Trading Educators Blog

Some time ago I spent 4 days in a Forex trading office, teaching and working with the traders there. It was interesting to see how these traders speak with one another, and to listen to what they say. I couldn’t help making some observations which I will now share with you. If you are a part- or full-time trader, you may have enjoyed the attention this wild and wooly occupation brings at social ga...

“I’ll worry about it later?” When trying to deal with the fact that we must eventually cope with an unpleasant event, such statements help us get through life. We often put off things we don’t want to do, hoping that we will gather enough energy and enthusiasm to deal with them in the future. Take your taxes for instance. Do you wait until the last day to pay them? Why not start working on your ta...

  If your financial losses have injured or hurt your personal relationships, you must apologize and ask those persons for their forgiveness. Most people will forgive you immediately but whether or not they forgive you is unimportant. It is most important that you forgive yourself and resolve not to repeat the same mistakes. It’s also important to realize that if the offended person does...

When you put your money on the line, it's hard to avoid getting a little emotional. Beginning traders may be especially prone to experience a roller-coaster ride of emotions, feeling euphoric after a winning streak, yet disappointed after a string of losses. How well do you handle emotions? Winning traders control their emotions. They don't let their emotions control them. But emotions don't happe...

People don't want to be changed. They don't want to be told that they need to change. Do you ever find yourself struggling in those areas? Thank you for your honesty. If there is a struggle, that means there is a battle for truth. If you're not battling, you've already lost. Truth has been lost and deceit has won. We must come to a place where we are willing to unclothe our soul, ultimately, compl...

Winning traders must identify profitable trading strategies. It's a creative process. Much like scientists find evidence to support a theory, traders must formulate hypotheses and determine whether their proposed strategy can produce a profit. You must sift through a wealth of information, mentally testing and retesting your hypothesis and trying to decide if it will work when the ideal market con...

Recently, someone sent me the following question: “Just how committed does a trader need to be?” I don’t know that I can put a number to that. For instance, on a scale of 1-10 how committed should a trader be. But if I had to evaluate it on that basis, I would say he must be a “10.” What is the value of commitment? How do you measure such a thing? Most people have an “interest” in becoming consist...

I received a couple of emails asking whether or not I believe in support and resistance. In fact, one subscriber said if I didn't believe in support and resistance, then I couldn't possibly believe in trend! Why? Because in all cases the situation ends. Here's what I believe: The trend is your friend until the end. The swing is the thing until it goes "ding." What is support and what is resistance...

Have you ever find $50 in your coat pocket or receive an unexpected gift from a relative? Perhaps you inadvertently overpaid your credit card, and now have an extra $100 that you didn't think you had? When most people receive a windfall, they feel they can spend it freely, as if it isn't "real" money. The same thing happens when recreational gamblers unexpectedly win a jackpot. They didn't expect ...

“You can get ahead of yourself in this game, and it’s dangerous to get cocky. But I’ve had times where for an hour I could do no wrong. I’m trading and 99 percent of the trades are good, they’re all for 30 or 50 contracts, and I’ll make 10 grand. Then I’ll overextend myself and maybe buy 10 or 15 contracts, fighting the trend just because I know prices have hit a support level. Then prices blow th...

There are two important components of federal market activity which affect long- term economic activity and stock and commodity values; these are interest rates and money supply. A contracting money supply was one of the factors that caused the Great Depression of the 1930's. In the early 1980's most traders focused almost totally on the money supply figures, which would cause cash bonds and T-Bil...

Question from a subscriber: "Once I’ve achieved success as a trader, then what? I’ve heard that after a while trading can become boring." I know you would all like to have that problem, but I can vouch for its being true. I always have to find new ways to trade or I do become bored. However, I have never run out of ways to trade that remain exciting, at least for a fairly long time. After the obje...

Dear Friends, Whenever this time of year rolls around, I find myself with an attitude of gratitude. This week we celebrated Thanksgiving Day. Although "Thanksgiving" is not celebrated here in Uruguay, many living here celebrated at various places around the country. There were at least fifty people at the gathering my wife and I went to. Trading and markets have been a major part of my life for al...

As a trader, it's essential that you set specific goals. Trading is chaotic enough without trying to achieve unstructured goals that are difficult to manage and reach. Making profitable investments requires you to prepare carefully. You have to develop hypotheses regarding current market conditions. You have to devise ways of identifying setups and determine how and when to enter and exit the trad...

Since I began trading for Instant Income, I have a lot of time to enjoy the tiny country of Uruguay. There’s an old fort on high hill overlooking the estuary upon which Montevideo is situated. It is the widest estuary in the world, where the Rio de la Plata meets the Atlantic Ocean.  The Río de la Plata (Spanish: "Silver River") — which is often referred to in English-speaking count...

 It is critical that you trade what you see, not what you think. What you "think" is your opinion, and trading your opinion, or that of anyone else, generally results in more losses than wins. Being flexible, and being able to adapt to what you see in the markets, is the only tradable reality we have.  You have to learn to adapt your trading style to what is happening in the markets in w...

 On 23 June 2016, the UK will vote on a referendum (i.e., BrExit) to decide whether to remain a part of the European Union. This vote is expected to create substantial market volatility in the days leading up to the vote and perhaps even greater volatility should the final vote be for the UK to separate from the EU.  The market consensus suggests that separation would lead to a weaker GB...

  Dear Traders, It has been quite a while since I wrote one of these letters to all who are on our list. It is being emailed to you, and will also be posted on my blog. I’ve been trading, but am also involved in erecting affordable housing in Uruguay. I haven’t had a lot of time to write, other than keeping up with the regular free weekly Chart Scan teaching letter. I’ve had...

  Dear Investor,   On 23 June 2016, the United Kingdom EU Referendum (“Brexit” vote) will take place, creating potential for heightened market movements, including the real possibility of significant price gaps and periods of exaggerated illiquidity. It is important that you be aware of the potential risk of this upcoming event, so that you can be both prepared and positioned properly as...

Really, I'm still kicking. I've been busy in the deep South--South America, that is. But just so you know, I look at or trade the markets every day. It's simply a long time habit. The markets tell me what's going on in the world. In addition to trading, I'm involved in building affordable housing, and working with CAIF, which is an organization that helps the poor. Next time I feel like blogging, ...