The ONLY Difference Between Professional Traders and Amateurs Is ...

He's a blog posting from one of my friends on mySpace, Barry. To close the year I couldn't resist posting this for thought!

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Here's a revelation that changed my trading forever:

"Successful trading is imply a business of not making mistakes."

That has become such a cornerstone to my trading that I actually framed that saying and put it on my wall over my trading flat screens.

One of the most productive things you can do to become a profitable trader is to make a list of your most common mistakes.

Awareness is the first step.

Then watch your behavior and don't allow yourself to make those mistakes any more.
Each of us has her or his own challenges, so you must make your own list.

But to get you started, I'll expose my sins and share with you what have been my most common mistakes over the years. This is the official list of my own 7 most common mistakes. Perhaps you'll find it helpful:

1. Missing trades. When my setup occurs I need to make sure I'm aware of it and haven't been distracted by chat rooms, email, phone calls or lulled into boredom by a consolidating market.
I also need to make sure I don't hesitate to pull the trigger when I do see my setups.

2. Trading reversals that are not in extended trends and during which the internal market energy has not reversed.

3. Trading only 1 time frame without the confirmation of a longer term chart.

4. Trading while tired.

5. Over trading. Never try to make up for losses or missed trades. Never trade out of boredom. Never take any trade that doesn't match my rules 100%.

6. Not taking profits on my first exit soon enough. This is critical to adjust my cost position in the trade and therefore keep losses small.

7. Exiting my entire position too soon. I must keep at least part of my position alive until the energy of the trade has shifted so that I can ride the big moves.

Well, that's my confession.

Now you know my sins, but I imagine they're not so different than yours.

Have you committed these trading sins ... or your own unique ones?

The only solution is to REPENT!

That doesn't simply mean to say you're sorry.

It means to change your behavior.

Many people treat trading as:
an intellectual exercise.
a mathematical challenge.
or a research project.

Actually it's more about managing your behavior than anything else ... of course that's often the most difficult thing of all!

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I couldn't have said it better!

Barry can be found at: http://www.myspace.com/topdogtrading

Happy New Year !!

Forex Journey

Are you a forex trader or a gambler?

Here's an article I found in my files. Given the approach of the New Year, now is an excellent time to re-enforce those good trading habits and thoughts ... enjoy!!

How many pips do you need to be wealthy? The answer may surprise you.

A very common thought and question among us forex traders. Of course this is variable in desires; however it is a good idea to put things into perspective. In reality, the following is what separates the gamblers from the traders.

About 2 years ago I sent out a similar letter that changed the outlook and the lives of many traders. While most at the time were mini-traders a simple 25 pip gain equated to a mere $25.00. "How can I live off of that?" I was repeatedly asked. It didn't take long to put this into perspective.

Determining Percent Return

Profits are one thing, percent return is another. Monthly profits may add up to look nice or not so nice, but what is the actual return? I am sure we have all heard traders say, "I made 1,000 pips last month." OK.. what was your percent return? Not only for one month, but for the life of your trading.

Return Calculation

The simple return calculation is used to determine your return on an investment after you sold it. Or in this case, the profits after closing trades over a period of time.

Here is the formula:

Net Proceeds /Cost Basis - 1 x 100

Let's run through a simple example.

Suppose you traded one standard forex contract for a profit of 200 pips. This would be a raw profit of $2,000. The cost in this case was the spread and the margin needed to secure the contract; the most common margin is 100:1. Thus it cost a temporary, $1,000 to secure this contract. We say temporary because we all know we would not trade without a stop loss, most likely the stop would have been worth about $250.

Calculation:

Net Proceeds = $2000

Cost Basis = $20 (spread) + $1,000 margin

($2,000 /$1,020 - 1) x 100 = 96% (Just under 100% in a single 30 days)

So, if you are trading with a 100:1 margin and averaging around 200 pips per month, you are close to a 100% return per month.

What about per year?

Try it, you will be amazed. Hint: Don't forget to compound.

Take Home Message

Trade conservatively, a few 25 pip trades per week (300 pips per month) on a single lot can give you a return of just under 200% a month. Build your account slowly, trade with the same level of caution, just add more lots. This is the best method, the most realistic method and the lowest stress method of enjoying the rewards of forex.

John Keister

ForexInterBank

http://www.forexinterbank.com

Happy Trading from ForexJourney.com!!

Clarity

Clarity. This is my word, my mission for 2008. I am going (notice I did not say “try to”), let me repeat, I am going to achieve clarity in all aspects of life including my trading. As many of my readers know I had a very eventful 2007. I became a dad for the first time. This has brought a new meaning to life. One that many of my friends have mentioned, but one I truly didn’t understand until I experienced it myself. It has been the greatest single joy of my life, not to mention a major adjustment in trading schedule.

I define have one simple New Year’s resolution that will permeate my life and my trading – seek clarity in every aspect of my Forex trading and perform every action with intent!

I know what you are thinking; it seems kind of pie in the sky, but think about it. We should approach all our actions with clarity and intent. Design the outcome well before we enter a currency trade. Keeping mental focus it what really separates long term profits and losses.

I encourage each of you to take the time now and revisit your Forex trading plan. Learn from your mistakes, because they are your most valuable teachers. My goal is to always present clear intent into my Forex trading in 2008, what’s your intent?

Happy New Year’s from ForexJourney.com

When You Understand....

It seems that there is a behaviour in all of us. If we do not understand, we will study it. Thats how knowledge begins. We study in order to understand things that are unclear and unknown to us but what happen when we started to understand it?

Once we know how something works, we will not see it as a challenge. For those people that love challenge, they will lose interest. This is because it is no longer something to go after. You already have the answers and started looking somewhere else for new challenges. In the end such people will not accumulate wealth but he will gain knowledge. Knowledge in the end is what matters.

Last week I lose in Forex trading. I will update screenshot when I have the time. It seems to me that I am starting to lose interest in Forex for the above reason. For other reason I will not be trading forex till start of next year. Holiday season is coming, Im going home for a long vacation and forex has started to lose it appeal.

Those of you still struggling to understand it, keep up the work. Its a feeling undescribe by mere words once you have found the answer. At the time of writing we are seeing major turn on 3 pairs which are EurUsd, UsdChf and UsdJpy. Chrismast is coming and it would be a waste of time to trade now. Let us hope a new year wil bring new fortune to us all. Happy holidays everyone.

Income masyuk

Bayangkan kalau anda mendapat income sebegini dibayar setiap minggu. Amacam? tak melompat cam beruk ke?

SMS misteri dari seseorang yang tidak dikenali

Isinya berbunyi begini:

Kalau saya jadi airmata,
Saya ingin lahir dari matamu, hidup dipipi mu dan mati di bibirmu
tapi kalau awak jadi airmata,saya tidak akan menangis
kerana saya tidak mahu kehilanganmu

begitu bermakna dari seseorang yang tidak dikenali.

Forex lak. minggu ni rugi. Nasib baik bisness lain masyuk banyak :)

Free Forex Signal 11 December 2007

Here goes. What ever you do. Remember to put SL. SL is based on your guts. No guts no glory. Too much guts you will be dead.

Long Eur/Usd @ 1.4620 or better
TP 1.4870

Short Usd/Chf @ 1.1320 or better
TP 1.1060

At the moment all jpy pair is at the height of its momentum. Entry is not adviseable. Wait for it to turn then a fresh entry will be available. I lost much on JPY pair this week due to miss calculation. At the moment my account is down by more than 2k. I will post result at the end of the week.