Saturday, November 29, 2008

Emotions Don't Work, Discipline Does, in Forex Trading

By Richard U. Olson

When you are involved in the world of investments you more than likely already know there are two conditions that cause the majority of investors to do what they do when making their moves. These two conditions are greed and fear. They are the most basic and strongest of all the human emotions. Greed may turn to being foolishly risky and fear can turn to panic. However, such strong emotions do not govern successful Forex traders.

You see, successful Forex traders use managed Forex trading. They make use of tried and true Forex trading strategies like those based on mathematical algorithms. They might make use of a Forex auto-trading system and trading software. And, some of them might even make use of a Forex expert advisor to guide them in making buy, sell, or stop-loss decisions or setting their trading parameters.

Whatever their particular strategy, Forex traders who are successful are those who are not basing their investment strategies on their emotional responses to market movements. While they of course still have these emotional responses, they try to make their investment choices based on reason and of course, profit motive. They take losses and profits in stride and stay focused on the goal of making successful investments.

No matter what sort of dire financial news comes out that day, no matter what sort of day you've had, you should not let these factors make your investment decisions for you. Stay to a carefully thought out Forex trading strategy and try to discount your emotional response to market movements.

Self-discipline is key to being successful in Forex trading. You risk losing a lot of potential profit by allowing your emotions to take hold and dictate the investments that you make. Fear may cause you to place a stop-loss when doing so will actually cost you money or take your profits and run when you could have made far more money by allowing your investment to run its course. By the same token, greed can lead to irrational exuberance and lead you to lose a lot of money by making unwise decisions about your trades.

Any successful Forex trading strategy should be based on proven strategies which are known to work and are based on the historical patterns of the market.

You see, successful traders are actually taking advantage of the sheeple. They profit on movements in the Forex market that result from other people's irrational exuberance or panic.

One of the best ways of staying true to a trading discipline in the Forex market is to use automated software. This software makes use of mathematics to analyze patterns and possibilities in the market. If you makes use of Forex trading software, you can help yourself stay true to your strategy and avoid getting caught up in your emotions.

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