Get started

Tradingbasics

What Every Trader Should Know About Margin Margin can be a powerful tool to leverage your investment returns or to finance purchases apart from your portfolio. Margin is an extension of credit from a brokerage firm using your own eligible securities as collateral. Most traders typically use margin as a means to purchase additional securities, but there are other uses too. Interest is charged on the borrowed funds for the period of time that the loan is outstanding. Benefits of a Margin Trading Account: Use the cash or securities in your account as leverage to increase your buying power. Get the lowest market margin loan interest rates of any broker. Diversify trading strategies with short selling, options and futures contracts, or currency trading. Borrow against a margin account at any time and repay the loan on your own schedule. Margin borrowing is only for experienced investors with high risk tolerance. You may lose more than your initial investment. Before trading on margin, understand the following risks: Trading losses may be greater than the value of the initial investment Leveraged investments create a greater potential risk of loss Additional costs from margin interest charges Potential margin calls or liquidation of securities Hey traders, let me know what subject do you want to dive in in the next post?
OANDA:XAUUSDEducation
by TopTradingSignals
14
Cognitive Biases in Forex Trading This article explores the cognitive biases in forex trading. The biases discussed in this article can play a significant role in any form of speculative trading and investing, not just forex trading. A cognitive bias is a systematic flaw in how we think. Cognitive biases are present in every decision we face. Anchoring Bias. People rely too much on reference points from the past when making a decision for the future - they are "anchored" to the past. Loss Aversion. This is when people go to great lengths to avoid losses because the pain of loss is twice as impactful as the pleasure received from a win. Confirmation Bias. The confirmation trap is when traders seek out information that validates their opinions and ignore any theories that invalidate them. Superiority Trap. Many traders in the past have lost large sums of money simply because they have fallen prey to the mentality of overconfidence. Herding. Many traders in the past have lost large sums of money simply because they have fallen prey to the mentality of overconfidence. Pay close attention to your decision making to spot the fallacies. What do you want to learn in the next post?
OANDA:XAUUSDEducation
by UnitedSignals
12
HOW TO USE TECHNICAL INDICATORS TO MAKE PROFITS IN TRADING Always combine technical analysis with fundamental analysis Successful traders always combine the two types of analysis. This is because technical analysis tends to focus on the past events and fundamental analysis focuses on the present and future issues. In addition, there are certain situations where technical analysis will not provide adequate solutions. For instance, technical indicators are not programmed to predict the outcome. In such situations, it is important to rely on fundamental analysis and avoid the market because no one knows the exact number and how the market will react. Understand the indicators It is also important to understand the indicators to use. Different one have different ways of analysis. It is important for you to take time to learn these indicators and how they should set up. There are many learning materials which one can use to learn how the indicators work. I recommend that you take at least 2 months to learn the indicators using a demo account before using real money. Use Few Indicators As stated before, many traders make the sad mistake of using very many indicators at a go. Always remember that two is a company, three is a crowd. Traders who use more than two indicators at a go make mistakes because of poor visibility and poor market data interpretation. Therefore, I recommend that you use at most 2 indicators per trade. Patience In day trading, patience is an important aspect without which no trader can make it. In fact, some indicators are usually require more time before their predictions can come true. Following these tips, your indicator-trading will go to the next level. Do you agree with all these tips? Hey traders, let me know what subject do you want to dive in in the next post?
OANDA:XAUUSDEducation
by TopTradingSignals
11
Gambler's Vision VS Pro Trader's Vision 👁 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. The fact is, that 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 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. ❤️If you have any questions, please, ask me in the comment section. Please, support my work with like, thank you!❤️
Education
by VasilyTrader
7
10 Important Tips & Tricks To Improve Trading Skills In this article, we will discuss ten important tips and tricks that can enable you to improve your trading skills. A trading plan is a must Once you have tested the plan developed and it shows good results, that is the time to go full throttle investing in the stock market. Do not lose confidence Be a learner Be a learner and practice trading as a new entrant, even if it has been decades of trading for you. Look at trading as a classroom with much to offer and to be taken one thing at a time. Don't fall for rumours Treat it like a Business It is serious business here and requires precision, patience, commitment, in-depth analysis and cold-blooded research. A stop-loss is essential Have technology at your side Trader must be up-to-date on the happenings in the trading world and use technology to know about stock movements, new products, new trading schemes and pre-empt market movements. Defend your trading capital Take risks that you can afford It enables you to plan well and not overexpose yourself to the risks in share market trading. Be open to new strategies Never in trading should there be a time that you follow a trading plan that is outdated or rigid to change. What do you want to learn in the next post?
OANDA:XAUUSDEducation
by UnitedSignals
8
What is margin trading & How does it work? Margin trading is when you pay only a certain percentage, or margin, of your investment cost, while borrowing the rest of the money you need from your broker. Margin trading allows you to profit from the price fluctuations of assets that otherwise you wouldn’t be able to afford. Note that trading on margin can improve gains, but increases the risk and size of any potential losses. But what is the margin in trading? There are two types of margins traders should be aware of. The money you need to open a position is your required margin. It’s defined by the amount of leverage you are using, which is represented in a leverage ratio. There are also limits on keeping a margin trade running, which is based on your overall maintenance margin – the amount that needs to be covered by equity (overall account value). Brokers require you to cover your margin by equity to mitigate risk. If you don’t have enough money to cover potential losses, you may be put on a margin call, where brokers would ask you to top up your account or close your loss-making trades. If your trading position continues to worsen you will face a margin closeout. Hey traders, let me know what subject do you want to dive in in the next post?
OANDA:XAUUSDEducation
by TopTradingSignals
6
The path to becoming a good trader When a beginner learns to trade, they progress through stages as they develop their mindset. The most commonly used learning model for trading is an adaptation of the 3 stages of competence model. 1. Unprofitable trader This is the first stage that a trader goes through and they do not know that they have a lack of knowledge. In this stage, beginner traders will take their first few steps by downloading a platform, opening an account and begin to place trades. However, they are influenced by emotion – usually lured by the thought of making a great deal of money in a short period of time. Either one of two things are likely to happen for traders in this stage: The trades turns against the trader immediately. They simply lack the experience to deal with the market environment. New traders take large risks without a basic knowledge of risk management and they wipe out all previous profits and more. 2. Boom and bust trader Boom and bust traders will realise that successful trading comes down to the psychology of the trader and their approach to the markets. A basic understanding that you will never be able to predict what will happen in the markets, starts to form. You begin to realise that making money is based on a series of trades that incorporate winners and losers, and that it takes discipline to stick to a system, cut losses short and let profits run. A trader in this stage will begin to enter and exit the markets whenever their system tells them to, without judgement and despite the emotion they are feeling. 3. Profitable trader A trader is said to have reached the stage of unconscious competence once they have traded with so much practice that they are able to trade in an almost automatic mindset. A disciplined approach requires very little effort and has become second nature. At what stage are you at the moment?
OANDA:XAUUSDEducation
by UnitedSignals
7
How to Blow Your Account | Step-By-Step Guide 💰 to 🪙 Hey traders, In this article, we will discuss the set of actions, habits and beliefs that will blow your account. 1. Trades are based on emotional decisions Behind each trading position must be a reason. The entry reason of a professional trader is based on a very strict and objective conditions, while an unprofitable trader follows emotions and intuition. 2. Stop loss placement is for losers A lot of traders consistently neglect placing a stop loss. Remember, just one single trade without that may blow your entire account. 3. Set unrealistic goals There is a common misconception concerning trading: that the equity size is not proportional to potential gains. Such a reasoning leads to various false conclusions. One who is trading with 100$ account and expecting to buy lambo, will inevitably blow the account. 4. No time for trade journaling Why to even bother yourself with trade journaling?! It is just waste of time. Remember, that trading journal is one of that best tools for learning. Constantly assessing your past decisions, you identify the flaws of your strategy and fix that, increasing your future gains. 5. Trading plan is for fools I know a lot of traders who trade without a plan. Remember, that the trading plan is your roadmap. Without that, it is impossible to become a consistently profitable trader. 6. Blindly following other's view While you are learning how to trade, your task is to learn the reasoning behind the trades of the pro's in the industry. Following them without reflections, you are not learning and, moreover, you are becoming dependent. Losing, you put the responsibility on their shoulders instead of yours. Such an approach will lead you to failure. Learn to become responsible in your trading decisions and execute your own analysis before you follow any other trader. 7. Who needs economic data As we discussed many times, fundamentals are the driver of the market. Neglecting the trends and global situation, not studying the news, you will unavoidably be fooled by the market. 8. Indicators are the magic pill I know a lot of traders, who spend thousands of dollars looking for a magic indicator - the instrument that will make tons of money. The fact is that indicators are just a tool in your toolbox. Its goal is to provide some minor additional clues to your analysis. Overestimating the importance of indicators, you will most likely blow your account. 9. Not investing in education Many traders are spending their money not on education but on fancy tools, signal services, robots and indicators. However, the fact is that only knowledge gives freedom, only skills can make you independent. 10. Back testing is pointless Trying different strategies, many traders intentionally skip the back testing part. Remember, that back testing is the most proven way to verify the efficiency of a strategy, allowing you to save time and money simultaneously. 11. Paper trading does not make any sense Same thing with paper trading. For some reason, the majority of the traders skip demo trading, quickly opening a real account. However, the fact is that demo trading is the best, risk-free tool for learning how the market works. Unfortunately, these 11 fallacies and misconceptions are very common. Analyze your trading and make sure that you are not making these classic mistakes. What would you add in that list? ❤️If you have any questions, please, ask me in the comment section. Please, support my work with like, thank you!❤️
Education
by VasilyTrader
55
WHAT ARE GAPS? TRIGGERS AND TIPS TO SPOT & TRADE THEM Gaps are important parts of the financial market, especially in stocks and currencies. They happen when an asset opens at a significantly lower or higher price than where it closed at. Gap is a situation where a currency or any other asset opens sharply lower or higher than where it closed the previous day. Such a gap happens when there is a major event or news when the markets are closed. It usually represents an area where there is no trading taking place. There are three main scenarios that happen after a gap in the market forms. First, an asset price can continue moving in the direction of the gap. For example, when a bullish gap forms, an asset’s price can continue with that trend. Second, a gap can be filled within a few days or months. Finally, a gap can be followed by a long period of consolidation as traders focus on the next major moves. In all these, it is always good to focus on the asset’s volume. The most common strategy of gap trading is when you decide to enter a trade in the opposite direction of the gap. In this case, you will be betting that the asset will reverse after forming a gap. Ideally, one way of doing this is to check the trends of volume after the gap happens. Still, the risk of doing this is that the asset will either consolidate or resume the gap trend.
OANDA:XAUUSDEducation
by UnitedSignals
4
Learn Paralysis By Analysis | Trading Psychology Hey traders, In this article, we will discuss a very important term in trading psychology - paralysis by analysis. 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. 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. 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. ❤️If you have any questions, please, ask me in the comment section. Please, support my work with like, thank you!❤️
OANDA:XAUUSDEducation
by VasilyTrader
16
Mastering and Understanding Candlesticks Patterns An overview of Candlesticks A candle represents the changes in price over an interval of time, such as 1 day or 1 minute. The main body of the candle illustrates the opening price at the start of the time interval and the price when the market closed at the end of the interval. The length of the shadows shows how much the price has moved up and down with respect to a candlestick within a specific duration. The candlestick body describes the difference between the opening and closing prices for the corresponding time period. THe market is a battleftield between buyers and sellers. If one side is stronger than the other, the financial markets will see the following trends emerging: If there are more buyers than sellers, or more buying interest than selling interest, the buyers do not have anyone they can buy from. The prices then increase until the price becomes so high that the sellers once again find it attractive to get involved. At the same time, the price is eventually too high for the buyers to keep buying. However, if there are more sellers than buyers, prices will fall until a balance is restored and more buyers enter the market. The greater the imbalance between these two market players, the faster the movement of the market in one direction. However, if there is only a slight overhang, prices tend to change more slowly. When the buying and selling interests are in equilibrium, there is no reason for the price to change. Both parties are satisfied with the current price and there is a market balance. Analysis aims at comparing the strength ratio of the two sides to evaluate which market players are stronger and in which direction the price is, therefore, more likely to move.
OANDA:XAUUSDEducation
by TopTradingSignals
12
Fundamental Analysis in Forex Trading Economic indicators and announcements are an essential part of fundamental analysis. Even if you’re not planning on finding trades using fundamentals, it’s a good idea to pay attention to how the overall economy is performing. Here’s a cheat sheet covering six key indicators and announcements to watch out for. 1. Non-farm payrolls (NFP) The non-farm payrolls report estimates the net number of jobs gained in the US in the previous month – excluding those in farms, private households and non-profit organisations. 2. Consumer price index (CPI) The chief measure of inflation is the consumer price index, which measures the changing prices of a group of consumer goods and services. 3. Central bank meetings As we’ve seen, most traders follow economic figures so they can anticipate what a central bank might do next. So, it only makes sense that we pay attention to what happens when they actually meet and make decisions. 4. Consumer and business sentiment reports Multiple organisations are constantly surveying consumers and business leaders to create sentiment reports. While the number of reports they produce is staggering, they all play their part in shaping the markets’ expectation for the future. 5. Purchasing manager index (PMI) Purchasing manager indices measure the prevailing direction of economic trends in a given industry, according to the view of its purchasing managers. They are used as an indicator of the overall health of a sector. Pay close attention to these fundamentals. They play a crutial role in trading.
OANDA:XAUUSDEducation
by UnitedSignals
12
Candlestick Analysis - A Classic Way Of Using Candlesticks An overview of Candlesticks A candle represents the changes in price over an interval of time, such as 1 day or 1 minute. The main body of the candle illustrates the opening price at the start of the time interval and the price when the market closed at the end of the interval. The head and tail represent the highest and lowest prices during the interval. If the price closed at a price above the opening price, then the candle is referred to as a 'bullish' candle and if the price closed below the opening price, then the candle is referred to as a 'bearish' candle. The length of the shadows shows how much the price has moved up and down with respect to a candlestick within a specific duration. The size of the candlestick body shows the difference between the opening and closing price and it tells us a lot about the strength of buyers or sellers. Below, the most important characteristics of the analysis of the candlestick body are listed. A long candlestick body, that leads to quickly rising prices, indicates more buying interest and a strong price move. If the size of the candlestick bodies increases over a period, then the price trend accelerates and a trend is intensified. When the size of the bodies shrinks, this can mean that a prevailing trend comes to an end, owing to an increasingly balanced strength ratio between the buyers and the sellers. Candlestick bodies that remain constant confirm a stable trend. If the market suddenly shifts from long rising candlesticks to long falling candlesticks, it indicates a sudden change in trend and highlights strong market forces.
OANDA:XAUUSDEducation
by TopTradingSignals
9
The 12 Days of Effective Trading Learning Hey traders, In this article, we gathered for you 1 2-days intensive trading learning marathon. We hope that it will help. 1 Day: Practice placing support and resistance lines. 2 Day: Perfect placing trend lines. 3 Day: Study candlestick patterns. 4 Day: Review chart patterns. 5 Day: Practice placing fibonacci retracements. 6 Day: Learn about moving average. 7 Day: Master market structure. 8 Day: Watch videos on momentum oscillators. 9 Day: Learn about divergence. 10 Day: Study risk managment. 11 Day: Review fundamental literature. 12 Day: Create a trading plan. Let us know if such a marathon helped you in your journey.
OANDA:XAUUSDEducation
by UnitedSignals
9
PSYCHOLOGY OF A TRADER | TRADING BASICS Market psychology is the idea that the movements of a market reflect (or are influenced by) the emotional state of its participants. It is one of the main topics of behavioral economics - an interdisciplinary field that investigates the various factors that precede economic decisions. Many believe that emotions are the main driving force behind the shifts of financial markets. And that the overall fluctuating investor sentiment is what creates the so-called psychological market cycles. So, the sentiment is made up of the individual views and feelings of all traders and investors within a financial market. Another way to look at it is as an average of the overall feeling of the market participants. But, just as with any group, no single opinion is completely dominant. Based on market psychology theories, an asset's price tends to change constantly in response to the overall market sentiment - which is also dynamic. Otherwise, it would be much harder to make a successful trade. In practice, when the market goes up, it is likely due to an improving attitude and confidence among the traders. A positive market sentiment causes demand to increase and supply to decrease. In turn, the increased demand may cause an even stronger attitude. Similarly, a strong downtrend tends to create a negative sentiment that reduces demand and increases the available supply.
OANDA:XAUUSDEducation
by UnitedSignals
7
A Beginner's Guide to Candlestick Charts A candlestick chart is a type of financial chart that graphically represents the price moves of an asset for a given timeframe. As the name suggests, it’s made up of candlesticks, each representing the same amount of time. The candlesticks can represent virtually any period, from seconds to years. While candlestick charts could be used to analyze any other types of data, they are mostly employed to facilitate the analysis of financial markets. Used correctly, they’re tools that can help traders gauge the probability of outcomes in the price movement. They can be useful as they enable traders and investors to form their own ideas based on their analysis of the market. The following price points are needed to create each candlestick: Open — The first recorded trading price of the asset within that particular timeframe. High — The highest recorded trading price of the asset within that particular timeframe. Low — The lowest recorded trading price of the asset within that particular timeframe. Close — The last recorded trading price of the asset within that particular timeframe. Collectively, this data set is often referred to as the OHLC values. The relationship between the open, high, low, and close determines how the candlestick looks. The distance between the open and close is referred to as the body, while the distance between the body and the high/low is referred to as the wick or shadow. The distance between the high and low of the candle is called the range of the candlestick. Being able to read candlestick charts is vital to almost any investment style, learn different candlestick patterns and you will be surprised how accurate they are.
OANDA:XAUUSDEducation
by TopTradingSignals
8
INVESTING VS TRADING VS GAMBLING | Know the Difference Hey traders, In this post, we will compare investing and trading with gambling. 📈Investing Investing is the act of putting money in a financial market with the expectations of a long-term positive return. The investing decisions are usually made using fundamental analysis. The main goal of an investor is to predict the long-term market trends and benefit on them. Professional investing also involves assets allocation and diversification aimed to hedge potential risks. 💱Trading Trading is the process of selling and buying financial instruments expecting a short-term (occasionally, mid-term) profit. The trading decisions are usually based on technical and fundamentals analysis. The goal of a trader is to predict local price fluctuations and catch them. Professional trading implies strict, rule-based actions following a trading plan. 🎰Gambling Gambling is the act of betting on a specific event with the expectations of winning some value. Being completely luck-based, gambling usually involves get rich quick schemes and pursuit of easy money. What differs professional trading and investing from gambling is the fact that professional trading / investing involves objective analysis and strict planning, while gambling remains purely intuition based. Unfortunately, most of the market participants pretend that they trade and invest professionally while acting as gamblers in fact. Remember that long-term, consistent profits can be achieved only with the plan. Your intuition may bring some short-term profits, but in a long-run it will most likely lead you to a bankruptcy. ❤️If you have any questions, please, ask me in the comment section. Please, support my work with like, thank you!❤️
OANDA:XAUUSDEducation
by VasilyTrader
10
WHY 95% OF TRADERS DO NOT SUCCEED? The evidence suggests that only a very small proportion of day traders makes money year over year. There are certain patterns which may separate profitable traders from those who ultimately lose money. And indeed, there is one particular mistake that in our experience gets repeated time and time again. What is the single most important mistake that led to traders losing money? Here is a hint – it has to do with how we as humans relate to winning and losing. Our own human psychology makes it difficult to navigate financial markets, which are filled with uncertainty and risk, and as a result the most common mistakes traders make have to do with poor risk management strategies. Traders are often correct on the direction of a market, but where the problem lies is in how much profit is made when they are right versus how much they lose when wrong. Bottom line, traders tend to make less on winning trades than they lose on losing trades. Humans aren’t machines, and working against our natural biases requires effort. Once you have a trading plan that uses a proper reward/risk ratio, the next challenge is to stick to the plan. Remember, it is natural for humans to want to hold on to losses and take profits early, but it makes for bad trading. We must overcome this natural tendency and remove our emotions from trading. That will help you to be a consistently profitable trader.
OANDA:XAUUSDEducation
by UnitedSignals
5
FREE 12 WEEKS INTENSIVE TRADING PROGRAM 📚 Hey traders, For those who just started to trade, I suggest a 12 weeks intensive training program. Each week will be dedicated to a specific topic. Starting from the basics you will gradually mature and by the end of the intensive you will have a complete trading strategy. ✔️Week 1 - Practice market trend identification Learn to identify the direction of the trend. Master the recognition of a bullish trend, bearish trend and sideways market. ✔️Week 2 - Practice support and resistance. Learn to identify key levels. Master support & resistance recognition. ✔️Week 3 - Learn candlestick pattern. Study classic candlestick formations and practice their recognition. ✔️Week 4 - Learn price action patterns. Study classic price action patterns: trend-following patterns, reversal patterns and consolidation pattern and learn to recognize them. By the end of the first month, you will mature the basics of candlestick chart analysis. ✔️Week 5 - Practice supply and demand zones. Learn to identify supply and demand zones. Learn to combine candlestick analysis with support and resistance to identify the potential reversal zones. ✔️Week 6 - Practice multiple time frame analysis. Master top-down analysis. Learn to apply all the techniques studied previously on multiple time frames. ✔️Week 7 - Learn different entry strategies. With all the knowledge being obtained, you can practice different entry techniques. You can try trading candlesticks patterns or price action patterns, or simply key levels. Search what works for you. ✔️Week 8 - Learn risk management. Of course, entry strategies are not enough for profitable trading. Learn how to set stop loss and how to manage your risks properly. By the end of the second month, you will have a foundation for a strategy building. ✔️Week 9 - Practice trade management. Knowing how to enter the trade and how to manage the risks, the next step is to learn how to manage the active position (stop loss trailing, position protection, manual closing, etc.) ✔️Week 10 - Create a trading plan. Combine all the knowledge that you gained in a structured trading plan. ✔️Week 11 - Follow the strategy. Be disciplined and follow your rules. Test them and learn to be consistent. ✔️Week 12 - Review your plan. Following your strategy, you will inevitably find its flaws. Learn to constantly improve it. By the end of the third month, you will have a complete rule-based trading strategy. Of course, that won't be a perfect strategy, but you will have broad knowledge in technical analysis. The next 3 months alone should be sacrificed on polishing and improvement of your trading plan. Try this intensive, traders. I strongly believe that you will see a dramatic improvement in your trading upon its completion. ❤️If you have any questions, please, ask me in the comment section. Please, support my work with like, thank you!❤️
Education
by VasilyTrader
15