By: Johnathon Fox
One of the hardest things in Forex trading is staying focused. There are so many services trying to take your attention that it can be a real battle staying in the zone. Services such as Forex blogs, forums, emails and recommendations can make it very hard to assess the market and then trade with that assessment.
Trade Only What You See, Not What You Think
The problem with all of these services is not only that they take traders concentration away, but they also start to influence the trader’s decision making. An example of this is when a trader receives an email from a Forex site that gives trading recommendations on what pair the trader should trade and how. This recommendation may be in direct conflict with the assessment the trader has made, and because of this the trader will then begin to second guess. If the trader does get into the trade using their assessment, they will be prone to doubt because the trade is the opposite of what someone else has said.
As humans we are always looking for reassurance that what we are doing is correct. Humans take comfort from knowing someone else is doing the same thing as them. The problem with this is, if we want success we actually need to be doing the exact opposite to what most other people are doing. Most people in the Forex markets fail to make money. Doing what most traders do is going to bring about the same results as what most traders get. If you want to be a successful Forex trader you need to stop looking at others for reassurance, and start following your own judgements.
Stop Watching the News
Watching the economic news and letting the news influence your trading decisions can end in disaster. When a trader is influenced by the news and economic releases, they tend to stop trading with what they see. Instead of trading from what they can see on their charts, and with the assessment they have made, traders will start to form a market bias based on what the news has said. This bias can be dangerous because traders can then fall in love with their trades, or start to make trades based on this bias.
When a trader falls in love with their trades because of what the economic news has said, they can start to make bad trading decisions. An example this is; traders can begin to hold onto losing trades, thinking that the market is just about to bounce back their way because of the economic situation. Even though the chart and their assessment is telling them the exact opposite, the trader will hold the trade believing it is just a matter of time before the market corrects back in line with what was released in the news!
Basing trading decisions from what the news has released can have similar outcomes. Traders will tend to miss simple and profitable trading setups that they see on their charts, because they are trading with what they think should happen.
Stay Away From Forex Forums
The biggest problem with Forex trading forums is that everyone on them is a trading guru with something to say. The problem with this is like we said above, what most people are doing simply does not work, and if we want to achieve different results we need to have different actions.
No matter what the Forex forum or blog, you will always hear the same incorrect trading myths being spread. You tend to have one unsuccessful trader pass onto another unsuccessful trader these myths. The trader who has just learnt one of these myths will take it as fact, and with time they themselves will start spreading the same myth to the next new trader on the block! This goes on and on.
Not many people stop to think about what they are being told. Just because someone has a post count of 1 million does not mean they are a successful trader, or that what they have to say is a fact. Take absolutely everything you hear in these forums with a pinch of salt.
Recap
If you only take one thing out of this article make sure it is this:
If you want to be a successful trader you need to stop doing what others are doing. Most traders are not successful, and by doing what they are doing you are going to achieve the same results! Stop listening to what every Jo Blogs has to say on every Forex forum, and start learning to trade successfully. Invest in your trading education and yourself and get out of the crowd!