What's Your Trade Personality?

When I talk to new traders I find they all have some things in common. Most new traders are excited about all the opportunities the markets hold and are eager to jump right in; with a plan of attack they feel certain will be successful. What I have found is the old boxers'addage "Everyone has a plan until they take the 1st punch" holds true almost every time. Typically, most traders are a strong willed bunch who doesn't give up. So they continue to try to work their plan until the money is gone. However some new traders rely on their broker's personality to guide them through the markets. Through my experience trading for clients I have learned that successful traders identify their personality type and trade within their temperament.

Here are the 3 trade personality types.

1) Day Trader- Traders who like to attack the volatility of the markets everyday. Day traders are satisfied with quick profits. They are comfortable with small profits and constant activity.

2) Position traders- Position traders like to execute trades with a 2-3 day window in mind. Position traders will commonly have objectives marked and anticipate execution with that in mind. They are also willing to let the near term market trend work for them. Also, as position traders encounter objectives either for or against they will exit the market and wait for another indication to reenter on strength. Unlike most day traders position traders usually use smart money management and tend not to over extend.

3) Buy and Hold Trader- Buy and hold traders, or Sell and hold traders are the most conservative of the 3 types. Buy and hold trader shave defined objectives for entry and exit inside the market. Most buy and Hold traders watch the markets patiently for opportunities, and rather pass on opportunities that may not meet all of the objectives. These traders are almost always good money managers, keeping in mind how much money is required to enter and hold positions through the volatility of the markets. These traders don't trade nearly as often and understand that margin calls could be frequent as they swim through the volatility.

NOTE: Most brokers want you to be a day trader. That is because they must generate commissions. There are brokers however that will help you identify your personality and help you trade within it.

As you develop as trader remember identifying your trade personality is one of the key fundamentals you will need to understand.

HAPPY TRADING

Review of Automated Forex Trading Signals Services - How An Online Forex Forecast Scam Works

Automated forex signals services provide online forecasts of the forex market through subscription websites or emails. The owners of these forex services claim to have developed a sophisticated algorithm that calculates signals for entry or exit based on analysis of chart data. The promise to you, is a fast, guaranteed way for anyone to make money in the forex market - but only if you subscribe to their service! I will show you why almost all of these services are scams, and how the scam works.

Before I go further, I want to point out that there are legitimate algorithms to find forex trading signals. But successful forex trading systems usually generate a small margin of profit. For example, a real, successful automated forex system may provide the correct prediction only 55% of the time. This is enough to make a profit over the long run, although small-time investors face the risk of Gambler's Ruin, which I will discuss in a future article.

There is a very simple scam, though, to create the illusion of a forex signals service with an incredible success rate, and many online forex forecast services employ this method. The scam works as follows. Say that a company advertises an automated forex trading signal service with a high success rate. 1000 people sign up to try it. The forex services send signals to 500 subscribers to go long on EUR/JPY and 500 subscribers to go short on EUR/JPY. Let's assume that the forex market in fact goes long for EUR/JPY. Now 500 people are happy, and 500 people are mad. The 500 mad people may quit the service (or they may give it a try for longer).

Next month, the automated forex service takes the 500 happy people, and signals 250 to go long on EUR/USD and 250 to go short on EUR/USD. Again, let's assume that the forex market goes long. Now, 250 are happy, and 250 are mad. Of course, the 250 mad people may still stick around, but the end result is, that the forex service has made 2 months worth of subscriptions from 500 people just by using the "flip-the-coin" algorithm. I would say that is a scam, wouldn't you?

New traders sign up for the forex signals service each month, and not everyone quits after a poor signal, so the scam can continue indefinitely, profiting the forex trading service, and not you.

To summarize, be very wary of forex services promising to send you automatic trading signals. You are really no better off than gambling your money away. Some people will profit from these forex scams, purely through luck, while others will lose money. Be sure to research any forex product before you make a purchase.

Psychological Capital - A Trader's Best Friend

Many of my articles have discussed how important it is for the active trader to develop the proper mind set to trade. The concept of "psychological capital" is going to be the topic of this article.

As I have said may times, finding the right trading system or strategy represents about 10% of the equation on the road to trading profitability. What is the other 90% of the equation? You guessed it. It is having the proper mind set. That's where psychological capital comes in.

Have you ever taken a trade because you were bored or because "it looked good to you" only to have the trade fail, hitting your stop and taking away your real capital? When that happens, how do you feel? Do you beat yourself up mentally, vowing never to do it again? Have you ever been in a trade that just "doesn't feel right" and discover that one of your trading criteria wasn't met before you took the trade? Do you exit immediately or hold on and "hope" that the trade makes money.

If you are like most trader's, these scenarios have happened not only once, but many times. When these types of situations happen, they take away not only from you real capital, they also take away from your "psychological" capital. They drain you from being able to act in a rational manner or when making trading decisions. If you take a losing trade and don't have sufficient psychological capital, taking the next trade will be difficult. You begin to doubt yourself, your trading methodology, and your ability to pull the trigger next time a trading opportunity sets up.

Self Talk

This brings me to another topic: Self talk. As a student of the mind and the various aspects of the how the mind effects how you trade, one of the things that has become evident to me is how much your "inner voice" effects how you preform. If you are in a trade, do you say to yourself, "I know that I am going to get stopped out" or do you say to yourself, "I know this is going to make my objective!" If you get stopped out of a trade, do you say to yourself, "I just am not any good at trading, I can't do anything right" or do you say, "Taking a loss is just a part of trading and I am going to take the next trade with the same positive expectation that my trading plan dictates."

My point to this whole article is that how you handle that inner conversation, how you protect your psychological capital is as important to making money trading as having the right system or rules to trade. The biggest obstacle to being consistently profitable, is all of the small things that come into your mind while trading (this is just as true for all of your day to day activities as it is for trading). A trader needs to develop very positive, uplifting, and confirming internal talk words to keep your trading at it's peak performance.

I hope that creating a positive mental attitude and preserving you "psychological capital" helps you to: Catch a Whopper!

Doubling Stocks Review - Day Newsletter Penny Stock Trading Scam?

Do you want to learn more about Doubling Stocks, and whether this penny stock newsletter really works as well as it claims? Now if you have tried penny stock trading, you will know that it is not for the faint hearted. When you win, you win big, but you also lose big when things do not go well.

Many of the companies that offer cheap stock are not safe investments, and with poor information, things can get very ugly for you. Yet the Doubling Stocks owners claim that they have a high return rate from trading penny stocks. This article will discuss how I did with this newsletter, and whether it is worth your time.

1. Beware Of Scam Penny Stock Picks

There are many bad stock pick newsletters that I have joined, and they are nothing more than scams. They mostly rely on the inexperience of beginner traders, but I know better now. Remember to investigate the legitimacy of tips before trusting them.

2. Why Are Penny Stocks Risky?

Most companies that sell inexpensive stock are trying to raise cash for their business, and it is mostly because they are new businesses starting out. Traders who have managed to identify good penny stocks can make really good returns because the return rates can go up to as high as 200%.

3. What Exactly Is Doubling Stocks All About?

It is a newsletter that specializes in picking profitable penny stocks that are about to make huge gains. They do not always have picks every day, because they are only focused on the top 5% of these companies that have potential.

4. What Are The Advantages Of Doubling Stocks vs. Picking Stocks Yourself?

This newsletter can reduce your risk of investing in penny stocks, because you are relying on experts to analyze thousands of companies. It sends you weekly advice on which stocks to buy, and gives you a detailed write-up about why you should invest in it. So far, it has been very successful for me, picking winning trades nearly 4 times out of 5 on average.

5. Conclusion

You need to be equipped with the right knowledge before you even attempt to buy a penny stock. Unfortunately, too many investors do not spend enough time and money on educating themselves with the right skills first, and end up losing most of their money on their first few losing trades.

With the Doubling Stocks newsletter, you can have experts analyze all the cheap stock companies and tell you which the strong fundamental companies to invest in are.

Penny Stocks Profits - Swing Trading or Day Trading?

Entering the world of stock trading means learning a new language. Just as with any industry, stock trading has its own terms and vernacular. One of the more basic terms in the stock-trading glossary is the type of trading you are involved in. Or more exactly, what "timeframe" are you involved in?

When you see the terms "day trading," and "swing trading" swirling all around the Net, it can become confusing. Throw into the mix the term, "day trading penny stocks investor" and "long-term buy-and-hold investor," (and a few others) and it gets even more muddled. What's what?

There are numerous ways for traders to invest. A few decades ago - before PCs and online trading - buy-and-hold was the keyword. Stock brokers were as revered as much as a physician or clergyman. Stockbrokers ruled their world. And they made a pretty penny off their clients. It mattered not if their client made money or lost money in the market, the broker always made a buck! (Many bucks!)

In those days, people involved in the stock market were known as investors rather than traders. Because the main reason to buy stocks was for long-term investment. What a lot has changed in a very short time. Technology brought forth those who were looking, not for long-term investment, but quick profits. Profits that can be realized within a few months, a few weeks, a day, and in some cases, a few seconds.

So, let's look at each of the terms mentioned above and learn what each means. The clearer your understanding, the better trader you will be.

Swing Trader

This investor could be involved in stocks, options, or futures. Swing traders will hold open positions for a few weeks or a few days. As they follow a slower cycle of trades, they have fewer trades to make. This means fewer commissions, less chance of error, and the ability to catch the more vital multi-day profitable swing trades.

The swing trader relies mainly on technical analysis, but may also be interested in basic fundamentals. In other words, they will keep an eye on news releases in the industry in which they are trading.

Swing trading usually has an average profit target percentage that is higher than in day trading. Higher profit targets equals higher average risk per trade. One also has to factor in the overnight exposure during which time the trader would be exposed to any major developments that might occur.

Long-Term Swing Trader

There is that trader who has become comfortable moving with the longer timeframes of several weeks to a few months. This investor might be trading in the indexes, timing mutual funds, or assessing both technical and fundamental information.

This trader will be more apt to filter out the "noise" that is present in all trading. What this means is, it's easy to get fooled by small moves against the trend, or your trade, when day trading or even short-term swing trading. These little variations aren't as likely to trip up the long-term swing trader. The percentages these traders take off the table can run as high as 20%, 30%, and even 50% as they trade out over a few weeks.

The biggest disadvantage here is the chance of missing out on so many shorter-term swings that any market will make.

Day Trader

Day traders are buying and selling in the timeframe of a day. "Intraday trading" as it is known. Some traders will make two or three trades a day; others may make a dozen or more. They experience no overnight hold exposure. The stock may go up, the stock may go down, day traders are able to profit from both long and short. They take advantage of quick swings in both directions. In this way, they focus on higher winning percentage of trades by taking quicker profits and smaller risks. They are jumping in and jumping with a great degree of regularity.

The problem here is the need for attention during the trading day. The day trader has to be actively watching the charts; investing quality time in the endeavor. Many people don't have that kind of time to watch charts.

Attention must also be given to the costs of the transactions. Commission bills can run up very quickly. The day trader must be aware and factor this into the "cost of doing business."

Buy-And-Hold Investing

In this day and age, these investors are still around, but are almost thought of as old fossils to the faster-paced swing trader and day trader. The Buy-And-Hold investor may have a large portfolio of stocks, bonds, and mutual funds and looks to hold them... forever? Well, close.

If the investor has used plenty of fundamental analysis and market sentiment analysis, the gains can be quite profitable - and the commission costs are almost nil. By and large, the problem with this type of investor is their almost complete lack of plan for their investment.

Why did these buy-and-hold investors lose 90% or more of their holdings in the bear market? It's because they could not bring themselves to sell. (They hold hold hold! It's a mind-set.) So few of the buy-and-hold investors have any idea what a protective stop means. Having no plan for profit objective, nor any idea of when to give up and move on, spells disaster for this type of investor.

The best the buy-and-hold investor can do is move from no strategy to a specific strategy where their objectives are clear and exactly when and how they will exit. AND to place protective stops all along the way.

Which is Best?

Figuring out which trading system is best depends on who you talk to. "Swing trading," said one broker, "is easier to master, requires less attention and can be just as lucrative. There is no real reason to liquidate every position daily. Most of the news that may affect a stock's price also occurs during business hours."

Another professional is quoted as saying, "You have more control as a day trader. Overnight you are exposed to overnight risk, since the market doesn't necessarily open where it closed. Intraday you have far more control over your entry and exit prices."

And yet another opinion: "When the market turns, a good day trader can get out of a position and get back into it at better prices."

So there you go. Who is right? In the final analysis it all boils down to you. What are your objectives? What is your personality? What are your time restraints? Most people involved in the market may think they are traders, but indeed the true trader is the one with a plan and the discipline to adjust and follow it.

Trading Coaching

No matter whether you swing trade or day trade; whether you work with penny stocks, futures, or options; it's vital that you gain as much knowledge as possible. Knowledge is indeed power in this business. Rockwell Trading Inc. is a group of trading coaches. Their specialty is to turn failing or marginal traders into success stories by offering trading coaching. Rockwell brings their clients onto a path to success. Their success ratio for new traders is over 97.7%. Rockwell's Trading Coaching Program promises to improve the trader's trading techniques and increase returns, or they'll refund the purchase price. No other trading coaching company can touch their credentials. Rockwell Trading is the real deal.

Can Humpty Dumpty Be Put Back Together?

The week of March 10 through March 14, 2008 was nearly an "Up Week". Monday was down but on Tuesday's we saw the market re-bound 417 points. Wednesday closed up, and Thursday the Market was positive, coming from a 200 points deficit to close positive. Even Standard and Poor's, the auditors, made the statement that a floor in the subprime credit crunch could be in the works. Most important, the Market held above the 52 week bottom at 11870.

Friday, March 14, began well. The 8:30 CPI news report showed that inflation was flat from January. This gave confidence to the Market that the Feds could again reduce interest rates at next Tuesday's FOMC meeting, even by as much as 75 basis points. The Market went up 150 Dow Futures points. The CME S&P 500 E-mini futures went up 24 points. All looked so very promising.

But Bear Stearns struck on Friday morning at 10:00am. It was as if Pearl Harbor was bombed once again. Shouldn't the Market have learned a big lesson trading derivatives during the Enron fiasco, when investors lost hundreds of millions of dollars? Or was that just a warm-up for Bear Stearns. Why wasn't legislation passed to stop brokerages from creating "air" derivatives and rating them AAA?

Carlyle Capital leveraged its derivates to the max. December 2007, Carlyle Capitals' equity stake was $670 million. Creating repurchase agreements, or what they called short-term loans, they leveraged their derivative holdings to $22 billion, until their margins were called by Bear Stearns. Carlyle Capital closed at 29cents on Friday March 14. It is basically bankrupted, and took Bear Stearns with it. Bear Stearns was left holding the "margin bag".

Shares of Bear Stearns were plummeted, with the stock closing down 46% to $30. One year ago, this stock was trading at $160/share. The entire Stock Market dumped with Bear Stearns. The CEO of Bear Stearns held a midday news conference, attempting to reassure investors. While he spoke, the Dow went from 140 points down to 217. Bear Stearns' CEO was just not able to put Humpty Dumpty back together.

On Friday, there were a record number of shares and contracts traded. Bear Stearns traded 184 million shares. The

How To Find Out If Your Money Management Plan Is Working

One of the most overlooked topics in trading, Money Management has the power to make or break you as a trader. It would be fair to say that you could be the best trader on the planet, but if your money management strategies are deficient, you will probably go broke very quickly. Money Management is an essential element of trading discipline that is practiced by all professional traders.

So what is Money Management? Money Management is essential to preserve your trading capital and is simply a set of rules that governs how much money you have at risk. Ask yourself the following questions to determine whether or not your Money Management plan is in good working order:

1. Do you know how much you are risking on each trade? This depends, to some extent, on the time period over which you trade. A good rule of thumb for day traders is to risk a maximum of 2% of your trading capital on each trade. Remember, you will not win every time and you need to be able to withstand a losing run and stay in the game. Not staking too much on one trade is one of the secrets you must learn if you are to master the art of day trading.

2. Are you over exposed in a particular sector? If you have too many trades running the same way in the same sector, it can be the same as risking too much of your capital on one trade. If you need convincing, just look at how often the share prices of companies in the same sector move in unison.

3. How much of your capital is exposed to the market at any given time? Your Money Management system will tell you how many trades in total you should have running at any given time. You might think you have a good mix of buys and sells and have a good spread across sectors, but a very volatile market can very easily whipsaw you out of all your open positions. This is particularly the case for day traders using tight stop losses. Don't have your whole trading capital committed to the market at one time.

Good Money Management is an elemental component of trading. It is not something you can learn overnight but a steady progression that, if done properly, can truly lead to life changing results. Develop sound Money Management habit, and you will be amazed at the results you can achieve. There is no reason to go for the "big one" with every trade. Slow and steady - with small, consistent profits - will bring you results beyond your expectations.

For more information on Money Management techniques, as well as other proven strategies to improve your trading results, click on the links below.

Stock Market Report - Survival Guide For Beginner Investors

Day trading has become the income producing gold mine of the century. Its popularity surpasses all other forms of investing ten fold and many people have become millionaires by taking a few hours a day to buy and sell stocks. The big issue seems to be how a person with no knowledge of the stock market can make any money. Surprisingly, the market is designed just for that person. It is designed to take money from people who don't know what they are doing. It is designed to get everybody on the "bandwagon" while it's a hot market and abandon them to ruin when the market is flat. The real money makers know this all to well and they will profit from your misfortunes too. A good example of this is the collapse of the tech industry stocks. Everyone trumpeted loudly how wonderful those "tech stocks" were for years, boasting huge easy profits to everyone who signed up. Once they had squeezed the last huge profits out of all the beginning and if I might say, nave traders, as if by magic, the market fell flat on it's face leaving thousands of people penniless overnight.

The people who weathered the storm were the ones who didn't buy into the hype. They are the ones who had enough common sense to realize that there portfolio should contain just a fraction of risky stocks and be supplemented with things such as gold and silver futures, treasury bonds, mutual funds and real estate.

So how does the small person make money in the stock market? Don't invest more than you are prepared to loose. Don't put all your eggs in one basket. Also, don't always jump when the media, your friends and maybe even you family says "Buy that stock!" If you do be cautious and be ready to watch the market carefully so you can sell before the corporate disaster happens. Invest small amounts in those risky stocks and put the big money in more stable investments such as the ones I've listed above. Real estate is a great alternative to stocks, especially vacant land. It's tangible and it's not going anywhere. It is usually a physically and financially stable place to invest. Day trading can be a great money maker, but most beginners don't make money until they have lost a lot of money. Don't put yourself into that position. Loose a small amount of money so you learn what to avoid and save the big investments for more stable ventures.

As I have mentioned in other articles, I am interested in automated stock picking. I don't expect to loose much as my investment is small so I feel comfortable playing around with stock picking services. When I find a winning stock it's usually an unheard of company. Stock picking robots can many times identify these unknown gems because they analyze data and aren't emotionally affected by the hype. The newsletter which can be found

Day Trading - A Fantastic Way to Lose Your Money Quickly

Day trading is simply one of the best ways to lose your money and the logic is simply stupid. However across the net, you see huge amounts of day trading systems claiming they can make you profits - but there not quite telling the truth, check this point and you will understand why.

Because they have never been traded!

The track record is normally a made up simulation and accompanied by a disclaimer such as the one below:

"CFTC RULE 4.41 - Hypothetical or simulated performance results have certain limitations. Unlike an actual performance record, simulated results do not represent actual trading. Also, since the trades have not been executed, the results may have under-or-over compensated for the impact, if any, of certain market factors, such as lack of liquidity. Simulated trading programs in general are also subject to the fact that they are designed with the benefit of hindsight. No representation is being made that any account will or is likely to achieve profit or losses similar to those shown".

So there you have the answer!

You can get the previous closing prices and simply make up a track record and of course, if you know the closing prices it's not difficult to make paper profits - a child could do it.

If you want to make money in the market you don't have the luxury of knowing the closing prices and it's a lot more difficult.

The fact is most of the day trading systems sold are by marketing companies, it's a good story and the mug traders falls for it. The vendor gets a nice profit, from a trading system sale and the trader gets the loss.

So why doesn't day trading work?

Well think about it:

Millions of traders all with different motivations and governed by greed and fear, all contribute to a final price and their not logical.

You cannot hope to predict what this vast diverse group will do in just a few hours or less - its total nonsense.

Of course this means that you cannot use support and resistance levels as all volatility in short time frames is totally random and you cannot get the odds on your side.

You would have as much luck flipping a coin.

Furthermore, day trading breaks the cardinal rule of trading - run your profits and cut your losses.

Sure a day trader has small losses (and lots of them!) but he will get lucky now and again and win - but does he run his profit? Of course not, he banks it at the end of the day.

So profits never cover losses and even lucky traders luck runs out and he loses.

The biggest myth of day trading is that it works - it doesn't.

Longer term you will lose and if you don't believe me - try and find a forex day trading system, with a real time track record, of gains over the longer term.

Just one word of warning - get ready for a long and fruitless search.

12 - Steps to Good Trading - Step 2 - Using Your Imagination

Not long ago I was reading the book Imagine That by Dewey Friedel. It was a timely read as it coincided with my plan to lay out these 12-steps to good trading and especially the second step, which is Using Your Imagination. In the book he describes an event in the French Revolution where an experiment in a prison showed the power of imagination and suggestion. A prisoner sentenced to death was told that he would not be guillotined as was the custom then Instead he was told that one night the guards would come in and put a sack over his head and he they would slit his wrists and he would just fall asleep and die. I guess they left this thought for him to stew on a while and finally the night came where they came to him and stuck a bag over his head then proceeded to run ice over his wrists. He felt the cold wetness and laid down and went to sleep and within 20-minutes he was dead.

Now I don't know if this is a true story or not. I am guessing if it is true that it was winter or something because I just cant picture how else they come up with ice back then. Regardless of whether the story is true or not it illustrates a truth about the power of our imagination over our lives and also in our trading. A lot of people die a death like this with every trade by focusing on the bad that can happen. It is my belief that we get what we focus on....good and bad. This is a Biblical law written plain as day in the Bible so as a Christian it is easy to believe but even before becoming a Christian this truth was playing out in my life. Modern marketing is catching up with some of those laws in the form of books like The Secret and techniques like NLP and we cant ignore them as a factor in our trading.

I am including this topic early in the 12-steps because it is a foundational one that will be used in every aspect of our learning period. It is vital that we learn to use our active imagination to reflect on the things we want to accomplish and to master our methods and understanding of the market. I say active imagination because this is a step in which you have to redirect your thoughts to those things you need to focus on and meditate and imagine those things playing out. If you don't your own emotions and outside forces will drive your thoughts and that will not end up well for you or your trading. We are always in thought and imagining on some level. Lets choose our own topics.

At this point we don't have a trading method to talk about with examples, nor should we because we are building from the ground up and the entry method is the last part you need to worry about, but I am going to make some suggestions now to start building this mental muscle of imagination and when we do get a method to work with we will just apply that muscle to learning and becoming one with the method.

Lets start with something really easy and useful. Each day during the next two weeks before the next step is released I want you to start each day by doing your breathing exercise as you learned in step number one. Do this on your knees or sitting down so you don't fall right back asleep. After you have reached your calm place your mind should be clear. What you want to do is to actively imagine your day. See it played out the way you want it to go. If you are already actively trading with some method you can include some of that but see the whole day through and don't get bogged down on individual trades or anything too specific. See the outcomes not all the details at this point. When I say "see" I mean see it in your mind and feel those feelings. If it makes you smile while doing it then smile. The whole thing should only take a minute or so. You are not running through the day in detailed real-time speed but just breezing through it like a to-do list almost with pictures and feeling. Feel, see and hear as much as you can without stopping in on any one thing too much. Focus on the results or outcomes.

This may be very difficult for some of you at the start if you have not done it before. So would bench pressing 300-pounds or running a marathon. We are building a muscle. If what I described seems like too much then just imagine your morning or the next hour or two. It's the concept not the specifics. We want to build this muscle so when we get into charts and visual stuff you can have something to work with. We are also building upon the step we already learned, which was to control our breathing. After you do this morning exercises take 2-minutes to write out what you imagined your day would be like in a journal. It doesn't have to be too detailed at this point. You just want to get it down on paper. As the day moves forward and you feel under pressure from outside forces and you catch yourself imagining or focusing on what the world throws at you then return to your journal so you can see what you wanted for your day and get back on track.

I said not to get bogged down on specific details in this exercise. However, if you have big items in your life that day or in the near future that you need to spend more time on then once you finish your daily outline and journal you can go deeper into those items and see them through the way you want them to go. Just don't do it until you get your broad day down in your journal. Using the power of your imagination to visualize those bigger items through completion will help your prepare and find peace. Just actively take control and not let the dialogue or whatever develops take you out of your controlled breathing and calmness. When it does start to do that just actively clear your head by placing your tongue just below and behind your upper teeth and focus again on your breathing.

If you are really struggling with this idea of using your imagination let me make a suggestion that might help. Imagine something you have already done and will likely do again such as going to the grocery store with a list. See yourself get to the store...walk in...glance at the list...grab the cart...flash to the isles...cart is filling...next item...next item...look at the check out....number 8 looks clear...put items on the sliding thing....swipe the card...smile...say bye...go home...etc.

It may take using your memory muscle to develop your look-ahead muscle. The only difference is the timeline. You need to be looking forward in time so make that shift. Work on this for the next two weeks and email me when you have trouble or need help. Actively combine steps 1 and 2. We will be using our imagination when we get more into the market. When you are in control of your own imagination and not letting it run free under the influence of every suggestion the world throws at us then you have real power and learning is accelerated. And just as important, we get in our lives what we actively focus on or imagine.

I promise you that we will be getting to trading specifics but if you don't have this stuff in your arsenal you will be just like every other person who fails so stay with me and we will build it from the ground up.

Forex Killer - Andreas Kirchberger's Method For More Winning Trades

First of all, you probably have first heard about trading, either from seeing some ad on a finance website, or perhaps a late night infomercial. You probably thought you could make some serious money with a little investment. Websites tell you that you can start with as little as $500 or even in some cases as low as $250.

So you are psyched up, but a little skeptical about things. You do some research, find and read the lengthy wikipedia articles about forex and how the system works. You perhaps join one of the plethora of forums out there. In joining this forum, you happen to seek the 'holy grail' of trading solutions, which in hopes will make money over time through a few good trades.

Ok, so you find out, that upon signing up for one of these forex brokers, that you can "test" the market by using a demo account. You use this wonderful moving average script you found, and luckily you have found a broker which uses Metatrader software, which the moving average script is compatible with. Fast forward a few days later after testing; you easily double your account and have a stream of winning trades out of nowhere.

You decide it is finally time to place money into the account. You contact the broker and arrange for the transfer of funds to happen. Of course for some you have to wait a few days, but it finally arrives, and now you can trade live!

Unfortunately the trades on the live account didn't go so well. You had a couple of news blowouts and you were of course on the opposite end of it. You had lost your shirt, and got discouraged through some bad trades. You want to give the currency market another shot, but do not know where to go next.

You do your research and now more aware and skeptical of the various systems out there for sale. You want something that will provide the least risk, and the most profit potential. Let me clue you in about forex. It is all about risk, and you could gain a stack of gold bars, or lose them in a few minutes in this game. Let me recommend you something that might help you.

Andreas Kirchberger's Forex Killer is the program you have probably been wanting this whole time. Think of having a well seasoned, successful currency trader sitting next to you reading the news, charts, and making the complex calculations involved to make a successful trade. Now imagine that this is an easy to use software solution, that you can use with any trading platform, and it only takes a few minutes to get around any learning curve.

Online Forex Trading And Day Trading

Online Forex trading is a very hot trend these days, but you need to know one thing. Day trading is a very good way to lose money. Why? There are many risks involve with Forex day trading and with currency exchange as a whole. The volatility of the currency trading market is very high. This is one of the most important aspects of the Fx trading world. Trillions of dollars exchange hands each day and the market goes up and down.

Are you considering day trading? This is one of the best ways to lose money as we said above. Forex day trading does not work because the data is not reliable. Also volatility is random in the online Forex trading world. Traders trade hundreds of millions of dollars each day and if you try and predict what all these people will do in this short time span you are going to have a bad time. Also your investment is not going to be good. Many of you could have seen many Forex trading systems with excellent records of gains. Of course you have seen them, but they are not telling you the truth, as we are going to explain later on.

Many people might say they have seen online Forex trading systems with great tracks records of profits. But let us tell you something. They know the closing price. The Forex broker that is telling you this does not trade with real dollars. Many times what you get is one of these things: CFTC Rule 5.61.. Simulated or hypothetical results have limitations. These results do not represent actual trading. These are not like actual performance records. Many times the results are over compensated for the impacts of the market, for example, lack of liquidity. These trading programs are designed with the benefit of hindsight. There is no guarantee that any account will achieve the losses or the profits of any of these simulated accounts.

Online Forex trading systems that make huge claims will never end up succeeding in the real trading world. Do you want to lose your money? Just join these Forex brokers. You need to trade the odds over a longer term if you want to make money here. Currency trading is a tough game even if you have reliable data. You need to know a lot about the Forex world if you want to make money here.

Rules Vs Guidlines - Undermining Your Trading Results

I have discussed the importance of having a game plan to day trade in various articles recently (A Tale Of Two Traders, Trading For A Living and Mind Over Market). Yesterday afternoon, while I was doing my Daily Wrap Up of market commentary, trades of the day, and trading tidbits, I typed something to the effect that a certain trade did not fit my trade "guidelines". I got to thinking after I typed that word. Why did I use the word guideline instead of rule? To me, the word guideline is a looser interpretation of the word rule or rules. If you read my article "A Tale Of Two Traders", I explain how integrity plays an important part of MY trading strategy. I think that it is important to be true to your trading strategy and follow your rules to the letter. Therefore, my use of the term guideline was probably not appropriate as that may lead many of the traders reading this article to believe that you can change your rules at a whim, move stops or not adhere to the limit orders you have in place. Now some of you my think that this whole article is a matter of semantics. I don't agree. If I use the terms interchangeable, my sub conscience mind might think that it is OK to move stops, or make changes in the way I trade. I work daily on my trading mind set and how I place trades and most importantly, how I manage the trade once I am in that trade. ANY influence that could affect that mind set and cause me to stray from my tried and proven strategies is not acceptable. So, I hope you study your own lexicon and make sure that you are not doing something that will submarine your results.

One other thing that I would like to touch on is very near and dear to my heart. If you have a trading buddy or partner, having a true conviction about your trading rules is extremely important. I have several friends that trade for a living. The lesson that I am about to share with you has come a great cost and frustration. If you are not totally convinced that your trading strategies have the ability to make you money, then you can be easily swayed. Here is the story that happened to me. When I was first learning how to day trade, I studied many courses and manuals regarding the subject (some free and some costing thousands of dollars). Going through this process with me was a good friend of mine. We would cuss and discuss various trading strategies that we had studied and how we interpreted the various results we were receiving. Then finally it occured to me that I was responsible for MY trading results and MY trading results only. Although my friend and I are very close, when it comes to trading, it is important not to focus on what anyone else is saying to you. I can't tell you the number of times that I was influenced by what my friend said. The markets going up, down, sideways, etc. It always made me feel that he was right and I was not. Finally, I became confident enough in my own strategies that I started to take his advice and comments with a grain of salt and trade MY trading criteria. My advice to you is once you have a set of rules and have tested those rules, become so focused on how you trade those rules that no one else can sway your thinking. You will be surprised how much better your trading results become.

One final thought. As I have discussed many times in my articles, I have gone from one strategy to another, usually paying lots of dollars to learn the secrets from so called gurus. What I have found out is that many of the so called gurus out there are just selling you something. Some of the best strategies that I have learned have been FREE. Keep that in the back of your mind next time your are asked to cough of thousands of dollars to learn a new concept.

Emini Systems - Why Emini Systems Fail

For two main reasons. Either the market refuses to cooperate or the developer refuses to accept the trading reality. It is the latter case that is much more serious and can do more damage to your account than the former.

Yes, the market can refuse to cooperate and it does so time and again, but if your system is simple and robust and you adopt a proper time perspective you should be able to withstand the market changes and come ahead as a winner when all is said and done. It may happen though that the system goes through a prolonged period of flatness when its equity curve refuses to grow and instead remains stuck in a range. This can obviously be frustrating and can cause some to abandon their systems prematurely. That's why it is important to start in a drawdown of at least 50% of the previous maximum drawdown and allow oneself a 150% drawdown reserve in case the market decides to continue digging in your equity curve. When you do this and stick to a 6-12 month time frame, you stand a very good chance to make money. No one can predict how much though and so sometimes when the year of trading the system comes to a close you may feel rather disappointed if the previous years prepared you to expect a better performance. It has been my experience that simple, robust (non-optimized) mechanical trading systems rarely completely fail, they might though test your mental strength more than you anticipated it. It is probably best to have no expectations, but simply set a reasonable time horizon and take what the market gives you.

The other failure mentioned above is of human nature and, unlike the previous one, it can be avoided as it is entirely up to the system developer. The failure of this kind usually happens for two reasons: either the system overtrades or its slippage is not properly accounted for. The developer is to blame for both of these problems.

Obviously, both of these situations can take place too and when this happens you have a recipe for a disaster. While frequent trading per se does not have to be detrimental to the system performance, in reality it is as it leads to more trading mistakes: the more often you trade, the more likely you are prone to various life imperfections and the actual performance suffers as a rule. It is however the other factor, the slippage that is not properly accounted for, that can easily kill your account, particularly if overtrading also takes place. While the slippage for the market and stop orders (the so-called 'regular slippage') can be easily estimated and taken into account, this is not so for the systems that use limit orders. (To be quite frank with you, I have seen vendors touting their systems as the true Holy Grail that would turn out to be only mediocre when regular slippage was taken into account. Their performance looked great simply because they traded frequently, but with slippage taken into account this was not so at all any longer.) The non-fill slippage (for limit orders) is harder to take into account and when ignored, it can easily lead to very inflated profits that will never materialize in actual trading. Obviously, the more often the system trades the bigger this kind of slippage is. The net result is a great looking equity curve that serves as a disguise for a losing system! It is only one way to make sure that something like that does not happen and that is to eliminate from your testing all the trades that only touched the entry but did not manage to penetrate it by at least one tick. I do this routinely to the systems I trade and if they survive such cleansing, I know that they are robust and can be trusted. Alas, this approach is rarely ever practiced by other vendors.

So who designs these kind of systems? Well, either really incompetent developers or the people of the mentality of used car salesmen, always eager to sell you their latest lemon. Because that's what it is, the lemon! Don't assume that systems like that do not exist on the market. They do, some vendors even seem to specialize in them, and they can do a lot of damage to your account rather fast. Your losses can be faster than if the market refused to cooperate, so whenever you see a great looking equity curve that belongs to a system that uses limit orders, do not assume immediately that this curve has much to do with reality as this may cost you a lot.

It's silly to blame the market for the lack of cooperation and you cannot expect it to deliver. But you have the right to expect that the vendor provides you with reliable information about the realistic system performance. Since this does not always happen, there is no substitute for solid due diligence and the age-old saying about a fool and his money applies here as much as anywhere else.

Trading - A Business

In my article "5 Simple Steps To Profit", I referenced the importance of the trader having a proper mind set. In this post, I thought that I would spend a little more time on this subject. In trading, like in any other endeavor, a person must spend a great deal of time working on their "business". Yes, I said business. Unfortunately, many traders approach trading with a lackadaisical attitude, not really caring if they make a profit or not. They take a trade because they are bored, they just want to see if it will work, or they have no real set of established rules. This is a sure path to failure. Most traders don't make money trading. The main reason I think this is so is because they don't treat trading as a business. Would you start a brick and mortar business without a plan? I don't think so. That is the reason it is so important to have a plan of action, a set of rules. Then and only then can you evaluate your plan from time to time and see if you are adhering to that plan.

Here is what I do:

1. Every afternoon after the market closes, I spend time looking over that day's chart (you will see my commentary and analysis on the day's market action every day here on my blog under the "Catches Of The Day" category).

2. I look for the various set-ups (bobber strategy, trend line break, trader's trick) that the market presented me.

3. I analyze the trades that I didn't take ("the ones that got away" in the category area) as well as the trades that I took that lost money ("flounders").

4. I look for mistakes that I made, things I did right and trades that I took that were right in judgment but didn't work out. Yes, not all trades that set up correctly make money (that is the reason for protective stops).

The point is that if you are serious about making money as a trader, time must be spent on re-viewing the day's market action every day.

Treat trading like a business. Evaluate your performance everyday. Always be objective about your trading and I think your performance will greatly improve.
Here's to catching a whopper.

Doubling Stocks Newsletter Review

The Doubling Stocks Newsletter is essentially a guide to giving the subscriber stock picks. These stock picks are chosen by a computer software package named Marl. The software analyses thousands of cheap stocks continually every day, searching for low risk and huge return on initial investment. No matter how small, it basically takes all the work out of analyzing the stock market.

The Software or computer robot coined Marl is programmed to analyze stocks in the exact same way a Professional stock trader will analyze a stock. The important difference is that it takes a seasoned trader on average seven to eight seconds to analyze a stock and note if it will increase in value. Where as Marl from doubling stocks can analyze seven stocks in one second.

This simply means that marl can be very selective when it comes to producing picks for subscribers to the newsletter. The even better news is however that there is an eight week money back guarantee, and even if that isn't enough. Doubling stocks will still send out their picks for the next six months for free after you received a refund.

There are thousands of happy subscribers already and doubling stocks has already appeared on the wall street journal, entrepreneur.com and Newsweek. Both with very positive articles on the newsletter also.

There are other benefits for subscribing also, they include:

A one time only fee to join...They will never ask for any more money

There is a list of picks they show, which can be proven.

There is a risk free money back guarantee

For a limited time doubling stocks will give you an initial $100 in an account to start you off.

Yes, this seems like a totally one sided review for doubling stocks, but it really is that good. It helps me trade with absolute confidence and can do the same for anyone as far as I'm concerned.

Day Trading Strategies - 4 Questions to Help Define Your Trading Style

Day trading is an art, not a science. Even though artists study techniques of the masters who came before them, ultimately every artist needs to find his or her own way, his or her own style of creating art. So it is with day trading. There is no one correct way to day trade. This article asks you the questions you need to consider in order derive your own trading style.

On days you trade, how much time do you have to completely devote to trading?

Let's face it, if you are reading this article, most likely you are not a professional day trader. Rather, you are a market enthusiast who trades occasionally and are looking for ways to hone your strategy. I will discuss specific educational tools below, but for now let's consider how much time in the day you really have to devote to trading. This is the crucial first step toward developing your own effective trading style. If you only wish to devote an hour or two each time you trade, then holding numerous trading positions in any given trading session probably does not make sense. Know your time constraints; know how many open positions you are willing to manage simultaneously. Once you get an idea of how many trades you are willing to manage at once, then you need to hone in on your research. This brings us to the next important question.

How will you research and identify stocks for trading?

Here is where the art of day trading comes into play. There are numerous ways to identify potential winners. Most experienced traders do their own research based on a number of technical analyses. This is not hard to do, but it does require an upfront commitment to educating yourself. There are a variety of study materials available (cd-rom packages, live seminars, webinars, on-line forums, etc.) There are also a number of stock market on-line newsletters and stock research services that can help you identify stocks that are set to move. Whatever method you employ to pick your trades, whether you identify stocks to trade on your own or opt to use a fellow trader's research, you need to use this research to derive a trading plan for each trading session you undertake. This brings us to the next question.

What elements will you incorporate into your daily trading plan?

An effective trading plan includes much more than stocks identified for trading. For each stock you identify for potential trading, you need 3 parameters which reflect your personal risk to reward ratio: a targeted entry price, a targeted exit price and a stop loss. A targeted entry price helps ensure that you don't enter a trade without considering the current day's momentum. A targeted exit price helps ensure that you don't stay in a trade too long and put your profits at risk. And finally, stop losses help preserve your trading capital in the event a trade goes against you. Incorporating these 3 elements into your daily trading plan will not only add structure to your trading session, but will also help control emotional trading. This leads us to the last big question to ask yourself.

How will you handle the inevitable losing trade?

Every trader has losing trades. Your reaction to losing trades can have a big impact on your overall success as a day trader. Don't let a losing trade affect how you manage your next trade. Be wary of trying to "win back" lost capital in subsequent trades. Manage each and every trade separately. When you lose, accept it and move on. As noted above, stop losses will help preserve your trading capital, but you also need to remember to stay within your personal trading parameters on each and every trade.

Taking the time to define your personal trading style will pay dividends in the long run. Each trader's style is different. When you have clearly defined the time you are able to devote to trading, identified your research methods, derived your trading plan and eliminated emotional trading, you will have provided yourself with the necessary structure to carry out successful day trading.

Forex Trading & Expert Advisors - Forex Killer Trading System

90% of the people who trade forex will eventually loose their money, they will consistently give their money to the other 10%, and those 10% are just loving it. With the introduction of forex trading software the market is getting easier to profit from because it cuts out all of the fat, and all you get is a lean mean money making machine. The forex killer system is just THAT.

If you found out that there was a way to automate everything? That there was a way to get the benefits of trading like a pro, but without the sleepless nights and migraines? Would that be of any interest? Everyone I talk to about forex has the wrong idea about it because they "know someone who knows someone whos the cousin of their best friend" and they lost all their money in forex. Truth is, people get into forex thinking they can become a millionaire overnight, and then end up loosing it all. That's where the forex killer trading system comes in. The forex killer trading system is as close to fully automated as it gets, and as with any other software, you need to read it in-and-out and then apply it.

The forex killer trading system has been used by Deustche Bank, so if its good enough for the Bank why wouldn't it be good enough for you? Catch my drift? The money making strategies involved here are astounding to say the least. The formula for the forex killer trading system is relatively simple since its very name employs that it can destroy all other forex systems, with the right tools I might add. The forex killer trading system can be used for just about anything you can think of, getting rid of the need to decide what you can do better...forex killer does everything very well.

The forex killer trading system shows you how to see a trade and its potential before you get into it, this alongside forex money management strategies that were specifically designed for Deutsche Bank, the forex killer system shines there. You can start with very little money with forex killer, you can use any platform you want too. This system doesn't keep you strapped to one platform, so if you don't like metatrader then use something else! Forex killer works in any country and any broker too...there you go, all the freedom in the world.

Most currency trading software enters a trade when the trade is either already at its peak or already over, forex killer gives you signals to catch every money making opportunity that comes your way. Forex killer applies to each and every currency pair and any financial market so trading the euro and dollar is no problem. This system is very easy to use, even for a beginner with no forex experience can generate cash flow simply by following the directions. Taking the time to read it can make all the difference in the world, it can be the difference between loosing all of your money or retiring, the forex killer trading system has everything you need.

Other expert advisor's don't let you test out their product before you go live on an account, you have to run it live to find out if it really works. Now, doesn't that sound just a little off? Forex killer can be tested at no risk, you don't have to trade your capital to see what it's capable of.

Forex killer comes with its own signals and can teach you how to make your own, the forex killer trading system comes with clear trading signals, reports, guides and even free e-books on forex. Forex killer comes with risk of course, and personally, the only way you can let yourself drown in risk is simple....by not reading the guide. If you want to get a hold of your future and secure it, there is always going to be a risk. Forex trading is risky, yes, but if you do it right you can become financially independent very quickly.