Trading strategies

People often ask me how they can get an edge over other traders in the currency market. My simple answer is this. Study financial market history and it will greatly enhance your profit opportunity because Forex markets will highly likely react the same way each time based on how they reacted last time.

Human beings are what drive all financial markets and as a whole the big money is reasonably predictable in what it will do. It will likely do the same is it did last time when a similar event occurred. Take for example the Yen, which has risen some 17% in 2016 as the BOJ has tried to lower its value by printing more money and putting interest rates into the negative.

Each time the BOJ announces more of the same (money printing & bond and stock buying) the forex market buys more Yen. This is one of the reasons why you have to be in this business for the long haul because the longer you are in the business the more you learn about the history of how the forex market behaves. The average trader often doesn’t want to do the time and they want the profits quickly without doing the forex trading apprenticeship that is required.

This does not mean sitting in front of a computer for hours a day it simply means reading for 15 or 20 minutes a day about why price is moving. The chart is NOT making the price move, the news is making the price move and the chart is simply a reflection of how traders have interpreted the news and bought up or sold off a currency. Join with me and become a detective of forex trading and you will highly likely enhance your profit making potential.

You can join me every Wednesday evening at 7pm AEST for a free one-hour live currency coaching session. Simply click on this link to join the session. http://gomarkets.webinato.com/room1 Andrew Barnett | Director / Senior Currency Analyst Andrew Barnett is a regular Sky News Money Channel Guest and one Australia’s most awarded and respected financial experts, and is regularly contacted by the Australian Media for the latest on what is happening with the Australian Dollar. Connect with Andrew: Email

It was only one month ago when oil was the most hated commodity in the market. Analysts were pessimistic and forecasts for oil with a $10 handle were circulating in the financial media. However, against all odds, oil suddenly managed to hold losses and surprisingly recovered by some 53% from a 12-year low in February.

Given this sudden and strong change of direction, the obvious question traders now face is whether the recovery is going to continue. To be able to answer this question, we should first discuss the chain of historical events that drove oil prices lower and then see if anything is changed. The Days Of High Oil Prices The price of oil has significantly increased over the past 18 years.

It first went from being $10 a barrel in 1998 to $145 in 2008. This equates to a 1350% return which is way above the 75% return in stocks (represented by S&P500) during the same period. Then during the Global Financial Crisis, it got sold off heavily and declined by approximately 78% before finding a bottom in late December 2008.

Then from 2009 to May 2011, thanks to a global recovery in asset markets and pick up in the global demand, oil outperformed stocks again and rose by 276% to grab everybody’s attention on Wall Street. At this point, oil was only 24% lower than its all-time highs in 2008. The Technology Behind Oil Production The prolonged high prices encouraged further investments and developments in production methods previously deemed uneconomical.

By 2013, not only these methods (namely Shale and Fracking ) were profitable but they also helped U.S producers to significantly boost their production capacity. Based on the chart below, oil production in the U.S jumped from an average of 6,200 barrels per day (b/d) in 2012 to an average of 7,400 b/d in 2013 and continued going higher until 2016. US oil production since 2000 A Race To The Bottom As Oil Price Slips In the meantime, in response to the threat of new oil supplies from the U.S and to push those competitors (who mainly had higher production costs) out of business, the Persian Gulf oil rich countries, led by Saudi Arabia, decided to pump as much oil as they could to push the oil prices lower and keep their market share.

The combination of the above factors flooded the markets with so much oil that the world’s total daily supply exceeded the demand by a considerable amount. In January 2016, the International Energy Agency (IEA) warned that the world could “drown in oil” and markets may be left with a surplus of 1.5 million barrels a day in the first half of 2016. Average Daily Oil Surplus per quarter since 2012 The imbalance between supply and demand created such pressure that not only the price of oil dropped against USD, but according to the chart below, it significantly dropped against other major currencies as well.

Oil vs. Major Currencies Red line: oil in USD, Blue line: oil in Yen, Green line: oil in Euro and the black line is oil in AUD The Price Reversal No trend can last forever in the financial markets. At some stage during the life of any trend, prevailing market drivers will be replaced by new drivers that not only stop the trend but they reverse it.

In the case of oil, extremely low prices seem to have finally started to push higher oil producers (e.g. Shale oil companies) out of business. In their most recent report, the IEA suddenly changed their tone and said they now estimate that production outside of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (including the US) will decline by 750,000 barrels a day due to lower oil prices.

Less production is exactly the force needed to stop and reverse the bearish trend. U.S dollar coming off from its highs in both February and March was another factor that helped oil. Traditionally, commodities are measured against the greenback, so any weakness in USD will naturally put upward pressure on them.

Oil (the red line) vs. U.S Dollar (the black line) How far can the oil rally go? To answer this question, let’s take a look at the chart showing oil‘s major historical swings since 1992.

Eye catching in this chart is GFC’s 78% downwards move followed by a 276% rise. Collectively, between 2013 highs to the February 2016 lows, oil dropped by some 75% which is almost similar in size to the down move seen during the GFC. Whilst the size of the current move is similar to the GFC, it doesn’t make much economical sense to compare the aftermath of the GFC with the current situation, and target another +276% price increase.

Post GFC, asset markets in general embarked on a massive price appreciation wave driven by trillions of dollars of stimulus packages across the world. We don’t have the luxury of those market aids these days. If you exclude the GFC and get an average of the size of the uptrends that immediately followed pullbacks of 35% or more since 1992, you will get an average recovery rate of 151% from the downtrend lows.

If you apply this recovery rate to the closing price of the February low, you would get a target price of $65.16 which is only $3 shy of 50% Fibonacci retracement line drawn between 2013 high and the February low. Therefore, oil seems to have a fair bit to go. Daily WTI Crude Oil Closing prices Impact of Oil on Equities Usually higher oil prices equate to higher input costs that in turn lead to lower profit margins which is obviously not a good thing for the equity markets.

This time however, it is different and higher oil prices are actually supportive of the stock markets. The reason behind this is that during the crash days, investors got nervous about probable bankruptcies in the energy sector and their follow-on impact on the overall market. The energy sector is very capital intensive in nature and companies usually take on large amounts of debt to carry on their operations.

In the face of the sharp decline in oil and gas prices, these companies went under tremendous pressure to service their debts. Market noticed this pressure in mid-2015 and started pricing a wave of defaults amongst the energy sector. The fear of a potential credit crisis pushed up the correlation between stocks and oil to a degree that the pair started to move in lock steps from November 2015 up to now.

Higher oil price takes some pressure off the oil companies and helps markets restore confidence. Therefore, for now, higher oil is a good thing for equity investors. Stocks and Oil moving together since November 2015 Red line: oil, Black line: S&P500, Blue line: ASX 200 Impact of Oil on the Australian dollar Higher oil price can positively impact the Australian dollar on two fronts.

First, as discussed earlier, higher oil can restore confidence back to the markets and can create a risk on environment. Given that the Aussie dollar is mainly accounted as a risk on asset, higher oil can be supportive of the AUD (please refer to our last month’s article for a detailed explanation of risk on/off status). Second, being a commodity driven currency, the Australian dollar has a direct relationship with commodities, including oil.

The chart below shows AUD and oil. As you can see, the pair is highly correlated. Further up moves in oil can take Aussie higher.

AUD (black line) vs. oil (the redline) The Headwinds As discussed throughout this article, at the moment, the main driving force behind oil prices is coming from the supply side. Any new piece of information that explicitly or implicitly implies a production cut (increase) will immediately benefit (hit) oil significantly. Since Iran’s sanctions were lifted in late 2015, it has been desperately trying to increase daily production by 1 million barrels a day (b/d) to get back to pre-sanction levels of 4 million b/d.

So far, Iran’s production increase has been slower than predicted. However, any future news on Iran’s success to increase production is likely to have severe price implications on oil. What are the trading opportunities on Crude Oil?

Taking a look at the Light Crude Oil contract on a weekly chart, it is amazing to see the journey it has taken since mid-2014. The initial drop in the first 34 weeks saw an incredible 57% of the value wiped off the contract, dropping from around $107 to $45. It goes without saying, the trend is down but the recent price action on the weekly chart has seen the price pop its head above the longer term moving average.

In this case, we are using a 26 period moving average on the weekly chart. The key thing to note on the weekly chart is the successive lower highs and lower lows, and despite the impressive rebound over the last 6 weeks, Crude has been unable to break old highs. So right now, the weekly chart is well and truly showing overbought in the midst of a very strong downtrend.

We can also see 2 lines of support/resistance around the $40 level and the $45 mark. As we write this, Crude has broken above the first level of resistance and looks like a continuation in place to target the $45 level. We are seeing some distributive selling over the last 2 weeks, as nervous longs take profits off the back of this nice rally.

On the daily chart (shown below) we can see some previous highs getting broken and the lows rising as well. This is a positive sign in the short term, but all traders should keep aware of the bigger picture and identify the potential trading opportunities accordingly. Generally speaking, we look for two key factors, which are time and price.

Right now we have had a lot of price movement in a short space of time. Crude has the potential to consolidate at current levels whilst time catches up. It would not be unusual to see price hover around the $40-$42.50 mark for a few weeks before this next major move is underway.

Having said that, we are talking about one of the most volatile and active contracts of 2015-2016, so predictions are considerably challenging at best. You will notice the stochastics indicator showing overbought on the daily chart as well but the chart continues to hit higher highs. In addition, we are starting to see some bearish divergence as price heads higher but the stochastics slowly trends lower.

Divergence is usually one of the most powerful signals in the market, so short term traders will be well advised to keep an eye on how that plays out. What are the prospects for the AUDUSD? The Aussie dollar has been one of the surprise packets in early 2016 as it tracked lower at an alarming rate, with an impressive push lower right on the New Year period.

In all fairness, it seemed like all the global markets were crashing then as well, but fortunately our Aussie battler managed to find some support and rally off those newly established lows. Given Australia’s ability to dig natural resources out of the ground and sell them internationally, it comes as no surprise to see the AUD rising this quickly when we consider how strong Iron Ore, Crude and Gold have been since the start of 2016. So the weekly chart shows the AUD breaking new recent highs, hitting higher highs and successive higher lows.

In the short to medium term this bodes well. If we take a look at the support and resistance lines, you can see resistance is pressuring the AUD around the 0.7600 mark with plenty of distributive selling happening over the last 2 weeks, much like we saw in the price of Crude. This resistance extends back to early 2015 and again in mid-2015, so there is plenty of reason to keep a very close eye on current levels and tighten your trailing stops or wait for a pullback for potential long entries.

We also notice the stochastics is showing overbought, but do note that in an uptrend, the stochastics will always show overbought as it is plotting where is today’s close in relation to the high and low over the last 10 periods. On the daily chart you can see clearly the resistance levels that the AUD has powered through, taken no prisoners for those who may have been short. It is likely the sheer volume of those short the AUD that had to cover (buy back the AUD), resulting in the rapid escalation to the 0.7600 level.

There is no doubt for those who played the emotions of the market during this time, that they would have been smiling and are likely to still be smiling. Poking its head above the 0.7600 mark has produced a bevy of interested profit takers, taking money off the table, following a hand 250+pip run in 10 trading days. Remember, we mentioned on the weekly notes above how many times this level formed support previously, only to be broken at the middle of last year.

In addition, we can see some bearish divergence on the daily chart with the stochastics trending lower from well overbought. Right now the short and medium term trend is up, so best not to fight with that. The longer term 100 period moving average has also started to trend higher, so traders will want to pay attention there as well.

Given the strong move in such a short space of time, it would not be a bad thing to see the market pull back and provide a potentially handy level of entry to the long side. Having said that, momentum is favouring the bulls, so bargain hunters may not get a chance at a lower price for entry. The opinions and information conveyed in the GO Markets newsletter are the views of the author and are not designed to constitute advice.

Trading Forex and CFD's, including Crude Oil trading, is high risk. Ramin Rouzabadi (CFA, CMT) | Trading Analyst Ramin is a broadly skilled investment analyst with over 13 years of domestic and international market experience in equities and derivatives. With his financial analysis (CFA) and market technician (CMT) background, Ramin is adept at identifying market opportunities and is experienced in developing statistically sound investment strategies.

Ramin is a co-founder of exantera.com which is a financial website dedicated to risk analysis and quantitative market updates.

As a serious trader, one of the key areas you must work on is to develop an awareness of the way the market affects your mind, and subsequently the decisions you make whilst in a trading situation. What are trading biases? People have inbuilt set of belief and value systems that develop over the years through learning and instruction from others and experiences.

Many of these developmental factors are outside the trading context but when the trader interacts with the market, these individual natural ways of thinking and feeling become part of decision-making. Some of these natural in-built responses may not serve you well and are termed ‘cognitive biases’. In many instances in the ‘heat of the action’ when in OPEN trades, these ‘cognitive biases’ take over from your written and planned ‘trading system’ and become the major influence on your market behaviour.

Results that you may produce from your trading can reinforce these in-built biases making them more acute, and so have and ever-increasing influence on what you may do when in the market, until finally they potentially end up destroying the capital and also confidence of the investor. There are several of these outlined in the “behavioural finance” research literature and we intend over a series of articles to look at the more commonly described of these. Loss aversion A loss aversion bias is arguably one of the more common trading cognitive biases.

The trader has an overt focus on avoiding taking a loss in a trade. Obviously, taking a loss, with of course risk management to limit any such loss to a tolerable level (often 2-4% of trading account size) is an accepted reality of trading practice. However, in those with a loss aversion bias, there are two potential behavioural responses when in an open trade that may be damaging to capital and ultimately sabotage the potential for on-going successful trading outcomes. 1.

Stop losses are often moved downwards in a long position (and upwards in a short position) from that originally planned on entry. This is an attempt to regain a losing position with the hope that a price may move back in your desired direction. There may be multiple such “moves” of that stop, each potentially inflicting more damage on capital way beyond any planned maximum risk level.

Commonly, there will be an internal dialogue to justify staying in a trade. 2. Conversely, so potentially acute is the fear of losing a profitable trade that such trades are often exited prematurely throwing out of the window any pre-planned profit target or trailing stop system articulated within your trading plan. The internal dialogue we have occasionally heard form traders is “you will never go broke taken a profit”.

So, in practice these two factors result in a reversal of the traditional market wisdom of ‘keeping your losses small and letting your profits run’, in that losses are extended, and profits are cut short. The basis of such a bias maybe be multi-fold, including: • Previous losses in investments, • Lack of education and confidence, • Over-confidence in your ability beyond competence with a view that a loss in a trade meaning you were “wrong” (an underlying feeling of “I am better than that”), • Pre-set beliefs about how the market SHOULD move i.e. trading what you think not what you see, • taking on the “trades of others” without due diligence and perhaps against your plan (e.g. in forums, trading rooms), • Incorrect position sizing with a small initial trading capital where the effect of trading fees is more acutely felt. And it can get worse… One of the MAJOR problems with a loss aversion bias is that it becomes cyclical in its severity, as results continue to fall short of what you had hoped.

This is not only with individual trades where losses may become more extended and even smaller than possible profits taken. Desperation may eventually set in, with an obsession to get trading capital back, whilst account value continues to diminish until the trade reaches a point of “no more pain” and leaves the market completely. This unfortunately has double impacts - not only has there been a loss of a trading capital now, but in many cases have been sufficiently painful that the individual may never again return to trading (so eliminating any potential for future positive investment experiences).

What you can do If this resonates with you, then the purpose of this article is fulfilled, as recognising and “owing” that there is something that needs to be addressed is the VITAL first step in making a change. Obviously, there are steps you can take to address this (and you MUST). Here are some suggestions: a.

You have a complete trading plan that articulates trading actions once in trades i.e. an exit strategy. b. Start a journal. Sometimes the very process of formally recording what you are doing helps in doing the right thing more consistently. c.

Press the “reset button” on your trading account. What we mean by this is an acceptance that your trading capital is what it is now. Rather than a mission to regain your initial capital this needs to be replaced by a drive to achieve consistently positive trading results (and including that taking a loss within your tolerable level is a positive outcome).

The long-term reality is that through changing this focus as described, addressing the bias through developing that consistency in action, you could give yourself the chance for some sustainable results. d. Re-align with your trading plan prior to every trading session. e. Make it a mission to “challenge” your existing plan on at least a 3-monthly basis through gathering an increased weight of evidence that its component parts are working for you as an individual trader.

This breeds confidence in actioning a plan, enabling more disciplined trading. f. There are a couple of ‘unhealthy’ statements that fly around the investment world which you need to check to not become part of your thinking. The first, “do not invest with money you can’t afford to lose” although is from a well-meaning perspective, arguably can contribute to a mindset which gives some sort of permission to lose.

The second and more dangerous from a capital perspective is “it is not a loss until you take it”. This is a massive distance away from what is recognised as good trading practice and is completely contradictory to the positive idea that you should take a loss as soon as it hits your tolerable dollar level. g. Take regular breaks from the market during any session, particularly when trading shorter timeframes, to re-align with purpose and plan. h.

Ensure that you are trading within your level of competence, have a personal trading development plan that outlines your learning for the next quarter. i. Trade smaller positions until you have evidence of developing good consistent habits that break away from your bias. There are a few different ways to action this, reducing your tolerable risk level significantly e.g. from 3% to 1% of trading account capital, or trading micro-lots rather than mini-lots are a couple of examples.

Finally, be gentle on yourself in terms of your development, biases by nature are usually deeply ingrained and will take some work to replace. Our education programmes inluding the popular Inner Circle group are there to help you move forward in your trading and our team is there to support 24 hours a day, 5 days a week.

By ​Deepta Bolaky “ Buy the Dips ” and “ Sell the Rallies ” are widely followed strategies by new or experienced traders. Buy-the-dip strategy is becoming increasingly popular based on the theory of market fluctuations. It takes into consideration that the market will eventually rally up at pre-dip prices at some point. “Nowadays, traders take advantage of market weakness and embrace it” An example of the “buy the dip” approach is the bull stock market where we have seen signs of rebound after a period of deep weakness.

Back in February, “buy the dip” was mentioned across various media channels and traders were desperate to find the bottom that would be the most profitable. This strategy will effectively work if traders can identity the transition from a bearish trend to a bullish one. US500 (S&P 500) Source: GO Markets MT4 Today, we will focus on the Bullish Hammer which is a pattern used to identity a bullish technical reversal.

The bullish hammer takes the form of a hammer – it consists of a “ long lower tail ” and a “ body ” with little or no upper wick. Generally, traders tend to see if the lower tail is twice or more than the body itself. The below screenshot gives you an indication of a “Hammer”.

When you see a “hammer” being formed after a downtrend, this is a sign of a potential reversal as the trading action suggests that the trend was heading downwards but manage to find meaningful buyers at a lower price driving the price higher on the close of the candle. As per the above picture, both the green and red hammer have bullish implications but the green indicates a slightly more bullish presence. Similarly, a shorter “lower tail” is interpreted as less bullish compared to a longer “lower tail”.

Put simply, the longer lower tail indicates a stronger presence of buyers. The inverted hammer is also an indication of a potential reversal. An inverted candle is found at the end of a downtrend and has similar criteria to the Hammer.

However, the inverted hammer indicates that buyers are stepping in, but sellers are still present. Main criteria of a Hammer or the Inverted Hammer: The tail should at least be twice the length on the body. The color of the body is not very important but it helps in identifying the strength of the bullish presence.

There should be no tail or a very little one above the body. Note: It is important to differentiate between a “Hammer” and a “Hanging Man”. Because the shape of both candle sticks is similar, traders might misinterpret the patterns.

The Hammer lies at the end of a downtrend where as the Hanging Man lies at the end of an uptrend hinting at a reversal of an upward trend. The hammer is a good indication of a potential reversal and can help traders in establishing the needed bottom to adopt the “Buy-the-dip” approach. However, alongside with the hammer, traders use other indications of price support to recognize the strength of a reversal.

It should be highlighted that this strategy is not a “guaranteed profitable strategy” and should be used wisely. Go Markets Pty Ltd

Forex is one of the heaviest news driven markets in the world. Major news announcements play such a critical role to the intraday volatility, which in turn create trading opportunities. Most of the time, particularly for the active traders, market volatility can present more trading opportunities.

So it stands to reason, all Forex traders should be very mindful of upcoming news announcements. Even if you are a position trader or someone who likes to hold your FX positions for the medium to long term, knowing what news is coming up is essential. Tracking the markets across the globe Using MT4 Genesis, the session map shows you the key trading times for the main 'fixes' around the world including Sydney, Tokyo, London and New York.

Trading around the major fixes is important for those who trade on an intraday timeframe. For example, it is important to note that the Australian session is first and it is often the quietest, unless of course there is a Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) rates announcements or even the Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) can be enough to move the markets on a regular basis. Other than that, the Australian fix rarely moves the markets.

It is not until you get the crossover to the London session that volatility picks up. You can then expect more volatility when the London session meets the New York session. The session map shows a clear red line for your current time so you can see when volatility may pick up.

The best feature of the session map is the news markers. At the bottom of the session map window, you will see grey, orange and red markers, highlighting upcoming news announcements. Grey is low impact, orange is medium impact and red is high impact.

By hovering your mouse over the news markers (or left clicking on one), you can see: » what the announcement is; » the time is will be released; and » its expected impact. [embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=28uS8T7Ay9I[/embed] How many times have you had an open position rally significantly, to then have to scour the internet for a news item related to your currency pair? If you've been trading for any length of time, then probably too often. By applying the session map, you can see clearly what news is driving the spike.

Another great aspect of the session map is the ability to see your current open profit and loss at a glance. In addition, you have a host of other account details with one click, such as your: » balance; » equity; » floating P&L » margin in use; and » the amount of margin you have free. Applying session map is as easy as dragging it from the Expert Advisors folder straight on to your chart.

It’s that easy. Stay on top of the markets by using Connect and Analyse tools It’s been said that trading could be a lonely job, particularly if you’re trading on your own. While market action and price movements can definitely keep you on your toes, some people find it a bit isolating at some stage.

However, you can look at it as being on top of the world (or the markets, at least) as you need to keep tab of what’s happening across the globe. This is particularly true when trading the forex (FX) market as currencies tend to move pretty fast compared to equities. Using the Connect and Analyse tools in MT4 Genesis, you can be a step ahead already.

These tools will give you current and relevant information – breaking news, statistics and analysis – that you can use for your trading. These tools are readily available from within your GO Markets’ MT4 platform. Once the MT4 Genesis file has been run, the full suite of tools will be available from the Expert Advisors tab.

Simply left click and drag each tool on to the chart of your choice. Let’s have a look at the features of the Connect function. As a trader, you need to be in tune with market developments as well as current events and news that may impact the markets.

The Connect window will give you price action and technical updates on the relevant currency pairs. This is also where you can find news updates not only about the markets, but also general news. Monitoring the news is vital for your trading as big events can have a major impact on the markets.

For example, decisions and announcements from the US Federal Reserve are always being watched and monitored by traders because it could affect currency movements. Major decisions from the US Fed are notorious for having effects on other currencies. Using this feature, you can select a number of news providers that suit your information needs.

The Connect feature also has a calendar that informs you of all relevant upcoming announcements that may affect the FX market. The calendar highlights: » High-impact events » Medium-impact events » Low-impact events [embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oQoKmSFFDsE[/embed] Some of the high-impact events that usually generate big moves in the market include: » US non-farm payroll announcement » US Federal Reserve announcements » Retail sales data » Manufacturing data Another way to connect with the market and to make sure you’re on top of current developments is via the GO Markets website. Using this feature, you can do several things such as: » Open a new account » Deposit funds » Change the leverage on your account » Access current promotions or simply » Speak with one of the Go Markets’ team members.

Analyse tool The Analyse tool is also helpful if you want to do weekly, monthly or yearly review of your trading performance. As a trader you would like to know how you’re performing and you would like to keep track of some vital statistics including: » Account Balance » Profit » Profitability » Percentage return » Monthly return Sentiment indicator The sentiment indicator is another key feature that can be useful for your trading. Using this tool, you can identify the currency pairs you want to trade (or in your watch list) and see the bias towards long and short positions on those pairs.

This will give you a good appreciation of the overall market sentiment on a particular currency pair. For example, the falls in iron ore and oil prices are widely expected to have negative impact on commodity currencies including the Australian dollar. However, despite the negative sentiment, the Aussie dollar is still being supported at a healthy level. [embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m4TVU8PnIaA[/embed] Using the sentiment indicator, you can see how other traders are ‘feeling’ about the Aussie dollar as it would be reflected on the number or percentage of long positions versus short positions.

Take advantage of the Connect and Analyse tools as they could make a big difference in your trading performance. The opinions and information conveyed in the GO Markets newsletter are the views of the author and are not designed to constitute advice. Trading Forex and CFD's is high risk.

Rom Revita | Sales Manager Rom is the Sales Manager at Go Markets Pty Ltd and manages the day-to-day running of the Sales, Support and Marketing teams. He has been with the company since 2013 and is also one of our two appointed Responsible Managers, helping to ensure that the company follows all AFSL regulatory requirements. Rom has extensive financial markets experience and originally comes from an equities & derivatives trading background.

He has served on the Trading & Sales Desk with several large broking houses, and now specialises in Margin FX and CFDs. Connect with Rom: [email protected]

There is NO such thing as emotionless trading AND in many respects, it may be considered that it is a good thing too. After all, correctly targeted emotions will allow you to: Have an exciting, compelling trading purpose that drives you to do the hard yards with your learning (we know some people fail to complete a course or put learning into action). Be motivated to do your due diligence and make sure you have ticked all the boxes before you press any trading buttons and take action with entry and exit.

Celebrate when you do the right thing (Remember: this includes keeping that loss small when you should) and Feel PAIN when you donate to the market needlessly through poor or inappropriate execution (providing of course you take the lesson AND take more appropriate action next time while placing the blame where it should be). So YES, let’s get aroused! If we hit the right level of trading arousal EVERY TIME and it’s driven by channelled, enabling emotion, this may create a higher probability that when we get to the ‘press-the-button’ stage we do it with a calm confidence and will more likely have a better trading outcome, or as we have called it here the “Potential Profit Zone” (Remember: it is equally a win to make sure that any loss is within your tolerable risk level meaning your long term results are more likely to be positive).

Either extreme of arousal is not likely to produce the results we desire, either through not taking our trading seriously enough (the “Hobby Zone”) to do the things we must (due diligence; careful consideration of strategy selection; making sure it REALLY fits your plan), or though making decisions that are most certainly extreme NOT from the right emotional place (the “Capital Danger Zone”). Take a look at the diagram below that aims to illustrate this: This middle zone is where we need to be, so sufficiently stimulated to do the right things consistently (even though these may appear to be a chore and some until they become habits). If you don’t apply this level of emotion to your trading and trade in the “Hobby Zone”, it is less likely you will be sufficiently “aroused” to spot an opportunity and then trade it without lengthy procrastination.

Or equally if not more important to exit a trade in a timely, confident manner either to take profit or minimise any loss from a single trade. You need to operate with the decisive action of a “trading Ninja” with the appropriate peak state of arousal or in other words in the “Potential Profit Zone”. This may be more likely to give yourself the best chance of optimising trading results.

Neither do we want to be in a state of being over-stimulated to the point where you become a trading ‘fruit-loop’ (not the technical term) and perilously exposed to some of the more “dangerous” emotions. To make trading decisions when anxious, angry (that revenge trading thing!), or trading out of fear rarely produces good results and can mutilate a portfolio value quicker than saying “not having a stop loss in place is completely bonkers”. So, it’s a balance of the two extremes – surely, it is logical that some emotion is good as it motivates you to do the right thing and follow through on your learning, direct trading and measuring, and there are some emotional states that are hugely damaging.

So, your mission after reading this post (as it’s always best to take some action) is to make a ten-second assessment of your ‘state of arousal’ before you press an entry or exit button for every trade this coming week (YES! You can start now). Make the judgement as to which of these described zones you may be trading from.

One final word: if you want evidence of whether the right state of arousal is likely to produce peak performance, then look at other situations where that might also be the case….just a different context, that’s all. GET AROUSED! PS Aroused to learn what you need to, but are not sure where to go?

Why not access your FREE “Next Steps” education course including two group coaching webinars sessions to help put LIVE market context to the theory learned in the videos? For more information click on the "Next Steps" image on the right. This article is written by an external Analyst and is based on his independent analysis.

He remains fully responsible for the views expressed as well as any remaining error or omissions. Trading Forex and Derivatives carries a high level of risk. For more information on trading, check out our forex webinar.