If it’s any comfort, you’re not alone – and the good news is that you can do something about it. The first thing to ask yourself is why you are gun shy. In some cases, this can simply come down to fear – particularly if you are on a long losing streak. In other cases, there may be a fundamental confidence problem – you just don’t believe that you can be a successful trader.
At other times, the problem can be traced back to an unclear trading strategy or one that is too complicated. It’s also a mistake to place too much emphasis on individual trades – this creates too much pressure, making you hesitant. Remember that forex trading is about making long-term profits, and that you will have both wins and losses along the way.
Let’s look at the issue of trading strategy first. You need to have enough confidence in the signals that you are seeing to know when to pull the trigger – and when not to. If you are uncertain about signals, spend time practicing with a demo account until you really believe what you see. If you still find that you are having difficulties, this is probably because you don’t understand your trading strategy well enough. This is the case, take a course or study by yourself until the strategy is crystal clear in your mind.
Of course, trading with a demo account will give you confidence in signals, but it won’t deal with the psychological aspects of trading with real money. It’s easy to be confident and pull the trigger when there is nothing at stake, but fear and uncertainty kick in when your hard-earned cash is on the line. All that practice will have shown you that you can be a successful trader, so you now need to avoid anything that introduces doubts into your mind.
One of the things that destroys confidence is going over ‘mistakes’ that you think you have made. Hindsight is always 20/20 – if we could go back in time and redo our trades based on what happened subsequently, we would all be billionaires. Focus on future trading opportunities, not past failures. Also, don’t get rattled by individual losses – these are normal and nothing to be ashamed of, provided that you stuck to your trading plan. If you learn to accept losses and emotionally, you will be able to pull the trigger every time you should.
Editors’ Picks
EUR/USD holds positive ground above 1.0700, eyes on German CPI data
EUR/USD trades on a stronger note around 1.0710 during the early Monday. The weaker US Dollar below the 106.00 mark provides some support to the major pair. All eyes will be on the Federal Reserve monetary policy meeting on Wednesday, with no change in rate expected.
USD/JPY extends recovery after testing 155.00 on likely Japanese intervention
USD/JPY is recovering ground after crashing to 155.00 on what seemed like a Japanese FX intervention. The Yen tumbled in early trades amid news that Japan's PM lost 3 key seats in the by-election. Holiday-thinned trading exaggerates the USD/JPY price action.
Gold tests critical daily support line, will it defend?
Gold price is seeing a negative start to a new week on Monday, having booked a weekly loss. Gold price bears the brunt of resurgent US Dollar (USD) demand and a risk-on market mood amid Japanese holiday-thinned market conditions.
XRP plunges to $0.50, wipes out recent gains as Ripple community debates ETHgate impact
Ripple loses all gains from the past seven days, trading at $0.50 early on Monday. XRP holders have their eyes peeled for the Securities and Exchange Commission filing of opposition brief to Ripple’s motion to strike expert testimony.
Week ahead: FOMC and jobs data in sight
May kicks off with the Federal Open Market Committee meeting and will be one to watch, scheduled to make the airwaves on Wednesday. It’s pretty much a sealed deal for a no-change decision at this week’s meeting.
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