Top 5 Tips to Increase Your Profits in Trading
In this educational article, I will share with you very useful tips how to improve your profitability in trading the financial markets.
1. Decrease the number of financial instruments in your watch list. ⬇️
Remember that each individual instrument in your watch list requires attention. The more of them you monitor on a daily basics, the harder it is to keep focus on them.
In order to not miss early confirmation signals and triggers, it is highly recommendable to reduce the size of your watch list and pay closer attention to the remaining instruments.
2. Avoid taking too many positions. ❌
For some reason, newbie traders are convinced that they should constantly trade and keep many trading positions.
Firstly, I want to remind you that the management of an active position is a quite tedious process that requires time and attention.
Therefore, more positions are opened, more time and effort is required.
Secondly, if the newbies can not spot a good setup, they assume that they are obliged to open some positions and they start forcing the setups.
Remember, that in trading, the quality of the trading setup beats the quantity. I advise taking less trades, but the better ones.
3. Let winners run if the market is going in the desired direction. 📈
Once you caught a good trade and the market is moving where you predicted, do not let your emotions close the trade preliminary.
Try to get maximum from your trade, closing that only after the desired level is reached.
4. Open a trade after multiple confirmations.✅
Analyzing a certain setup remember, that more confirmations you spot, higher is the accuracy of the trade that you take. In order to increase your win rate, it is recommendable to wait for at least 2 confirmations.
5. Don't trade on your cellphone. 📱
A good trade always requires a sophisticated analysis that is impossible to execute on the small screen of the cellphone.
A lot of elements and nuances simply will not be noticed. For that reason, trade only from a computer with a wide screen.
Relying on these tips, you will substantially increase your profits.
Take them into the consideration and good luck to you in your trading journey.
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Tradingbasics
Where & How to Draw Strong Support and Resistance Lines & Zones
In this article, I will teach you how to draw support and resistance.
We will discuss support and resistance lines, levels, zones.
You will learn where and how to find it properly with simply technical analysis technique that works on forex, gold or any other financial market.
First, let me note that the most reliable time frame for support and resistance analysis is the daily . The structures that you will find there will be appropriate for day trading, scalping and swing trading.
Once you open a daily time frame, you should choose a correct perspective . Because this t.f lets you see the price action even for the past couple of years.
You need to see the market movement for the last 2 months . It is more than enough to identify the recent key levels.
Above is AUDUSD on a daily. We see the price history for 2 months.
In order to identify significant supports and resistances, simply find the levels - the highs and lows that the market respected in the past and from where important movements started.
These are all such highs and lows that meet the criteria.
When I do the support/resistance analysis, I prefer to perceive it as clusters - the zones , taking into consideration the candle closes as well.
A support zone will be based on the level of the critical low and the lowest closest candle close.
A resistance zone will be based on the level of the high and
the highest closest candle close.
Following such a rule, here are the zones that I identified.
All the clusters that are identified will be applied as trading zones.
Within the supports, we look for buying opportunities.
While the resistances will be used for selling .
Depending on your trading style, and you choose a proper signal before you execute the trade.
Execute support and resistance analysis with care and attention, because it is the absolute basis of any technical analysis strategy.
With incorrect key levels identification, even the best trading strategy will fail .
I hope that the method that I showed you will help you in your trading journey.
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Leverage Your Way to Trading SuccessGood morning traders!
Today we're breaking down one of the most powerful yet misunderstood concepts in trading - leverage and margin. Think of this like the gym; leverage is your workout equipment, allowing you to lift more than you could with just your body weight. Margin, on the other hand, is like your gym membership fee; it's what you pay to access that equipment.
Understanding Leverage and Margin
-Leverage: In trading, leverage is about using a small amount of capital to control a much larger position. It's like using a barbell - it amplifies your strength, but if you're not careful, you can hurt yourself.
-Margin: This is the initial deposit required to borrow the "barbell." It's your skin in the game, ensuring you don't just run off with the equipment without working out.
The Power of Leverage
-Amplified Returns: Just like lifting weights can give you bigger muscles faster, leverage can significantly increase your returns if the market moves in your favor.
-Access to Bigger Plays: With leverage, you can dive into opportunities that would otherwise be out of your financial reach, like taking on a much heavier weight than you could lift solo.
The Risks You Must Navigate
-Magnified Losses: Here's where the gym analogy gets real - if you drop that heavy barbell, you're going to feel it. In trading, leverage can make small losses big ones if the market goes against you.
-Margin Calls: If your account balance dips below the required level, it's like the gym calling you to say, "Hey, you need more money for that membership!" You either add funds or have to stop using the equipment (close positions).
-The Temptation to Overdo It: Just like in the gym, where you might want to lift too much too soon, in trading, leverage can tempt you to overtrade, leading to exhaustion or injury (financial losses).
How to Lift with Leverage Smartly
-Set Stop-Loss Orders: This is like having a spotter in the gym. Decide beforehand how much weight (loss) you can handle before you need help (exit the trade).
-Only Use What You Can Afford to Lose: Never work out with weights that could crush you if they fall. Only use leverage on money you're prepared to part with.
-Know Your Limits: Understand how much margin you need to keep your positions open without getting a surprise bill from the gym.
-Position Sizing: Start small, like beginning with lighter weights before moving to the heavy stuff. Even with leverage, manage your trade sizes wisely.
-Keep Educating Yourself: Just as you'd learn new exercises or techniques in the gym, keep learning about markets and trading strategies.
A Gym Session Example
Imagine you've got $1,000 to invest, but with leverage, it's like you're trading with $10,000. If the market moves up by 5%, you're not just making a small profit; you're looking at a 50% return on your initial investment. But if it drops by 5%, you're facing a 50% loss, which could knock you out of the gym if you're not ready.
Wrapping Up
Leverage and margin are like your gym gear - they can make you stronger but only if used correctly.
If you're struggling to understand this concept, send me a DM - more than happy to help. If this article helped you, please boost, share, and comment; I truly appreciate it.
Kris/Mindbloome Exchange
Trade What You See
THE TYPICAL WEEK OF A FULL-TIME TRADER
In this educational article, I will teach you how to properly plan your trading week.
And how a week of a full-time trader looks.
Sunday.
While the markets are closed , it is the best moment to prepare the charts for next week.
First of all, charts should be cleaned after the previous trading week: multiple setups and patterns become invalid or simply lose their significance and their stay on the charts will only distract.
Secondly, key levels: support and resistance, supply and demand zones and trend lines should be updated. Similarly to patterns, some key levels become invalid after a previous week, for that reason, structures should be reviewed .
Monday.
Analyze the market opening, go through your watch list and check the reaction of the markets.
Flag / mark the trading instruments that you should pay a close attention to. Set alerts and look for trading setups.
Tuesday. Wednesday. Thursday.
If you opened a trading position, keep managing that.
Pay attention to your active trades, go through your watch list and monitor new trading setups.
Friday.
Assess the entire trading week. Check the end result, journal your winning and losing trades. Work on mistakes.
Decide whether to keep holding the active position over the weekend or look for a way to exit the market before it closes.
Saturday .
Stay away from the charts. Meditate, relax and chill while the markets are closed.
Trading for more than 9-years, I found that such a plan is the optimal for successful full-time / part-time trading. Try to follow this schedule and let me know if it is convenient for you.
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Learn What is Confirmation Bias | Trading Psychology Basics
In this educational article, we will discuss one of the most common cognitive errors of newbie traders - a confirmation bias.
In order to better understand that term, I want to start with the example:
Let's say that after doing some research, you are highly convinced that Bitcoin is bullish and that it is a decent investment.
You decide to buy that from 90.000 level, expecting the exponential growth.
Instead of growing, however, the market starts falling rapidly.
Rather than closing your position in loss, you decide to do a new research and execute the analysis, you start looking for the proof of your pre-existing beliefs. You completely neglect the voices of Bitcoin sceptics and ignore bearish clues on the price chart.
You consider only the facts that support a bullish outloo k, not letting you accept the other point of view.
You become a victim of a confirmation bias.
Unfortunately, such a psychological trap frequently prevents a closing of a trading position in time, leading to substantial losses.
Confirmation bias is a common psychological error that makes a subject overvalue the information that upholds his existing beliefs and undervalue the opposing one.
Here are the most common symptoms of that trap:
1️⃣One is neglecting the objective facts.
2️⃣One is interpreting information in a way to support the existing beliefs.
3️⃣One is considering only the facts that conform with his point of view.
4️⃣One is completely ignoring the information that challenges his beliefs.
The only way to beat a confirmation bias in trading, is to learn to analyze the market from sellers' and from buyers' perspective . Your task is to compare the view of the 2 sides, and pick the one that is stronger, holding in mind the fact that everything can change.
You should always remember of the changing nature of financial markets and be ready to always reassess your views.
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How to Trade Christmas and New Year Winter Holidays
As the winter holidays are already around the corner, you should know exactly when to stop trading and close your trades, and when to resume.
In this article, you will learn how Christmas and New Year holidays affect the financial markets and I will share with you my trading schedule.
First, let's discuss how winter holidays influence the markets.
Winter holidays lead to a dramatic reduction in trading volumes.
Many traders and investors take vacations in that period.
Major financial institutions, banks, hedge funds often operate with reduced staffing and early closes or are completely close for holidays.
All these factors inevitably lead to the diminished trading activity.
Look at the schedule of official banking holidays in many countries.
Since Tuesday 24th, the banks are officially closed in Europe, UK, USA and so on.
But why should you care?
If you have free time, why can't you continue trading?
Even if you trade technical analysis, you should admit the fact the fundamentals are the main driver for significant price movements.
One of the major sources of high impact fundamentals is the economic news releases in the economic calendar.
Look at the economic calendar.
You can see that the last day of high impact news releases will be Friday, December 20th.
After that, the calendar is completely empty.
The absence of impactful fundamentals will inevitably make the markets stagnate, making trading very boring.
Above is the EURUSD price chart with ATR technical indicator (the one that measure the market volatility).
We see a clear drop in volatility during a winter holiday season.
You can behold a similar pattern on Gold chart.
With the big politicians taking vacations during the holidays season,
we tend to see the local easing of geological tensions accompanied by a lack of significant foreign and domestic policy actions and announcements.
That's the US congressional calendar.
There are no sessions since December 23rd.
But there is one more reason why you should not trade during winter holidays.
The absence of big players on the market will decrease the overall trading volumes - the liquidity.
Lower liquidity will unavoidably increase the bid/ask spreads.
The widened spreads will make trading more costly, especially if you are scalping or day trading.
And when should you resume trading?
It always depends on how actively the markets wake up after holidays.
The minimal starting day will be January 6th.
I usually do not trade this week and just watch how the markets starts moving.
I prefer to begin my trading year from Monday next week, the January 13th.
Holidays seasons will be the best period for you to do the back testing and learning.
Pick a trading strategy that you want to trade with in a new year and sacrifice your time to back test it on different instruments.
Learn important theory and various techniques, relax and prepare your self for a new trading season.
Have a great time, traders!
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Comparing Full Time Trading and Full Time Job
Hey traders,
In this educational article, we will compare full-time trading and full-time job .
THE MONEY
And I guess, the essential thing to start with is the money aspect.
Full-time job guarantees you a stable month-to-month income with the pre-arranged bonuses.
In contrast, trading does not give any guarantees. You never know whether a current trading month will be profitable or not.
Of course, the average annual earnings of a full-time trader are substantially higher than of an employee. However, you should realize the fact that some trading periods will be negative, some will be around breakeven and only some will be highly profitable.
Sick-leave & Vacations
In addition to a stable salary, a full time job usually offers a paid sick-leave and vacation , while being a full-time trader, no one will compensate you your leaves making the position of an employee much more sustainable.
Office
Being an employee, you usually work in an office with the fixed working hours . Taking into consideration that people often spend a quite substantial time to get to work and then to get home, a full-time job typically consumes at least 10 hours, not leaving a free-time.
In contrast, full-time traders are very flexible with their schedule .
Even though they often stick to a fixed working plan, they spend around 3-4 hours a day on trading. All the rest is their free time, that they can spend on whatever they want.
Moreover, traders are not tied to their working place. They can work from everywhere, the only thing that they need is their computer and internet connection.
No Boss
Traders normally work alone. The main advantage of that is the absence of a subordination . You are your own boss and you follow your own rules.
However, such a high level of freedom breeds a high level of personal responsibility . We should admit the fact that not every person can organize himself.
In addition to that, working alone implies that you are not building social connections and you don't have colleagues.
Being an employee, you are the part of a hierarchy . You usually have some subordinates, but you have a supervisor as well.
You are constantly among people, you build relationships, and you are never alone.
There is a common bias among people, that full time trading beats full time job in all the aspects. In these article, I was trying to show you that it is not the fact.
Both have important advantages and disadvantages . It is very important for you to completely realize them before you decide whether you want to trade full time or have a full time job.
Learn How to Avoid Margin Call in Trading
Hey traders,
In this educational article, I will share with you 5 simple tips that will help you not to blow your trading and avoid margin call.
1️⃣ Always Use Stop Loss.
Let's start with the obvious - with the stop loss order.
Never ever trade without that. Before you open your trade, plan in advance its placement, stick to it once the position becomes active and never remove it.
2️⃣ Manage Your Position Sizes
I know that most of you are trading with a fixed lot. That is a bad habit. You should measure the lot size for each trading position you take. You should define in advance the risk percentage you are willing to lose per trade and calculate the lot sizes for your trades accordingly, then.
3️⃣ Avoid Taking Too Many Positions
Remember that in trading, quantity does not imply quality. The more trades you take, the harder it is to manage each position individually. I would suggest opening maximum 5 trades per day and holding no more than 8 trades simultaneously.
4️⃣ Avoid Trading Too Many Markets
The wider is your watch list, the harder it is to focus on each individual element inside. Do not try to control as many markets as possible, instead, narrow your watch list and concentrate your attention on your favorite trading instruments.
5️⃣ Remember About Volatility
The more volatile is the market that you trade, the harder it is to trade it and the bigger stop losses you need to keep your positions safe. Remember, that the volatility is the double-edged sword. It can bring substantial profits, but it can also blow your entire account in a blink of an eye.
Following these 5 simple rules, you will make your trading much safer. Study them and add them in your trading plan.
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Learn Best Time Frames For Scalping Any Forex Pair
I am trading forex with top-down analysis for many years.
In this article, I will teach you powerful combinations of multiple time frames for scalping any currency pair.
For scalping financial markets with multiple time frame analysis, I recommend applying 3 time frames: 4H, 15 minutes and 5 minutes time frames.
4H time frame will be applied for trend and structure analysis.
On a 4H time frame, you should identify the direction of the market and significant supports and resistance.
Key supports in a bullish trend will be applied for buying the market.
While key resistances will be applied for counter trend trading.
Above is USDJPY chart, 4H time frame.
The trend is bullish and I have underlined important historical structures.
Key resistances in a bearish trend will be applied for selling the market.
While key supports will be applied for counter trend trading.
Look at a structure and trend analysis on EURUSD on a 4H time frame.
15 minutes and 5 minutes time frames will be applied for confirmation, entry signal and trade execution.
The logic is that once you identified key levels on a 4H time frame, you are patiently waiting for the test of one of these structures.
Once one of the key levels is tested, you start analyzing 15 minutes and 5 minutes time frame and look for a signal there.
What should be the signal?
It can be a specific candlestick pattern, price action pattern, some signal from a technical indicator or some other stuff.
Personally, I look for a price action pattern.
I am looking for a bearish price action pattern on a 4H resistance and a bullish price action pattern on a 4H support.
Look at GBPUSD. The pair is trading in a bearish trend on a 4H time frame, and it tests a key horizontal resistance.
On 15 minutes time frame, we see a strong bearish price action signal.
Head and shoulders pattern formation and a bearish breakout of its horizontal neckline.
That will be our strong scalping short signal.
If you sell the market in a bearish trend on a 4H from a key resistance, you can anticipate a bearish movement to the closest 4H support.
Look how nicely GBPUSD dropped after a strong bearish confirmation of 15 minutes time frame.
In that case, we did not apply 5 minutes time frame in our analysis,
keep reading and I will explain when we apply 5 minutes time frame for scalping.
Above is USDCAD. On a 4H time frame, I executed trend and structure analysis. We see a test of a key support in a bullish trend.
At the same time, no pattern is formed on 15 minutes time frame after a test of structure.
In such a situation, analyze 5 minutes time frame. If there is no pattern on 15m, probabilities will be high that the pattern will appear on 5m.
On 5 minutes time frame, the pair formed the ascending triangle formation. A bullish breakout of its neckline is a strong bullish signal and confirmation for us to buy.
If you buy the market in a bullish trend on a 4H from a key support, you can anticipate a bullish movement to the closest 4H resistance.
You can see that after our confirmed bullish signal, the price went up to Resistance 1.
Both trading opportunities that we discussed are trend following ones.
Remember that the trades that are taken against the trend are riskier and have lower accuracy.
For that reason, if you are a newbie trader, strictly trade with the trend!
Good luck in scalping with multiple time frame analysis!
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Fibonacci Retracements: Finding Key Levels the Easy WayIn this video, I’ll walk you through how I use Fibonacci retracements to spot those key pullback levels where price might bounce and keep trending. It all comes from an old-school math genius named Leonardo of Pisa (aka Fibonacci), but don’t worry – no crazy math here, just practical trading tools.
The main levels I focus on? 38.2%, 50%, and 61.8%. IF price holds at one of these levels, THEN it’s a good sign the trend could keep going. IF NOT, THEN I stay ready for a deeper pullback. Using this tool helps me stay ahead and manage trades with more confidence.
Your Turn:
Here’s a fun exercise – draw Fibonacci retracements on different timeframes, from the weekly all the way down to the 5-minute chart. Check how the levels overlap or line up. Those overlaps, or confluences, are where some of the best trades happen!
If this clicks with you, hit like, drop a comment, or follow – I’ll keep sharing more tips to help you crush the markets!
Mindbloome Trading
Trade What You See
Hidden Costs of Trading You Must Know
In this educational article, we will discuss the hidden costs of trading.
1 - Brokers' Commissions
Trading commission is the brokers' fee for opening a trading position.
Usually, it is calculated based on the size of the trade.
Though most of the traders believe that trading commissions are too low to even count them, the fact is that trading on consistent basis and opening a couple of trading positions weekly, the composite value of commissions may cut a substantial part of our profits.
2 - Education
Of course, most of the trading basics can be found on the Internet absolutely for free.
However, the more experienced you become, the harder it is to find the materials . So you typically should pay for the advanced training.
Moreover, there is no guarantee that the course/coaching that you purchase will improve your trading, quite often traders go through multiple courses/coaching programs before they become consistently profitable.
3 - Spreads
Spread is the difference between the sellers' and buyers' prices.
That difference must be compensated by a trader if one wished to open a trading position.
In highly liquid markets, the spreads are usually low and most of the traders ignore them.
However, being similar to commissions, spreads may cut the substantial part of the overall profits.
4 - Time
When you begin your trading journey, it is not possible to predict how much it will take to become a consistently profitable trader.
Moreover, there is no guarantee that you will become one.
One fact is true, you should spend a couple of years before you find a way to trade profitably, and as we know, the time is money. More time you sacrifice on trading, less time you have on something else.
5 - Swaps
Swap is the fee you pay for transferring a position overnight .
Swap is based on a difference between the interests rates of the currencies that are in a pair that you trade.
Occasionally, swaps can even be positive, and you can earn on holding such positions.
However, most of the time the swaps are negative and the longer you hold your trades, the more costly your trading becomes.
The brokers' commissions, spreads and swaps compose a substantial cost of our trading positions. Adding into the equation the expensive learning materials and time spent on practicing, trading becomes a very expensive game to play.
However, knowing in advance these hidden costs, the one can better prepare himself for a trading journey.
Never Trade Without Stop Loss!
Hey traders,
Talking to many struggling traders from different parts of the world, I realized that the majority constantly makes the same mistake : they do not set a stop loss .
Asking for the reason why they do that, the common answer is that
these traders consider the manual position closing to be safer, implying that if the market goes in the opposite direction, they will be able to much better track the exact moment to cut loss.
In this article, we will discuss why it is crucially important to set a stop loss and why it is the number one element of your trading position.
What is Stop Loss?
Let's discuss what is a stop loss . By a stop loss , we mean a certain price level where we close our trading position in loss. In comparison to a manual closing, the stop loss (preferably) should be set at the exact moment when the order is executed.
On the chart above, I have an active selling position on Gold.
My entry level is 2372, my stop loss is 2381.
It means that if the price goes up and reaches 2381 level, the position will automatically close in a loss.
Why Do You Need a Stop Loss?
Stop loss allows us limiting the risks in case of unfavorable movements .
On the chart above, I have illustrated 2 similar negative scenarios : 1 with a stop loss being placed and one without on USDJPY.
In the example on the left, stop loss helped to prevent the excessive risk , cutting the loss at the beginning of a bearish wave.
With the manual closing, however, traders usually hold the negative positions much longer , praying for a reversal.
Holding a losing trade, emotions intervene. Greed and fear usually spoil the reasoning, causing irrational decisions .
Following such a strategy, the total loss of the second scenario is 6 times bigger than the total loss with a placed stop loss order.
Always Set Stop Loss!
Stop loss defines the point where you become wrong in your predictions. Planning your trade, you should know in advance such a point and cut your loss once it is reached.
Never trade without a stop loss.
Beware of Trading on Public Holidays!
In this educational article, we will discuss why is it recommendable not to trade during the public holidays. I will explain to you how banking holidays affect the financial markets and how it may impact your trading.
WHY???
🏦 The main source of problems comes from the fact that the big market players like:
banks,
hedge funds
investing firms
are absent.
Similarly to ordinary people, bankers and investors prefer to spend the holidays with their relatives and friends instead of staring at charts on Holidays.
HOW???
But how does it affect the market?
Big players are the main source of the market liquidity.
The liquidity itself is the measure to which an asset can be quickly bought or sold in the market at a price of its quotes.
Therefore, when the big players are missing, the market liquidity drops.
WHAT???
1️⃣ That fact instantly reflects in the market spreads.
They become substantially bigger, directly increasing the costs of each trade and making it problematic to open a position at a desired price.
2️⃣ Secondly, low liquidity leads to a decrease in volatility.
The market becomes weak and indecisive.
As traders, we make the money on market moves. Our goal is to catch a bullish or a bearish wave. Their absence deprives us of profits or, at least, dramatically decreases them.
Look at a chart above, it is EURJPY on a 4H time frame. Look how weak and boring the pair was in US Independence Day - official US banking holiday.
And here is how weak and slow was Gold during US Independence Day on an hourly time frame .
3️⃣ Thirdly, when the liquidity is low, even small market participants can move the market.
It dramatically increases the probabilities of false signals. Relatively low trading volumes may manipulate the market, substantially decreasing the efficiency of technical and fundamental analysis.
Look at a density of false breakout on Dollar Index DXY on 15 minutes time frame the 19th of June - Juneteenth National Independence Day in US.
All these breakouts were the manipulations and false signals.
The increased costs of trading, low volatility and manipulations should have convinced you to stay from charts during the holidays season.
However, the main reason to not trade on holidays is much simpler.
Holidays give you an opportunity to stay with your family, to take a break, to recharge and relax. Even a part-time trading is very exhausting and requires a constant attention. Let yourself be distracted and return after holidays.
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Forex Trade Management Strategies. Techniques For Beginners
I am going to reveal 4 trade management strategies that will change the way you trade forex.
These simple techniques are aimed to minimize your losses and maximize your gains.
1. Trading Without Take Profit
Once you spotted the market that is trading in a strong bullish or bearish trend, there is one tip that will help you to benefit from the entire movement.
If the market is bullish, and you buy it expecting a bullish trend continuation, consider trading WITHOUT take profit.
Take a look at USDJPY on an hourly time frame.
The market is trading in the bullish trend, and we see a strong trend-following signal - a bullish breakout of a current resistance .
After the violation, the price went up by more than 1000 pips, and of course, trading with a fixed target, most likely you would close the trade too soon.
The same trade management strategy can be applied in a bearish trend.
Above is a price action on GBPUSD. The pair is very bearish, and we see a strong bearish signal on an hourly time frame.
The market dropped by more than 1000 pips then, and of course, trading with the fixed take profit, you would miss that bearish rally, closing the trade earlier.
Even though the trends do not last forever, the markets may easily fall or grow sharply for weeks or even months and this technique will help you to cash out from the entire movement.
2. Stop Loss to Breakeven
Once you open a trading position and the market starts going in the desired direction, there is a simple strategy that will help you to protect your position from a sudden reversal.
Above is the real trade that we took with my students in my trading academy. We spotted a very bearish pattern on USDCAD and opened short position.
Initially we were right, and the market was going to our target.
BUT because of the surprising release of negative Canadian fundamental news, the market reversed suddenly, not being able to reach the target.
And that could be a losing trade BUT we managed to save our money.
What we did: we moved our stop loss to entry level, or to breakeven, before the release of the fundamentals.
Trade was closed on entry level and we lost 0 dollars.
Moving stop loss to entry saved me tens of thousands of dollars.
It is one of the simplest trade management techniques that you must apply.
3. Trailing Stop Loss
Once you managed to catch a strong movement, do not keep your stop loss intact.
As we already discussed, your first step will be to protect your position and move your stop loss to entry.
But what you can do next, you can apply trailing stop loss.
Above is a trend-following trade that we took with my students on GBPCHF.
Once the market started moving in the desired direction, we moved stop loss to breakeven.
As the market kept setting new highs, we trailed the stop loss and set it below the supports based on new higher lows.
We kept trailing the stop loss till the market reached the target.
Application of a trailing stop will help you to protect your profits, in case of a sudden change in the market sentiment and reversal.
4. Partial Closing
The last tip can be applied for trading and investing.
Remember that once you correctly predicted a rally, you can book partial profits, once the price is approaching some important historical levels or ahead of important fundamental releases.
Imagine that you bought 1 Bitcoin for 17000$.
Once a bullish market started, you can sell the portion of your BTC, once the price reaches significant key levels.
For example, 0.2 BTC on each level.
With such trade management technique, you will book profits while remaining in your position.
Even though, these techniques are very simple, only the few apply them. Try these trade management strategies and increase your gains and avoid losses!
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How to Identify Candlestick Strength | Trading Basics
Hey traders,
In this educational article, we will discuss
Please, note that the concepts that will be covered in this article can be applied on any time frame, however, higher is the time frame, more trustworthy are the candles.
Also, remember, that each individual candle is assessed in relation to other candles on the chart.
There are three types of candles depending on its direction:
🟢 Bullish candle
Such a candle has a closing price higher than the opening price.
🔴 Bearish candle
Such a candle has a closing price lower than the opening price.
🟡 Neutral candle
Such a candle has equal or close to equal opening and closing price.
There are three categories of the strength of the candle.
Please, note, the measurement of the strength of the candle is applicable only to bullish/bearish candles.
Neutral candle has no strength by definition. It signifies the absolute equilibrium between buyers and sellers.
1️⃣ Strong candle
Strong bullish candle signifies strong buying volumes and dominance of buyers without sellers resistance.
Above, you can see the example of a strong bullish candle on NZDCHF on a 4H.
Strong bearish candle means significant selling volumes and high bearish pressure without buyers resistance.
On the chart above, you can see a song bearish candle on EURUSD.
Usually, a strong bullish/bearish candle has a relatively big body and tiny wicks.
2️⃣ Medium candle
Medium bullish candle signifies a dominance of buyers with a rising resistance of sellers.
You can see the sequence of medium bullish candles on EURJPY pair on a daily time frame.
Medium bearish candle means a prevailing strength of sellers with a growing pressure of bulls.
Above is the example of a sequence of medium bearish candles on AUDUSD pair.
Usually, a medium bullish/bearish candle has its range (based on a wick) 2 times bigger than the body of the candle.
3️⃣ Weak candle
Weak bullish candle signifies the exhaustion of buyers and a substantial resistance of sellers.
Weak bearish candle signifies the exhaustion of sellers and a considerable bullish pressure.
Usually, such a candle has a relatively small body and a big wick.
Above is the sequence of weak bullish and bearish candles on NZDCHF pair on an hourly time frame.
Knowing how to read the strength of the candlestick, one can quite accurately spot the initiate of new waves, market reversals and consolidations. Watch how the price acts, follow the candlesticks and try to spot the change of momentum by yourself.
Demo Account Will Not Make You a PRO TRADER
Hey traders,
In this article, we will discuss demo account trading .
We will discuss its importance for newbie traders and its flaws.
➕ Pros:
Demo account is the best tool to get familiar with the financial markets . It gives you instant access to hundreds of different financial instruments.
With a demo account, you can learn how the trading terminal works . You can execute the trading orders freely and get familiar with its types. You can get acquainted with leverage, spreads and volatility.
Trading on paper money, you do not incur any risks , while you can see the real impact of your actions on your account balance.
Demo account is the best instrument for developing and testing a trading strategy , not risking any penny.
The absence of risk makes demo trading absolutely stress-free.
➖ Cons:
The incurred losses have no real impact , not causing real emotions and pressure, which you always experience trading on a real account.
Your performance (positive or negative) does not influence your future decisions.
Real market conditions are tougher. Demo accounts execute the orders a bit differently than the real ones. That is clearly felt during the moments of high volatility, with the order slippage occurring less often and trade execution being longer.
Trading with paper money allows you to trade with the sums being unaffordable in a real life, misrepresenting your real potential gains and providing a false confidence in success.
Even though we spotted multiple negative elements of demo trading, I want you to realize that it still remains the essential part of your trading journey and one of the main training tools. You should spend as much time on demo trading as you need to build confidence in your actions, only then you can gradually switch to real account trading.
What is Support and Resistance in Trading. Key Levels Basics
In the today's article, we will discuss the absolute basics of technical analysis: support and resistance levels.
I will explain to you why support and resistance are important , how to identify them properly, and we will discuss what is the difference between support and resistance level and support or resistance zone.
Let's start with a definition of a support .
A support is a historically significant price level that lies below the current prices of an asset.
While a resistance is a historically significant price level that is above the current prices.
From a key resistance, a bearish movement will be anticipated in futures, while from a key support, a bullish reaction will be expected.
Take a look at EURAUD pair, we can see a perfect example of a key resistance level.
2 times in a row, the market dropped from that in the past, confirming its significance.
By a historical significance , I mean that the price reacted strongly to such price level in the past and a strong bullish, bearish movement initiated from that.
Above is the example of a key horizontal support on EURCHF. The underlined key level was respected by the market multiple times in the past.
From time to time, the market breaks key levels.
After a breakout , a support turns into resistance
and a resistance turns into support.
Above is the example of a breakout of a key support on GBPNZD, after its violation it turned into resistance from where a bearish movement followed.
Always remember, that in order to confirm a breakout of a key support, we strictly need a candle close below that.
By the way, the structure here is also the zone, but we will discuss it later on.
Above is the example of a breakout of a key resistance, that turned into support after a violation.
Very often, newbie traders ask me, how many times the price should react to a key level to make it valid.
I do believe that 1 time is more than enough, however, make sure that the reaction to that is strong .
Above are key support and resistance on GBPCAD. Even though both structures were respected just one time in the past, the reaction to them was strong enough to confirm that the underlined levels are the key levels.
However, historical significance of a key support or resistance is not enough to make it valid.
What matters is the most recent reaction of the price to that.
Key supports and resistance lose their significance with time, and your job as a technical analyst, is to stay flexible and adapt to changing market conditions, regularly updating your analysis.
Above is a key resistance level on AUDJPY from where the market dropped heavily 2 times in a row.
However, with time, the underlined resistance lost its significance.
Such a structure is not a key level anymore.
Remember a simple rule: if a key structure is not respected by the sellers, and by the buyers after its breakout.
Or vice versa: if a key structure is not respected by the buyers, and then by the sellers after its breakout.
Such a structure is not a key level , and you should not rely on that in the future.
In our example, the resistance was broken - it was neglected by the sellers. After the breakout, it should have turned into support, but the buyers also neglected that and the structure lost its strength.
Now, a couple of words about time frames,
you can identify key support and resistances on any time frame, but
the rule is that higher is the time frame, more significant are the supports and resistances there.
In my analysis, I primarily rely on support and resistance on a daily time frame.
Always remember that the financial markets are not perfect and the prices will quite rarely respect the exact support or resistance levels.
Quite often, the markets may fluctuate around key levels so it is highly recommendable to rely not on single key levels but on zones.
I recommend taking into consideration not only the exact level from where a strong reaction followed, but also a candle close level of such a candle.
The support zone above is based on a wick and a candle close of a candle.
Also, quite often there will be the situations when multiple key levels will lie close to each other.
In such a case, it is better to unite all this structures in one single zone.
Above we see multiple key resistances.
We will unite all these resistances into one single zone. The upper boundary of a resistance zone will be the highest wick and its lower boundary will be the highest candle close.
Above we have 2 key supports lying close to each other.
We will unite these supports into one single zone.
The lower boundary of a support zone will be the lowest wick and the upper boundary will be the lowest candle close.
Here is how a complete structure analysis should look.
Following the rules that we discussed, you should identify at least 2 closest key resistances and 2 closest key supports.
These structures will be applied as the entries for various trading strategies.
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Profitable Triangle Trading Strategy Explained
Descending triangle formation is a classic reversal pattern . It signifies the weakness of buyers in a bullish trend and bearish accumulation .
In this article, I will teach you how to trade descending triangle pattern. I will explain how to identify the pattern properly and share my trading strategy.
⭐️ The pattern has a very peculiar price action structure :
1. Trading in a bullish trend, the price sets a higher high and retraces setting a higher low .
2. Then the market starts growing again but does not manage to set a new high, setting a lower high instead.
3. Then the price drops again perfectly respecting the level of the last higher low, setting an equal low .
4. After that, one more bullish movement and one more consequent lower high , bearish move, and equal low .
Based on the last three highs , a trend line can be drawn.
Based on the equal lows , a horizontal neckline is spotted.
❗What is peculiar about such price action is the fact that a set of lower highs signifies a weakening bullish momentum : fewer and fewer buyers are willing to buy from horizontal support based on equal lows.
🔔 Such price action is called a bearish accumulation .
Once the pattern is formed it is still not a trend reversal signal though. Remember that the price may set many lower highs and equal lows within the pattern.
The trigger that is applied to confirm a trend reversal is a bearish breakout of the neckline of the pattern.
📉Then a short position can be opened.
For conservative trading, a retest entry is suggested.
Safest stop is lying at least above the level of the last lower high.
However, in case the levels of the lower highs are almost equal it is highly recommendable to set a stop loss above them all.
🎯For targets look for the closest strong structure support.
Below, you can see the example of a descending triangle trade that I took on NZDCAD pair.
After I spotted the formation of the pattern, I was patiently waiting for a breakout of its neckline.
After a breakout, I set a sell limit order on a retest.
Stop loss above the last lower high.
TP - the closest key support.
90 pips of pure profit made.
Learn to identify and trade descending triangle. It is one of the most accurate price action patterns every trader should know.
Exploring Trading Basics: Expert Tips for New TradersWelcome to the thrilling world of trading, future market experts! If you’re stepping into this arena for the first time, it’s natural to feel both excited and a little overwhelmed. No worries — we’ve set up this nice value-packed TradingView Idea to make you feel at home. Read on for practical tips that will help you kick off your trading journey to a strong start. Ready, set, go? Let’s roll!
1. Get Yourself Familiarized
Action Step : Your first step as a fresh trader is to familiarize yourself with the market fundamentals. Start by getting a solid grasp of basic market concepts. Learn about different asset classes like stocks , forex , or crypto .
Understand how they work and what news or events influence prices across the board (spoiler: if you’re looking at the bigger picture and keep it high level, there aren’t too many things to consider — check the Economic Calendar Related Idea below). Spend an hour or two each week reading about market fundamentals. Knowledge of these basics will make you more confident in your trading approach and also help you see where you feel most comfortable putting your money. And don't forget about the trading psychology part .
2. Set Clear, Achievable Goals
Action Step : Write down your trading goals and stick them somewhere you can see them. Aim for specific, measurable targets like “Hit a 2% monthly return” or “Learn a new trading strategy weekly.” This keeps your efforts focused and on track.
But don’t stop there. Keep revisiting, updating, and refining your trading goals. Think of them as your compass or map that you need to follow in order to get where you want. In contrast, not having a goal or goals might throw you out in the open where you wander without a clear path or direction.
3. Stick to Your Budget
Action Step: Decide on your total trading capital and how much you’re willing to risk per trade. Use the 1-2% rule: never risk more than 1% or 2% of your total capital on a single trade. This will help you protect your account from total wipeout.
It’s easy to get swayed by some massive move in the market (yes, we know about Bitcoin BTC/USD ), but catching these waves is rarely an easy game. The better you are at sticking to a healthy level of risk exposure, the better your chances to stay in the game for as long as possible.
4. Stay Updated with Market News
Action Step : Dedicate 15 minutes each morning to checking financial news. Keeping tabs on major economic reports and events will give you an understanding of what investors regard as important so you can add it to your agenda too.
We’ve set up a nice and easygoing Top stories news stream that serves you only top-tier market-moving scoops, published daily and updated in real time. Make sure to frequent them so you can raise your level of knowing what’s happening in the markets.
5. Keep a Trading Journal
Action Step : For every trade, jot down the details in a journal. Include entry and exit points, your reasons for the trade, and the outcome. Review your journal weekly to identify patterns and areas for improvement.
If you want to get an even more precise look at your trading performance, add more columns to it and include prospect trades, or a watchlist of positions you’re interested in. Mark your monthly performance, year-to-date returns, and even how much you paid in commissions.
6. Start Small and Scale Up
Action Step : Begin with small trades to minimize risk while you’re learning. For example, if you have $1,000, start with trades of $50-$100 and keep your stop tight around the 2% mark. That way, you’ll gain experience and see how you feel when you have an open trade.
Leave a trade overnight, watch it actively or let it run for a few days (provided you use a stop loss , more on it in the Stop Loss Related Idea below) — all these will help you ease into smoother trading and build better confidence. After that, you can gradually increase your trade size for bigger profits. And — most importantly — don’t rush it. The markets will be there tomorrow; but will you?
7. Use Stop-Loss Orders
Action Step : Always set a stop-loss order when placing a trade. For instance, if you buy a stock at $100, set a stop-loss at $95. This means your position will be automatically sold if the price drops to $95, limiting your loss to $5 per share.
The use of stop-loss orders, or simply stop losses, can’t be emphasized enough. No matter how confident you are on a trade, how much conviction you have to go big, always think of the downside, or how much you’re willing to lose.
8. Join a Trading Community
Action Step : If you’re reading this, then you’ve already nailed this step. TradingView is the world’s largest finance, markets, and charting platform, boasting more than 60 million monthly visitors — one big, big community .
This is the place where traders share tips and strategies, show off their charts, discoveries, patterns, price targets, and trading ideas. So, stick around, engage, ask questions, and learn from the experiences of others.
9. Diversify Your Portfolio
Action Step : Spread your investments across different sectors and asset classes. Don’t just buy big tech stocks ; consider some auto companies as well or the volatile corner of cryptocurrencies.
Diversifying your portfolio (learn about it in the Diversification Related Idea below) will help you balance your risk, ideally without reducing the potential for returns. You don’t have to go all-in on a trade and YOLO your entire life savings into a Solana meme coin. Think of the long term and tread carefully. Sometimes, you’re as good as your last trade.
10. Continuously Improve Your Skills
Action Step : Dedicate time each week to learning something new about trading. Watch educational videos , read books, or dive into financial podcasts where big market events get broken down or where traders and investors share their experience and what made them successful.
The markets renew each day, never resting, never ceasing to oscillate and presenting new trading opportunities. Always learn, never get complacent, and keep striving for more!
Share Your Thoughts!
So there you have it, folks! With these practical, actionable tips, you’re ready to jump into the trading game with some added confidence. Remember, every pro was once a newbie. Stay cool, stay informed, and most importantly, have fun with it (but also be smart). Happy trading! 🚀📈
How to Apply a Position Size Calculator in Forex Trading
In this educational article, I will teach you how to apply a position size calculator in Forex and calculate a lot size for your trades depending on a desired risk .
Why do you need a position size calculator?
Even though, most of the newbie traders trade with the fixed lot , the truth is that fixed lot trading is considered to be very risky .
Depending on the trading instrument, time frame and a desired stop loss, the risks from one trade to another are constantly floating .
With the constant fluctuations of losses per trade, it is very complicated to control your risks and drawdowns.
A lot size calculation , however, allows you to risk the desired percentage of your capital per trade , limiting the maximum you can potentially lose.
A lot size is calculated with a position size calculator .
How to Measure Lot Size for Trades?
Let's measure a lot size for the following trade on EURUSD.
Step 1:
Measure a pip value of your stop loss.
It is the distance from your entry level to your stop loss level.
In the example on the picture, the stop loss is 35 pips.
Step 2:
Open a position size calculator
Step 3:
Fill the form.
Inputs: Account currency, account balance, desired risk %, stop loss in pips, currency pair.
Let's say that we are trading with USD account.
Its balance is $10000.
The risk for this trade is 1%.
Step 4:
Calculate a lot size.
The system will calculate a lot size for your trade.
0.28 standard lot in our example.
Taking a trade on EURUSD with $10000 deposit and 35 pips stop loss , you will need 0.28 lot size to risk 1% of your trading account.
Learn to apply a position size calculator. That is the must-use tool for a proper risk management.
Do Not Overwhelm Your Price Chart!
In this article, we will discuss a very important term in trading psychology - paralysis by analysis in trading.
Paralysis by analysis occurs when the trader is overwhelmed by a complexity of the data that he is working with. Most of the time, it happens when one is relying on wide spectra of non correlated metrics. That can be various trading indicators, different news outlets and analytical articles and multiple technical tools.
Relying on such a mixed basket, one will inevitably be stuck with the contradictory data.
For example, the technical indicators may show very bearish clues while the fundamental data is very bullish. Or it can be even worse, when the traders have dozens of indicators on his chart and half of them dictates to open a long position, while another half dictates to sell.
Above, you can see an example of a EURUSD price chart that is overwhelmed by
various technical indicators: Ichimoku, MA, Volume, ATR
support and resistance levels
fundamental data
As a result, the one becomes paralyzed , not being able to make a decision. Moreover, each attempt to comprehend the data leads to deeper and deeper overthinking, driving into a vicious circle.
The paralysis breeds the inaction that necessarily means the missed trading opportunities and profits.
How to deal with that?
The best option is to limit the number of data sources used for a decision-making. The rule here is simple - the fewer indicators you use, the easier it is to make a decision.
EURUSD chart that we discussed earlier can look much better. Removing a bunch of tools will make the analysis easier and more accurate.
There is a common fallacy among traders, that complexity breeds the profit. With so many years of trading, I realized, however, that the opposite is true...
Keep the things simple, and you will be impressed how accurate your predictions will become.
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RSI Indicator LIES! Untold Truth About RSI!
The Relative Strength Index (RSI) is a classic technical indicator that is applied to identify the overbought and oversold states of the market.
While the RSI looks simple to use, there is one important element in it that many traders forget about: it's a lagging indicator.
This means it reacts to past price movements rather than predicting future ones. This inherent lag can sometimes mislead traders, particularly when the markets are volatile or trade in a strong bullish/bearish trend.
In this article, we will discuss the situations when RSI indicator will lie to you. We will go through the instances when the indicator should not be relied and not used on, and I will explain to you the best strategy to apply RSI.
Relative Strength Index analyzes the price movements over a specific time period and displays a score between 0 and 100.
Generally, an RSI above 70 suggests an overbought condition, while an RSI below 30 suggests an oversold condition.
By itself, the overbought and overbought conditions give poor signals, simply because the market may remain in these conditions for a substantial period of time.
Take a look at a price action on GBPCHF. After the indicator showed the oversold condition, the pair dropped 150 pips lower before the reversal initiated.
So as an extra confirmation , traders prefer to look for RSI divergence - the situation when the price action and indicator move in the opposite direction.
Above is the example of RSI divergence: Crude Oil formed a sequence of higher highs, while the indicator formed a higher high with a consequent lower high. That confirmed the overbought state of the market, and a bearish reversal followed.
However, only few knows that even a divergence will provide accurate signals only in some particular instances.
When you identified RSI divergence, make sure that it happened after a test of an important key level.
Historical structures increase the probability that the RSI divergence will accurately indicate the reversal.
Above is the example how RSI divergence gave a false signal on USDCAD.
However, the divergence that followed after a test of a key level, gave a strong bearish signal.
There are much better situations when RSI can be applied, but we will discuss later on, for now, the main conclusion is that
RSI Divergence beyond key levels most of the time will provide low accuracy signals.
But there is one particular case, when RSI divergence will give the worst, the most terrible signal.
In very rare situations, the market may trade in a strong bullish trend, in the uncharted territory, where there are no historical price levels.
In such cases, RSI bullish divergence will constantly lie , making retail traders short constantly and lose their money.
Here is what happens with Gold on a daily.
The market is trading in the uncharted territory, updated the All-Time Highs daily.
Even though there is a clear overbought state and a divergence,
the market keeps growing.
Only few knows, however, that even though RSI is considered to be a reversal, counter trend indicator, it can be applied for trend following trading.
On a daily time frame, after the price sets a new high, wait for a pullback to a key horizontal support.
Your bullish signal, will be a bearish divergence on an hourly time frame.
Here is how the price retested a support based on a previous ATH on Gold. After it approached a broken structure, we see a confirmed bearish divergence.
That gives a perfect trend-following signal to buy the market.
A strong bullish rally followed then.
RSI indicator is a very powerful tool, that many traders apply incorrectly.
When the market is trading in a strong trend, this indicator can be perfectly applied for following the trend, not going against that.
I hope that the cases that I described will help you not lose money, trading with Relative Strength Index.
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The Wisdom of Pro Traders vs. Newbie Naivety
Hey traders,
In this article, we will discuss the perception of trading by individuals .
We will compare the vision of a professional trader and a beginner - trading vs gambling.
Most of the people perceive trading performance incorrectly. There is a common fallacy among them that win rate is the only true indicator of the efficiency of a trading strategy.
Moreover, newbies are searching for a strategy producing close to 100% accuracy.
Such a mindset determines their expectations.
Especially it feels, when I share a wrong forecast in my telegram channel.
It immediately triggers resentment and negative reactions.
Talking to these people personally and asking them about the reasons of their indignation, the common answer is: "If you are a pro, you can not be wrong".
The truth is that the reality is absolutely different. Opening any position or making a forecast, a pro trader always realizes that there is no guarantee that the market will act as predicted.
Pro trader admits that he deals with probabilities , and he is ready to take losses . He realizes that he may have negative trading days, even weeks and months, but at the end of the day his overall performance will be positive.
Remember, that your success in trading is determined by your expectations and perception. Admit the reality of trading, set correct goals, and you will take losses more easily.
I wish you luck and courage on a battlefield.