Author Bio

Not everybody can – or would want to – sit in front of a computer all day, so it’s nice to be able to subscribe to a Forex Signal Service and get emails or text messages when trading opportunities arise.  For example, here’s a message I got last week from the SpotEuro Signal Service.  It came about an hour before the Australian Consumer Price Index announcement with a specific direction on the AUD/USD.

I took the short position around 7:30 that night and despite the temptation to reverse myself when things went a little bit the other way, I let the strategy run its course over night and exited the next morning for a tidy profit of over 40 pips.  Alex at SpotEuro would be the first to remind you that not every signal will pan out and not every trade will go your way, but you can see the chart for this one below, and you can befriend me on Currensee and see all my trades.

Earlier in January, I picked up an overnight signal on the USD/CHF – not a pair I usually trade – and even though I got in several hours late, the trade was still good for 57 pips.  Another time, an overnight signal on the USD/CAD turned out to be worth 11 pips while I slept.  Trading while you sleep is a good way to stick with your strategy, but it’s not for the nervous scalpers among us.

It’s important when selecting a signal service to find one that fits your trading style.  If it’s a poor fit – too many or too few trades, too much or too little risk, the wrong trading session – you’ll find yourself second-guessing the signals, which is stressful at best.

If you want to learn more about SpotEuro, you can tune in to tomorrow’s Non-Farm Payrolls Webinar for free, and Currensee members can subscribe to the SpotEuro Signal Service or the new Live! Trading Room and News! Trading Sessions services for as little as 25 Currensee bucks for the first month.

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Be sure to read the full risk disclosure before trading Forex.  Please note that Forex trading involves significant risk of loss. It is not suitable for all investors and you should make sure you understand the risks involved before trading. Performance, strategies and charts shown are not necessarily predictive of any particular result. And, as always, past performance is no indication of future results.

Author Bio

As a Forex newbie looking to re-engage after my first substantial trading loss, I decided to rely more heavily on my Forex trading team for the last several weeks for good trade ideas. I noticed a particularly successful team member trading some of the pairs I trade, and decided to follow her into a few trades. While these were not all wins, my performance on a few trades pulled me out of ‘the hole.’ I am enjoying team trading, I feel like I am leveraging the hard work of others.

Another means of getting back in the swing of things – reading about the basic strategies of smart, experienced traders. I have been reading a few blogs lately, to try to find someone I can follow for a while. I investigated Kathy Lien’s blog, as I know she is well-respected in the Forex world. I spotted a few items on BabyPips that have been (in my newbie mind) actionable; there is always sure to be something on my USD/JPY. I found the Pick of the Day useful today, it validated my suspicion that I had better put a stop-loss on my trade – quickly.

I have settled into a comfortable trading pattern and have managed to add a little to my balance. My several months (!) experience has given me a feel for how quickly I should move on an open position, and now I am simply hungry for a real strategy that fits me for the medium term.

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Be sure to read the full risk disclosure before trading Forex.  Please note that Forex trading involves significant risk of loss. It is not suitable for all investors and you should make sure you understand the risks involved before trading. Performance, strategies and charts shown are not necessarily predictive of any particular result. And, as always, past performance is no indication of future results.

Author Bio

Emboldened by my small wins, I kept going, and in my sixth week of trading, I had my first significant loss – meaning one that took me below my original balance. A necessary part of learning, I suppose, but no less painful. I lost all of my gains for the previous week in a succession of trades that went the wrong way: a loss, a bigger loss, then a much bigger loss.

Interested in what to do next, I pulled back for a few days to consider my strategy. I realized that my first months of trading had consisted of scalping – I was waiting for the currency pair to recover value and then immediately selling.

My losses were attempts to trade on fundamental analysis – I had heard about the elections going on in Japan, and placed a wrong bet on the outcome. One way to avoid this would be the setting of stop-losses, so that was my next piece of learning. Now, if I expect a particularly volatile market either way, I leverage stop-losses to protect myself from large losses or lock in gains, and review the stop-loss settings of any traders I follow.

I am now back to my scalping strategy, and working on making my next move…

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Be sure to read the full risk disclosure before trading Forex.  Please note that Forex trading involves significant risk of loss. It is not suitable for all investors and you should make sure you understand the risks involved before trading. Performance, strategies and charts shown are not necessarily predictive of any particular result. And, as always, past performance is no indication of future results.

Author Bio

This is the first installment in an occasional series we’re calling, “Diary of a Forex Newbie” in which traders new to Forex and Currensee talk about what they’ve learned about trading and how they’re using Currensee.

With my background in product management, I was as excited as I was unprepared to launch into the world of Forex trading when I joined Currensee.  Since I have exposure to some of the great tools already offered on the site, I decided to try my luck on a few small trades.

I opened up a position in USD/JPY as my first trade.  I’m not sure why it caught my eye that day, but you have to start somewhere.  I ended up holding the position for a couple of weeks, determined not to have a loss on my first trade.  Typical newbie behavior, I suspect.

USD/JPY is my favorite pair, the first one I traded.  I’ve begun to get a real feel for the price changes in this currency pair.  When Currensee released the Community Volatility Indicator, I was armed with information most traders don’t have about the entry and exit prices of other, more experienced traders.  I made some money – enough for lunch – on my next several trades.

Friends and relatives watched me trade dollars and yen on a daily basis, about half an hour a day.  They pretended to be interested in my small wins, which I couldn’t seem to stop discussing.  How long will my streak hold out?  Join my team on Currensee and find out…

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Be sure to read the full risk disclosure before trading Forex.  Please note that Forex trading involves significant risk of loss. It is not suitable for all investors and you should make sure you understand the risks involved before trading. Performance, strategies and charts shown are not necessarily predictive of any particular result. And, as always, past performance is no indication of future results.