How to learn to trade forex

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We’ve learned about forex trading basics, about demo trading. Question still stands – how to learn to trade forex? There are few steps you can take to learn it. Below I mentioned most important ones.

Find a mentor

It is not an easy task to find mentor. In most cases, there are no ads or other information about mentoring possibility. Initiative should be on your side. If you follow trader you like, then you can ask him about mentoring. Some will say no because of lack of time. Others do not like to mentor because not everyone has teaching skills.

Still, finding a mentor is the fastest way to learn to trade Forex. With mentor, you will avoid many mistakes and sometimes save many years of trial and errors.

Two important things to remember. Do not approach mentor if you don’t have basic knowledge about trading. It is not a role for mentor to guide you through the basic stuff. You want mentor to teach you how to trade successfully, not to teach basics.

Another thing to remember. Check different styles of trading. Decide which one suits you best. Do you like technical analysis more? Then look for mentors who trade mainly with TA. You have a job and you want to learn about long term trading? Then do not look for help from day traders, just go and look for other long-term investors.

Learn to trade on demo

Before you move to trading with money start with demo. Play with different currencies, instruments. Understand what leverage is all about. See how spread is different for different forex pairs. Test different trading strategies.

Read trading books (not only about forex)

Of course, practice is most important but books will give you new ideas how you can trade forex.

There are so many books about trading, that it is hard to recommend only few.

One important things about books. Reading more trading books does not make you a better trader. It can give you some ideas, you can learn something new but you must practice this in live market. Just a quick reminder, because I met many aspiring traders who were reading too much and trading too little ;).

Candlestick patterns

No revolution here. Japanese Candlestick Charting Techniques by Steve Nison is still a good choice.

Chart patterns

I recommend books from Thomas Bulkowski like Getting Started in Chart Patterns. He did a solid study about chart patterns and included how often you can profit with them.

Multiple time frames

I recommend Technical Analysis Book by Brian Shannon (from alphatrends.net). He is a stock trader but knowledge from this book is universal. It will give you ideas how to use and trade multiple time frames and I can say from my experience – this is crucial.

Trading psychology

Good trading system is not enough to stay profitable. Trader psychology and discipline is a key factor to success. There are many books about that topic, but you can start with Trading Zone by Mark Douglas.

Pivot Points

I use pivot points on daily basis and I wrote some articles about them. If you want to learn more, I can recommend two books about Pivot Points.

If you are totally new to the topic, Candlestick and Pivot Point Trading Triggers by John L. Person is a good choice. You can learn here how pivot works, how to use them and see some setups examples.

For more advanced stuff about Pivots, I recommend Secrets of a Pivot Boss by Frank Ochoa. One of best trading books. Not a cheap one, but worth its price. Lot of knowledge and trading ideas.

Fibonacci

I am a big Fibonacci fan. I write alot about that topic, but if you want to read a book about Fibonacci, then there is one position I can recommend. It is Fibonacci Trading. Master Price Advantage by Carolyn Boroden. It is a good introduction to various Fibo tools.

Ichimoku

There are few books about Ichimoku Kinko Hyo. I read them all, but I can recommend only Ichimoku Charts by Elliott Nicolle. I use Ichimoku only as additional indicator, but it is still important one. Especially in Forex.

Read blogs

There are many good trading blogs which you can follow. Below few of my favorites:

https://comparic.com – your number one source for Forex knowledge
https://alphatrends.net/blog/ – mostly about stocks and some content is premium only. Still, great free video summaries of market.
https://thepatternsite.com/Blog.html – blog from Thomas Bulkowski. OK, it looks like it was started in the 90’s and is rather about stocks. Still, a great source for new traders to learn more about price patterns and how to setup a trade.
https://www.babypips.com/blogs – great site for new traders. Lots of resources, training materials. Even complicated things are well explained. I like articles about trading systems – you can learn here how you can come up with a trading system and how to test it.
https://www.theforexguy.com/ – lots of good, educational materials. Especially great site if you want to learn more about trading forex with price action.
https://www.forexcrunch.com/ – one of the best blogs/portals about FX. Lots of news and good educational articles.
https://www.newtraderu.com/ – Steve writes in interesting way about trading. You can find here many trading tips and materials not only about technicals but also about trading psychology and risk management. Steve is also very active on twitter.
https://wwww.dailyfx.com/  – it is a mix of forex portal and blog. You will find here news section, but also good educational articles.
https://www.youtube.com/user/DailyFXNews – Dailyfx.com has also a great YouTube channel, where you can watch daily analysis from their experts.
https://www.forexlive.com/ – if you look for most important, short forex news’s then this is a great site. Also, active on twitter.

Watch webinars

You can find many great webinars which are free. Fxstreet.com is a good example, you can also find webinars organized by brokers. Some are about technical analysis, some about psychology, fundamentals. They are run by different traders. They show you screen so it is very easy to see how others are trading, what is most important for them.

What’s more, you have chat window. In most cases, you can ask questions during a webinar or there is dedicated Q&A session right after webinars finish.

Go to courses

Yes, many Forex traders are losing money. Brokers know that. That is main reason why they organize free trading courses (online and stationary). Often they hire well known traders who teach you about trading.

Of course, not every course is free. Sometimes you can find good trading course which costs quite a lot. Decision is yours. I can say from my perspective that you can learn a lot during such courses. I attended few of them, each was 2-days long. I must say – this was a knowledge based on trading experience and it helped me to jump into another level.

Follow other traders on twitter/fb

Social media are great. There is so much valuable information here, better than cats 🙂 Look for traders via hashtags and other search terms.

Twitter is a great app. Most people follow here celebrities, but you can find also many great specialists. Traders too. They share their quick thoughts about market, sometimes they twit some chart or interesting link.

Which forex trader you should follow? You can start with this list https://www.newtraderu.com/2015/12/13/best-25-traders-follow-twitter-2015/ and see which you like most. My favorites? Dante, alphatrends and Stewie.

Forums

I do not read any forex forums. I used to, but for me there is too much bullshit. Thousands of systems, many argues… It is not for me, but if it is your thing then go and check https://www.forexfactory.com/forum.php.

What is the main point of all this sources?

There is no one ready to go trading system. You must build trading system by yourself. Your trading style will change over the years. To be successful you should learn from others, see what they are doing. That way you can improve your system and your approach to trading.

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