A Forex Market Survival Guide

It’s not hard to get excited about everything that the foreign-exchange (Forex) marketplaces has to offer these days.

More and more people are diving headfirst into the Forex market than ever before, looking to cash in on the kind of action that only this investment vehicle can provide.

At the same time, though, there are plenty of “newbies” that are getting absolutely crushed by the Forex market just because they’re not sure of how to make heads or tails of everything swirling around them.

That’s why we put together this quick Forex market survival guide.

What’s Your Forex Trading Style?

Before you do ANY trading whatsoever you really need to get crystal clear about what your Forex trading style is going to be.

Just as you wouldn’t set out on a cross-country trip without knowing what your ultimate destination was, you can’t expect any real success in the world of investing if you’re not crystal clear about how you’re going to make your goals come true.

Are you going to be a day trader to avoid having to sleep on a Forex pair that could go belly up overnight?

Are you going to be a position trader that wants to take more of a “long-haul” look at the markets to make well-informed moves?

Are you hoping to “trade the notes” every now and again when signals or a red-hot tip comes down the pipeline?

No matter what your trading style is you need to get crystal clear about it and then tailor everything you do in the Forex world to that kind of process.

Always Plan Your Exits

Everybody in the world of Forex as a great idea when they want to get in on specific trades but most have no idea when they need to “pull the chute” and selloff a position – exiting it completely to make a profit or to stop a loss.

This is a huge mistake.

You would never jump into a Forex trade randomly, which is exactly why you shouldn’t “trust your gut” to plan your exits from positions, either.

Instead, you’ll want to have a rough outline for the kind of market conditions you’ll be looking for to exit your position profitably (or to stop a significant loss).

You can always adjust these plans on-the-fly depending on market conditions (that’s never a bad idea). But without this kind of preplanning you’re likely to flounder and waste some pretty good profit opportunities because you waited too long or not long enough on a position.

Learn to Love Expectancy

Expectancy in the world of Forex market trading is a very specific formula that can help you figure out just how consistent and reliable your trading system is.

Obviously, it’s not a perfect predictor of success or failure – market conditions are always going to influence whether or not you win or lose with different positions. But it will give you a better idea of whether or not your overall strategies are effective or need to be tinkered with a little bit.

Take your last 10 trades and run them through the expectancy formula (you can find expectancy calculators online pretty easily) to figure out what your win ratio looks like.

If it’s not where you want it to be, don’t be shy about adjusting your strategy to dominate the Forex market moving forward!

Secrets for Unlocking the Right Forex Signals

Mastering the Forex market becomes a whole lot easier when you understand how to make Forex signals work for you, rather than against you!

These data points (available to anyone that knows what to look for) can clue you into how the market is about to move – up or down – before a move is made, giving you plenty of time to position yourself properly to capitalize on that opportunity.

Of course, you need to know how to leverage these signals can only spot them consistently but also to understand difference between legitimate Forex signals and “fake” signals or mirages.

Trade the wrong signals in your run through your resources pretty quickly.

Trade the right Forex signals, though, and you’ll be on the fast track to the kind of financial future most people only ever dream of.

Have a Daily Goal

But before we get into the meat and potatoes of the handful of signals you should master ASAP, it’s important to really emphasize this core tenant of successful Forex trading.

Without a daily goal – without a crystal clear objective for what you want to do in the world of Forex that day – you’re going to scramble every time a new opportunity bubbles up, a new signal starts to manifest, or when things start to go a little sideways like the market is prone to do.

Before you sit down to trade Forex write down your daily goal (whatever it may be) on an index card and keep it close at hand.

That one tip alone will give you a huge advantage over other traders that are reacting to market factors rather than making trades intentionally.

Zero In On Signals That Matter

Next, you need to make sure that you are zeroing in on signals that matter and are relevant to their daily goal.

Let’s say, for example, that you’re looking to make a couple of swing trades in a single day – and want to get in on a position, watch it move, and then get out as quickly as possible.

Long-term signals aren’t going to be all that valuable for you. Gathering intelligence that tells you a Forex pair is going to move one way or another in a week or two has absolutely no relevance on what your daily goal is.

On the flip side of things, price action signals are going to hugely influence the kind of trade you’re likely to make that very day.

Focus on the signals that matter – and ignore (even valid and exciting) signals that have no bearing on the trades you’re looking to make right now.

As long as you keep these fundamentals in mind you’re going to have a much easier time picking up on Forex signals that can make a big difference in your bank account while ignoring Forex signals that will lead you down the wrong financial roads.

Dial-in your daily goals ahead of time, sit down to look at your research and charts, and then hunt for signals that are relevant to the kind of move you set out to make in the first place.

(Almost) Everything You Need to Know About Forex Signals

If you are serious about making money in the foreign exchange (Forex) marketplaces you absolutely MUST learn to read, recognize, and quickly analyze different Forex signals.

One of the most exciting, fast-moving, and always interesting investment vehicles under the sun right now, Forex definitely takes a special set of skills to master – but everyone can develop those skills over time (most faster than they expect) when you know the ins and outs of Forex signals.

Below we dig a little bit deeper into what you absolutely need to know about Forex signals before getting started, how to use the signals to start trading more effectively, and how to avoid signal trouble that can sink your investments faster than you thought possible.

Let’s dive right in!

What Are Forex Signals?

To put it simply, Forex signals are basically trends that can be charted that frequently show up time and time again when a Forex investment opportunity as a behavioral change.

Some Forex signals let you know that a major spike in value is just around the corner, others let you know that the market for a specific Forex investment is going to fall apart, and others help you spot great investment opportunities before the rest of the market sees them – basically giving you “x-ray vision” compared to traders that aren’t quite as plugged in.

At the same time, Forex signals are not a guaranteed blueprint for success in the markets.

These signals can only tell you about the historical trends and how things have shaken out in the past, they cannot (perfectly) predict the future. All the same, you have to be at least a little bit crazy not to use Forex signals when analyzing the markets before you make a move.

Chart Your Own or Pay a Service?

The beautiful thing about Forex signals is that they are so universal across different currency options on the market, and as long as you have a market platform that lets you read the data as it comes in – data that updates in real time – you can spot the signals as they form.

At the same time, you can also skip all the heavy lifting required to chart signals as they manifest during the day-to-day operation of the Forex market and instead pay a signal service to do the legwork for you.

Some people love diving deeper into the data, checking out the market themselves and spotting trends instantly as soon as they start to form. Other folks like to take a more hands-off approach to mastering the Forex market, getting signals sent to them from trusted providers with a track record of helping Forex investors it big.

At the end of the day, it’s really up to you and the kind of investing you want to do.

Important Forex Signals to Watch Out For

There are all different kinds of signals that you contract when training Forex, but the most important ones you’ll want to really zero in on include:

  • Action signals, letting you know if it’s time to buy or sell a Forex statement
  • Stop Loss signals, representing exit points so that you know when to get out of different positions
  • Take Profit signals, the opposite of a Stop Lost signal
  • Current Market Price signals, giving you a better baseline feel for what your Forex positions are worth at any one particular point in time – especially up against a currency pair

Keep these things in mind when you start to trade Forex and you’ll be much more profitable right out of the gate!