and you can then nurture your account and allow it to grow. You attract more money when you don’t stress about it.
4.Keep A Trading Journal
A trader who keeps a trading journal is an organized trader. A trading journal allows you to “take stock” of your trades, plan your trades, stick to your trading plan and also to keep track of your progress. It helps you create a roadmap that you can review and see where you need to improve. I have published a digital trading journal and is currently on special, you can WhatsApp +27 78 144 6851 to purchase (DO NOT PURCHASE ONLINE, The price is NOT YET UPDATED)
5. Regret
Regret keeps you unhappy. You always regret missing an opportunity, you regret placing a trade, and you regret closing it. I always tell my mentees that remaining happy is very important. Be happy when you make a lot of money, be happy when you are not making much, also be happy even when your trade goes against you because even though you may not control what happens in the markets, you can always control yourself and manage your funds and operate your account like a business and apply basic business principles.
Check out my money management course that will teach you how to manage your trading account like a business and never experience a margin call. Enrol and start learning right away. You can listen to the audio version of this post HERE.
Thank you for stopping by. Kindly share this post and help me reach as many traders as possible. Don’t forget to subscribe for notifications on future publications. Download the APP for your weekly economic news updates and the mindset of the week to help you keep your trading psychology in check. These are EXCLUSIVELY posted on the app.
by Ntombi Malatsi | May 14, 2022 | FOREX FOR BEGINNERS, FOREX TRAINING
How To Choose A Perfect Lot Size.
Hello readers and subscribers, welcome to today’s post. Choosing a lot size should be based on the size of the account which is the trading capital. When you have decided on the lot size/volume, your next step is to ensure that you stick to it as long as your trading capital is still the same. It is much easier to implement these principles when you view your trading account as a business and not just a cash cow. I have published an episode on my podcast on this topic, you can listen to it HERE. Below are the 3 reasons why you should not increase your lot size.
1. You Are Too Confident.
I used to do this one a lot. I would increase my lot size when I felt more confident about a particular trade. A lot of traders do this as well. One would increase the lot size when they feel that they are sure that the market would go a certain way. That is a very dangerous way of thinking because when it comes to the markets, we are never sure and we cannot control what happens in the markets. The good thing though is that we can always control ourselves. By all means, never increase your lot size based on how you feel.
2. Your Account Has A Draw-Down.
A Draw-Down means you have lost some money in your account. Say you started your account with $1 000 and you have lost $100 and you are now left with $900, you account has a 10% draw-down. You have no business increasing your lot size when you have lost some money. Revenge trading is very dangerous. Never trade with the aim of regaining your lost money.
If your increase your lot size after a draw-down, you are not different from someone who just lost an income but instead of moving to a smaller house while they find ways to make an income, they instead plan to move to a bigger house where they will be required to pay more, it really doesn’t make sense. You do not upgrade until your finances are upgraded. By all means, never increase your lot size after a draw-down.
3. You Have Reached Your Daily Target.
Reaching daily targets is very nice but should not be a reason to increase your lot size. As much as minding your daily target is good, try not to focus more on what you can achieve daily but rather pay more attention on closing your books on a monthly basis because days are not the same and sometimes there are days when there won’t be any trading opportunities, you don’t want to be discouraged because of that. It also doesn’t mean that you will never reach your monthly target if you don’t reach your daily targets. The best way to measure your progress is at the end of the month. By all means, never increase your lot size just because you have reached your daily target.
When Exactly Should You Increase Your Lot Size?
You can only increase your lot size when your trading account has grown. Only then, does it make sense to adjust your lot size. Even when you do, try not to increase by a lot but just a little bit. I have published a more detailed audio version of this post on my podcast and you can listen to it HERE.
Thank you so much for stopping by and reading this post. For notifications on new publications, you can subscribe. Please kindly share it with your peers and help me reach as many people as possible who may benefit from this information. If you want to read my blog posts on the go, you can download my App on Google Play Store and have these articles at your fingertips.
by Ntombi Malatsi | Mar 21, 2022 | FOREX FOR BEGINNERS, FOREX TRAINING
What Is Dax40 Index?
The Dax40/Ger40 formerly known as Dax30/Ger30 is an index that consists of the 40 major German blue chip companies that are listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and it measures their performances. The Dax was founded on the 1st of July 1988. It had 30 companies hence it was called Dax30/Ger30. It has since expanded to 40 companies in 2021 and now called the Dax40/Ger40. The addition will give traders and investors an opportunity to gain more exposure to the German financial markets. The Dax40 is considered a strong measure of German and European economic health.
What Is Stock Index Trading?
Stock index trading is when you are trading a basket of stocks which makes up an Index. Stock Index trading is less time consuming as you are not required to study each company. You can trade the Index on your Forex trading platform and do it through an instrument such as the Dax40. I have published blogposts on how to trade Ftse100 and Nasdaq.
Some Of The Companies On Dax40
- BMW.
- Adidas.
- Porsche.
- Puma.
- Airbus.
- Deutsche Bank.
- Siemens.
- Volkswagen.
- Continental.
- Mercedes-Benz Group.
What Economic Factors Influence Dax40?
- Monetary Policy, performance of the companies on the index and geopolitics.
The change in Interest Rates plays a big role in currency valuation. The Release of Interest Rates and Monetary Policy statement by the European Central Bank (ECB) affect the price of Euro. When Euro weakens against USD, Dax40 strengthens because German exports are paid for in USD and they cost more because of the exchange rate. When Euro strengthens, Dax40 falls, they have a negative correlation.
It is very crucial to understand that all financial instruments do not just weaken or strengthen, there’s always a fundamental reason why they react in a certain way. When you have decided to invest your money in the Forex markets, understanding how the markets work should be your priority.
Thank you for stopping by, please kindly share this post with your peers and help me reach out to as many traders as possible. To read my blog posts on the go, DOWNLOAD the app on Google Play Store. For notifications on future publications, feel free to subscribe. You can also check out this episode on my podcast titled “Do not invest in the markets blindly”.
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