By Ian Armstrong

Do you think of anything when I say the phrase, “Japanese candlesticks?” In fact, this has a lot to do with trading in foreign exchange.

Candle charts (also called “Japanese candlesticks”) were originally created in Japan several centuries ago so that rice could be traded. Today, thousands of traders use the same charting “system” to track price movement.

Many people find that candle charts are easier to read than standard bar charts are, and therefore, they have become very popular. In fact, most Forex charts you see are in the format of Japanese candlesticks.

Candle charts are made up from the opening and closing prices, as well as high and low prices.

If a price opens lower than it closes (in other words rises during trading), a hollow candle is drawn on the chart (usually in white or green).

If a price opens higher than it closes (in other words falls during trading) a filled candle is drawn, usually in red or black in color.

Many online brokers today used the red and green color scheme rather than the white and black color scheme. Trends can be easily seen even by newcomers this way, because green candles signify price increases while red candles indicate that price has decreased.

It’’s not just designed this way for “newbies”, either. Any trader, regardless of experience or skill, needs to be able to have a clear visual system of evaluating data. It’’s essential to his or her decision making process.

However, moving on from the “history” of Japanese Candlesticks and how they relate to Forex trading - let’’s evaluate why they”re significant.

It’’s simple: The significance is that they represent our ability to bring simplicity to complex transactions without losing accuracy.

Whether the context is trading rice in the 14th century or trading the Euro/USD currency pair in 2008 from your high-speed connection, the fact remains that you don”t have to be an expert to understand and profit from complex markets.

The tools you need to succeed have already been developed. All you have to do is practice using them, and you”ll quickly be able to see how what would normally be complex can - through practice and experience - become as simple as any other basic task.

The only question is this: Are you willing to put in the time until it becomes simple?

Ancient rice traders depended on tools like this for their livelihood.

There’’s no reason why you can”t either. And it could end up being a whole lot more valuable than, say, rice.

About The Author

Ian Armstrong is an avid Forex enthusiast.

He strongly urges beginners to download the free “Forex For Beginners” guide, at http://www.forexshortcuts.com

By Mo Christiensen

Every great athlete, musician and professional where the stakes are high, knows that warm up and preparation can make a big difference to performance. Here are 10 tips -trading advice for preparing for your best trading day.

Mental Prep

1. Harness the power of intention

As you become more and more focused as a trader and as you learn to clear your emotions the power of your intention will become stronger and stronger. Begin the day by setting the intention that you will be successful, that you will be profitable, and that you will be safe. If possible visualize it, or feel that it will happen.

If any feelings or thoughts come up contrary to that intention (e.g. I lost yesterday perhaps I”ll lose today) go straight to the next point and clear that thought/feeling.

2. Clear limiting thoughts and emotions

Did anything happen yesterday or on previous trading days that is bothering you? Anything happening in your personal life that may be affecting your state of mind? Any recurring thoughts or feelings that come up during the trading day?

Read my blog post about emotional clearing - learn Core Transformation and clear that crapola out. And for any of you hardcore guys out there that are thinking this might be a bit touchy feely, I suggest you look at this in purely financial terms. Learning these techniques will help you get the success you want. And nobody needs to know!

3. Brain power

Make sure that you have exercised and eaten properly so that your mind is clear and fresh. Have the right snacks at hand so that you can keep your blood sugar balanced, so that you mind stays fresh and optimally focused.

Timing

4. Know when you are going to trade

You may say “How do I know when I am going to trade ahead of time?”. In response I”d say, “if your trading system doesn”t tell you when you are going to be trading ahead of time, then you are missing out on a huge advantage”. As you”ll see from the various blog posts I”ve written on cycle trading, I am convinced that time is as important a factor in determining entries as price. This is why I use a combination of cycles and harmonics in addition to regular technical analysis to determine entries.

Adopting this trading methodology was the single biggest contributing factor for me in becoming a consistently profitable trader, because I can calmly prepare for the times that I am going to trade and I can relax my focus during the times when I know I should be on the sidelines.

Practical Details

5. Are there any economic numbers being released today?

Know exactly what time they are and watch out if you are trading around these times as there may be some dramatic fluctuations in price movement. Unless your strategy specifically includes trading these numbers, many traders prefer to sit on the sidelines until the numbers shake themselves out.

6. Any significant business or world news today that may affect the markets?

Days when companies release earnings or when there are other significant events, make the market jumpy. You need to be forewarned so that you can decide either to sit out, or to be extra vigilant.

7. What happened in the markets overnight?

Same idea as point 4.

Discipline

8. Review your discipline committments

If you are someone that has problem over-trading or pulling the trigger, or if you have challenges following your system, make a list of discipline committments. List out those things that you commit to in terms trading discipline. e.g. I will only take trades on signals that my system gives me. Go through them before the trading day begins and refresh your resolution.

I had a lot of trouble with over trading in the early days. As I got absorbed in the market action it was like becoming hypnotized, my discipline went out the window. I actually had to set an alarm clock to go off and every 30 mins I would re-read my discipline committments to force myself to snap out of it, and refocus on following my trading rules.

9. Review you trades from yesterday and your trading journal

Reviewing you trades from yesterday is a great way to refine your skills and learn more about your strengths and weaknesses. If you had a day where you were able to execute your trades flawlessly based on your system (whether or not they ended up being profitable) you can consolidate the confidence that brings. If you had a day that left an emotional mark because of losses or mistakes you can go back to point 2 and clear them.

If you found that you were unable to execute your trades effectively its another opportunity to revisit your trading rules, your discipline committments, and refresh your intention that today you will trade your system.

Opening

10. Give thanks

Give thanks to your self, and to whatever power of the universe that you respect for the opportunity to trade - which is nothing more than an opportunity to master yourself.

The state of gratitude is a great inner state to approach the day. It buoys your optimism and invites to you the circumstances for success.

As the French say “Bon courage” - and have a safe and profitable day!

About The Author

Mo Christiensen is one of the editors of the successful tradingadviceblog.com. The site specializes in high quality trading advice for new and struggling traders. Read the article in context at http://tradingadviceblog.com/intro/10-tips-for-preparing-for-a-profitable-trading-day/

By Philip Birchley

There are many phrases passed around about trading such as ”buy low, sell high,” but how many traders actually understand how ”fear and greed” drive the markets?

The surprising truth about fear and greed:

The pros and cons of simulated trading and the essentials of money management will both be discussed due to these aspects being related to the emotions of fear and greed in trading. Basically the aim of this article is to shed some light on emotions in trading and how they can be handled by traders.

Many people know that ”fear and greed” cause movements in market prices but it’’s wrong to think that these are always negative emotions.

Let’’s look at greed first. Greed is good! Well a certain amount of greed is good because it’’s needed to make speculators want to trade in the first place. A downside to greed is when it causes traders to ”chase the market,” for example by buying after a large sudden move higher when the market is overbought (i.e. overvalued).

You also need to avoid being too greedy when exiting your trades i.e. you should take profits where your proven trading method says you should.

Fear can be a positive and negative emotion too. Fear is a very good thing when it causes you to close out any losers with discipline where your system tells you to. But not too early or too late.

On the other hand, too much fear can stop you from even entering a trade the moment your system tells you to. To overcome this fear it’’s best to paper trade or make simulated trades for a while before dipping your toes in the water.

Paper trading is something that most traders don”t like doing before they first start to trade for real because they want to get out there in the markets pulling in money. But it’’s important to test your trading methods first by paper trading as this will help you ”pull the trigger” and commit more easily to trades when the time comes to trade for real.

The main problem with paper trading though is that you don”t get as exposed to the emotions of trading as you do when trading for real. Therefore, it can only prepare you to a limited extent.

Using safe money management techniques also helps you to overcome the fear of entering trades. The exact money management rules you use will depend on your trading system. Generally speaking a good rule is to use no more than a tenth of your initial trading capital per trade. Then only increase the amount you are risking per trade once you”ve doubled your initial trading capital.

To sum up, yes you can make big money from trading but it’’s a marathon not a sprint. You”ll need to have realistic expectations and not give in to too much greed. Some greed is good in this walk of life or you would never enter a trade! But not being too greedy means you should take profits where your proven method tells you to and of course, taking the occasional loss really isn”t a problem, just don”t let them run.

Gradually increasing the size of your trades as described is one of the keys to success. Finally, using a proven trading system will also reduce any fear when entering trades.

About The Author

Philip passed the SFA Futures exams and has been trading for over a decade. Just visit http://www.wizardtrader.com/web/art3 to get your free brandable viral trading eBook Killer Patterns. Plus you”re getting the free WizardTrader.com course by sending a blank email here wizardtrader1@aweber.com

By Bart Icles

If you are interested in becoming an amazing trader in the forex market, you definitely need a powerful forex trading strategy to guide you in your trades. Those individuals who are expert forex traders have learned this early and are now the elite that make a lot of money. There are four simple steps that you can take to develop your forex trading strategy. Follow them and immediately see success in the forex market.

First, you must realize that your success falls only on you. You need to accept responsibility for your own success and each trade. Only you can make yourself successful! This means that you have to take the necessary steps to develop your own trading strategy. The good news for you is that everything you need to know about forex can be found online for free, or very cheap.

Second, you need to focus on learn how to find the right information and increase your knowledge the right way. To be successful in the forex market, you need to learn the right things. This is important because many traders think that knowing more is better. This is simply not true!

You see, in the forex market, you get rewarded heavily for your results and the accuracy for your trades, not the effort you make in your trades. You should also make sure that the forex trading system that you chose to use integrate into your trading strategy is simple and easy to use. Simple systems are much easier to use for a long period of time and work much better than the complicated ones. This will give you confidence and an advantage over those who choose to use complicated systems.

Third, you need to decide right now if you feel comfortable taking a risk and if you have good money management skills. If you don”t like taking risks, you probably shouldn”t trade forex. Most traders don”t realize how big the actual risk is so they enter the market and lose a lot of money and get out quick. Then there are those who are so frightened by risk, that they end up being too conservative in their trades and lose a lot of money. If you want to make a ton of money in the forex money, you need to take risks that are calculated, I mean risk at the right times.

Last, you need to be realistic in your expectations. Sure, some people get into the forex market and get rich super fast. However, this isn”t the norm for most traders. If you take your time easing into the market and immediately begin developing a forex trading strategy that is strong and sustainable, you will find success.

About The Author

Bart Icles is an expert Forex trader. He has developed a strong Forex trading strategy that he uses to successful trade the forex market on a regular basis. Visit http://www.forexstrategysecrets.com for more information today.