Currency Trading Information

A Fools Game


I received an email this week with a question (below) which caused me to think about the wisdom of pursuing trading as a career. Regardless of your trading time span, the skills and concerns of active short-term trading are relevant to all market particpipants.

Question: "There are a lot of people who say that day trading is for "fools" and that it is very difficult to make a living from Day Trading. What are your opinions?"

Trading is like most business: it requires commitment and perseverance. It is never easy to make money, but people who have mastered a skill make it appear easy. The really successful pit traders that I have known made trading look very easy, tantalisingly easy; but they all had many years of experience behind them. For every successful trader there has probably been a few hundred who have tried and failed.

I think people fail at any business if they approach it without an appreciation and understanding of what is required for success. The majority of traders fail because they have no such appreciation and they have unrealistic expectations of themselves. Any trader who starts with the expectation of becoming an instant success is setting himself up for failure. No one would decide to become a golf pro and assume that they could just pick up a bag of clubs and start winning tournaments. Yet novice traders do this all the time.

Just to start with the understanding that trading is a skill that is developed over time, through experience, puts a novice trader way ahead of the competition.

There are 2 core skills in trading, first the ability to anticipate the market (read the market) and second, having the discipline to execute your plan. To learn to read the market you may as well use a trading simulator and only start to trade when you have demonstrated to yourself that you can anticipate the market. Discipline, though, has to be developed and tested in the real world. Discipline is really the crux of the matter and it is here that most traders fall down. Their failure is mainly due to the fact that they are not really aware of its importance. Just starting out as a trader with the intention of developing your discipline puts you way ahead of the average trader. If you can trade with discipline (i.e. stick to your own rules and limits) you are 95% there!

So I would say that for the average aspiring trader, trading is a fool's game; but for those of us who approach the business as a business, with a clear understanding of the unique challenges that trading offers, it is a rewarding and fulfilling career.

Malcolm Robinson
LIFFE Pit Trader & Electronic Trader
InstinctiveTrader.com

  


MORE RESOURCES:

AFP

Dollar Posts Weekly Gain as Stock Plunge Spurs Haven Demand
Bloomberg - 20 hours ago
“It’s all about risk in this emotional market,” said Jacob Oubina, a currency strategist at FOREX.com, a unit of online currency trading firm Gain Capital ...
Traders Renew Appetite for Risk as Obama Names Treasury Secretary International Business Times
Yen Trades Near Three-Week High on Signs US Recession Deepens Bloomberg
Yen Advances as Drop in Stocks Reduces Appeal of Carry Trade Bloomberg
Bloomberg - Bloomberg
all 343 news articles


Runaway FX turnover growth tamed by crisis
guardian.co.uk, UK - Nov 21, 2008
London's position as the global hub of currency trading was cemented with figures in April from the Foreign Exchange Joint Standing Committee (JSC) showing ...


Americans’ ’Hypocrisy’ in Auto Rescue Spurs Me-Too Trading Ire
Bloomberg - 18 hours ago
One of the Americans’ biggest gripes involves Japan’s currency, which they claim is kept artificially cheap against the dollar. The Automotive Trade Policy ...


Dependence of economy on Forex
BigNews.biz (press release), MA - 25 minutes ago
Generally, trading of natural resources such as gold, silver and currency trading are undertaken through the process of forex. It also involves foreign ...


Movers: Citi, GM, GAP, Dell, Wal-Mart
BusinessWeek - 17 hours ago
Forex Club Try trading Forex today with a free 5000 demo account OR start trading live and get a $100 bonus. Try Currency Trading Learn to Trade FX with a ...


AFP

WSJ(11/11) Currency Trading: Bad Crop: Commodity Currencies
Alibaba News Channel, NEW YORK - Nov 11, 2008
In currency markets gripped by turmoil, investors have targeted one group for special punishment: big commodity exporters. This cluster includes the ...
Value Plays in Equity Markets Help Support Euro Rally International Business Times
Euro firms against dollar, pound sinks amid credit turmoil AFP
Yen Falls Most in Two Weeks Versus Dollar, Euro as Stocks Rally Bloomberg
RTT News - Reuters
all 224 news articles


Currency Trading Markets Remain Highly Correlated to Dow Jones ...
Daily FX, NY - Nov 18, 2008
Currency trading markets continue very highly correlated to broader risky asset classes, as the common theme of financial market deleveraging creates strong ...
Currency Trading Markets Remain Highly Correlated to Dow Jones ... Daily FX
all 6 news articles


Euro Forecast to Decline Further Against US Dollar on Forex ...
Daily FX, NY - Nov 20, 2008
EURUSD – Currency trading crowds have recently bought the Euro against the US Dollar, and we forecast that the sudden shift in sentiment may bring Euro ...


Kuwait Times

Forex Expo promotes currency trading as alternative to bourse
Kuwait Times, Kuwait - Nov 20, 2008
By Dana Khraiche, Staff writer KUWAIT: Currency trading has its ups and downs. Recently, one of Kuwait's largest lenders, Gulf Bank suffered a major crisis ...


Mexican Peso Posts Biggest Weekly Drop in Month on Growth View
Bloomberg - 19 hours ago
... the nation’s biggest trading partner, will throttle demand for Mexican-made cars, electronics and beer. The currency slumped as much as 1.9 percent ...
Mexican Peso Sinks to One-Month Low as Recession Concerns Mount Bloomberg
Mexican Peso Falls to Near Record as Recession Concerns Mount Bloomberg
all 7 news articles

currency trading - Google News

Article List | Index | Site Map
All logos, trademarks and articles on this site are property and copyright of their respective owner(s).
The comments are property of their posters, all the rest is Copyright © 2006 CanadaSEEK.com - All Rights Reserved.