Ten Forex Trading Tips for Beginners
The Foreign Exchange (Forex) market is where participants from around the world converge to trade currencies. It operates 24 hours a day, five days a week and it is the largest financial market in the world.
For beginner traders, therefore, trading the Forex market can seem like a daunting prospect and it is difficult to know where to start. That’s why we have compiled a list of ten Forex trading tips for beginners! Whilst we focus mainly on the Forex market, these top trading tips can also be applied to trading other financial markets, such as stocks and commodities.
Table of Contents
1) Choose the Right Broker
The first of our Forex trading tips for beginners does not have much to do with trading itself, but is a crucial starting point.
Don’t just settle for the first Forex broker you find online. Set some time aside to research different brokers, read their reviews and ensure that you choose the right one for you and your trading style. Here are some important factors to consider when choosing a broker:
- A range of different trading instruments
- Competitive spreads
- A good, reliable trading platform
- Access to leverage
- Client fund security
- Excellent customer service
- Educational resources
As well as these factors, and others, it is particularly important to make sure the broker you choose is authorised and regulated by an internationally recognised authority.
2) Create a Trading Plan
The right broker successfully chosen, our next Forex trading tip is to create a trading plan.
Many Forex traders are guilty of being too eager to start trading straight away without setting out a clear plan beforehand. As the old cliché goes: “failing to prepare is preparing to fail..” and Forex trading is no different.
You can think of your Forex trading plan as a set of rules for you to follow when trading and how you will implement them. Defining these rules beforehand and writing them down will help you stick to them when you start trading. Here are some questions to ask yourself when creating your plan:
- What are your trading goals?
- What is your trading style?
- How much time will you spend trading each day?
- What will determine your market entry and exit?
- How much can you afford to risk?
Creating a trading plan can help prevent you from overtrading, which can result in a lack of concentration and reckless trades. As you develop your trading plan, set yourself a maximum number of trades you will make per day or week.
3) Educate Yourself
You cannot expect to be a successful Forex trader if you don’t dedicate time to learning about the Forex markets and how to trade them. The next of our Forex trading tips, therefore, is to make sure you educate yourself thoroughly on the art of trading!
Studying does take time and effort, but your trading will undoubtedly benefit. And the learning never stops. No matter how experienced you are as a trader, there is always more to learn. So, keep reading the news, analysing market trends and make sure you don’t forget the basics.
4) Start Gradually
As when learning any new skill, when you start trading, you need to begin with the basics and go forward from there.
Don’t be tempted to jump straight in with big money trades, but instead, start with small position sizes and build upwards from there, being sure to take your time doing so. Learn gradually from each step you take and don’t increase your position sizes until you feel comfortable doing so. Remember, it's not a race!
5) Get Used to Being Wrong
Even the most successful traders make mistakes and lose money occasionally so, as a beginner trader, you need to accept that you are going to be wrong from time to time, particularly at the beginning.
Being wrong and making mistakes are unavoidable consequences of learning to trade, and the sooner you accept this the better. If your last trade was a loss, try not to obsess over it and don’t let it impair your decision making process on the next trade. Instead, analyse your mistake and try to learn from it.
So, how best to learn from your mistakes when trading? That’s where the next of our Forex trading tips comes in.
6) Keep a Trading Diary
Keeping a trading diary is an excellent way for both beginner and experienced traders to improve their trading strategies and develop their skills as a trader.
A good trading diary will record details about all your trades, regardless of whether they resulted in a win or loss. By regularly setting time aside to go through your historical trades, you can see and what you did right and, more importantly, what you did wrong.
Being able to analyse both your successes and failures will help you develop and grow as a trader.
7) Control Your Emotions
It is important to keep your emotions in check when trading, particularly your levels of stress. Make sure you have a clear head and are making informed, rational and unemotional decisions.
Reduce your stress levels by finding the cause of your stress and either removing it or reducing its impact on you. This is easier said than done, especially after a spell of losses, but it can prove to be the difference between a successful trader and an unsuccessful one.
8) Take Risk Management Seriously
If you only take one lesson away from our list of Forex trading tips, it should be this one. Good risk management is an absolutely crucial part of becoming a successful Forex trader.
Risk management is all about identifying the risks which exist within Forex trading and taking steps in order to limit your exposure to these risks. Two key things which beginner Forex traders should take on board is to only ever risk a small portion of your overall capital on one trade and to always trade with a stop-loss.
A stop-loss is a tool which allows you to instruct your broker to automatically close a trade once the price hits a certain level. By using a well-placed stop-loss, traders can minimise the risk of losing all their money on a bad trade if the market moves against them.
In order to learn more about risk management in trading, you can check out our previous webinar on the subject below:
9) Take Breaks
An essential Forex trading tip to follow daily is to remember to take some time away from your trading terminal.
This is particularly important when you are involved in a long, demanding trading session. When this happens it is beneficial to take a break and walk away from the computer for a while. Give yourself some time to collect your thoughts. When you return to your desk, you will be calmer and able to focus better.
10) Be Patient
Finally, our last Forex trading tip is to be patient, because there is no list of forex trading tips or secrets that will ensure quick success.
Many people new to trading have an unrealistic vision of becoming rich in a matter of days. The reality is that the journey to becoming a successful Forex trader requires, not just lots of effort, but also lots of time. You are not going to become a successful trader in a couple of weeks.
So, be patient and don’t try to rush the process; instead, take your time and enjoy the journey.
Forex Trading Tips – Final Thoughts
Remember, Forex success is based on a mixture of preparation and stubbornness, and takes consistent discipline to yield success. These Forex tips will help you prepare but the rest is up to you!
Here is a bonus trading tip for you, and perhaps one of the most important, the most successful traders are successful because they practise. Continued trading practise is the only way you will have a chance of achieving successful results. Fortunately for you, with a free and easy to use demo account, you don't have to lose money whilst learning the basics.
Trade on a Risk-Free Demo Account with Admiral Markets
A risk-free demo account is the perfect place for beginner traders to practise trading using all the Forex trading tips we have discussed in this article! Practise trading in real-market conditions using virtual currency until you are ready to make the transition to the live markets! Click the banner below to open your free demo trading account today:
Sources
1. Daily turnover of global foreign exchange market 2001 - 2019
About Admiral Markets
Admiral Markets is a multi-award winning, globally regulated Forex and CFD broker, offering trading on over 8,000 financial instruments via the world's most popular trading platforms: MetaTrader 4 and MetaTrader 5. Start trading today!
This material does not contain and should not be construed as containing investment advice, investment recommendations, an offer of or solicitation for any transactions in financial instruments. Please note that such trading analysis is not a reliable indicator for any current or future performance, as circumstances may change over time. Before making any investment decisions, you should seek advice from independent financial advisors to ensure you understand the risks.
