From our Global (includes the USA) research division and subsequently Global strategy analysts, the following financial analysis excerpts are from revisions recently completed on Globally based investment portfolios:[1]



Analysis: From No. D7 (Global) Financial Portfolio Research Revision –

[CurrencyShares (Wgt: MC)] British Pound Sterling (FXB) vs. [PowerShares (Wgt: MC)] Currency Harvest Fund (DBV):

(1) Observation – Relative Strength: Results in the relative strength analysis of British Pound Sterling (FXB) versus Currency Harvest Fund (DBV) indicate that FXB is fairly neutral to DBV on a relative basis. We are seeing the same relative strength relationships with the following currencies: Euro (FXE), and Japanese Yen (FXY).

(2) Observation – Regression: Comparison of the linear regression to the time-series that has a 3-period forward shift finds the following formation: The price is below the linear regression, and the linear regression is below the time-series. Since the linear regression provides the “best fit” to the price path, this has near term negative implications for FXB. However, there is a very slight path shift from strongly negative to one with a flatter slope. Additionally, DBV is also shifting.

(3) Observation – Price Performance: British Pound Sterling (FXB) shows a continuation (that began in late July) of a negative price path (downward slope) on fairly strong indicators.

[Reference Charts: D7-7 (relative strength); AD7A-7a (regression); AD7B-7b (price)]



Additional considerations:

First, for most investors, a diversified investment portfolio approach combining stocks, bonds, money market securities, etc., is optimal. While financial diversification cannot protect against a loss from a declining market, it can reduce the overall portfolio’s volatility.



Second, with the ongoing shift of pension responsibilities from employer to employee, personal investment success will need to supplement most benefit packages. Thus, a goal of successful investing in a variety of assets becomes crucial in providing a comfortable retirement for yourself and your spouse. In consideration of that goal, studying the information available on this site, which has been kind enough to host our research in this article, will help. At www.StrategicCapitalResearch.com, we provide additional finance educational materials to what you find here in both investment books and videos. Between the two sites, you should be able to find enough information to get started toward achieving your pension investment goals.



Third, to the above analysis excerpt, the usual disclaimers apply. Since all Strategic Capital Research publications provide research that is conducted using historical data, a reminder needs to be made that the analysis of past market reactions cannot predict future market actions. In particular, no amount of historical data can predict the sudden changes that occasionally occur in financial markets.

A young couple hired a teenage babysitter to look after their child while they were away at a company party. The teenage girl had come to them with good references from a neighbor. On the day of the party, the girl arrived on the dot. Mama and Papa went for the party and expected to be away till midnight. They went with a clear mind because they could see that the girl was quite responsible. However, just after 8 in the evening, the girl called two of her friends over. They then ‘borrowed’ lavishly from the liquor cabinet in the house. Just a few minutes before midnight, the two friends left in their car, never to reach their destination because they were killed in an auto accident. At home, the teenage girl curled to sleep, blissfully unaware of the accident or of the little girl in the next room crying out for her mommy.

A criminal record search of the teenage girl would have revealed her alcohol problems.

According to statistics, at least one employee is killed and 20 injured as a result of workplace violence – all in a single week! Acts of violence are generally the result of disputes and misunderstandings. Sometimes, mindless violence is the direct result of longstanding mental illnesses. With increasing cases of white collar crimes and violence in the workplace, it is necessary for employers to do more than trust their gut instinct while hiring employees. A criminal record check can spare offices and businesses from many instances of crime.

Court rulings in the past few years have invariably been slapping heavy penalties on negligent hiring. There is reason for that:

Ø More than 9% of applicants who have agreed to have their background checked are hiding criminal histories.

Ø Employers are losing more than 80% of negligent hiring suits filed against them.

Ø The average jury awards a plaintiff approximately $1.5million as damages.

However, companies are not the only ones who need to conduct criminal background checks. If you intend to rent your house, knowing the criminal history of your tenant is of utmost importance to you. If you are using an internet dating site, you will be protecting your interests by conducting a criminal record search.

Criminal record searches are conducted by background checking companies. In order to get a comprehensive report, you must opt for a company that offers both state as well as federal criminal checks. Only this can provide you with all the information you want. A basic criminal record check will only expose crimes committed while the applicant is within that jurisdiction. It will not expose crimes committed in another state or throw light on federal charges. Federal crimes are more serious and may include felony, arson, drug dealings, kidnappings and other such serious crimes.

Whether you own a huge business, a small startup company or are an individual about to hire someone else, safety should always be your first concern. One of the ways to show your love for those around you is to verify the identity and claims of any person you hire.

According to the press the US housing market is in freefall and the UK housing market is following it. A market that only moves in one direction clearly offers investors opportunities. But how to trade house prices? One of the easiest ways to gain exposure is through spread betting where some companies now let you speculate on the average UK house price and even the average London house price.



Economies thrive on confidence and one of the pillars of confidence in the UK is the value of property. If the whole market grinds to a halt through lack of liquidity then there would be only one direction for it to go. Down. In a market bereft of buyers the prices must fall. With fewer and fewer people able to ‘gear up’ to pay the current prices then I fear this will be the scenario towards which we are heading. A major problem is that once a trend gets set it is very difficult to halt its momentum (witness the property situation in the US). Buyers shrink from putting themselves in hock when they fear that next week / month / year the house they have, so painfully paid for, will have dropped in value. And so stagnation follows. If the housing market locks up then many retailers who thrive on sales to ‘new owners’ will also fail and so on down a long line that ends with recession. At the moment, growth is just enough to keep the tills turning over but without some aid from our central bank I fear that this will not be the case for long.



If I was looking to buy a house now I would just knock 25% off the asking price on the basis that this is where forecasters expect the market to be in a years time. Presumably I would be paying a Mortgage (probably around 7.5%) during that time, have paid 2 to 5% stamp duty on the deal plus numerous other house purchase related fees. If the market did indeed drop as expected a purchaser at current levels could easily be looking at an overall negative cash/asset position of some 30-35% by next year once you include all of the costs. That does not sound too good.



Although for those people who are certain that the markets are in freefall, or for those who feel the UK is different to the US and less affected by sub prime fallout, the spread betting companies have come up with an interesting type of speculation.



You can now spread bet on the future UK average house prices.



How does it work?



Looking at IG Index they make their spreads based on “the Halifax House Price Survey produced by HBOS, the premier and most widely publicised indicator of the UK housing market. So, whether you want to profit from predicted market shifts or hedge against the value of property you already own, you can back your judgement against nationally recognised figures”.

Prices are given in points per £1,000. You simply 'buy' if you think the average price is set to rise or 'sell' if you think it will fall.

The current spread of the Average London House Price (December) market is 258.1 to 264.1 points.

The current spread of the Average UK House Price (December) market is 163.1 to 166.7 points.

(Both December markets expire on 31 December).

So focussing on London, that spread is basically saying you can bet on London house prices being higher than £264,100 or lower than £258,100 on 31 December.



You bet in £x per point. Where a point is £1,000 of the house price. So if you are trading £15 per point and the average house price moves £5,000 (5 points) your profit / loss would change by £15 per point x 5 points = £75.



Taking the above London spread let’s say you think the prices will continue to fall. You could therefore Sell £20 per point at 258.1 points.



If the market does fall to let’s say 249.5 points (ie £249,500) then you would win / lose: (258.1 points - 249.5 points) x £20 per point = £172 profit.



Note that profits in spread betting are tax free*.



But if the UK market has a correction or simply stops falling or if London is more resilient to the current mortgage malaise then the average London house price could be £265,200 on 31 December.



Therefore if the market closes at, let’s say, 265.2 points then you would win / lose: (258.1 points - 265.2 points) x £20 per point = -£142 loss.



Of course, as the example above shows, as with all spread betting, care is needed.

Financial spread betting carries a high level of risk and may not be suitable for all classes of investor. Only trade with money that you can afford to lose. Make sure you fully understand the risks involved. If necessary, seek independent financial advice.

* Note that Tax Law may be different if you pay tax in a jurisdiction outside the UK, it can also change.

Breakouts and breakdowns are extremely profitable, but mostly due to their rarity. A breakout of a trend is more likely to happen than a breakdown, where the price merely trades through the trend than with force. Profitable traders use breakouts to make large amounts in a short period of time.

Breakouts

Breakouts are forceful, usually happening from a sudden shift in positions. Many times, a breakout occurs when short sellers are forced to cover positions to exit a trade. This results in a large amount of buying, which inevitably pushes up the price. In a developed downtrend, short sellers take profits at the lower fringes, causing the price to rise again. When the amount of short interest becomes overwhelming, the volume of trading is no longer small enough to maintain a shallow trend, and thus, a very quick movement through the trend occurs. Contrary to belief, breakouts are caused by the premeditated thinking of many people who all make a similar trade in a certain period of time.

Breakdowns

Breakdown of a trend is far less common, and usually only happens in the case of sideways markets. A breakdown is generally accepted as the time when the price moves through the trend without any shock and awe and does so rather gracefully. Breakdowns occur for a number of reasons, but are more common in a triangular shaped chart pattern where the price, rather than breaking through the uptrend or downtrend, moves through both of them, and for all practical purposes, negates their ability to move chart prices.

Too often will the price sideways trend through a pennant flag chart pattern only to stay on its course sideways through the market. This usually occurs from the equal balance of buying and selling interest and occurs over a long time period. On a daily chart, it can take weeks for the price to move slowly through a trendline, suggesting a breakdown rather than a breakout.

Trading the two phenomena with day trading strategies

Trading breakouts or breakdowns can be a bit difficult, but many professional traders can draw huge profits from just one movement. Breakouts usually occur as the result of either huge trading interest or a fundamental catalyst, such as an earnings report which sends investors buying or selling. A breakdown is merely the result of a failed breakout that occurs from traders’ indecision in the market; rather than burst through a line, it does it peacefully over the course of time. A trading plan planner will help adjust your plan to accommodate for large scale movements resulting from breakouts and breakdowns.

How to position yourself and master day trading

Watching the short interest and the amount of shares trading hands is one way to get involved in the market. Short interest numbers are used to determine how many profitable traders will be buying to cover as the price moves upward. Stocks with high short interest numbers are more likely to break out of an existing trend than to move through a breakdown. Older trendlines are more likely to breakout than others, as they slowly become less relevant over time.

Professional traders like to use creative techniques, such as option straddling, to profit from a breakout in either direction, while others prefer to place just one position. Whatever the technique, it should be remembered that breakouts and breakdowns work far less often than the trends: uptrends, downtrends or sideways trends.

The glory of trading is that there is always a million dollar return lingering right around the corner. Think back 15 years to the start of the 1990’s bubble and how many millionaires were made in just a few years, and then look at all the wealth that was wiped away in 2001 and handed to the shorters. Just a few thousand dollars in the 90’s hottest internet stocks would have made you a millionaire in less than 5 years. We’re talking life-changing results here.

How to uncover winners

Winning trades are right in front of our faces. With proven strategies on how to generate profits, even the most casual investor can strike it rich in a volatile market. Much of the technique to uncovering winners varies from strategy to strategy. Short-term traders favor technical analysis, while long-term investors look for solid growth and earnings prospects.

For the short-term investor, technical analysis should be the most important part of a balanced trading plan. Technical analysis favors the short-term trader in that the study is based solely on price rather than outside factors. Rather than buying future profitability or the new factory, you’re buying for the express purpose of selling later for a much higher price. Advanced trading techniques, tools, and strategies favor the short term far more than long term because of their complexity and the inability to correct for fundamental changes.

Patience is the key

No strategy is more perfect than the strategy of patience. Traders looking for winning trades need be patient to wade out the false signals and unprofitable trades, while acting on just a few, more profitable trades. Impatient traders are quick to lose because they take a greater percentage of poor trades to good trades, thereby subsidizing their losses with minute profits. Even proven strategies cannot avoid the perils of an impatient investor ready to pull the trigger at virtually every signal.

Basic trading fundamentals

Uncovering winners requires that traders stick to the basic trading fundamentals: no return chasing, patient positions, and monitoring their own trading capital. A conservative approach works to uncover profitable trades while avoiding those that are simply a money hole. The best investors are able to limit their exposure to bad trades while increasing exposure to winners. This is a win-win position when losses are limited and gains are plentiful. Look back to the fundamentals when a complex trading system has you on tilt. A quick check back to the basics is a great way to take yourself out of the market, while perfecting any possible problems in an incomplete trading system.

From our Global (includes the USA) research division and subsequently Global strategy analysts, the following financial analysis excerpts are from revisions recently completed on Globally based investment portfolios:[1]



Analysis 1: From No. D8 (Global) Financial Portfolio Research Revision –

iShares G. Sachs Nat. Resources (IGE) vs. SPDR Consumer Staples (XLP):

(1) Observation – Relative Strength: Results in the relative strength analysis of iShares G. Sachs Nat. Resources (IGE) versus SPDR Consumer Staples (XLP) indicate that the IGE is outperforming XLP on a relative basis. This is a shift from the observation seen last month, and it has inflationary implications because this ratio is often used as a proxy for inflation. Fortunately, the shift is not supported with strong indicators.

(2) Observation – Regression: Comparison of the linear regression to the time-series that has a 3-period forward shift finds the following formation: The linear regression is above the time-series. Since the linear regression provides the “best fit” to the price path, this has positive implications for IGE.

(3) Observation – Price Performance: iShares G. Sachs Nat. Resources (IGE) shows a shift from neutral / negative price path to one that is slightly positive (upward slope) on weak indicators.

[Reference Charts - SCR: D8-9 (relative strength); A8-9A (regression); A8-9B (price)]



Analysis 2: From No. D8 (Global) Financial Portfolio Research Revision –

Nasdaq (NDAQ) vs. NYSE Euronext (NYX):

(1) Observation – Relative Strength: Results in the relative strength analysis of Nasdaq (NDAQ) versus NYSE Euronext (NYX) indicate that the NDAQ is outperforming NYX on a relative basis. While NDAQ is still outperforming NYX, it is not to the degree seen last month.

(2) Observation – Regression: Comparison of the linear regression to the time-series that has a 3-period forward shift finds the following formation: The linear regression is equal to / below the time-series. Since the linear regression provides the “best fit” to the price path, this has neutral / negative implications for NDAQ.

(3) Observation – Price Performance: Nasdaq (NDAQ) shows a shift from a negative price path to one that is more neutral (flat slope) on fairly strong indicators.

[Reference Charts - SCR: D8-16 (relative strength); A8-16A (regression); A8-16B (price)]





Additional considerations:

First, for most investors, a diversified investment portfolio approach combining stocks, bonds, money market securities, etc., is optimal. While financial diversification cannot protect against a loss from a declining market, it can reduce the overall portfolio’s volatility.



Second, with the ongoing shift of pension responsibilities from employer to employee, personal investment success will need to supplement most benefit packages. Thus, a goal of successful investing in a variety of assets becomes crucial in providing a comfortable retirement for yourself and your spouse. In consideration of that goal, studying the information available on this site, which has been kind enough to host our research in this article, will help. At www.StrategicCapitalResearch.com, we provide additional finance educational materials to what you find here in both investment books and videos. Between the two sites, you should be able to find enough information to get started toward achieving your pension investment goals.



Third, to the above analysis excerpt, the usual disclaimers apply. Since all Strategic Capital Research publications provide research that is conducted using historical data, a reminder needs to be made that the analysis of past market reactions cannot predict future market actions. In particular, no amount of historical data can predict the sudden changes that occasionally occur in financial markets.

Investing in the stock market is full of risks and compared to the real estate market is a gamble of your money and wealth! Nevertheless, many people have built tremendous wealth from the stock market. They did it because they knew what they were doing. They knew the investing basics and the economic indicators and used it to read the world economy and make sound investments. In a nutshell; that's really what it takes to succeed in the stock market. The world economy however isn't an open book! It is a big ambiguous mystery novel full of twists and turns to drag your mind away from the real ending. Those who know how to interpret the world economy and translate its twists and turns into plausible clear indications, will cut through the clutter and win.

The thing that everybody has to understand about the stock market is that this market is not bounded by the walls of the trading center or the limits of the big cities or even the oceans. Literally, anything that happens in the world affects this market and the more any incidence makes people fear the future the more the stock indicators are going to jump up and down like crazy. Fortunately, if there is a well there is always a way. Even nowadays with the dwindling economy, a lot of people are making a lot of money from the stocks market! Why? Because while it does matter what the economy looks like when it comes to stocks, that still doesn't mean that all the stocks will be worthless. For example, if technology stocks drop, energy or real estate stocks will go up for a couple of reasons connected to the world events and economy! You just have to read the world economy!

These are the surefire ways towards better stock investing:-

1- Read the world economy: - For example, gold was at its cheapest prices back in 1999. That's because the world was living in a state of relative political calm and the U.S. economy was booming. Oil supply was abundant and there were no fears of shortages or sudden increases in demand. After the events of September 11, the world has changed considerably. Terrorism has become a serious threat. Security measures have shot costs to the roof. The wars that followed in Iraq and Afghanistan have created a new chapter of instability. We outsourced many jobs and opened many factories in China, India, Mexico etc. without knowing that while this reduces manufacturing costs, it created a boom in demand for energy in those countries, which translated to a boom in demand for oil. As a result of all of this, gold and oil prices have shot up, the dollar devalued, inflation soared and the real estate market collapsed because of the rising interest rates of adjustable mortgages. This should give a clear picture of what kind of companies to invest in right now. These are: oil companies, alternative energy companies, Gold mining companies and finally weapon manufacturing companies! I don't want to be pessimistic, but recovering from this weak economy will not be easy and we have a long way to go in this dark tunnel.



2- Do your due diligence: - Don't take my words for granted and go ahead and invest in every oil and alternative energy company. Even though you will not regret it, still before investing, technical analysis must be done on any company before you invest. There are certain indicators to look at like: - how much debt to equity ratio this company has, what's their future expansion plans, how stretched their assets are compared to revenues, what is their real worth in the market (also called book value), what is their P/E ratio, which is the value of the stock compared to its earnings and much more. Put all of these together and draw a picture of how well this company will do. Don't forget to read the world economy too! A good resource for all of this analysis is CNBC website. They have amazing analysis reports where they have done most of the tough technical analysis hard work for you. You just have to read the world economy and make decisions.



3- Always watch the insiders: - one of the very important ways to succeed in the stock market is to have extra knowledge resources to vaguely or specifically know what is happening inside the office walls of companies. One way to do this is by continuously reading the quarterly reports or called 10-Q reports of companies. What to look for is the stocks selling and buying activity of the company board of directors or the private shareholders. Think of it this way, if the people who know best about what's happening in their own company are day after day selling large volumes of their stocks, what kind of indication you will get from that. Yes; dump your shares before the stock tanks! Another way is to have good relations with some of the senior managers in the company that you want to invest it. Believe me; this kind of friendship is very valuable.



4- Don't put all of your eggs in one basket: - as simple as this rule is, you would be surprised how many people are doing it in the stock market in a daily basis. Diversify in your portfolio by investing in different winning sectors and in multiple companies. Even if you know the CEO of a company and he tells you that the stocks of his company will triple in the next week, still don't take all of your money and buy the stocks of this company.



5- Don't borrow excessively to create wealth: - Suppose you diversified and did your due diligence, but 80 percent of your money is borrowed and you lost half of it. Financial recovery in this situation is a very hard thing to do. Even if you don't have a lot of money, start small, build your wealth and take it a step by step. If you don’t have a lot of money, start investing in small capital companies and a lot of good ones are available in the NASDAQ stock exchange. The good thing about small cap companies is that they have a tendency to shoot up in value more than big cap companies in terms of percentage growth. So it will be really worth while your investment if you found that gem in the crowd.



6- Practice, practice and practice: - Even if you have read a lot about using financial indicators, you did a lot of technical stock analysis and you have many insiders, practice before doing the real thing. Start a fictitious portfolio containing real stocks, but with imaginary investments. After a month or two check how well are you are doing. If you are not doing well, go back and see what where you doing wrong because you must've did something wrong to choose bad investments. Correct your mistakes and retry. There are free imaginary portfolio tools available by the big online stock brokers like E-trade or Ameritrade. You can use these tools to buy stocks and track stock movements and calculate your earnings and losses instantly. You can also set up a simple Excel sheet to do this tracking.



I personally like the stock market and I think it is the most lucrative and the fastest way to wealth. Real estate is good, but it delivers results over extended periods of time. As long as you know what you are doing, you should have no problems. Read some reports and books about stock investing, practice it a little bit with small amounts of money and learn from your mistakes. Stocks are not risky, they are calculated risks!

Option sellers believe that if it's not, it's probably the closest an investor will ever get to the long sought Holy Grail of Investments or what is considered to be the ideal investment.

Let's take a look and see what exactly is regarded as the ideal investment.

When asked to define what the ideal investment is investors have various versions of what they consider to be the ideal investment or the Holy Grail of Investments. In the ultimate analysis, with few exceptions, most investors feel that an ideal investment should provide the following qualities: safety of capital, consistent high returns, immunity from economic and market fluctuations and finally, liquidity, or availability of funds should the investor find an immediate need to tap his resources. Safety of capital and high returns seem to be the most desirable of all yet these two are totally opposing qualities in any investment. As the saying goes, the higher the risk, the greater the reward or inversely, the lower the risk the smaller the reward.

That said let's explore our choices. Until the advent of options there appeared to be nothing that came even close to being called an ideal investment let alone be called the Holy Grail of Investments. We had to face the fact that investments were either low risk low reward or high risk high reward. Some investments were somewhere in the middle ground but few or none were in the Holy Grail category. Investors may be classified into two groups, passive and active investors. Passive investors prefer entrusting their capital to third parties and doing nothing more than expect returns from their investments either on a regular basis or value appreciation over time. They put their money into a fixed return instrument such as passbook savings accounts, money market funds, treasury bills, certificates of deposits, bonds and included in this lot are dividend paying stocks and mutual funds. Then there are the other passive investors that prefer to place funds into long term appreciation assets with capital growth as their main goal. Examples of these types of investments would be real estate, precious metals, arts and antiques. All these investment instruments while delivering small returns on a year-on-year basis do offer much safety of capital.

The active investor on the other hand is a more adventurous individual. He seeks high returns for his money, hopefully at reduced risk, by actively being involved in trading the markets, be it real estate, stocks, bonds, commodities, futures, foreign exchange, options or whatever else can be traded and made money on. Although more of a risk taker he nevertheless tries to moderate his risk exposure by restraining his profit objectives or rates of return on his capital. While passive investors are happy with annual returns of 6 to 10 percent, active investors seek higher rates of over 12 percent and more like in the region of 14 to 18 percent per annum. Is this doable? Yes, it is and many are happy actively trading the markets and achieving these returns using their own trading techniques that somewhat controls risk to an acceptable degree. Now here's the shocker. Option traders are able to generate annual profits in excess of 20 percent without exposing themselves to any more risk that those achieving 14 percent. Now here is an even greater shocker. Among those that trade options the ones specializing on the selling side generate annual returns in excess of 30 percent with many averaging annual returns in the region of 40 to 50 percent without increasing the risk factor any more than the passive investor!

Foreign currency traders as well as commodities and futures traders sneeze at this claim saying that they can outshine the option seller in annual returns. True. But can they claim to do so at the same risk level as the passive investors? Most probably not.

Selling options (stocks, commodities, futures, etc) has become for many the Holy Grail of Investments. To the experienced option seller this trading strategy offers high, consistent returns, a fair degree of immunity against economic and market fluctuations, liquidity, and finally safety of capital. This last claim may be open to debate from non-believers in this trading strategy. To be fair let's qualify the safety claim by saying that the inexperienced option seller is open to potentially heavy losses if he does not know what he is doing. But to the seasoned trader selling options is a safe investment strategy delivering all the qualities of an ideal investment to the point where successful option sellers claim to have found what to them is the closest one can ever get to the Holy Grail of Investments. Selling options on stocks, which is the specialty of this writer, can be particularly rewarding using a carefully planned trading system combined with disciplined money management and with proper safeguards in place. There are many trading strategies in selling options. Some are simple enough, like the covered call technique, delivering fairly decent returns while others are more complex but more rewarding. There is one option selling system developed by this writer that can be carried out as a long term investment program offering a fair degree of safety and delivering consistent high returns time after time. By using a carefully planned, three-pronged system of trading, the risks associated with selling options can easily be conquered.

Overtrading is dangerous. It increases the exposure of your account to downturns, leaves you open to trades you haven’t thought through, and greatly increases the cost of commissions. Controlling your overtrading can be difficult as many traders become overzealous as a result of a very poor investment. Rather than “getting it back next time,” the “next time” becomes right now. Traders start to throw money at any trade for a variety of reasons just to get back what they just lost.



No trading plan in sight



The first reason for overtrading is the lack of a trading plan. Pure and simple, some traders just haven’t mapped out a strategy guide. Developing a trading plan is made simpler by the use of a trading plan planner. A trading plan planner will help work out the kinks in your trading plan blueprints while preparing a proper trading strategy. Much of your strategy will depend on your own trading style and a plethora of information from professional traders. With the strategy in place, a trader may be just one step away from consistent profits.



Early losses



Early losses should also be at the top of the list, just barely below a lack of a trading plan. Many traders, even professional traders, do not like to see investments in the red. Day trading and scalping ideologies both promote the idea of very limited drawdowns and complete profits. Thus, day traders are more prone to get caught up in early losses than the long term investor.



Many traders, especially those involved in scalp trading, like to double up on a position when the trade has moved against them. For example, a position at negative 10 pips would send the trader to buy another position with the same dollar amount. In this case, the price would only have to reverse 5 pips in order to break even. This strategy works in theory, though over the long term your account can easily be wiped out.



Trigger happy



Some traders are just trigger happy by nature. Trigger happy traders are those who yearn to take each and every possible trade they see – just because they think they can make it profitable. Scalping is partially responsible for this dangerous trading style. Many traders throw caution to the wayside and place trades that are gut reactions rather than well-thought-out investments.



The important thing to remember is that it’s impossible to make all trades winners, but it’s entirely possible to take only high-odds trades if you know how to identify them. Taking trades you don’t believe in at the expense of losing money simply isn’t worth it.

Meeting your trading goals is often as easy as managing your trading risk. The use of different stop loss strategies will help maximize your returns while limiting downside, especially in wild markets. Using stop losses effectively will improve your trading, increase returns with proven strategies, and fully capitalize on technical analysis patterns.



Trailing stop



The trailing stop works perfect with strategies with a maximum drawdown allowance. A trailing stop is a stop loss that trails the current price by a percentage or amount that the trader sets.



For instance, if a trader sets a trailing stop of 10% on a $100 stock, the trailing stop will start at $90. If the stock then moves to $120, the trailing stop will sit at $108. Trailing stops never retrace; thus, if the price were to fall from $120 to $100, the trader would be stopped out at $108 for a profit of 8%.



Trailing stops can be very profitable to traders who use them in tandem with technical analysis. Consider that a stock gyrates up to 10% a month – inserting a stop loss of 11% will ensure that the maximum normal gyration is considered while catching the stock before it falls out of normal range.



Normal market exit



The normal stop loss exit is set at the price the trader is willing to take for a maximum loss. This normal exit is usually 8% for stock trades, though it can be lower for more conservative approaches. Knowing how to generate profits can often be as easy as knowing when to cut a loss. The basic trading fundamentals of any strategy will always include a normal market exit.



Backup exit



This stop loss approach is geared to preserving trading capital rather than exiting the market. This stop loss is usually set much lower than the normal market exit and is used as an emergency backup rather than an exit. These types of stop loss approaches are adorned by short term scalpers and traders who base decisions on real time technical analysis.



A perfect exit



Some traders use stop losses just because they represent a free limit order. A stop loss will always be executed at the price for which it is set. Some traders move stop losses up into the profit area to set a profit point below the price for a positive worst case scenario. There are many ways to use a stop loss; none of them are perfect and they all need to be refined, but some of the best trading options come from the ability to place a stop loss.

It has been said many times that is not important where you enter a trade, but where you exit that really counts. This is very true in the fact that entry points can be profitable anywhere, if you get out at the right time.



Using technical analysis to mark your exit points will make your trading strategy that much more accurate. Good stop losses will make it much easier to reach your trading goals and stop the dangerous cycle of drawdown and teach you to improve your trading.



Below horizontal support



It would be foolish to put a stop loss right at a horizontal support line. Chances are that the security will bounce off the support line and continue upward slightly. Many new traders, in an attempt to be ultraconservative, will put their stop losses right on top of horizontal support. Horizontal support is one of the strongest support lines so putting your stop loss directly on the line makes simply zero sense.



Oscillator support



When the oscillators, such as the MACD or RSI, are reading very low numbers, it would be wise to place your stop loss closer to the current price. The chance that a new wave of momentum will carry the price higher is greater, and thus, assuming more risk on a less risky investment would increase your chance for bigger losses. Technical analysis oscillators are very good at picking bottoms; use them as a way to gauge future support areas.



Between a gap



Gaps are often underestimated for their power. Strategies for gapping up work very well on the daily charts, as do strategies for gapping down. Gaps usually represent horizontal support, although they may work with slanted trendlines. Placing stops below a gap will lessen the chances of becoming stopped out, which will inevitably improve your trading.



200 period moving average



The 200 period moving average works very well as a support and resistance line. Arguably, the most used moving average and possibly technical analysis indicator, the 200 day moving average works very well with the basic trading fundamentals. If the price is above the 200 day moving average, expect plenty of support after a large drop.



Bollinger bands



If you don’t use Bollinger bands for any other purpose than support and resistance, you’re still getting your money’s worth. Bollinger bands, even in the default setting, are great as support and resistance due largely to the numbers of people who use them. Placing a stop loss below the current bottom Bollinger band line is a good way to protect yourself from an untimely exit. Indeed, Bollinger bands are one of the best technical analysis assets available.

The maximum position-size strategies are catered to traders who desire to make a living rather than grow their capital. Once a trader has sufficient capital, the result is taking positions that are equal in size to further the odds advantage.



How to decide a maximum position size



Whether scalping, day trading, or investing, professional traders set a maximum position size to determine how much they will be trading and keep it standard for each trade. Developing a trading plan around a maximum position size is much easier, as all trades will be uniform and produce around the same results when used in the same strategy.

Your trading style may impact how much you are willing to trade with each position. Short term traders usually favor very high trading amounts, sometimes 1000 shares to make each tick on a stock chart worth $10. A change in a share price by $.50 represents a $500 gain. That’s a nice return for the day trader living on his or her trading account.



Why limit yourself



The best way to grow capital is to slowly scale up your trading. When in the capital building stage, a trader might prefer to trade 500 shares at a time, then step it up to 750 in a few months, and then to 1000 in a few more months. This allows the odds to work out in your favor over the long term and keeps profits and losses stable. By alternating your maximum position frequently, you might find that your losers are very few, but are large losses that wipe away all profits.



Consistency is the key to consistent profits



Everything you do in trading should revolve around the idea of consistency. The more consistent you are, the better chance your strategy will work for you. This is the main focus around a trading plan and why developing a trading plan is so important; again, consistency is the key to consistent profits. A complete trading plan should outline how much you will stake on each trade, how much you’re willing to lose, and how much you intend to profit. Profitable trading strategies have one thing in common; they all produce consistent profits as a result of consistency in every aspect of trading.



Scaling up your trading



Trading for yourself is one of the best businesses available because it’s so easy to scale up. All a trader needs to do is enter another zero to the end of an order, and you are ten times more profitable or ten times less profitable. Take advantage of this by setting a timeline for scaling up. Your trading plan should show how often you plan to scale up your trading and by how much each time.

So we can all agree that the Internet has literally changed the world, from the way we do business, how we communicate, meet people, how we shop, and the list can go on and on. Along with everything else that has become a bit easier because of online technology, buying and selling stocks is also included in this list.

Investing in stocks online is as simple as counting to three. It really comes down to a few easy steps. You find yourself an online stock broker on the internet, sign up with and put a bit of cash into your account, pick a couple of winners, click the purchase button, and there you have it - you're done.

It's not only easy to buy stocks online now but it's also easy to teach yourself all about the stock market, research companies that you're thinking of investing in, and also find stock brokerage firms that will be a good fit for you.

Another great thing about all of this automated and online technology is the price of stock investing services has dropped drastically. Because brokerage companies don't need to take as much time to do everything now and can often let their websites automate much of the research and investing processes, the price for stock investing services has also become very reasonable online in the last few years - which means more money for you to actually buy stocks with.

So this all sounds too good to be true and it can be, but there of course are many things you must think about before leaping into the stock investment game. First off, before you decide to purchase any shares in companies you're going to need to do some preliminary research in order to find out if the company you're interested in actually has some money making potential for you to make money from.

Well luckily for us the investors there are ways of doing research to help pick the winning stocks and try to avoid losers. Some of the research terms you'll hear floating around are technical analysis and also fundamental analysis. With these analyses you or your broker will be looking at the company's past revenue, earnings, costs, assets, and other financial factors. Remember analysis is good to perform but it's not always 100% accurate.

Lastly when looking for that winning stock make sure you also research things such as the company website, history, press releases, and also the current economic, social, and political conditions that may surround the company in questions future performance.

Just remember picking good stocks is an art with a bit of chance thrown into the mix. The best thing you can do is choose a great broker to work with and then come up with a researching system that works for you and helps you achieve stock market success.

Gold is at $830.
Going into the Autumn months, the outlook for the gold sector has improved considerably from just a few weeks ago.
Selling pressure has for the time being subsided and although sentiment is still quite poor across the sector, to a contrarian, thats actually a Bullish indicator. Commitment of Traders reports shows a liquidation significant enough to suggest that much of the hedge fund presence has gone for now. This is a good thing. When the Funds start to rotate money back into this sector, then it will move up very quickly.

Gold fell hard in July and August and made an important low in the $780 area. While it will not be without its difficult days, the odds are for a strong September and October rally to take Gold back above $850 for the next attempt at getting past $900. This level has proved difficult to hold during 2008 amid a myriad of conflicting global economic signals.

As for the Junior Gold stocks, they have been hammered. No, let me rephrase that. They have been taken out, shot, beaten to a pulp and then shot again, just for good measure. Many quality juniors have been sold down to levels one would never have imagined considering the relatively high price of gold currently. Not all the juniors will rebound as some never had projects worth promoting in the first place, but those that have good properties, solid Management and most importantly MONEY IN THE BANK, will come back and perhaps faster than a lot of people think. At this stage, I would only be looking at those companies with sufficient funds to last a minimum of 12 months because new financings may not be easy for a considerable time yet.

It has been a difficult time for gold investors but better days are ahead and we are now entering the seasonally STRONGEST period for gold. Its times like these that one wants to accumulating quality names in the gold sector.

Disclaimer: You should seek investment advice from a qualified advisor before making any investment of any kind. My views are purely observational and no recommendations of purchase or sale are intended.

Risks are calculated. All risk is a process of calculation and decision. When you are dabbling in the market, hauling the market as your only source of income, or coming into your glory, all your risks are assessed and then you make the final leap when you determine the appropriateness of that assessment. However, we are still human beings at the end of the day, with emotional fears, desires, wants, dreams, and needs. We all need to feel as though we are in control of our environment, our decisions, and the outcomes related to such.

When we can not cause an outcome, it is not uncommon to give ourselves the illusion of control. When we can convince ourselves we are in control, then we feels as though somehow we can affect the outcome and be more accepting of negative outcomes. However, there are pitfalls with this illusion. So much so that psychologists have studied the connection between the illusion of control and being in control.

There is only one thing that we are in control of, especially when it comes to something as volatile as the market. We can only control our own actions or reactions. We can determine our outlook, our tolerance level, and our responses. The stronger we can control our desire to control the outcome of any trade the more likely we are to devise a strategy for developing strong trades and winning, and sticking with those strategies. Our want, or need, to come out ahead can often be strong enough to allow our own minds to "trick" us into believing the outcome is still going to be positive, which can lead to significant losses.

To pull a quote from one of the gurus of day trading, Dr. Ari Kiev, "It is important to distinguish between the tape and your interpretations of the tape." This sentence alone can shed light on why so many day trading gurus end up their own hero and why beginners often fail. The mind often sees what it wants to see, and we can do that just as easily with the ticker tape as anything else. We want a positive outcome, so we interpret the tape with our own desire leading our judgment. He goes on to state, "View as neutral both the events and your inclination to impose your interpretations on them. Enter the market without expectations, surrendering to it rather than struggling with it for personal gain."

Learning to remove the element of control comes with a dedicated effort to interpret the situation as information, removing the need or desire to come out ahead. Once this is accomplished, the decisions which follow are made with a clear head that is actually in control of the situation rather than a foggy mind that is suffering from the illusion of control.

One of the most surefire methods of learning and maintaining control over the situation is trading with money that doesn't hurt to lose. This can be hard for those who are into the market pretty heavily, but if you are chronically pulling out profits and getting yourself back to square one, then you are actually trading with money that you didn't have in the first place. When people start using the market to gamble they lose objectivity completely and often find that the losses are devastating.

Rule number two for learning and maintaining control involves you and your ego or worse, your self esteem. You are not part of the trade, and the earlier you learn to remove yourself from the trade the better you will do. When you enter into several short term trades, even with the best of intentions and notions and education, some will ultimately flop.

Others will soar. Some of this is your own sense of what works while some of it is merely luck. The harder you lay your ego on the line, the more likely you are to find yourself tricking your mind into believing it is in control. Giving yourself permission to stay objective, to rely on a mix of education and luck, and to remove your own sense of self from the process brings about more intelligent trades, trades that aren't banked on, and trades that are just part of the pack, not your future.

If you play Blackjack or poker and your good chances are you will make a great trader and even if you have never played these games you can learn a lot from cards, as the traits needed to win are the same...

The card player has certain traits that can make him a great trader sand many o the worlds top traders started out playing cards. Let's look at the similarities in achieving success.

1. You Are Responsible

When the card player sits down at the table, he is going to rely on his skills which he has confidence in to win. He can't consult a guru or mentor he's on his own and knows only his action can bring him success.

Most forex traders though can't take responsibility for their actions and consult gurus, mentors, trade worthless forex robots or the news and blame everyone else but themselves when they lose.

Card playing is a big boy's game and so to is forex trading - only you can give yourself success in both and you need knowledge, confidence and discipline to win.

2. Patience

The successful card player will only play hands he has a good chance of winning on and will sit and wait for the opportunity and you must do the same in forex. The high odds trades don't come around often and you need to wait for them.

Many forex traders think the more they trade the more they will make and they could do well to learn from the card player - trading frequency has nothing to do with how much money you can make.

3. The Discipline to Take Losses

If the situation changes after the card player has bet and he doesn't look like he will win he folds - he knows he must lose to win and gets out.

Contrast this with most forex traders who think taking losses is a personal insult! Most losing forex traders simply cannot take losses and this leads to their demise.

4. The Courage to Bet Big

When a good hand comes around the successful card player isn't afraid to hit it hard and hold it and keep betting until he wins and it's the same in forex trading, once you get a good trade up your bet size and hold it.

Again, most forex traders risk so little, they never make anything and cut their profits to soon a sure fire way to lose.

Forex trading is all about trading the odds and forget all the idiots who tell you that forex moves to some mystical, higher force or order - they don't! If they did, we would all know the price in advance and there would be no market.

Forex trading like cards, is an odds game and they way you calculate and play the odds, will determine your financial destiny.

If you want to succeed at forex, you can learn a lot from games such as poker or blackjack.

It's a fact 95% of forex traders lose and they don't lose in most instances because they can't learn to trade successfully - they lose because they cannot acquire this key trait...

The key trait is - Discipline and while it's talked about a lot, it's a misunderstood trait and here we will explain why and how you can acquire it.

You don't just have discipline it comes from two other key areas and they are

- An understanding of what you are doing i.e. knowledge

- Confidence in the knowledge you have acquired.

The Major Challenge of Forex Trading is

Trading with discipline and executing you're trading signals through a period of drawdown - This means you have to keep going and follow your system while the market gives you losses and makes you look just plain stupid. If you think it's easy, you haven't traded!

Don't believe anyone who tells you that you won't have a losing run - you will and it can last fro many weeks and even the best traders have to face these and you will to.

Sure you can win longer term but short term you have to trade through these periods until you hit a home run.

Why This Will Never Work!

Today we are used to trusting an expert after all, we can't know everything and to a degree this is true if you are fixing your washing machine or car but consulting an expert in the forex market and following them is doomed to failure.

The building blocks of Discipline

Most of the so called experts selling forex advice are anything but, selling worthless forex robots with simulated back tested results or sure fire predictive methods but even if a vendor has a good system you will NOT be able to follow it unless, you understand the logic and have confidence in it. Knowledge and understanding, are the building blocks of discipline.

So if you are thinking of trading - make sure you do your homework and have knowledge and confidence so you can obtain discipline and remember of you dont have the discipline to follow your system, you dont have one!

If you want to follow and be a sheep, then you will end up getting slaughtered by the market as you fail to last the distance as your discipline crumbles.

How many automated forex trading systems do you see promoted heavily online? Loads but the overwhelming majority don't make money, for one simple reason and that is the subject of this article.

If you want to know why check the track record and look for this warning.

"CFTC RULE 4.41 - Hypothetical or simulated performance results have certain limitations. Unlike an actual performance record, simulated results do not represent actual trading"

So these track records are not what they seem!

You would expect if someone was claiming to make you money and presenting the track record as evidence that they can win, that the track record would be real money, not just a back test.

So how seriously should we take these track records, let's go to the end of the disclaimer and find out.

"No representation is being made that any account will or is likely to achieve profit or losses similar to those shown".

Interesting isn't it?

What is the point of a track record that really means nothing?

If you went to a golf instructor and he told you he hadn't played golf but he did very well on his son's computer game and thinks he can do a good job teaching you, you would think he was mad! However, there isn't much difference between this and trusting a simulation in my view.

Many vendors are proud of there back tested track records and the hundreds of thousands of dollars they have made but this means nothing in terms of future profits. If I could trade in the past I would be a multi millionaire and get every trade right but that is not reality.

Getting a Robot for Profits

There are robots out there with real track records and you can find them if you look, there more expensive than $100 ( which seems to be the standard price of the ones with simulated track records) but you get what you pay for. You can also get an excellent one for free - The 4 Week Rule, look it up, it's free, easy to understand and works.

I saw a catchy title forex robots taking over the world or similar, implying everyone would be using them and it made me laugh, great title but don't think it will happen somehow.

I was chatting to a broker friend of mine and he runs an investment team that manage about $500 million.

I asked him what his track record was for the last 3 years 37.6% compounded, he proudly told me ( I checked a robot and found it at over 100%!) now funnily enough, he earns about a million bucks a year and I Don't think a $100 robot is going to take his place.

You have to admire the slick marketing and I personally love the names - there all mean animals or have names that imply death and destruction to the market - but in the brutal hard world of trading:

In the Blue corner, The Forex Robot Never fought before but up for it (done well in training) in the Red Corner the champion the forex market..Seconds out round 1!

And - The winner is by way of knockout, undefeated in hundreds of years, and still the champion - the forex market!

If you want forex trading advice and want to win at forex trading, you can get all the advice you need to build a forex trading strategy for big profits for free and here we will show you how to find it...

Most of the so called experts online are anything but and in most cases there not even traders. They sell dubious forex robots and sure fire predictive systems with paper simulations and look for naïve or greedy traders to buy them and plenty of traders do.

In forex trading you need to learn and understand what you do, so you can trade with confidence and you can do that for free.

Before we look at good advice, let's look at avoiding the bad and here are some prime examples.

Forex trading forums

If you want to find a bunch of losers, there are plenty in forex forums.

The guys here who spout forex advice, are normally traders who can't make money, so it makes them feel better to give you their wisdom or vendors, looking for people to buy their product.

I don't know any successful traders who hang around forums, so avoid them.

Broker Advice

Lots of brokers give research and advice but if brokers were good traders they wouldn't be brokers! Most are market makers and make money when you lose, so it is a conflict of interest too.

Forex News

CNBC, CNN etc great reporting but it won't help you trade and all the experts you see tell good stories but that's all they are stories and normally news reflects the herd and keep in mind, the herd losses.

Never trade news or expert opinion from it. If it were that easy to make money a lot more people would be successful!

Good Advice and Where to Find it

Let's stress some basics First.

The best way to win at forex trading is to use forex charts and technical analysis and lock into forex trends. There is free information online that gives you everything you need to know about technical analysis and lots of free chart services as well.

These are the keywords you should really understand and study

Support and Resistance.

You need to of course know everything about this.

Breakout Methodology

If there is one method you should start with is trading breakouts so look them up.

It's a fact that if you trade breakouts, you will be in on every major move as most big trends start from new market highs or lows.

Momentum Oscillators

If you want to trade breakouts you need to confirm them and a through understanding of momentum indicators is needed, as they can confirm the move.

If you look up the above you will have the basics of a simple system you can use to trade breakouts and have a sound simple forex trading strategy.

The Key to Trading Success

You should then look up and study everything you can on money management, volatility and standard deviation and the important trait of trading discipline.

You can get it all for free you can get the knowledge and confidence you need to trade your system.

Does that sound too simple?

Well forex trading is based around a simple strategy, you understand and can have confidence in and can execute with discipline.

The Route to Profits

When getting a forex education you don't need to pay for forex advice, its all there for free you just have to seek it out and study it and keep in mind, you need to stand on your own two feet in forex trading and you can't rely on anyone else so get the right forex education and your all set to enjoy currency trading success.

In one of the most famous trading experiments of all time a group of people who had just 2 weeks training went on to make hundreds of millions of dollars. What did they do to achieve such stunning success?

This story motivated me to trade and I hope it does the same for you and concerned a bet. The bet was between Richard Dennis and his partner and the bet was based on:

Could traders be made or were they born.

Dennis thought they were made and set out to prove his point.

He got a group of ordinary people together including - an actor, a security guard, a boy just out of school and a female auditor, to name just a few and they only had one thing in common:

They knew nothing about trading but Dennis was about to change that in spectacular fashion.

Dennis set about his task and taught them to trade in a couple of weeks and the rest is history. They became legends and made hundreds of millions of dollars, Dennis had proved his point.

So why did this group do so well while it's common knowledge, that 95% of traders burn their equity quickly?

Well what you can learn from the experiment is:

Anyone can learn to trade - but success is determined as much by mindset as by method.

Let's look at this in more detail.

Dennis taught them a simple trading system (basically a long term breakout method) and combined it with strict money management.

Dennis knew that most traders fail due to lack of discipline - they simply cannot trade through drawdown periods and take losses and keep on track, until they hit a home run.

So he didn't just tell them to follow the system - but to know everything about it including, how and why it worked and how it could lead them to success.

In short he taught them the method and made them understand that they were responsible for their success.

Compare this to most traders today, who think they can get rich with no effort.

Most traders today, want to followers but this is doomed to failure, because success comes from within.

Trading requires discipline above all else and you need iron discipline to win.

This is hard for even veteran traders at times when the market continues to hand you losses and you look stupid. Don't believe the rubbish you read on the net about consistent income - you will take losses for weeks or months at a time and you need to stay on track, until you hit a home run.

It's a motivating story and this group called "the turtles" showed that anyone can achieve success, with the right mindset and education. Sure you might not make as much money as them however the opportunity is there and even if you don't you can enjoy currency trading success and make a great income for the effort you put in.

Read more of their story and I hope it gives you the confidence to trade, as it did for me 25 years ago and got me started in the world's most exciting investment!

International Currency Trading is an exciting investment but is not for everyone and you should think carefully before trading keep in mind 95% of traders lose. So consider the points below and they will give you an insight on what it takes to win...

Most traders' think they can shoot from the hip and win trade the news or trade their gut felling but they lose and so do the sheep who follow gurus, mentors or forex robots and don't know what there doing.

These traders don't get the point of what currency trading online is all about.

In international currency trading the first thing to understand is:

You need to understand what you are doing and that means educating yourself on how and why markets move, so you have the confidence and discipline, to trade your system and execute your trading signals through losing periods ( all traders have them) until you hit a home run and hit the big profits.

If you don't have the discipline to follow your system, you don't have one! Many traders could win but throw in the towel and quit to early, when if they would have stayed on course and had the courage of their conviction, they would have been rewarded.

Most traders simply cannot accept the following points:

- Success depends on you and you cant blame anyone else

- You don't get rewarded for effort you get rewarded for results only

- Trying to be clever wont help you, forex success is based on simplicity

- The market price is always right and only you can be wrong, so your ego is the enemy!

- You need to make and live by your own rules to survive

- You need to isolate Yourself from majority opinion and rely on yourself

A World of Opportunity

For the trader prepared to accept responsibility however, you can see that international currency trading, offers some fantastic advantages to build wealth.

- You don't need to work hard just work smart

- You can use a simple forex trading system and win

- Your not after perfection just a profit

- You like relying on yourself and know only you can give yourself success

- Anyone can learn to win - trading is a learned skill

- International currency trading gives you the vehicle for big gains.

It's NOT Easy but You Can Win

The main point we are trying to stress in this article on international currency trading is, while it is not easy to win, currency trading success is within reach of anyone, if they have the right mindset and can apply themselves. You can develop a forex trading strategy for success in a few weeks and then be making big consistent profits in around 30 minutes a day and that's a fact.

Your Path is the Right One

Today with the rise of online currency trading, many traders don't want to rely on themselves - but want an expert to lead them to the Holy Grail. That's not the way it is in forex trading though - you need to rely on yourself and find your own path to success.

International currency trading is a challenge - the real question is:

Are you up for the challenge and do you understand the above points?

If you do, then there is an exciting road ahead, to a lucrative second, or even life changing income.

I am going to share with you some strategies I have developed in global forex trading. I have been a GFT trader for a few years, and I am using some techniques to get the cutting edge of GFT. The trader is the most important element in global forex trading. There are some qualities needed to be able to be the best GFT trader. I have invested some years in studying the techniques of global forex trading and I am sharing it with you in this article.

One of the GFT strategies is watching market trends daily or even weekly. It is best to look for a trainer or a mentor who can teach you some secrets in global forex trading strategy.

Second is to read the business column of a newspaper all the time about GFT. It is good to invest in business magazines and study business news. Look for a person who works in a bank or in a financial institution who have successfully invested in global forex trading. Some even opt to pay this people for an hour of lunch to be able to ask them questions about global forex trading strategies.

Third, continuously master the terms used in global forex trading, this is to help you master the business language and lingo of global forex traders and thus giving you an sharp edge on speculations and projected trends. It is best to use your own gut feel based on your studied risk supported by an advice from a seasoned global forex trader, before making a major decision in global forex trading.

Taking Advantage of Demos of GFT.

Practicing helps you develop that "blink" capacity of the brain, that once you have mastered the ropes of global forex trading, it is easier to predict market trends in global forex trading and hopefully earn pips and lots in the process. GFT is not a quick rich scheme. Like in any other businesses, it has to be studied and mastered, so you can get the maximum benefit. First timers who give up at the slightest sign of difficulty will never become a successful GFT trader, Time and patience is necessary.

Minimizing Risk in Global Forex Trading

Global Forex Trading requires its traders to take studied risks. Studied risks are minimized risks.

This type of risk is different from irresponsible risk. GFT risks are minimized if the GFT trader studies the market diligently, to be able to discover possible profitable or loosing market trends which can earn millions or give you loses. Understanding market trends will also aid you in making sound decision in trading.

Understanding the secrets of GFT is actually held by a small percentage of traders and they are in control of the profits in the industry. Learning the ideas and practicing on line can make you learn their secrets, it is just a matter of time.

If you are fairly new to the World of Forex Trading and looking to get your hands on a proven system that can help you generate a decent income off the Forex Market then you may want to look into a product entitled Forex Killer. Basically, Forex Killer is what's known as an automated Forex trading system or an expert advisor. It is a computer program that's designed to trade for you, without you having to do much work, apart from having to spend a little bit of time to set it up. Essentially Forex Killer is a software that acts as an experienced trader and offers you valuable information on when to enter into profitable trades without indecision and emotions.

The system was created by a former Deutsche Bank currency trading adviser known as Andreas Kerchberger, these days he is a professional home based Forex trader and businessman. However does gaining years of experience working at one of the world most prestigious banks mean you are worthy enough of creating a seriously profitable Forex trading system?

The Forex Killer software applies a unique system to figure out when to buy or sell currencies, it works by breaking down the percentage in pip change and computing an ideal buy/sell time. The software contains complex mathematical algorithms which analyze the Market to figure out when to buy and sell. The program is very user friendly and all you have to do on your part is input some simple data into the Forex killer calculator and it will do the rest, coming up with the best signals on when to enter into trades.

However many people do believe that Forex Killer has some minor flaws, one that most people complain about is that the software is not completely automated and it doesn't actually place the trades for you. Well what Forex Killer does is offer you profitable trading signals that are available for you to use at your own discretion, therefore you are free to use them as you like, you don't have to take every trade Forex Killer offers. The great thing about this is that you can incorporate Forex Killer's trading signals into your already existing trading strategy and once you begin to interpret the signals effectively you will know which ones to execute and which ones to ignore. Many experienced traders on the internet have gotten that hang of this program and in turn developed their own profitable strategies which they constantly use to make consistent profits of the Forex Market.

Personally The Forex Killer software has helped me a great deal and gotten My Forex Career off to a good Start, and with a bit of dedication and education I believe it can do the same for You.



Forex Killer is a tool, that if used properly, it can seriously improve your overall trading results. To obtain a detailed objective review of the software and to learn how the system works check out this Forex Killer System Review, and see how it can benefit you as an online Forex Trader.

The free forex robot we are going to look at is free and makes money, yet most traders never consider it. Lets look at how and why it works but despite this most traders wont use it...

Automated Forex trading systems are big business online - but the vast majority don't make money. They simply promote paper track records which fail in real time trading and destroy the traders equity.

The one we are going to look at here has worked in real time and many of the top traders have used it in their forex trading strategies, to make big profits.

This is a simple system it only has one rule to follow. The system was devised in the seventies by one of the great traders Richard Donchian, who used it to trade commodities markets.

It doesn't just work on commodities it works on any trending market and currency markets are therefore ideal, as they offer excellent trends.


Let's take a look at the rule of the system which is called the 4 Week Rule.

Buy a new 4 week calendar high - stop and reverse the position, on a break of a new 4 week calendar low and then look to stop and reverse again on a new 4 week calendar high and continue to do this always keeping an open position in the currency.

That's it and while incredibly simple, it works for the following reasons.

It's based on breakout methodology

It's a fact that most big trends, start and continue from new market highs or lows, so this forex robot will make sure you are in on all the big trends and profits.

Long Term Trend Following

It's based on catching and holding the long term trends.

A look at any forex chart will reveal trends that continue for many months or years and this trading system will keep you in them without getting bumped out by short term volatility.

It's Totally Objective and Disciplined

You don't have to think or make subjective judgements; you get a clear cut signal which you simply execute in the market.

It's Time Efficient

It will take you around 15 - 30 minutes a day to operate and that's it, you can go and do something else.

Like any forex trading system it will have a weakness and this one will generate losses, when markets don't trend or are in periods of consolidation, so you can consider adding another exit rule:

Place a stop at a one or two week high or low and then go flat and wait for the next signal.

This can help combat a non trending market but whichever way you choose this free forex robot will make big long term gains.

Most traders don't even consider this system, even when they know it works!

Why?

Quite simply because they think it's too simple (even though all the top trading systems are), also it's not a system that goes for pinpoint market timing and many traders want to predict highs and lows, even though its obvious this is not possible.

Finally, it just isn't packaged nicely - you get no flashy box, or name that indicates it's vicious animal, or a load of garbage sales patter.

For some reason traders will buy forex robots that have never been traded but one that can make them money - they ignore it!

If you want to make money in forex trading, this free forex robot will help you and you should try it. The system doesn't cost you anything and has been used for over 20 years by numerous traders, to improve their forex profits and it can help you achieve forex trading success too.

If you want to get started in currency trading, currency swing trading is ideal. Here is a simple, easy to understand swing trading system to help you trade currencies for profit.

Swing trading is based on sound logic, unlike forex scalping or day trading which is the route a huge amount of traders go and lose.

Forex day trading and scalping doesn't work, because volatility in short term time frames is random, so you can never get the odds on your side.

Currency swing trading though involves using valid data of around 2 - 7 days which is valid and is based on the following logic.

Markets move to the following equation.

Fundamentals + Trader Perception of = Price

It's not the facts that are important; it's how traders perceive them that is.

Traders will always push prices to far away from the fundamentals, when greed and fear take hold.

Prices then become overbought and oversold in the short term and by executing trading signals against these overbought and oversold levels, the trader can make a profit, as prices return to more realistic levels which are in line with the fundamentals.

These price spikes are easy to see on a forex chart.

The trader can use the following method to take advantage of opportunities.

1. Look for a price spike

You are looking for price spikes, that make the market overbought or oversold in the short term and look for a level you think will hold.

2. Use Momentum Oscillators

These will show you when short term prices are overbought or oversold.

We have discussed them fully in our other articles. Some excellent ones to use are - the stochastic, RSI, ADX AND MACD.

These are visual indicators and you don't need to know the calculation, just look at the visual set up.

When currencies become over bought or oversold, you look for a price change in the opposite direction, supported by momentum changing in the direction you wish to trade.

3. Stop and Target

When you get the chance to execute your trading signal, put your stop behind the area of support or resistance you are trading into.

You then need to look to take your profit early if the price moves your way and do it, just before it reaches an important level in the other direction.

You should always take your profit early, before other traders do, as this keeps the odds in your favour.

The above is simple to do and can make big profits.

Currency swing trading is ideal for novices, as it's easy to understand, you get plenty of action and of course, it can be very profitable.

If you want to make big forex profits a currency swing trading system can do it for you. Make swing trading part of your forex trading strategy and it can give you big long term consistent profits.

Try swing trading in currencies and you maybe glad you did.

Virtually all Forex brokers provide you with a fantastic training tool, a demo account. It is an account funded with simulated funds, but behaving like a real one. Both prices and transactions are meant to simulate actual trading on given platform. In theory, trades executed in the practice account should have the feel and behavior of factual sell/buy orders.


Opening demo is a very straightforward process. One fills out a form, in electronic form, with a broker of his/her choice, follows simple steps and within few minutes new account is set up and ready to use. That is all there is to it. Depending on broker, there is 50,000 or 100,000 dollars of virtual funds available for trading.

First thing one should to do is to change to amount of money in demo to a level in line with personal means. If you have 5000 or 10,000 dollars available for trading, you should reset the balance in the account to that amount. The purpose of having demo account is to simulate realistic market conditions, not playing fantasy games.


Next thing one should do is to learn the mechanics of the trading platform. There are subtle variations, from broker to broker, in the way trading is conducted. They offer different types of orders. Learn how to properly place market orders, how to set up targets, stop loss and any other variation platform offers. Are contingent orders available? One cancels other(OCO)? How far from market price can you place limit buy/sell order? And so on. These things are a little different from platform to platform and must be learned before trading can start. A lot of money has been lost because of improperly placed orders. You want to practice it in your demo account.

Now the fun part. Find out what analytical capabilities trading software provides. Do you do a lot of technical analysis? Does the platform provide system integration, automated trading, news feed?Are there back testing capabilities? Software packages offered by brokers are getting increasingly more complex. Vast majority of traders will never use all the features offered, so chose what you need and keep your screen organized.

Most traders forget about demo accounts once they start real trading. A mistake. One should keep it for as long as possible. Some of them never expire, so they are always available. Some expire after 30 days. However, as long as you have a live account, you should always be offered demo. Now, sometimes you might have to re-register every 30 days. Check your brokers policy and make sure your demo is always up and running.

Why? Well, trading is not a static endeavor. One should always do research, work on new trading approaches, in other words practice. Created new system? Try it out in demo first. Like somebody else trading signals? Try them out first and give it some time.
Has your broker just introduced new tools to the trading platform? Give them a shot in your demo.


Don't forget your practice account. Even if you trade live, there is still plenty you can do in your demo. Great tool, so use it. One more thing- it is free.

After you've been trading for awhile, you might find that the initial magic that kept you going is starting to wear off. Many traders come out like gang busters for the first several months and then hit an energy slump within their first year. The way you determine that you're going to handle it will determine whether or not you happily last in the business of trading.

While physical income is vital to physical survival so is an income for the psyche vital for the survival of the mind. Being bored, dropping your enthusiasm in exchange for predictability, or becoming discouraged with the length of the process can commonly creep into the trader's life during their first year. Of course, you can stay there and eventually you will find that all the joy you thought you would find in this line of work was a mirage or you can evaluate your mind frame and make a few alterations.

We have all heard that people who are rewarded for their career with more than just money are the happiest people, especially while they are at work. And this is true. You can't continually do something challenging (or too boring) just for the money. Eventually the money doesn't look like much when your happiness is on the line.

Why did you get into trading in the first place? Most of us launch into this sort of career for the money. However, there are added benefits of trading that many unhappy investors choose to ignore or forget that when they first got into trading there were many forms of income for the psyche. Now that it is old hat, finding that income might not be so easy.

Some traders have a habit of giving themselves their own excitement by seeking out risky trades when they find they are lacking in the income for the psyche. This can lead to significant losses, and the adrenaline rush is short lived. There are safer ways to gain back your income for the psyche without risking the account on a few high risk trades.

One of the most attractive paychecks that the psyche receives is the freedom of time that some traders experience. You do get to choose your own schedule. You can take time off, work long days, short days, or whatever meets your fancy at the time. If you are experiencing a slump, take a day off and recharge. If you are experiencing chronic frustration, look at your alternatives. Often knowing what else we would have to be doing if we weren't trading is enough to bring back the joy of trading once again.

No physical income source is fun all the time. There is something unappealing about every single form of employment out there. Unless you are independently wealthy with the ability to spend as you wish, there really isn't much else you could be doing that would bring you quite so much freedom and satisfaction, otherwise you would have chosen to go and do it.

Lists can be helpful. Make a list of what you're doing, why, and what you expect to gain from it. Evaluate and update your list during the slumps. It doesn't really matter what you prefer to do when you find the business of trading is becoming a little tedious or taxing. Considering the stress level that many traders find themselves under, it is no wonder that every now and then traders need a little boost regarding their love of the job.

The forex trading tips enclosed can turn a mediocre forex trading strategy in to a winner and anyone thinking of trading should consider incorporating them because they work - here they are...


1. Leverage Stops and Risk

Most traders get 200:1 leverage from their broker and want to use it but this is a huge mistake - a trader should use leverage wisely and 10 20: 1, is enough. This allows you to risk more to your stop and this is vital to success.

Most traders put stops so close they are guaranteed to get stopped out by normal volatility. They get the direction right, see their stop hit and then see prices reverse back the other way and make thousands and their not in!

If you want to win, your stop must be far enough back so you don't get hit by random price moves in the trend. This isn't being rash this is sensible investment strategy.

2. Risk More Per Trade

In line with the above forget all the rubbish you read about risking 2% per trade.

On a small account its so little risk it guarantees you will get stopped out.

Sure if you have 100k you can do this - but not on a small account.

Many traders try to restrict and control risk so much they create it and lose. To make meaningful gains, you need to risk 10 - 20% on a small account.

3. Learn Patience

Most traders think the more they trade the more profits they are going to pile up - dead wrong.

You don't get rewarded for your trading frequency; you get rewarded for being right!

The high odds trades only come around a few times a month in each currency - hit these and hit them hard.

Hitting the high odds trades and hitting them hard can make you a lot of money. I know lots of forex traders, who only trade a few times a month and still pile up big triple digit annual gains, because they are hitting good risk to reward trades and hitting them hard.

4. Forget Diversification

OK on a 100k account there is an argument for doing it but not on a small account.

If you have a great trade, why potentially dilute its profit potential by taking trades for the sake of trading? It doesn't make sense and will dilute your potential profits.

Hit the high odds trade you like and focus on it.

Keep in mind:

You Don't Get Rewarded for Effort in forex trading.

Many traders make this mistake.

They want to trade and force profits but this is not possible. They spend a lot of effort looking for trades that it blinds them to the fact most are dogs and should be passed by.

In forex trading your success is determined by the accuracy of your trading signals and your market timing and the money you put in your pocket - that's it.

So the forex trading tips here mean you need to be patient, hit high odds trades, hit them hard and take meaningful, calculated risks so, you can make a triple digit annual income.

The above is really common sense and these forex trading tips, should be the cornerstone of your forex trading strategy and if you use them wisely and have a good forex trading system then you can enjoy the currency trading success you desire.

If you read a lot of the material online you would think forex trading is a walk in the park but the facts state that 95% of traders lose their Money. To find out if you have what it takes to succeed read on.

Let me first start with story which involves a group of ordinary people who were taught to trade in 14 days and then went on to make $100 million in 4 years.

The above was an experiment conducted by trading legend Richard Dennis. He wanted to prove anyone could win at trading and that traders were made not born and he did it in spectacular fashion.

Now how did this group become so successful and do it in 14 days?

What Dennis knew was that in trading - you CANNOT give someone success, success comes from within. Further explanation will make this clearer.

Dennis knew that he had a good system and it was very simple - but if he just told the traders to follow it they would lose - Why?

Because as soon as they hit a strong of losses, they would not have the confidence to keep executing the system and if you don't have the discipline to execute a trading system, you don't have one!

He therefore made them learn all about it and didn't just ask them to follow blindly.

He showed them how it worked and why it worked, so they would confidence in it and have the discipline to trade through a losing period, until they hit a home run.

Contrast this with most of the people who start to trade forex.

They tend to want to follow others and buy systems from vendors which are mostly junk - but even the few good ones out there; they can't follow, because discipline breaks down.

Of course you need a sound logical method and to avoid all the myths perpetrated online, this is really only half the battle though, the other half is in your head - keeping emotions out and maintaining disciplined.

Many novice traders fall for the myth you can avoid losing periods or only have them now and again but any seasoned trader knows they can last for many weeks. Sure you can win, if you stay disciplined but this is hard, when the market is handing you loss, after loss and making you look a fool!

If you think discipline is easy, you haven't traded! Its hard and discipline is really what separates the winners from the losers.

So the moral of this bit of forex education is - anyone can learn to trade (Richard Dennis proved this in spectacular fashion) but its not easy and you wouldn't expect it to be, with the rewards on offer.

If however you understand the above and you are prepared to work smart, avoid the myths and get confidence in what you are doing, you will have the disciplined mindset to go and seek a great second, or even life changing income.

Forex trading is a challenge but the market doesn't defeat the trader, the trader defeats himself.

So you can be a winner at forex trading if you want to and that's great news for anyone who seeks currency trading success.