Looking Ahead: Week of April 30 through May 4

The focus is on the consumer, starting with personal income and spending on Monday. Motor vehicle sales post Tuesday. ADP gives a hint on private employment at mid-week. And the highlight is Friday’s employment situation for April. Other market movers include ISM manufacturing (Tuesday) and ISM non-manufacturing (Thursday).

EUR/USD Trade April 23, 2012

Looking Ahead: April 23 through April 27, 2012

Equities were mixed last week as investors monitored earnings reports, sovereign bond issues in Europe and mixed economic data from the U.S. and elsewhere. As is usually the case in the last week of the month, there will be a deluge of new economic data. Adding spice this time is a two day FOMC meeting followed by Chairman Ben Bernanke’s press conference. Investors will also be watching the outcome of the Bank of Japan meeting that takes place at week’s end. They will be watching to see what new easing policies the BoJ will announce to push the value of the yen down and inflation up. Peeks at first quarter growth data are on tap in the UK and U.S.

Trading results April.15.12 to April.20.12

No trades this past week. Markets were mixed last week as investors monitored earnings reports, sovereign bond issues in Europe and mixed economic data from the U.S. and elsewhere.

Controlling yourself after a trade

Here is part of an article from Nail Fuller that really hit me. I've had this problems before. Enjoy! I know that most of you have had some good trades and made some money in the markets. But, what did you do after your trade? The honest answer to that question is truly what defines a professional trader. Your mindset right after a trade is at its most fragile, because you are likely either feeling a bit euphoric over your winnings or angry and frustrated over your losses. Granted, you should not experience these emotions too intensely if you’ve manage your risk properly, but you will likely still feel them to some degree no matter what, after all, you are risking your hard-earned money. Whether you win or lose on a trade, you are at the greatest risk to make an emotional trading decision immediately after a trade closes. While there is no miracle-formula for making sure you avoid these emotional trading errors, if you understand and accept the following points you will be far less likely to make them: • If you have just lost on a trade, remember that jumping in the market again to try and “make back” what you lost is an emotional reason for trading, not a logical one. Do not enter another trade right away unless there is a valid price action trade setup that meets the criteria in your trading plan. • If you have just won on a trade, remember that you are not some “perfect” trader who can do no wrong in the markets. Beginning traders tend to get over-confident after a winner or a string of winners, this can cause them to veer of course and “run and gun” rather than trading Forex like a sniper. • Remember, your trading success is not defined by your last trade; rather it is defined by the result of a large series of your trades. To become emotional and react defensively to any one trade is to say that you think your success as a trader hinges on one trade, and it simply does not. You have to learn to take your losses as just a part of doing business in the Forex market. • In regards to taking losses, it will be a lot easier to swallow the inevitable losses if you are only risking an amount per trade that you are truly OK with losing. When you start trading with money that you need for other life expenses, or risking too much per trade, you put yourself at a very great risk for wanting to enter a “revenge” trade after you lose. • Perhaps the best way to control yourself after any one trade is to simply take some time away from trading. Rarely are you going to exit a trade and then get another high-probability opportunity immediately after that. It usually pays to separate yourself from your charts for at least 24 hours after you exit a trade, whether it was a winner or loser. This will give your emotions time to die down and cool off before you begin analyzing the charts gain. Excerpt: http://www.learntotradethemarket.com/forex-articles/part-4-become-professional-trader-putting-it-all-together?awt_l=GcSvQ&awt_m=IxU3aIadwXwtMW

The Power of Introverts

Interesting article about introverts and trading. Study has shown that many successful traders are in fact introverts. They have a more circumspect and cautious approach to risk. Read more: http://healthland.time.com/2012/01/27/mind-reading-qa-with-susan-cain-on-the-power-of-introverts/#ixzz1sZDpSYIX

One vs Multiple Currency Pairs

Written by Danielle Franklin
blogs - Currency Pairs
There are many aspects forex traders observe in order to pick the most profitable currency pair. Forex market has endless possibilities and no restrictions on which currency to choose and how many currency pairs to trade. The question is what are the most preferred currency pairs? How to choose the right currency pair? Is sticking to one-pair path beneficial or it is more profitable to multitask?

In order to pick up the currency pair that suits you most, you have to consider the following aspects of forex trading:



SPREAD. Tight spreads ensure to keep your costs down. With smaller spreads you can have more profits due to larger gaps during price volatility and you can also reach your break even point quicker. Most forex brokers offer EUR/USD currency pair with the tightest spread of 2-3 pips.
TREND. It is important to analyze the trend of the selected currency pair in forex market. Forex charts with indicators can ease the process of choosing the most profitable currency pair. Most currency pairs are simply more trendy than the rest.
TRADING SESSIONS. The most profitable time to trade forex is when the market has a lot of trading transactions. Depending on the currency pair, you will have to adopt to the right trading time.
For example:



¨ 7 PM EST to 10 PM EST – Tokie Stock Exchange opens

¨ 8 AM EST to 12 PM EST – NY Stock Exchange and London Stock Exchange open simultaneously (this is the time to trade almost any currency pairs)







Every trader differs with diverse mindset, psychological self-control, trading approach and overall understanding of forex market. Whether you choose to trade one pair or several is entirely up to you. Do not try to imitate other traders you know – your trading style must be picked and chosen by you. Your decision has to be based on what, how and when you wish to trade.

All of us understand that one market is closely correlated to another market. Once you have an experience and understanding of one currency, it seems logical to take advantage of this and trade several pairs. However, most successful traders are fully focused on just one pair (usually EUR/USD). Mastering one-pair forex trading allows you to understand the distinct “personality” of a selected pair and get confident with it. Despite the fact that one-pair traders could most probably use their knowledge to trade any other currency pair, they choose to stick with one.

The main reason for forex traders to focus on one currency pair is that multiple currency pairs requires much more work. Not all traders are able to handle all the information and correlation between currency pairs. Instead of concentrating on one pair, in most cases you spread the attention wide and end up with a headache, lower quality of trades and analysis, and greater risk of under performance because of neglect and loss of both attentive and passive observation of the forex market.

Obviously with one currency pair you might face fewer opportunities; however it doesn’t mean you will be less profitable. Many traders choose to become an expert in just one area rather than being an average in several.

Including other currency pairs to your trading plan may lead to extra pressures you are not always ready for and you might be exposed to less familiar trading style. Generally it isn’t easy to even follow one pair and fully understand all the WHYs involved in real time trading.

I personally tried to watch out for 3 pairs simultaneously and end up being less successful. I was missing out on a lot of information and therefore my personal trading style is just one pair. I am aware of the correlations with other pairs, but right now I only care about one graph. So for me, focusing on just one pair makes me more focused, precise and successful.

That being said, it should be emphasized once again that every trader has a different style. There is no right or wrong way to trade. In may ways trading style of one trader may appear too difficult and even unnecessary to other. All forex trading ways are unique, special and should be personalized according to your agenda.