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Comparing Full Time Trading and Full Time Job Hey traders, In this educational article, we will compare full-time trading and full-time job . THE MONEY And I guess, the essential thing to start with is the money aspect. Full-time job guarantees you a stable month-to-month income with the pre-arranged bonuses. In contrast, trading does not give any guarantees. You never know whether a current trading month will be profitable or not. Of course, the average annual earnings of a full-time trader are substantially higher than of an employee. However, you should realize the fact that some trading periods will be negative, some will be around breakeven and only some will be highly profitable. Sick-leave & Vacations In addition to a stable salary, a full time job usually offers a paid sick-leave and vacation , while being a full-time trader, no one will compensate you your leaves making the position of an employee much more sustainable. Office Being an employee, you usually work in an office with the fixed working hours . Taking into consideration that people often spend a quite substantial time to get to work and then to get home, a full-time job typically consumes at least 10 hours, not leaving a free-time. In contrast, full-time traders are very flexible with their schedule . Even though they often stick to a fixed working plan, they spend around 3-4 hours a day on trading. All the rest is their free time, that they can spend on whatever they want. Moreover, traders are not tied to their working place. They can work from everywhere, the only thing that they need is their computer and internet connection. No Boss Traders normally work alone. The main advantage of that is the absence of a subordination . You are your own boss and you follow your own rules. However, such a high level of freedom breeds a high level of personal responsibility . We should admit the fact that not every person can organize himself. In addition to that, working alone implies that you are not building social connections and you don't have colleagues. Being an employee, you are the part of a hierarchy . You usually have some subordinates, but you have a supervisor as well. You are constantly among people, you build relationships, and you are never alone. There is a common bias among people, that full time trading beats full time job in all the aspects. In these article, I was trying to show you that it is not the fact. Both have important advantages and disadvantages . It is very important for you to completely realize them before you decide whether you want to trade full time or have a full time job.
OANDA:XAUUSDEducation
by VasilyTrader
1
Learn How to Avoid Margin Call in Trading Hey traders, In this educational article, I will share with you 5 simple tips that will help you not to blow your trading and avoid margin call. 1️⃣ Always Use Stop Loss. Let's start with the obvious - with the stop loss order. Never ever trade without that. Before you open your trade, plan in advance its placement, stick to it once the position becomes active and never remove it. 2️⃣ Manage Your Position Sizes I know that most of you are trading with a fixed lot. That is a bad habit. You should measure the lot size for each trading position you take. You should define in advance the risk percentage you are willing to lose per trade and calculate the lot sizes for your trades accordingly, then. 3️⃣ Avoid Taking Too Many Positions Remember that in trading, quantity does not imply quality. The more trades you take, the harder it is to manage each position individually. I would suggest opening maximum 5 trades per day and holding no more than 8 trades simultaneously. 4️⃣ Avoid Trading Too Many Markets The wider is your watch list, the harder it is to focus on each individual element inside. Do not try to control as many markets as possible, instead, narrow your watch list and concentrate your attention on your favorite trading instruments. 5️⃣ Remember About Volatility The more volatile is the market that you trade, the harder it is to trade it and the bigger stop losses you need to keep your positions safe. Remember, that the volatility is the double-edged sword. It can bring substantial profits, but it can also blow your entire account in a blink of an eye. Following these 5 simple rules, you will make your trading much safer. Study them and add them in your trading plan. ❤️Please, support my work with like, thank you!❤️
OANDA:XAUUSDEducation
by VasilyTrader
1
Learn Best Time Frames For Scalping Any Forex Pair I am trading forex with top-down analysis for many years. In this article, I will teach you powerful combinations of multiple time frames for scalping any currency pair. For scalping financial markets with multiple time frame analysis, I recommend applying 3 time frames: 4H, 15 minutes and 5 minutes time frames. 4H time frame will be applied for trend and structure analysis. On a 4H time frame, you should identify the direction of the market and significant supports and resistance. Key supports in a bullish trend will be applied for buying the market. While key resistances will be applied for counter trend trading. Above is USDJPY chart, 4H time frame. The trend is bullish and I have underlined important historical structures. Key resistances in a bearish trend will be applied for selling the market. While key supports will be applied for counter trend trading. Look at a structure and trend analysis on EURUSD on a 4H time frame. 15 minutes and 5 minutes time frames will be applied for confirmation, entry signal and trade execution. The logic is that once you identified key levels on a 4H time frame, you are patiently waiting for the test of one of these structures. Once one of the key levels is tested, you start analyzing 15 minutes and 5 minutes time frame and look for a signal there. What should be the signal? It can be a specific candlestick pattern, price action pattern, some signal from a technical indicator or some other stuff. Personally, I look for a price action pattern. I am looking for a bearish price action pattern on a 4H resistance and a bullish price action pattern on a 4H support. Look at GBPUSD. The pair is trading in a bearish trend on a 4H time frame, and it tests a key horizontal resistance. On 15 minutes time frame, we see a strong bearish price action signal. Head and shoulders pattern formation and a bearish breakout of its horizontal neckline. That will be our strong scalping short signal. If you sell the market in a bearish trend on a 4H from a key resistance, you can anticipate a bearish movement to the closest 4H support. Look how nicely GBPUSD dropped after a strong bearish confirmation of 15 minutes time frame. In that case, we did not apply 5 minutes time frame in our analysis, keep reading and I will explain when we apply 5 minutes time frame for scalping. Above is USDCAD. On a 4H time frame, I executed trend and structure analysis. We see a test of a key support in a bullish trend. At the same time, no pattern is formed on 15 minutes time frame after a test of structure. In such a situation, analyze 5 minutes time frame. If there is no pattern on 15m, probabilities will be high that the pattern will appear on 5m. On 5 minutes time frame, the pair formed the ascending triangle formation. A bullish breakout of its neckline is a strong bullish signal and confirmation for us to buy. If you buy the market in a bullish trend on a 4H from a key support, you can anticipate a bullish movement to the closest 4H resistance. You can see that after our confirmed bullish signal, the price went up to Resistance 1. Both trading opportunities that we discussed are trend following ones. Remember that the trades that are taken against the trend are riskier and have lower accuracy. For that reason, if you are a newbie trader, strictly trade with the trend! Good luck in scalping with multiple time frame analysis! ❤️Please, support my work with like, thank you!❤️
Education
by VasilyTrader
1
Fibonacci Retracements: Finding Key Levels the Easy WayIn this video, I’ll walk you through how I use Fibonacci retracements to spot those key pullback levels where price might bounce and keep trending. It all comes from an old-school math genius named Leonardo of Pisa (aka Fibonacci), but don’t worry – no crazy math here, just practical trading tools. The main levels I focus on? 38.2%, 50%, and 61.8%. IF price holds at one of these levels, THEN it’s a good sign the trend could keep going. IF NOT, THEN I stay ready for a deeper pullback. Using this tool helps me stay ahead and manage trades with more confidence. Your Turn: Here’s a fun exercise – draw Fibonacci retracements on different timeframes, from the weekly all the way down to the 5-minute chart. Check how the levels overlap or line up. Those overlaps, or confluences, are where some of the best trades happen! If this clicks with you, hit like, drop a comment, or follow – I’ll keep sharing more tips to help you crush the markets! Mindbloome Trading Trade What You See
Education
by Mindbloome-Trading
2
Hidden Costs of Trading You Must Know In this educational article, we will discuss the hidden costs of trading. 1 - Brokers' Commissions Trading commission is the brokers' fee for opening a trading position. Usually, it is calculated based on the size of the trade. Though most of the traders believe that trading commissions are too low to even count them, the fact is that trading on consistent basis and opening a couple of trading positions weekly, the composite value of commissions may cut a substantial part of our profits. 2 - Education Of course, most of the trading basics can be found on the Internet absolutely for free. However, the more experienced you become, the harder it is to find the materials . So you typically should pay for the advanced training. Moreover, there is no guarantee that the course/coaching that you purchase will improve your trading, quite often traders go through multiple courses/coaching programs before they become consistently profitable. 3 - Spreads Spread is the difference between the sellers' and buyers' prices. That difference must be compensated by a trader if one wished to open a trading position. In highly liquid markets, the spreads are usually low and most of the traders ignore them. However, being similar to commissions, spreads may cut the substantial part of the overall profits. 4 - Time When you begin your trading journey, it is not possible to predict how much it will take to become a consistently profitable trader. Moreover, there is no guarantee that you will become one. One fact is true, you should spend a couple of years before you find a way to trade profitably, and as we know, the time is money. More time you sacrifice on trading, less time you have on something else. 5 - Swaps Swap is the fee you pay for transferring a position overnight . Swap is based on a difference between the interests rates of the currencies that are in a pair that you trade. Occasionally, swaps can even be positive, and you can earn on holding such positions. However, most of the time the swaps are negative and the longer you hold your trades, the more costly your trading becomes. The brokers' commissions, spreads and swaps compose a substantial cost of our trading positions. Adding into the equation the expensive learning materials and time spent on practicing, trading becomes a very expensive game to play. However, knowing in advance these hidden costs, the one can better prepare himself for a trading journey.
OANDA:XAUUSDEducation
by VasilyTrader
5
Never Trade Without Stop Loss! Hey traders, Talking to many struggling traders from different parts of the world, I realized that the majority constantly makes the same mistake : they do not set a stop loss . Asking for the reason why they do that, the common answer is that these traders consider the manual position closing to be safer, implying that if the market goes in the opposite direction, they will be able to much better track the exact moment to cut loss. In this article, we will discuss why it is crucially important to set a stop loss and why it is the number one element of your trading position. What is Stop Loss? Let's discuss what is a stop loss . By a stop loss , we mean a certain price level where we close our trading position in loss. In comparison to a manual closing, the stop loss (preferably) should be set at the exact moment when the order is executed. On the chart above, I have an active selling position on Gold. My entry level is 2372, my stop loss is 2381. It means that if the price goes up and reaches 2381 level, the position will automatically close in a loss. Why Do You Need a Stop Loss? Stop loss allows us limiting the risks in case of unfavorable movements . On the chart above, I have illustrated 2 similar negative scenarios : 1 with a stop loss being placed and one without on USDJPY. In the example on the left, stop loss helped to prevent the excessive risk , cutting the loss at the beginning of a bearish wave. With the manual closing, however, traders usually hold the negative positions much longer , praying for a reversal. Holding a losing trade, emotions intervene. Greed and fear usually spoil the reasoning, causing irrational decisions . Following such a strategy, the total loss of the second scenario is 6 times bigger than the total loss with a placed stop loss order. Always Set Stop Loss! Stop loss defines the point where you become wrong in your predictions. Planning your trade, you should know in advance such a point and cut your loss once it is reached. Never trade without a stop loss.
OANDA:XAUUSDEducation
by VasilyTrader
16
Beware of Trading on Public Holidays! In this educational article, we will discuss why is it recommendable not to trade during the public holidays. I will explain to you how banking holidays affect the financial markets and how it may impact your trading. WHY??? 🏦 The main source of problems comes from the fact that the big market players like: banks, hedge funds investing firms are absent. Similarly to ordinary people, bankers and investors prefer to spend the holidays with their relatives and friends instead of staring at charts on Holidays. HOW??? But how does it affect the market? Big players are the main source of the market liquidity. The liquidity itself is the measure to which an asset can be quickly bought or sold in the market at a price of its quotes. Therefore, when the big players are missing, the market liquidity drops. WHAT??? 1️⃣ That fact instantly reflects in the market spreads. They become substantially bigger, directly increasing the costs of each trade and making it problematic to open a position at a desired price. 2️⃣ Secondly, low liquidity leads to a decrease in volatility. The market becomes weak and indecisive. As traders, we make the money on market moves. Our goal is to catch a bullish or a bearish wave. Their absence deprives us of profits or, at least, dramatically decreases them. Look at a chart above, it is EURJPY on a 4H time frame. Look how weak and boring the pair was in US Independence Day - official US banking holiday. And here is how weak and slow was Gold during US Independence Day on an hourly time frame . 3️⃣ Thirdly, when the liquidity is low, even small market participants can move the market. It dramatically increases the probabilities of false signals. Relatively low trading volumes may manipulate the market, substantially decreasing the efficiency of technical and fundamental analysis. Look at a density of false breakout on Dollar Index DXY on 15 minutes time frame the 19th of June - Juneteenth National Independence Day in US. All these breakouts were the manipulations and false signals. The increased costs of trading, low volatility and manipulations should have convinced you to stay from charts during the holidays season. However, the main reason to not trade on holidays is much simpler. Holidays give you an opportunity to stay with your family, to take a break, to recharge and relax. Even a part-time trading is very exhausting and requires a constant attention. Let yourself be distracted and return after holidays. ❤️Please, support my work with like, thank you!❤️
OANDA:XAUUSDEducation
by VasilyTrader
1
Forex Trade Management Strategies. Techniques For Beginners I am going to reveal 4 trade management strategies that will change the way you trade forex. These simple techniques are aimed to minimize your losses and maximize your gains. 1. Trading Without Take Profit Once you spotted the market that is trading in a strong bullish or bearish trend, there is one tip that will help you to benefit from the entire movement. If the market is bullish, and you buy it expecting a bullish trend continuation, consider trading WITHOUT take profit. Take a look at USDJPY on an hourly time frame. The market is trading in the bullish trend, and we see a strong trend-following signal - a bullish breakout of a current resistance . After the violation, the price went up by more than 1000 pips, and of course, trading with a fixed target, most likely you would close the trade too soon. The same trade management strategy can be applied in a bearish trend. Above is a price action on GBPUSD. The pair is very bearish, and we see a strong bearish signal on an hourly time frame. The market dropped by more than 1000 pips then, and of course, trading with the fixed take profit, you would miss that bearish rally, closing the trade earlier. Even though the trends do not last forever, the markets may easily fall or grow sharply for weeks or even months and this technique will help you to cash out from the entire movement. 2. Stop Loss to Breakeven Once you open a trading position and the market starts going in the desired direction, there is a simple strategy that will help you to protect your position from a sudden reversal. Above is the real trade that we took with my students in my trading academy. We spotted a very bearish pattern on USDCAD and opened short position. Initially we were right, and the market was going to our target. BUT because of the surprising release of negative Canadian fundamental news, the market reversed suddenly, not being able to reach the target. And that could be a losing trade BUT we managed to save our money. What we did: we moved our stop loss to entry level, or to breakeven, before the release of the fundamentals. Trade was closed on entry level and we lost 0 dollars. Moving stop loss to entry saved me tens of thousands of dollars. It is one of the simplest trade management techniques that you must apply. 3. Trailing Stop Loss Once you managed to catch a strong movement, do not keep your stop loss intact. As we already discussed, your first step will be to protect your position and move your stop loss to entry. But what you can do next, you can apply trailing stop loss. Above is a trend-following trade that we took with my students on GBPCHF. Once the market started moving in the desired direction, we moved stop loss to breakeven. As the market kept setting new highs, we trailed the stop loss and set it below the supports based on new higher lows. We kept trailing the stop loss till the market reached the target. Application of a trailing stop will help you to protect your profits, in case of a sudden change in the market sentiment and reversal. 4. Partial Closing The last tip can be applied for trading and investing. Remember that once you correctly predicted a rally, you can book partial profits, once the price is approaching some important historical levels or ahead of important fundamental releases. Imagine that you bought 1 Bitcoin for 17000$. Once a bullish market started, you can sell the portion of your BTC, once the price reaches significant key levels. For example, 0.2 BTC on each level. With such trade management technique, you will book profits while remaining in your position. Even though, these techniques are very simple, only the few apply them. Try these trade management strategies and increase your gains and avoid losses! ❤️Please, support my work with like, thank you!❤️
OANDA:XAUUSDEducation
by VasilyTrader
4
How to Identify Candlestick Strength | Trading Basics Hey traders, In this educational article, we will discuss Please, note that the concepts that will be covered in this article can be applied on any time frame, however, higher is the time frame, more trustworthy are the candles. Also, remember, that each individual candle is assessed in relation to other candles on the chart. There are three types of candles depending on its direction: 🟢 Bullish candle Such a candle has a closing price higher than the opening price. 🔴 Bearish candle Such a candle has a closing price lower than the opening price. 🟡 Neutral candle Such a candle has equal or close to equal opening and closing price. There are three categories of the strength of the candle. Please, note, the measurement of the strength of the candle is applicable only to bullish/bearish candles. Neutral candle has no strength by definition. It signifies the absolute equilibrium between buyers and sellers. 1️⃣ Strong candle Strong bullish candle signifies strong buying volumes and dominance of buyers without sellers resistance. Above, you can see the example of a strong bullish candle on NZDCHF on a 4H. Strong bearish candle means significant selling volumes and high bearish pressure without buyers resistance. On the chart above, you can see a song bearish candle on EURUSD. Usually, a strong bullish/bearish candle has a relatively big body and tiny wicks. 2️⃣ Medium candle Medium bullish candle signifies a dominance of buyers with a rising resistance of sellers. You can see the sequence of medium bullish candles on EURJPY pair on a daily time frame. Medium bearish candle means a prevailing strength of sellers with a growing pressure of bulls. Above is the example of a sequence of medium bearish candles on AUDUSD pair. Usually, a medium bullish/bearish candle has its range (based on a wick) 2 times bigger than the body of the candle. 3️⃣ Weak candle Weak bullish candle signifies the exhaustion of buyers and a substantial resistance of sellers. Weak bearish candle signifies the exhaustion of sellers and a considerable bullish pressure. Usually, such a candle has a relatively small body and a big wick. Above is the sequence of weak bullish and bearish candles on NZDCHF pair on an hourly time frame. Knowing how to read the strength of the candlestick, one can quite accurately spot the initiate of new waves, market reversals and consolidations. Watch how the price acts, follow the candlesticks and try to spot the change of momentum by yourself.
OANDA:XAUUSDEducation
by VasilyTrader
9
Demo Account Will Not Make You a PRO TRADER Hey traders, In this article, we will discuss demo account trading . We will discuss its importance for newbie traders and its flaws. ➕ Pros: Demo account is the best tool to get familiar with the financial markets . It gives you instant access to hundreds of different financial instruments. With a demo account, you can learn how the trading terminal works . You can execute the trading orders freely and get familiar with its types. You can get acquainted with leverage, spreads and volatility. Trading on paper money, you do not incur any risks , while you can see the real impact of your actions on your account balance. Demo account is the best instrument for developing and testing a trading strategy , not risking any penny. The absence of risk makes demo trading absolutely stress-free. ➖ Cons: The incurred losses have no real impact , not causing real emotions and pressure, which you always experience trading on a real account. Your performance (positive or negative) does not influence your future decisions. Real market conditions are tougher. Demo accounts execute the orders a bit differently than the real ones. That is clearly felt during the moments of high volatility, with the order slippage occurring less often and trade execution being longer. Trading with paper money allows you to trade with the sums being unaffordable in a real life, misrepresenting your real potential gains and providing a false confidence in success. Even though we spotted multiple negative elements of demo trading, I want you to realize that it still remains the essential part of your trading journey and one of the main training tools. You should spend as much time on demo trading as you need to build confidence in your actions, only then you can gradually switch to real account trading.
OANDA:XAUUSDEducation
by VasilyTrader
1
What is Support and Resistance in Trading. Key Levels Basics In the today's article, we will discuss the absolute basics of technical analysis: support and resistance levels. I will explain to you why support and resistance are important , how to identify them properly, and we will discuss what is the difference between support and resistance level and support or resistance zone. Let's start with a definition of a support . A support is a historically significant price level that lies below the current prices of an asset. While a resistance is a historically significant price level that is above the current prices. From a key resistance, a bearish movement will be anticipated in futures, while from a key support, a bullish reaction will be expected. Take a look at EURAUD pair, we can see a perfect example of a key resistance level. 2 times in a row, the market dropped from that in the past, confirming its significance. By a historical significance , I mean that the price reacted strongly to such price level in the past and a strong bullish, bearish movement initiated from that. Above is the example of a key horizontal support on EURCHF. The underlined key level was respected by the market multiple times in the past. From time to time, the market breaks key levels. After a breakout , a support turns into resistance and a resistance turns into support. Above is the example of a breakout of a key support on GBPNZD, after its violation it turned into resistance from where a bearish movement followed. Always remember, that in order to confirm a breakout of a key support, we strictly need a candle close below that. By the way, the structure here is also the zone, but we will discuss it later on. Above is the example of a breakout of a key resistance, that turned into support after a violation. Very often, newbie traders ask me, how many times the price should react to a key level to make it valid. I do believe that 1 time is more than enough, however, make sure that the reaction to that is strong . Above are key support and resistance on GBPCAD. Even though both structures were respected just one time in the past, the reaction to them was strong enough to confirm that the underlined levels are the key levels. However, historical significance of a key support or resistance is not enough to make it valid. What matters is the most recent reaction of the price to that. Key supports and resistance lose their significance with time, and your job as a technical analyst, is to stay flexible and adapt to changing market conditions, regularly updating your analysis. Above is a key resistance level on AUDJPY from where the market dropped heavily 2 times in a row. However, with time, the underlined resistance lost its significance. Such a structure is not a key level anymore. Remember a simple rule: if a key structure is not respected by the sellers, and by the buyers after its breakout. Or vice versa: if a key structure is not respected by the buyers, and then by the sellers after its breakout. Such a structure is not a key level , and you should not rely on that in the future. In our example, the resistance was broken - it was neglected by the sellers. After the breakout, it should have turned into support, but the buyers also neglected that and the structure lost its strength. Now, a couple of words about time frames, you can identify key support and resistances on any time frame, but the rule is that higher is the time frame, more significant are the supports and resistances there. In my analysis, I primarily rely on support and resistance on a daily time frame. Always remember that the financial markets are not perfect and the prices will quite rarely respect the exact support or resistance levels. Quite often, the markets may fluctuate around key levels so it is highly recommendable to rely not on single key levels but on zones. I recommend taking into consideration not only the exact level from where a strong reaction followed, but also a candle close level of such a candle. The support zone above is based on a wick and a candle close of a candle. Also, quite often there will be the situations when multiple key levels will lie close to each other. In such a case, it is better to unite all this structures in one single zone. Above we see multiple key resistances. We will unite all these resistances into one single zone. The upper boundary of a resistance zone will be the highest wick and its lower boundary will be the highest candle close. Above we have 2 key supports lying close to each other. We will unite these supports into one single zone. The lower boundary of a support zone will be the lowest wick and the upper boundary will be the lowest candle close. Here is how a complete structure analysis should look. Following the rules that we discussed, you should identify at least 2 closest key resistances and 2 closest key supports. These structures will be applied as the entries for various trading strategies. ❤️Please, support my work with like, thank you!❤️
Education
by VasilyTrader
23
Profitable Triangle Trading Strategy Explained Descending triangle formation is a classic reversal pattern . It signifies the weakness of buyers in a bullish trend and bearish accumulation . In this article, I will teach you how to trade descending triangle pattern. I will explain how to identify the pattern properly and share my trading strategy. ⭐️ The pattern has a very peculiar price action structure : 1. Trading in a bullish trend, the price sets a higher high and retraces setting a higher low . 2. Then the market starts growing again but does not manage to set a new high, setting a lower high instead. 3. Then the price drops again perfectly respecting the level of the last higher low, setting an equal low . 4. After that, one more bullish movement and one more consequent lower high , bearish move, and equal low . Based on the last three highs , a trend line can be drawn. Based on the equal lows , a horizontal neckline is spotted. ❗What is peculiar about such price action is the fact that a set of lower highs signifies a weakening bullish momentum : fewer and fewer buyers are willing to buy from horizontal support based on equal lows. 🔔 Such price action is called a bearish accumulation . Once the pattern is formed it is still not a trend reversal signal though. Remember that the price may set many lower highs and equal lows within the pattern. The trigger that is applied to confirm a trend reversal is a bearish breakout of the neckline of the pattern. 📉Then a short position can be opened. For conservative trading, a retest entry is suggested. Safest stop is lying at least above the level of the last lower high. However, in case the levels of the lower highs are almost equal it is highly recommendable to set a stop loss above them all. 🎯For targets look for the closest strong structure support. Below, you can see the example of a descending triangle trade that I took on NZDCAD pair. After I spotted the formation of the pattern, I was patiently waiting for a breakout of its neckline. After a breakout, I set a sell limit order on a retest. Stop loss above the last lower high. TP - the closest key support. 90 pips of pure profit made. Learn to identify and trade descending triangle. It is one of the most accurate price action patterns every trader should know.
OANDA:XAUUSDEducation
by VasilyTrader
1
Exploring Trading Basics: Expert Tips for New TradersWelcome to the thrilling world of trading, future market experts! If you’re stepping into this arena for the first time, it’s natural to feel both excited and a little overwhelmed. No worries — we’ve set up this nice value-packed TradingView Idea to make you feel at home. Read on for practical tips that will help you kick off your trading journey to a strong start. Ready, set, go? Let’s roll! 1. Get Yourself Familiarized Action Step : Your first step as a fresh trader is to familiarize yourself with the market fundamentals. Start by getting a solid grasp of basic market concepts. Learn about different asset classes like stocks , forex , or crypto . Understand how they work and what news or events influence prices across the board (spoiler: if you’re looking at the bigger picture and keep it high level, there aren’t too many things to consider — check the Economic Calendar Related Idea below). Spend an hour or two each week reading about market fundamentals. Knowledge of these basics will make you more confident in your trading approach and also help you see where you feel most comfortable putting your money. And don't forget about the trading psychology part . 2. Set Clear, Achievable Goals Action Step : Write down your trading goals and stick them somewhere you can see them. Aim for specific, measurable targets like “Hit a 2% monthly return” or “Learn a new trading strategy weekly.” This keeps your efforts focused and on track. But don’t stop there. Keep revisiting, updating, and refining your trading goals. Think of them as your compass or map that you need to follow in order to get where you want. In contrast, not having a goal or goals might throw you out in the open where you wander without a clear path or direction. 3. Stick to Your Budget Action Step: Decide on your total trading capital and how much you’re willing to risk per trade. Use the 1-2% rule: never risk more than 1% or 2% of your total capital on a single trade. This will help you protect your account from total wipeout. It’s easy to get swayed by some massive move in the market (yes, we know about Bitcoin BTC/USD ), but catching these waves is rarely an easy game. The better you are at sticking to a healthy level of risk exposure, the better your chances to stay in the game for as long as possible. 4. Stay Updated with Market News Action Step : Dedicate 15 minutes each morning to checking financial news. Keeping tabs on major economic reports and events will give you an understanding of what investors regard as important so you can add it to your agenda too. We’ve set up a nice and easygoing Top stories news stream that serves you only top-tier market-moving scoops, published daily and updated in real time. Make sure to frequent them so you can raise your level of knowing what’s happening in the markets. 5. Keep a Trading Journal Action Step : For every trade, jot down the details in a journal. Include entry and exit points, your reasons for the trade, and the outcome. Review your journal weekly to identify patterns and areas for improvement. If you want to get an even more precise look at your trading performance, add more columns to it and include prospect trades, or a watchlist of positions you’re interested in. Mark your monthly performance, year-to-date returns, and even how much you paid in commissions. 6. Start Small and Scale Up Action Step : Begin with small trades to minimize risk while you’re learning. For example, if you have $1,000, start with trades of $50-$100 and keep your stop tight around the 2% mark. That way, you’ll gain experience and see how you feel when you have an open trade. Leave a trade overnight, watch it actively or let it run for a few days (provided you use a stop loss , more on it in the Stop Loss Related Idea below) — all these will help you ease into smoother trading and build better confidence. After that, you can gradually increase your trade size for bigger profits. And — most importantly — don’t rush it. The markets will be there tomorrow; but will you? 7. Use Stop-Loss Orders Action Step : Always set a stop-loss order when placing a trade. For instance, if you buy a stock at $100, set a stop-loss at $95. This means your position will be automatically sold if the price drops to $95, limiting your loss to $5 per share. The use of stop-loss orders, or simply stop losses, can’t be emphasized enough. No matter how confident you are on a trade, how much conviction you have to go big, always think of the downside, or how much you’re willing to lose. 8. Join a Trading Community Action Step : If you’re reading this, then you’ve already nailed this step. TradingView is the world’s largest finance, markets, and charting platform, boasting more than 60 million monthly visitors — one big, big community . This is the place where traders share tips and strategies, show off their charts, discoveries, patterns, price targets, and trading ideas. So, stick around, engage, ask questions, and learn from the experiences of others. 9. Diversify Your Portfolio Action Step : Spread your investments across different sectors and asset classes. Don’t just buy big tech stocks ; consider some auto companies as well or the volatile corner of cryptocurrencies. Diversifying your portfolio (learn about it in the Diversification Related Idea below) will help you balance your risk, ideally without reducing the potential for returns. You don’t have to go all-in on a trade and YOLO your entire life savings into a Solana meme coin. Think of the long term and tread carefully. Sometimes, you’re as good as your last trade. 10. Continuously Improve Your Skills Action Step : Dedicate time each week to learning something new about trading. Watch educational videos , read books, or dive into financial podcasts where big market events get broken down or where traders and investors share their experience and what made them successful. The markets renew each day, never resting, never ceasing to oscillate and presenting new trading opportunities. Always learn, never get complacent, and keep striving for more! Share Your Thoughts! So there you have it, folks! With these practical, actionable tips, you’re ready to jump into the trading game with some added confidence. Remember, every pro was once a newbie. Stay cool, stay informed, and most importantly, have fun with it (but also be smart). Happy trading! 🚀📈
Editors' picks
SP:SPXEducation
by TradingView
4
How to Apply a Position Size Calculator in Forex Trading In this educational article, I will teach you how to apply a position size calculator in Forex and calculate a lot size for your trades depending on a desired risk . Why do you need a position size calculator? Even though, most of the newbie traders trade with the fixed lot , the truth is that fixed lot trading is considered to be very risky . Depending on the trading instrument, time frame and a desired stop loss, the risks from one trade to another are constantly floating . With the constant fluctuations of losses per trade, it is very complicated to control your risks and drawdowns. A lot size calculation , however, allows you to risk the desired percentage of your capital per trade , limiting the maximum you can potentially lose. A lot size is calculated with a position size calculator . How to Measure Lot Size for Trades? Let's measure a lot size for the following trade on EURUSD. Step 1: Measure a pip value of your stop loss. It is the distance from your entry level to your stop loss level. In the example on the picture, the stop loss is 35 pips. Step 2: Open a position size calculator Step 3: Fill the form. Inputs: Account currency, account balance, desired risk %, stop loss in pips, currency pair. Let's say that we are trading with USD account. Its balance is $10000. The risk for this trade is 1%. Step 4: Calculate a lot size. The system will calculate a lot size for your trade. 0.28 standard lot in our example. Taking a trade on EURUSD with $10000 deposit and 35 pips stop loss , you will need 0.28 lot size to risk 1% of your trading account. Learn to apply a position size calculator. That is the must-use tool for a proper risk management.
Education
by VasilyTrader
8
Do Not Overwhelm Your Price Chart! In this article, we will discuss a very important term in trading psychology - paralysis by analysis in trading. Paralysis by analysis occurs when the trader is overwhelmed by a complexity of the data that he is working with. Most of the time, it happens when one is relying on wide spectra of non correlated metrics. That can be various trading indicators, different news outlets and analytical articles and multiple technical tools. Relying on such a mixed basket, one will inevitably be stuck with the contradictory data. For example, the technical indicators may show very bearish clues while the fundamental data is very bullish. Or it can be even worse, when the traders have dozens of indicators on his chart and half of them dictates to open a long position, while another half dictates to sell. Above, you can see an example of a EURUSD price chart that is overwhelmed by various technical indicators: Ichimoku, MA, Volume, ATR support and resistance levels fundamental data As a result, the one becomes paralyzed , not being able to make a decision. Moreover, each attempt to comprehend the data leads to deeper and deeper overthinking, driving into a vicious circle. The paralysis breeds the inaction that necessarily means the missed trading opportunities and profits. How to deal with that? The best option is to limit the number of data sources used for a decision-making. The rule here is simple - the fewer indicators you use, the easier it is to make a decision. EURUSD chart that we discussed earlier can look much better. Removing a bunch of tools will make the analysis easier and more accurate. There is a common fallacy among traders, that complexity breeds the profit. With so many years of trading, I realized, however, that the opposite is true... Keep the things simple, and you will be impressed how accurate your predictions will become. ❤️Please, support my work with like, thank you!❤️
Editors' picks
Education
by VasilyTrader
18
RSI Indicator LIES! Untold Truth About RSI! The Relative Strength Index (RSI) is a classic technical indicator that is applied to identify the overbought and oversold states of the market. While the RSI looks simple to use, there is one important element in it that many traders forget about: it's a lagging indicator. This means it reacts to past price movements rather than predicting future ones. This inherent lag can sometimes mislead traders, particularly when the markets are volatile or trade in a strong bullish/bearish trend. In this article, we will discuss the situations when RSI indicator will lie to you. We will go through the instances when the indicator should not be relied and not used on, and I will explain to you the best strategy to apply RSI. Relative Strength Index analyzes the price movements over a specific time period and displays a score between 0 and 100. Generally, an RSI above 70 suggests an overbought condition, while an RSI below 30 suggests an oversold condition. By itself, the overbought and overbought conditions give poor signals, simply because the market may remain in these conditions for a substantial period of time. Take a look at a price action on GBPCHF. After the indicator showed the oversold condition, the pair dropped 150 pips lower before the reversal initiated. So as an extra confirmation , traders prefer to look for RSI divergence - the situation when the price action and indicator move in the opposite direction. Above is the example of RSI divergence: Crude Oil formed a sequence of higher highs, while the indicator formed a higher high with a consequent lower high. That confirmed the overbought state of the market, and a bearish reversal followed. However, only few knows that even a divergence will provide accurate signals only in some particular instances. When you identified RSI divergence, make sure that it happened after a test of an important key level. Historical structures increase the probability that the RSI divergence will accurately indicate the reversal. Above is the example how RSI divergence gave a false signal on USDCAD. However, the divergence that followed after a test of a key level, gave a strong bearish signal. There are much better situations when RSI can be applied, but we will discuss later on, for now, the main conclusion is that RSI Divergence beyond key levels most of the time will provide low accuracy signals. But there is one particular case, when RSI divergence will give the worst, the most terrible signal. In very rare situations, the market may trade in a strong bullish trend, in the uncharted territory, where there are no historical price levels. In such cases, RSI bullish divergence will constantly lie , making retail traders short constantly and lose their money. Here is what happens with Gold on a daily. The market is trading in the uncharted territory, updated the All-Time Highs daily. Even though there is a clear overbought state and a divergence, the market keeps growing. Only few knows, however, that even though RSI is considered to be a reversal, counter trend indicator, it can be applied for trend following trading. On a daily time frame, after the price sets a new high, wait for a pullback to a key horizontal support. Your bullish signal, will be a bearish divergence on an hourly time frame. Here is how the price retested a support based on a previous ATH on Gold. After it approached a broken structure, we see a confirmed bearish divergence. That gives a perfect trend-following signal to buy the market. A strong bullish rally followed then. RSI indicator is a very powerful tool, that many traders apply incorrectly. When the market is trading in a strong trend, this indicator can be perfectly applied for following the trend, not going against that. I hope that the cases that I described will help you not lose money, trading with Relative Strength Index. ❤️Please, support my work with like, thank you!❤️
Editors' picks
Education
by VasilyTrader
34
The Wisdom of Pro Traders vs. Newbie Naivety Hey traders, In this article, we will discuss the perception of trading by individuals . We will compare the vision of a professional trader and a beginner - trading vs gambling. Most of the people perceive trading performance incorrectly. There is a common fallacy among them that win rate is the only true indicator of the efficiency of a trading strategy. Moreover, newbies are searching for a strategy producing close to 100% accuracy. Such a mindset determines their expectations. Especially it feels, when I share a wrong forecast in my telegram channel. It immediately triggers resentment and negative reactions. Talking to these people personally and asking them about the reasons of their indignation, the common answer is: "If you are a pro, you can not be wrong". The truth is that the reality is absolutely different. Opening any position or making a forecast, a pro trader always realizes that there is no guarantee that the market will act as predicted. Pro trader admits that he deals with probabilities , and he is ready to take losses . He realizes that he may have negative trading days, even weeks and months, but at the end of the day his overall performance will be positive. Remember, that your success in trading is determined by your expectations and perception. Admit the reality of trading, set correct goals, and you will take losses more easily. I wish you luck and courage on a battlefield.
OANDA:XAUUSDEducation
by VasilyTrader
3
WHAT IS TRADING ACCOUNT DRAWDOWN | 3 Types Of Drawdown Explained In my videos, I frequently use the term "trading account drawdown ". Many of you asked me to explain the meaning of that term and share some examples. What is Trading Account Drawdown? The account drawdown is the highest observed loss from the highest value of the deposit to the lowest value of the deposit at a certain period of time. Imagine you started to trade with 10,000$ account. At the end of the year, your account size reached 15,000$ . However, at some point through the year the deposit value dropped to 6,000$ . It was the absolute minimum for the one-year period. At some point, your net loss was -4,000$ or 40% of your account balance. The account drawdown is 40% . ❗️Knowing the account drawdown is very important for the risk assessment of the trading strategy. Usually, 50% and bigger drawdown signifies an extremely high risk. 3 Types of Drawdown 1. Current drawdown - a temporary drawdown associated with the negative total value of opened trading position(s) at present. Once you start trading with 10,000$ deposit, you open several trading positions. Being opened, with the constant price movements, your potential gains fluctuates from positive to negative. For example, with 3 active trades : EURUSD ( -500$ at present); GBPUSD ( +200$ at present); GOLD ( -100$ at present) Your current account drawdown is -400$ or 4% of your deposit. 2. Fixed drawdown - the negative value of the closed trading position(s) at present for a certain period of time. While some of your trades remain active, some are already closed . Imagine the same deposit - 10,000$ . On Monday you opened 6 trades, 2 still remain active ; 4 are already closed . Your total loss from your closed trades is -500$. Your fixed Monday's drawdown is 5%. 3. Maximum Drawdown - the maximum observed loss from the highest value of the deposit before a new maximum is reached. Starting to trade with 10,000$ you are already trading for 5 years . Your account were growing rapidly and at some moment it reached 25,000$ . Then the recession started. You faced a dramatic loss of 12,500$ before you started to recover. That was the maximum observed loss for the period. Your maximum account drawdown was 50% . ❗️Different types of drawdown give a lot of insights about a trading strategy. Its proper assessment will help to spot a high risk strategy and to find a conservative one. Constantly monitor your account drawdown and always check the numbers. What is your highest account drawdown?
OANDA:XAUUSDEducation
by VasilyTrader
1
From Beginner to Pro - The Evolution of a Trader Hey traders, In this educational article, we will discuss 3 stages of the evolution of a trader . Stage 1 - Unprofitable trader 😞 The unprofitable trader has very typical characteristics: -total absence of trading skills Most of the time, people open a live account simply after completing some beginners course like on babypips website. Being sure that the obtained knowledge are completely enough to start trading, they quickly face the tough reality. -no trading plan Having just basic knowledge, of course, they do not have a trading plan. Why the hell to have it if everything is so simple?! All their actions on the market is just gambling. They open the positions randomly most of the time, simply relying on intuition. -poor risk management In 99% percent of the time, the unprofitable trader does not even think about risk management. The position sizing, stop placement and target selection are completely neglected. Trading performance of the unprofitable traders is characterized by small wins and substantial losses and negatively trending equity. Stage 2 - Boom and bust trader 😶 Usually, traders reach boom and bust stage after 1-2 years of unprofitable trading. At some moment, winning trades start to compensate losing trades, brining non-trending equity. Such traders have very common traits: -not polished trading plan Being unprofitable for so long, traders start to realize the significance of a trading plan. Sticking to the set of rules, they notice positive changes in their trading performance. However, trading plan requires to be polished and modified. It takes many years for a trader to identify all its drawbacks before it starts bringing net profits. -lack of confidence When one starts following a trading system, confidence plays a substantial role. The fact is that even the best trading strategy in the world occasionally produces negative results. In order to not give up and keep following such a system, one needs to build trust in that. The confidence that after a series of losing trades, the strategy will manage to recover. Such a trust can be built after many years of trading that strategy. Stage 3 - Profitable trader ☺️ That is the final destination. After many years of a struggling trading, one finally sees positively-trending equity. Winning trades start to outperform losing ones, leading to consistent account growth. Profitable trader is characterized by iron discipline, confidence and consistency. He knows what he is trading, when and why. His trading plan is polished, he fully controls his emotions. He never stops learning and constantly develops his strategy. Knowing the 3 stages of the evolution of a trader, one can easily identify at what stage he currently is. That will help to identify the things to be focused on to move to the next stage. At what stages are you at the moment?
OANDA:XAUUSDEducation
by VasilyTrader
4
How to Start Forex Trading. Step-by-Step Learning Plan Hey traders, If you are wondering how to start Forex trading, or you just started to trade, I suggest a 12 weeks intensive learning plan. Each week will be dedicated to a specific topic. Starting from the basics you will gradually mature and by the end of the intensive you will have a complete trading strategy. ✔️Week 1 - Practice market trend identification Learn to identify the direction of the trend. Master the recognition of a bullish trend, bearish trend and sideways market. ✔️Week 2 - Practice support and resistance. Learn to identify key levels. Master support & resistance recognition. ✔️Week 3 - Learn candlestick patterns. Study classic candlestick formations and practice their recognition. ✔️Week 4 - Learn price action patterns. Study classic price action patterns: trend-following patterns, reversal patterns and consolidation pattern and learn to recognize them. By the end of the first month, you will mature the basics of candlestick chart analysis. ✔️Week 5 - Practice supply and demand zones. Learn to identify supply and demand zones. Learn to combine candlestick analysis with support and resistance to identify the potential reversal zones. ✔️Week 6 - Practice multiple time frame analysis. Master top-down analysis. Learn to apply all the techniques studied previously on multiple time frames. ✔️Week 7 - Learn different entry strategies. With all the knowledge being obtained, you can practice different entry techniques. You can try trading candlesticks patterns or price action patterns, or simply key levels. Search what works for you. ✔️Week 8 - Learn risk management. Of course, entry strategies are not enough for profitable trading. Learn how to set stop loss and how to manage your risks properly. By the end of the second month, you will have a foundation for a strategy building. ✔️Week 9 - Practice trade management. Knowing how to enter the trade and how to manage the risks, the next step is to learn how to manage the active position (stop loss trailing, position protection, manual closing, etc.) ✔️Week 10 - Create a trading plan. Combine all the knowledge that you gained in a structured trading plan. ✔️Week 11 - Follow the strategy. Be disciplined and follow your rules. Test them and learn to be consistent. ✔️Week 12 - Review your plan. Following your strategy, you will inevitably find its flaws. Learn to constantly improve it. By the end of the third month, you will have a complete rule-based trading strategy. Of course, that won't be a perfect strategy, but you will have broad knowledge in technical analysis. The next 3 months alone should be sacrificed on polishing and improvement of your trading plan. Try this intensive, traders. I strongly believe that you will see a dramatic improvement in your trading upon its completion.
OANDA:XAUUSDEducation
by VasilyTrader
1
Let’s Compare INVESTING, TRADING and GAMBLING Hey traders, In this post, we will compare investing, trading and gambling . 📈 Investing Investing is the act of putting money in a financial market with the expectations of a long-term positive return. The investing decisions are usually made using fundamental analysis. The main goal of an investor is to predict the long-term market trends and benefit on them. Professional investing also involves assets allocation and diversification aimed to hedge potential risks. 💱 Trading Trading is the process of selling and buying financial instruments expecting a short-term (occasionally, mid-term) profit. The trading decisions are usually based on technical and fundamentals analysis. The goal of a trader is to predict local price fluctuations and catch them. Professional trading implies strict, rule-based actions following a trading plan. 🎰 Gambling Gambling is the act of betting on a specific event with the expectations of winning some value. Being completely luck-based, gambling usually involves get rich quick schemes and pursuit of easy money. What differs professional trading and investing from gambling is the fact that professional trading / investing involves objective analysis and strict planning, while gambling remains purely intuition based. Unfortunately, most of the market participants pretend that they trade and invest professionally while acting as gamblers in fact. Remember that long-term, consistent profits can be achieved only with the plan. Your intuition may bring some short-term profits, but in a long-run it will most likely lead you to a bankruptcy.
OANDA:XAUUSDEducation
by VasilyTrader
4
Best SUPPORT and RESISTANCE Indicator to Identify Key Levels In this article, I will show you a simple technical indicator that will help you to identify support and resistance levels easily trading any financial market. And what I like about this indicator is that it is absolutely free and it is available on all popular trading platforms: tradingview, meta trader 4, meta trader 5, etc. This indicator is called Zig Zag. After adding the indicator, the price chart will look like that. First, I recommend changing its settings. Price deviation - 1.5 Pivot legs - 5 Here are the inputs that I recommend for structure analysis on a daily time frame. And in style remove labels because they really distract. What this technical indicator does, it underlines the significant impulse legs. The completion and initial points of the impulses will be the important structures. Your key structures will be the areas based on the initial/completion points of impulses based on wicks and candle closes. A key horizontal support will be based on the initial point of the impulse and the lowest candle close. Key supports will be all the structures that are below current price levels. A key horizontal resistance will be based on the initial point of the impulse and the highest candle close. Key resistances will be all the structures that are above current price levels. Also, the completion/initial points of the impulses will occasionally compose the vertical structures - the trend lines. Underline all the supports/resistances based on Zig Zag indicator. All these structures are significant and can be applied for pullback/breakout trading. Also, remember that you can modify the inputs of the indicator. Increase Price deviation and Pivot legs number will show the stronger structures, while decreasing these numbers more structures will appear on the chart. On the left chart: Price deviation - 1.5 Pivot legs - 5 On the right chart: Price deviation - 5 Pivot legs - 10 The right chart shows just 2 structures, but very important ones. This indicator is very powerful and it can help you a lot in learning structure analysis. ❤️Please, support my work with like, thank you!❤️
OANDA:XAUUSDEducation
by VasilyTrader
8
Here is WHY You Must Learn TRADE MANAGEMENT Hey traders, In this post, I will share with you my tips for trade management in Forex trading . But first, let me elaborate on what is exactly a trade management . Trade management is the set of rules and techniques applied for managing of an already active position. Trade management is a very important element of any trading strategy that should never be neglected. 1. Never remove a stop loss Being in a huge loss, many traders refuse to admit that they are wrong. Instead, watching how the price moves closer and closer to a stop loss, they remove stop loss hoping on a coming reversal. The alternative situation may happen when the price is going sharply in the desired direction. Watching the increasing profits, traders remove a stop loss (and occasionally take profit), being afraid to miss bigger profits. Both situations may lead to substantial, higher than initially planned losses. Driven by many factors, the market can easily burn all gains and move against the desired direction much longer than traders stay solvent. Take a look at this long trade on Gold. When the price comes closer and closer to a stop loss, many traders can not take a psychological pressure and remove stop loss, being afraid to take the loss. However, most of the time, stop loss will help you to limit your losses. You can see that after Gold reached stop loss, the price dropped much lower. Removing the stop loss, you would inquire bigger losses. Never remove a stop loss. It must be always set. 2. Never modify your stop loss if a position is in loss Watching how the price moves closer and closer to a stop loss is painful. Instead of removing stop loss, some traders move it and give the market more space for reversal. Even though such a technique is safer than the complete stop loss removal, it is still a very bad habit. Each stop loss adjustment increases the potential loss, not giving any guarantees that the market will reverse. It is highly recommendable to keep your stop loss fixed and let the price hit it and admit the loss. Above is one more example, why the earlier you close the trade in a loss, the better. Modifications and adjustment of your stop loss will most of the time lead to even bigger losses. 3. Know in advance your profit protection strategy Where do you take your profit? Do you have a fixed tp level or do you apply trailing stop? You should always know the answers. Coiling around take profit level but not being able to reach it, the price makes many traders manually close the trade or move take profit closer to current price levels. Another common situation happens when the market so quickly reaches the desired TP level so the traders remove TP hoping to make bigger than initially planned profit. Such emotional interventions negatively affect a long-term trading performance. TP removal may even burn all profits. Do not let your greed intervene, and always follow your rules. Above is the example of trade management rules in Forex trading. After GBPUSD reached a key support, a long position was opened from that. Once the price moves up by a certain distance, stop loss will be moved to entry. Take profit will be the closest key resistance. 4. Never add to a losing position Watching how the price refuses to go in the intended direction and cutting a partial loss, many traders add to a losing trade in hopes that the market will reverse and all the losses will be recovered. Again, such a fallacy usually leads to substantial losses. Remember, you can add to a position only AFTER the market moved in the desired direction, not BEFORE. Just imagine what could happen with your trading account, if you kept adding to a losing short position in a recent crazy bullish market on Gold. 5. Close the trades manually only following rules Quite often, newbie traders manually close their trades because of some random factors: they saw someone's opposite view, or they simply changed their mind. Remember, that if you opened a trade following your trading plan, you should always have strict rules for a position manual close. Do not let random factors affect your trading. Above is the example how you could easily miss a lot of pips on Gold, simply because the market temporarily stuck on some resistance. Following these 5 simple tips, your trading will improve dramatically. Remember, that it is not enough to spot and accurate entry. Once you are in a trade, you should wisely manage that, following your plan.
OANDA:XAUUSDEducation
by VasilyTrader
8