Trade!
Shooting Star Candlestick
What is the Shooting Star Pattern?
1. A shooting star is a type of candlestick pattern which forms when the price of the security opens, rises significantly, but then closes near the open price.
2. The distance between the highest price of the day and the opening price should be more than twice as large as the shooting star’s body.
What does Shooting Star tells you?
1. Shooting stars signals a potential downside reversal and is most effective when it forms after 2-3 consecutive rising candles having higher highs.
2. A shooting star opens and rises strongly during the trading session, showing the same buying pressure that is seen over the last trading sessions.
3. At the end of the trading session, the sellers push the price down near the open.
4. This shows that the buyers have lost control by the end of the day, and the sellers have taken over.
5. The long upper shadow indicates that the buyers are losing position as the price drops back to the open.
6. The candle after the shooting star gaps down and then moves lower on heavy volume.
7. This candle helps in confirming the price reversal and indicates that the price will continue to fall.
Trading Scenario
1. Trade Entry: Before you enter a shooting star trade, you should confirm that the prior trend is an active bullish trend.
2. Stop Loss: You should always try to use a stop-loss order when trading the shooting star candle pattern.
3. Taking Profits: The price target for this trade should be equal to the size of the shooting star pattern.
Limitations of Shooting Star
1. One should not only rely on a candle pattern like in a shooting star for making trading decisions.
2. This is why confirmation is required, one can confirm by the next candle or other technical analysis indicators.
3. One should also use stop losses when using candlesticks to control the losses.
4. A candlestick pattern is more significant when it occurs near an important level signaled by other forms of technical analysis.
BTCUSDT High Time Frame Oder Block In this section we will discuss what a price action order block is and how it is currently relevant to Bitcoin’s price action.
An Order Block is a trade location that has a cluster of price action, creating a liquidity pool. Once price action expands from the region, it automatically becomes support or resistance – hence a block,
This area once penetrated will act as a range, causing a period of price action oscillation. The Order Block can be dissected into three sections, the high (resistance), the low (support) and the middle (equilibrium). Whichever region price action breaks from will lead to a continuation or a reversal in the overall trend.
In essence, Bitcoin can remain trading in the Order Block before until decisive bottoming or continuation structures are developed.
Hope this educational peace helps!
Education: VolumeIntroduction
A financial transaction involving an exchange of goods results from a mutual agreement between buyer and seller. When referring to securities like stocks, an amount of goods exchanged between these two parties is called a volume. On a chart, the volume is often represented by green and red bars below the graph of a particular security. Information about the volume can give an analyst a better sense of market sentiment and help with the timing of trades.
Volume and liquidity
The amount of liquidity in a market translates to the ability to buy or sell a security. Money market instruments and marketable securities are considered to be liquid assets. However, market conditions do not always allow for enough liquidity, which is reflected in the volume. Sometimes, low liquidity may result in volatile price action, trend reversals, market gaps, etc. Generally, securities with high daily volume are more liquid than securities with low daily volume. Market holidays and shortened trading sessions have a tendency to be accompanied by low daily volume.
Illustration 1.01
The picture above shows Histogen Inc. on a daily time frame. Penny, micro-cap, and nano-cap stocks, which trade over-the-counter, are notorious for their low daily volumes.
The price-volume relationship
Analyzing the price-volume trend can reveal additional clues for the successful execution of a trade. Usually, an asset's simultaneous increase in volume and price is considered positive. Additionally, it often confirms a bullish thesis. However, a decrease in volume accompanying an ongoing rise in the price may give a technical analyst a hint that fewer buyers are willing to buy an asset. Therefore, a technical analyst should treat the decrease in volume and increase in price with some skepticism and pay close attention to it. The same rule applies when volume increases and price decreases simultaneously. Some analysts like to differentiate between significant and insignificant moves depending on the volume size. Price moves that occur on low volume tend to be considered less important than those on high volume. Typically, volume tends to increase as a trend develops. In an uptrend, a security tends to top when buyers are no longer willing to pay the asking price and start leaving a market. In a downtrend, a bottom tends to form when sellers lessen their selling pressure; or a substantial portion of new buyers enter a market. In some instances, quick and sharp growth in volume can signal the beginning of a new trend; or it may imply new traders have entered the market.
Illustration 1.02
The illustration shows the Covid 19 crash in 2020. Volume can be seen increasing in the early stage of the crash; it is accompanied by a fast and sharp drop in price. Eventually, volume can be seen decreasing towards pre-pandemic levels, reflecting weakening selling pressure.
Reporting
Each market exchange tracks and reports its volume data for a particular security. Volume is regularly updated throughout the trading session. However, the figure is only estimated as final figures are reported on the following day.
DISCLAIMER: This analysis is not intended to encourage any buying or selling of any particular securities. Furthermore, it should not serve as a basis for taking any trade action by an individual investor. Therefore, your own due diligence is highly advised before entering a trade.
The beginning of an investorHello everyone,
This is my first tutorial video, during this video you will find the following concepts:
- Primary trend
- Secondary trend
- Risk vs Reward
- Stop loss
- Volume
- Moving Averages
- Capital
20 minutes will never be enough to discuss all the basics related to trading and investing, however I hope that some of you are going to find this video useful for their personal growth.
Seb.
A Chat With Traders: Traders And Psychology With JohannaJohanna a 22 years old forex trader—with an enthralling background and compelling story. The Sudanese trader’s story starts from: Cameroon and Norway. Johanna was born in Cameroon but, bred in Norway.
According to her, “emotional intelligence is a crucial part of forex trading”. Albeit, traders don’t really talk about it. However, she prefers to trade in a converse way in relation to other retail traders. “I didn’t know I would be so affected by psychology in this game”, she mutter. In addition, “I’m a risk-taker. I love taking risks”.
Who is Johanna?
Originally from South Sudan, born in Cameroon but raised in Norway. I am currently both: a dental student and an upcoming day trader. Was first introduced back in 2018 through another female trader posting it on Instagram but—because of fear and lack of motivation, I did not take it seriously until late 2019.
Had jobs in different branches: from store employees, elder homes, and customer service. None of them have really fulfilled my perspective of living my life on my own terms.
So when I got introduced to trading, I knew it could give me the freedom I was looking for. What I didn’t first know, was the work, effort, and knowledge that was required. My first initial thought was to give someone else my own money to trade for me whilst learning, just for me to become a victim of scams on my earliest day.
Moving forward, after almost 10 months of trading live, I’m looking to get the right skill needed for me to handle the market in the long term but also educate and inspire more females to join the industry.
Woah, Johanna that’s some kick wass intro. I wouldn’t continue until this question is asked though. How long have you been trading? How did you learn forex and come to know it?
It has already been year on a live account. But, I was 5 months on demo before that.
Johanna’s On Trade And Psychology
The previous chat I had, inspired this particular question. Social media has allowed us as traders to have a wider footprint outside of the forex industry, what do you think your impact is in the industry?
The industry is heavily male-dominated and I really want females to contribute and represent another side. I’m also big on learning the right skills; from the right people so you don’t get scammed easily in this industry.
That’s you speaking from experience there. Right? Do you have a special way you trade this particular pair? If yes, can you share a tip for that pair?
My approach is a bit different: as I look to trade the strongest and the weakest pairs. I will therefore look for these pairs during my market preparation—this will also help me to understand the directional bias for further analysis.
Hey, Johanna—are you a technical or fundamental fan?
Technical and fundamental. I personally feel like both are important to have an overall look of the market and why things happen the way it does.
Without a doubt. Loving the way you’re handling this questions. What is your go-to strategy? I would also love that you explain: why that is your go-to. Do you have a major reason why you chose that strategy and how it has helped in improving your trading.
I like trading the opposite of what retail traders generally do, and as an Intraday/Swing trader, I prefer to look out for major liquidity grabs and trade from those areas.
“The opposite”. How can you tell—Just a curious cat here. By the way, Who/what inspired you to start trading? If you have a mentor, what’s their name and what about that individual inspired you?
Haha. The freedom to be able to trade from wherever and whenever I want is—definitely the inspiration. Those who inspired me are: Melisa Hilma, Cue banks, Forex with ally, and the Gold father
It’s research time for me—I guess. However, still on psychology, What keeps you sane? Because I won’t lie—trading can stress you out and some even get depressed. So how do you overcome this?
Hmm. I trade with an amount that doesn’t affect me, adjust my risk management to a level where I feel comfortable trading, and ready psychology books both for trading and personal development.
Okay, that works. Especially the reading part. I know this particular question may sound weird. The reason asked is: as humans we have the whole “act now, think later” thingy going on even when it’s not the right thing to do. So, do you have a trading “guilty pleasure”? If “yes” what is it and how do you handle it when it happens?
Made this mistake a lot in the beginning. Albeit, I’ve tried to work on being very strict and journal every time—I might do this mistake to then go over it during the weekend. If greediness occurs, I really need to take a step back and look at my plan, checklist, and rules before taking a trade.
Someone’s disciplined. Tell me—what are the three traits you have that keeps you successful? And what three traits do you hope to have in trading that would make you a consistent trader?
A big risk taker, I love taking risks. Being consistent and systematic as a person, also helps me become a better trader and the appetite to always learn something new! As a trader you meet so many challenges, you can never be bored!
Truth to that. It’s amazing the discoveries one can get from just trading. Speaking on bore-dom—When you’re not trading, what are you doing?
I study, read and I like meeting friends. In addition, the Corona virus has also made me start watching some new tv shows. I love to bing watch them on: Netflix and HBO.
Yeah being hooked on some shows as well. Tell me about a time you disagreed with a decision. A time you didn’t follow your trading plan. What did you do?
There was this one time where I did something. Though, I do not recommend it. Took a trade into a news event. That’s personally against my rules. I still did it and it went away for a while before it reversed and hit my stop loss. The worst part was: I was trading Nasdaq100 (indices) that moves very fast and can easily blow up your account with one bad move.
Eish! I can definitely relate. Nasdaq’s my field. How do you handle pressure, impatience, fear, doubt and greed in forex?
You know what, I don’t work well under pressure—so, I can’t be dealing with anything that might pressure me to do something outside my plan. I’m actually a very patient person and I haven’t really rushed in the market. Things take time and I accept it. I might doubt myself sometimes but I keep thinking that others have done the same but they are now in better situations. Same thing with greed. Greed will test you in the market but, taking control of that earlier in the trade will help you a lot. I take what I can from the market and I’m happy with that.
Well said. Johanna. Let’s visualize now. So what would you want your forex dream to be like (in details).
Too many dreams. My forex dream is just one of many things I need to accomplish. Being financially stable from forex is the first step, but investing in other assets and businesses is as important as my drive to learn forex.
Investing, compounding. A great dream. Who is one person/academy you think Neophyte or everyone should follow and why?
Really look up to Melisa Hilmi, the first person who introduced me to forex. She has a genuine drive for the market and has an amazing course from beginner stage to advanced. Also, she has an amazing track record, history and I appreciate people who do their own thing.
Haven’t really heard of her. Another assignment for me. What are you biggest strengths in forex and What’s one thing you think you are very good at in forex?
I’m a big risk-taker. This makes me less emotional when I trade: as I’m not attached to money—the same way as many might be in the beginning.
“Big risk-taker” That means you probably won’t relate to this question—But, Have you ever tried quitting? If yes, what did you do about it?
Yes. I took 2 months break after I got scammed and was really depressed. I got back up knowing that it was just a mistake. Trading is still something I should be able to try out but by myself.
Ouch. So sorry about that. By the way, speaking on losses—What was your greatest loss, how much was it?
My greatest loss so far is: $6000 in 2 days.
That’s crazy. What motivates you?
Being able to change how I and my family live. My younger siblings motivate me—even more. I want to give them much more than what I got when I was younger.
Aww. That’s so sweet. In trading, how do you manage a trade when in it?
While the trade is running, I make sure I have alerts on areas of key levels. I might check it one time every hour and might adjust my stop loss to make the trade risk-free.
I’m curious now. What’s your trading plan? And what is your go-to assess class (what pair(s) would you consider are your favorites) and why do you prefer these pairs?
I start off by looking at major news for the day/week and look out for events that might affect my trades. Most of my market preparation for the week happens during the weekend and I will focus on only executing my trades after that. I look for high probability trades and I have a checklist I mark off before, during, and after the trade. They include: my entry rules, exit rules, risk management strategy, and how I will manage my trade while it’s running. My favorite pairs are: GBP and NZD pairs.
Johanna speak on the Industry and It’s Newbies.
Hope to see your watchlist someday. I always ask this particular question. What’s your take on Neophytes that want to learn forex? Do you prefer they paid for the knowledge or stick with YouTube videos and free materials.
Spent a lot of time on YouTube and it helped me but—you should also take a course: as the information can be overloaded with free materials.
Yeah. Lots of free courses everywhere. Learning everything can be quite exhausting. This may sound “cliché” but why forex? What is your major reason for choosing forex?
Not funny but, I was first scammed in the crypto industry—I backed off from that. Then forex seemed like a reasonable market for me as it involved more than just studying currencies.
Lot of scamming on your part. Moving forward. We all talk about trading psychology, what can you say about that?
Didn’t know I would be so affected by psychology in this game. Pay attention to every move that affects your mindset and work hard on improving it.
Needed to hear that from you. Because, I think psychology is one of the most important—if not the most important part of trading. So, that’s why I’m laying emphasis on it. What are your trading rituals and how has it helped your trading?
When looking for high probability trades, I only take trades that matter hence—why I don’t need to take many trades every week. I stay out of bad markets and back-test my weekly losses.
Back-testing, important. What are your trading aspirations? I know many trade for “financial freedom” but what happens when that’s achieved? What do you plan on doing with trading?
Plan on making an educational space. Not just within trading, but also in finance. There are many opportunities out there: to better yourself financially. However, I see many people don’t take that chance due to: either lack of experience but also fear of losing money. I want to motivate more people to go for what they want.
Good-luck on these aspirations Johanna. It’s a great idea. What would say is your “win-rate” and what really drives results in your trading?
I would say I have a win rate of 68-72%. My results are driven by hours of back-testing different pairs and their movement.
Not bad really. Did you have a job though. If yes, What was your salary in your last job before forex? Was leaving it for forex worth it and why?
$1300-1700 a month. Definitely worth it. Not looking to go back to a corporate job anytime soon.
Haha. Forex stole you away. Tell me how you think other people would describe you. What do you want to be remembered for in the industry?
Very social and outgoing. I want to be known for someone introducing the market in a different way by: showing them both obstacles and good days. There’re too much fake lifestyle on social media.
Well, most are great marketers. Others, for social status. Do you keep a journal? If yes, what does it consist of?
Yes, I do. I have different sections where I journal my market, pips achievements, losses & wins, my risk percentage, and personal processed thoughts I had during the trade.
Nice. I’m really grateful for your time. Although, I won’t be leaving till you tell me about the toughest decision you had to make in the last six months. Was it a trading decision? If yes, tell me how you handled the situation.
No worries. Quitting my last job. It was a hard decision but I knew it was the right thing for me not only to pursue my trading dream but—also be able to focus on things that make me happy. I don’t regret it at all.
That’s tough. How would you describe your ideal work environment?
My ideal work environment is essentially an office filled with other female traders working to help and educate other upcoming traders like myself on their journey.
Yup. You’ve definitely got a great belief system. I’ll be looking forward to this Ma’am. You know we have the Neophytes now in the industry. In fact, more Neophytes are trooping in. What’s your advice to them and what would you recommend they start with?
Simple. Throw away the whole “I’m going to become rich in a few weeks”. Focusing on the money aspect will really turn your motivation off in the beginning as: you don’t even have the skill set. Focus on the skillset, and the money will come along.
Process first, then outcome. You couldn’t have said it better. What would you consider to be your biggest forex achievement? Tell me about a forex accomplishment you are most proud of.
When I was profitable enough to quit my job. It takes time, and I’m nowhere near where I want to be but—I have at least come a long way.
Positivity goes a long way. Do you have weaknesses—What are your forex weaknesses? How do you plan on going about them? Have you succeeded in doing that?
Social media can be a very scary place and as an upcoming trader, you will encounter a lot of different things. Comparing myself to other traders is a weakness of mine, but I keep reminding myself that their journey is different from mine and we all have our own path. I don’t really look at other traders that much anymore and just focus on myself and my own journey.
The media, if used wrongly is a deadly disease. Proprietary firms are in existence now. Do you trade for any proprietary firm? If yes, which one and how is it going?
No, not yet but I’m looking to take the FTMO when I’m ready.
Finally, before I leave you Johanna. How long do you plan on trading forex and Where do you see yourself in five years with forex?
Plan to stick to my written rules and risk management. I also look up everything that I don’t understand and learn from it. Progress is my everyday mission.
A Traders Psych Evaluation
1. Asides money, why else do you trade?
2. When you’re not trading, what do you do with your free time?
3. If you bagged a million dollars in trading today… what’s your first step?
4. Your favorite trading book—if any?
5. Who do you admire most in trading?
6. What are you most afraid of in trading?
7. If you could change everything about your trading career—what would it be and why?
8. What subject in school made the most impact in you?
9. If you died today, what do you wish to be remembered for?
10. Are you addicted to trading?
11. What’s the most defining moment of your trading career?
12. Your dream destination?
13. Your favorite trading memory?
14. What do you feel most proud of?
15. Who introduced you to trading?
16. What’s your worst/best childhood memory?
17. If you had a chance to do-over in life… what would you do differently?
18. What’s your strongest quality?
19. Most embarrassing thing you’ve done in trading?
20. What’s a skill in trading you wish to learn and why?
Visualization and Trading Manifestation 💆♂️Visualization
Why is it important?
You may have noticed that whatever you choose is always manifested. What you choose is what you get. Whatever you choose to believe in gets reflected in your worldview.
So why are you not choosing to be a successful trader?
Thoughts not only provide the motivation for human action, they also have a direct influence on our reality.
Thought energy transforms into physical reality.
Thinking positively going into a trade and thinking positively in general as a trader is a sure path to success.
Do you practice positivity and visualization when trading? 💆♂️
Lesson in trade setups. take it or leave itTrading is difficult. it takes patience. the key to a successful trade is planning.
in this chart we do away with diagonal trend lines . all we are looking at is the horizontal support and resistances.
to keep trading simple you have a thesis, stick to it and execute on it. you breakout from either support or resistance that will be your signal to begin to watch the charts for your trade to develop. you need to have the patience to wait for a retest and bounce off the horizontal line and the price to break past the retest pivot
waiting for your thesis to play out and always using stop losses in this case right below the support/resistance lines that the price broke from will keep your stack safe and your losses small.
in turn (not shown on this chart) you can also take the short and long trades based on price tagging the support (short) or resistance(long) lines.
good luck trading
ELM Trading Group
Performance Anxiety In Forex & TradingPerformance anxiety starts with your belief… Where do you stand presently in—trading?
In previous years, I have witnessed people having mind attacks—because they tell themselves convincing stories of how they can’t achieve stuff.
You’re probably wondering what these mind attacks are?
Well, mind attacks as the name implies is—when your mind overcomes your consciousness. Monte sahaja referred to it as, “an opportunity to check in yourself”. The ideal question here is, who is attacking your mind?
I want to believe that—the mind is actually the most convincing liar that ever existed. Well, a topic for another day!
There’s a lot to talk about and I wouldn’t want to complicate things. So, mind attacks leads to anxiety, which leads to doubt and we gradually build the P.A.
My early days of high school, I would seat at talk-shows—then go home to talk to mirrors and shadows. But, when invited to speak, I freeze. “There’s a problem”, I thought. What could it be?
Jane will say, “you can do it”… But, I know it’s easier said than done. After-all, more is said—than done, sometimes.
A boy from the audience, can’t really remember his name shouted, “Anx-boy”. The others would laugh.
“What is anx-boy?”, I asked.
“It’s a boy who suffered from anxiety”, Jane muttered.
What, I don’t have anxiety or do you think I do?… I mean—it’s because I’m new right?… Funny how you convinced yourself into believing that lie. Pfft, rubbish!
“Shut up Judith!”, Jamal mouthed. Agh… I hate her she doesn’t just know when to shut-up. Everyone just thought I was weird but, you need to meet Judith she’s annoying.
Only Jane understood. The rest, well, I was this mad guy that speaks to himself or better yet—anx-boy.
Performance Anxiety And It’s Meaning
Each time I try to do something, I become anxious and I mull over different possibilities. Judith left me a funny note one day. It read, “Hey, nut job—what’s faster than light?”. Heh! she’s rude.
Anyway, I pondered as to why she asked that but, couldn’t figure it out.
Every time I see this yellow and green vehicle—I let out a huge sigh, yet another day of bullies. Anyway, I had an assignment from Judith. The sun pale; the wind on my face feels like burger and cheese—maybe I was just craving it. “We’re here!”, Jane brings me back to reality.
“I’ll meet you in chemistry”, I told Jane—as I hurriedly left for the library. The mid-day high’s library was the biggest in England—You could get lost in books over there. Haha! I love playing with words.
Strolling down mid-day’s library, I picked up every book I could find on—“what’s faster than light?”. “This girl (Judith) must be joking asking me that”… “Maybe she wanted me to figure something out”, I gasped.
All books I read, said—nothing was faster than light; that’s the speed of the universe. She must have lost her damn mind. Moving away from the library, I stumbled over a book with an interesting title, “Our thoughts and mind are faster”. Hmm… Okay this looks interesting.
Hovering over the lines for 2 hours, I figured out Judith’s riddle. “It’s my mind”… I remembered “anx-boy” then, it occurred to me that Judith was only trying to help. “Thanks Judy”, I smiled.
Pulled out my backpack, took my pen and wrote, “New mission, what is anxiety and why do I have it before a task”.
Terrible memories in England’s mid-day and the only thing that didn’t suck were—the school’s WIFIs. Yep! those bronskies were really fast. Pulled out a computer-chair, started my research.
What Is Performance Anxiety?
Well, I had no idea what anxiety meant, I started my research with the little computers we’ve got. The dictionary definition of “anxiety” is—worrying excessively about an uncertain outcome. Heh, made it easier for myself. It made sense now why I was called that. I just worried so much about futuristic plans and my perfectionist self—just couldn’t stand it going wrong.
So, that means there are different kind of anxieties. I randomly just typed, “What is the anxiety you get when you want to do something? And… Performance anxiety popped up.
Woah, just realized not all anxieties are from doing stuff. What then is performance anxiety?
It’s the fear someone experiences before or during a specific type of performance. When someone has performance anxiety, they fear that the performance will be a failure even if they are well prepared.
Usually—occurs when fear of outcome, interferes with the process of doing.
It’s Meaning…
If we can train ourselves to not overreact to negative outcomes, then we won’t have to deal with P.As. It occurs when we become so worried or concerned about the outcomes of our performance that our nervousness interferes with the performance itself.
“Damn you PA!” I can’t believe you’ve ruined my life. Uhm—What else do they have on this anxiety?
Classic examples include “freezing up” when giving a public speech.
Under conditions of performance anxiety, people will make decisions to manage their emotional states—rather than to properly manage their reality. Very often, these guys will have good ideas but will never participate due to—fear of failure. “Well, that’s true”.
You know, anxieties are just stories we tell our minds… It’s one of the paradoxes of performance; we are ready to win when we are no longer threatened by our failures.
For real? I mean that’s true though cos’ I be imagining different possibilities of failure. Then, I come up with the conclusion that maybe that’s what I am. “Anx-boy the failure!”
Why Traders Suffer From PA?
Sorry! I zoned out a little. The story I was telling, is actually going to be told in my book (coming soon). Back to the actual first sentence—Where do you stand presently in—trading?
Traders who suffer from PAs, are mostly seen as perfectionist or fear holders. What kind of fear am I speaking of?—It’s our very own, “atychiphobia”. But, you’re probably wondering why—I’ll help you.
When you trade to not lose, instead of win, you find yourself in the bubble of performance anxiety. You start avoiding future performances—because you believe failure will/might result in humiliation or rejection.
I keep coming for the media traders!
People of this generation, actually love the idea of social gratification—that they believe anyone who post cars and money. Why? I mean who doesn’t like the goodies of life… It’s just that most times, these goodies aren’t really what you need as a beginner.
Yeah-yeah, we all love a good motivation but—we get in the game (trading) without realizing that—it’s not as easy as it looks. The simple reason traders suffer from PA is—they avoid losses so much that, it actually takes their willpower of actually making trade orders.
The other day, I was at a seminar and this guy said, “the only skill a trader needs to be successful is—to know how to click you mouse”. If you think about it—it’s true. Anyone can tap a buy or sell and be in profit. In one of my podcast episodes, I spoke about the difference between being a trader and being profitable.
So, to me—PAs are just signs of ego and the fear of rejection.
The One That Fears Rejection
Day 53 of personality exploration…
What if I fail, don’t get it right or they don’t like me?—That was all I was thinking about. I mean, no friends, bullied, just plain rejection or at least, that’s what I “thought”.
You know—mama would say, “Humans are like shells, we seek to protect our interior from any potential harm” Heh, or is it crabs? She definitely used an animal. It’s funny how most times—fear can only be an “illusion” that we created by “ourselves” using our own minds.
It may be due to loss, trauma or just experience itself. Most people don’t realize how powerful they are—because they’ve lived their life in a bubble, they created. You know what I think, Fear is only an illusion. A dream only comes true if you believe it. Have you ever imagined the life you want and I don’t mean the, “Oh! I want to succeed” kind of imagination. I mean in details!
The moment I realized how much I can do with my mind, that’s when I started journaling every single move, decision, and step I made.
Every failure and successes in our life, started with a single thought. Now a thought is just a noun but—it becomes a verb when you believe it.
Similarly, performance anxieties are created from just a single thought of, “What if”… Here’s a riddle I created for you: When is a thought not a thought? Answering that alone, would make you as powerful as, God himself. I mean—we’re made from his own image right? You only take the image of a god—when you realize just how powerful you are.
Trader Lydia’s Story
A friend once said, “Thoughts have no power till they have your attention”. The fear of rejection tends to affect our ability to succeed in personal and professional areas of our lives.
Sylvia, my mom, told me of a trader who was so lonely that—she sought after validation from others. Ergo, she chose perfection over progression. Never wanted to be seen as weak in front of other traders, never acknowledged her losses—in-fact, she was embarrassed by them. How else was she going to be accepted—by the rest of the traders, in a pack?
Lydia was scared of rejection!
This affected her performance as a trader. She was never able to trade properly as she now developed performance anxiety (PAs). Funny, she had an edge, the right knowledge of the markets but, she just couldn’t pull the trigger. Many will say, “she’s a coward” but—I just think Lydia needed acceptance. You see, once you learn to accept certain truths—life won’t have to be difficult; trading won’t have to be difficult.
Traders have grown to believe you need a team to succeed—I just want to let you know that, “There’s no T-E-A-M in Trading, There’s an I.”
Her story changed when she realized, she only had herself to impress.
The One With Ego
Day 54 of personality exploration…
Every morning I wake up I tell myself, it’s okay to be proud of yourself but, mom would say, “too much of everything is bad”. Heh, everyone has an ego. I just think ego means knowing yourself well enough to know what you’re worth. It’s knowing that your unique and can stand up for yourself.
There’s something funny about the ego though—egos live in the past and the future, they don’t believe in acceptance as well, attachments come easily to them.
It’s 9:00 am and all I’m thinking about is my pitch. I remember what happened when I was 15—there was panic, people laughed, most wooed. I wonder if it will happen again?
Did you notice what I did there? That was my ego speaking. Ego thought of the past and the future in just a single sentence. That’s what happens when we do too much of everything. Mom would say, “On the highest throne in the world, we still sit only on our own bottom”.
Having PAs that day was because—my ego is sometimes the bad guy. When you live in the past and future you give “ego” a power to ruin your entire life.
Before I close off, Maxime said I should let you know that you should, “Destroy your illusions so you can see reality. Destroy your fears so you can take risks. Destroy your ego so you can see life”.
So, where do you presently stand in—Trading?…
‘Wake up Jam’, Jane screamed… it’s your turn to give your pitch.
3 Things I Wish I Was Told Before Becoming A TraderTrader Jamal…
Hey, Finn—What you doing here… Are you here to wind me up?
No, Jam! Shucks—Just heard you’re rich now. Trading stole our red-collar boy. How has it being though?
Tough!… I won’t even lie to you man. It’s being real tough. I even told my story here to people. You know what they said, “I told you so”.
I mean all I wanted was “financial freedom”. Pfft—I don’t even know what I was thinking. I’m broke man! Everything I’ve done has really messed me up, Finn.
I’ve lost close to $70,000 in total. Mistakes, hesitations, personality problems, and fear. I think… I might just quit—Maybe trading isn’t for me man… Came to get some food. We’ll talk later Finn—Bye!
“As a trader, the key is to learn more about yourself”… Huh! What do you mean sir?—Are you talking to me?
Yes, Forgive me son—I overheard your complaints to your friend. 43 years ago—I was exactly like you son. If I may ask, how long have you been trading?
Umm, 2 years sir. It really hasn’t being that long.
Then why are you complaining? … I’ve been in the game for 43 years and I didn’t achieve consistency—until after 10 years of trials and lots of errors. So, don’t give up yet!
Erg! sir… —I just don’t know what I’ve been doing wrong. I can’t tell.
The Old Trader tale
Everything I’ve done has been a total fail. You know, I went to school of candles Pretoria—Nothing has happened, so far. Tell me sir, what else should I do?
All right Jamon… … It’s Jamal sir
Jamal, can I tell you my story… I’ll appreciate that sir.
November 3, 1850, I became a trader—A friend introduced me to trading, when I was at my lowest. A short story…
What do you mean sir? I don’t understand… I’m going to let you in—on my secret. But, you have to make sure, you’re patient enough to listen.
On January 5, 1849 I graduated with a first class honors in Business and Finance. It was the greatest day for me—Cos’ I could finally become the Businessman/Banker I’ve always wanted to be. I thought to myself, “Isn’t this great?”
So I started job hunting, I focused more on the banking sector… I searched and foraged around Beverly hills but—It was total disappointment. Until, I finally got it.
Hey! guess which bank came through—It’s The First Republic Bank. They took me in. Good pay and all; it was my dream job.
I mean you must be asking, “why quit and become a trader?”
Simple! it wasn’t the life I pictured. I know I wanted to be in the financial sector—Wanted that classy business guy life—But, the idea of sitting in a spot to make money… wasn’t what I imagined. Two words, “It’s Boring”!
Why Quit Your Job Trader
The questions I asked myself was, “Is this where you really see yourself in 5 years?”… That was the only bank that offered me a great job—I knew that per fas et nefas, I am definitely going to have my financial freedom.
So, I started my search again. This time I was specific—No bosses, anywhere in the world and My own time. You should know what that means, right Jamal?
Oh! Yes sir I do… Just curious to how trading met you…
Sir, you graduated with a first class honors in finance yet, you spent 10 years in becoming a consistent trader What happened?
Don’t worry I’m getting there. Most traders don’t know this yet but, “It’s really mind over market; EQ over IQ” here. You’ll think that, because I came out with such good grades—I’ll be a market wiz in a short period.
That’s not how trading works!
You know, my friend Victor once said, “The key to trading success is emotional discipline. If intelligence were the key, there would be a lot more people making money trading… Ergo—the single most important reason that people lose money in the trading is because—they become too emotional, in denial, and cannot control these emotions”.
That’s why Jamal, Trading is really not about your IQ; It’s more or less about you as a person. Your mindset, beliefs, character—everything about you would be tested. As a trader , you are really playing against yourself. It’s you versus you!
I Discovered The Art Of Trading!
Before I continue my story, I’ll ask you a question—Do you understand your personality?
Shucks, well… Yes! I do. But, the change hasn’t been easy sir. I realized that my character flaws gets in the way of my progress. Exactly! Jamal…
Back to my story. I wasn’t happy with my job; even though it felt like it was my dream job. After working there for a year and reflecting—I realized, “No! man this isn’t what I expected”. It’s a bore!
Most people are like you Jamal. They’d ask, “Why spend 10 years in figuring out trading, if you graduated with a—first class Honors”. It’s because… trading is more than IQ! In trading, the intelligent also encounter problems, if not more—in trading. You know… You and I.
That’s why I used victor’s quotes.
Now, I was looking for my dream job, which was, making money whilst at the comfort of my home. My degree couldn’t give me that. I needed to have a skill. But, I’ll let you on a secret Jamal–-“A degree without skill is just nothing more than, a unit of angle measurements”.
Something happened—on the 15 September, 1850, there was a seminar. The bank made sure every of its staff were in attendance—Most grumbled, some happy, others indifferent. I actually wanted to reject the offer… until I saw the topic of the seminar. It read, “Your missing key to financial freedom”.
Of course I went. That’s what I wanted! Ugh… That seminar alone changed my view of the finance industry and I discovered the art of trading. A beautiful art I must say; The best!
Immediately, I saw a reflection, I imagined what it would feel like—If I became a trader.
Self-Reflection
The moderator said something, he said, “What kind of life do you want to live? A 9-5 till your 60 or an anytime you want till your 30”. You see, I pondered on that quote for the longest time. I don’t think I’ve ever had to think so hard. Anyway, I made a choice!
I have to know how to trade!
That’s what I said to myself. But, I didn’t quit my job just yet. I needed that job at least, till—I was great at the art of trading. Damn! I probably shouldn’t have quit my job right?
Heh! Listen, what’s already done shouldn’t be spoken about. You made a decision that was best for you at that time. Jamal you’re still young and there’s still time to make better decisions. As a trader, allow yourself make mistakes; if not, you’ll avoid them only to meet them at the finish line.
Do you understand!… Yes sir.
When I told myself that, I started looking. I searched for articles, books and listened to colleagues. We had no YouTube then—all we had were newspapers and the lying broadcast. But, I didn’t give up!
Working in the bank kind of gave me an upper hand—because I had access to financial data. Jimmy was our foreign exchange (forex) wiz. I needed Jimmy to be my friend.
I had to become a trader!
Becoming a trader, gave room to a lot of challenges—I encountered… The first was putting up with old Jimmy’s attitude. Jimmy wasn’t a friendly person but, Jimmy had what I needed. Did that stop me? No!
I had a goal. “I had to become a Trader!”… Old Jimmy wasn’t going to be a hindrance to that plan.
Secondly, I had to be patient because I knew Old Jimmy might say—The words I dreaded the most, “No!”. Which he did—severally!
Each time I got home, I’d tick my trading boxes. Each time, I realized how far I was—from becoming this trader. But, I stayed.
Months passed, days tripled and I finally got a demo account.
Trader Jimmy, Here—I Come…
Jimmy insisted I start with the demo. His words, “You need to get familiar with the system”. So, I started practicing what I’ve learnt and I was doing surprisingly well.
Also started making paper trading cash—I became obsessed with the reality that—it could all be mine. I assumed, “Maybe that’s all I need from learning”.
So, I quit!
Left the bank, told my colleagues, “bye”… I was out!
Hmm… thought to myself, “Hey, Trader …here I come”.
Months passed and I finally invested 50% of my salary into—a live account. I was ready or—I thought I was.
The first few trades were great; an account of $50,000 tripled. “Woah! I can’t believe that worked—what have I been doing in the bank since?”, “Could have been earning twice my salary in a day”, I mulled.
It’s a Friday morning. Hurrah! NFP… “the best time to get the bag”, that’s the phrase Jimmy would use.
Wham! I opened several positions and… Sighs, it ate my equity. Damn! it’s all gone. As if that wasn’t enough—I added more money. Told myself, “You can’t give up now” This is all you have!
In my bank account, $70,000 was left. Hmm… “well, it’s all or nothing” I exclaimed. Dialed the broker and added $30,000… left $40,000 for emergency reasons. Cos’ if I could lose $50,000—then it’s possible to lose more of that. Wasn’t going to be foolish twice!
But, it was actually worse…
For 9 horrible years of my life… I couldn’t figure it out. This Trader became miserable, broke and hurt.
Until, I realized…
One thing the demo does for the trader is, it reveals to you all you can achieve if—you didn’t have emotions. But, you’re human!
We all have emotions—that’s actually a problem. After my years of failing and picking myself up from the fence, I understood the market was trying to teach me something.
Jamal, I’m going to share with you 3 lessons I learnt from my Chi-Fu called, “market”. These lessons all come with sacrifices… It should help you pick up your art and become its master. The first…
As A Trader Become A Great Loser
Jamal, can you think of a trader who actually boasted about his losses?
Most people don’t like to show the black eye and swollen lips—they show you the beauty marks and glittering veneers. Obsessions over something makes you have less of it. To be a good winner; you have to be a good loser.
Huh! what does that mean sir?
You have to come to terms with losing. In-fact, losing should be an opportunity for you to learn something new about—yourself and the markets. Learn to appreciate your losses.
Why sir? It hurts! That’s my hard-earned money… Jamal cries.
Exactly, Jamal! It should. Life is all about lessons and so is the market. Have you ever received something without giving?
Uh… Not that I can remember.
Exactly! It’s because you haven’t. In everything, there’s a relationship. Now—this relationship can either be mutualistic or parasitic. Trading is only parasitic if the lessons aren’t fully digested.
Listen, If I gave you $500 and you misplaced it; you became careless—It got missing. What will you do?
Err, I probably look for it Sir.
“What if you don’t find it, remember it’s not your money”, The man responds.
“I’ll probably cry Sir. How else would I replace it”, Jamal interjects.
Okay great, You know that “crying” doesn’t bring the money back right? That’s exactly what happens in the market. We fail to learn from our mistakes, we let our emotions take over, instead of listening to the actual lesson.
The next time someone gives you $500—I know for a fact—Jamal, that you’ll be more careful. You know why? Because there’s being a loss before. Now, you either learn to protect it or become careless again.
What will you choose?
I’ll learn to protect it Sir.
Good! That’s the first lesson. In the market however, you might keep losing this $500—Each time there’s a loss, there’s a lesson. Right?
Which brings me to my next lesson. It’s a question first; then after the question—comes the lesson. Are you ready for it Jamal?
Heh, yes sir!
Haha! Nice, you want to take down notes. Interesting…
Will You Allow The Market Bully You?
Have you ever been bullied in life? Either a childhood school bully or a boss… “Oh, my God—Yes sir!”,
Heh!… okay, That was a fast response—seems you can’t forget that one. It was bad huh?
Bad!
Anyway, bullies’ have power—only when they feel superior. It’s just like a Cat and Mice, the cat seems very powerful when ever he sees a mice—Cos’ he’s bigger. But, most times—The mice is smaller and wiser. A mice that isn’t wise gets trampled upon.
So, If that school bully comes now and tries to bully you, will you allow it?… Of course not. I’m probably a lot bigger now and It ain’t possible anymore.
Exactly, Jamal. You got better!
If you’re that kid that got bullied in school, You know it’s no different from the market. The market is that childhood bully, that boss at work—but this time around, I want you to see the market as “Jimmy”. Yeah, he would bully you but—you should allow him: to gain from him.
Try to come to terms with his agreement. Now, you have to be friends with this bully…
What!… Why, I mean how do you get a bully to be your friend?
“You don’t force the bully to be your friend Jamal, he doesn’t have to like you—but you have to like him.”, The man responds.
The reason you allow this bully (market) to get to you—is because, you get to gain from him (the bully). The bully is a tough nut to crack but, knowing that each pain becomes an experience is the goal. Have you ever lost something valuable before Jamal.
“Uh… Yeah” Jamal stutters, while answering.
Okay, great—how did you feel? Not a pleasant emotion, right?… but, what happens—you learn from the experience. Two choices: you either decide to move on or avoid it right?
What do you do Jamal?
“Run away—I guess. Cos’ I really don’t want to feel that pain again. It’s horrible so why try to experience it twice?”, Says Jamal.
Trading should a pleasurable pain—like a woman who just lost her virginity. A bittersweet experience…
I thought you will say that. Listen Jamal—the bully is going to keep hurting you, as long as, you still in that school. Likewise, you’ll probably encounter more losses—as long as, you decide trading is what you want to do.
Listen, in life change or experiences just don’t happen—they only happen when they become a necessity.
You decide you want to change; when you know that beating becomes unbearable. It’s not something you run from.
Don’t be a wuss Jamal!
Face it!…You’ll need to actually face it.
Most traders are wimps—looking for the nearest rat… because, the elephant becomes too big for them to handle. So, are you a wimp or are you valorous? The more you learn from the experience—the better you become.
But, the more bruises..
Until, you become so good that—you no longer fear the bully and you might even learn to face this bully. Do you get it? I’ll give you some time to digest that before the last and final lesson.
Try to know the other side
“I’m ready sir!”
Great! A wise man once said, “Certainty is the only illusion a trader has.” Do you know what that means? … I’ll take that as a “no”. Anyway, have you ever seen a coin before? Heh—who am I kidding, you probably have some in you pockets now.
So, a little exercise—shall we?
Now, look at the front of the coin you’re holding—carefully study it, Now—tell me what’s at the back of it? Eh… I have no idea sir—I’ll have to flip it.
Exactly, most traders don’t actually flip this coin—you see. They don’t even want to know what’s on the other side. You know why? It’s because they love their comfort zone. These are the wuss traders; the ones who run from the bullies.
We call them, “routine traders”.
There are always two sides to a coin but most times, until you flip it… you’ll have no idea what the other side looks like. I won’t even lie—we always like the safe route to things. If something is safe for you, you might just tell yourself, “uh, well—I like it here. Why stress to know what’s on the other side?”. But, in trading—there’s no safe route.
Don’t hold strong opinions about things you don’t truly understand.
You have got to take that risk. No shorts to this cut, Jamal. There are two sides to a trader: the one who runs from the bullies—because the pain become unbearable and the ones who face the pain—knowing that the end to that tunnel is great.
The question is, what side are you on?
Most traders quit because they prefer the latter—“I like it here tommy, don’t pull me out yet—I can’t face the world”, They’ll say.
My final lesson is; have an open mind. The strong willed—don’t always will lots of bucks here. Try not to have a strong opinion in your trading decision. Be the trader who adapts to the changes of the market—not the one controlled by it. Remember, be the lame kid who takes the blow.
Painful but, worth it.
Now You Know… What Next?
You know Jamal—I tell people, “those who have strong opinions about the markets are either knowledge-able or totally ignorant”. The only strong opinion you should have about trading, Jamal, is—you shouldn’t be married to an opinion. A dangerous thing about trading is that—it isn’t really a game for spectators. If you ask me, the most dangerous sport out there is—trading.
Traders are also the most dangerous people on planet… where-ever you breathe right now.
You know why?
These guys take crazy risk, without any form of medication in place. The number of heart breaks a trader has in a day/week will be enough to make him never believe in love. Haha! Nah trading is actually fun but—don’t let anyone deceive you into thinking, it’s all roses and sunshines. It’s really not!
It’s a mental game—about emotions. Where the emotional ones get kicked out; The heartless/ruthless ones always make it far. Simple!, they really “don’t care”.
My friend Scott will say, “i’m suspicious of people who have strong opinions on complicated stuffs”. Heh! people who sugar-coat things—they don’t tell you what you should hear. They’re also the ones who post for the media sake.
Now most traders try so hard to understand the market that—they actually fail to make money. Don’t lose yourself in trying to beat the market… You can’t!
She’s way smarter and richer. You’re a pauper!
Stick to management cos’, this one’s a thief. She’ll dig you of all your diamonds if you think you can beat her. Probably the smartest woman out there! Anyway, Jamal, I think with this few lessons of mine—you should never, ever, think you’re the worst trader on earth. The fact that you even lost means you tried.
Well, it’s a good thing you met me. Hey! i’m Trader Steve—the worst trader on earth.
Why Traders Suffer From Analysis Paralysis In TradingAnalysis-Paralysis In Trading This is an article I’ve been avoiding. Maybe it’s cos’ I’m guilty of it.
You know, A bunch of knowledge makes—jack cross the rubicon.
It’s December 1, 1990. ugh… what a glorious day! I mean—I’m grateful I survived. Are you? (rhetorically—cos’ I talk to myself a lot). Anyway, I finally get to attend “School of Candles” in Pretoria.
South Africa is a great country but, only because they have one of the best—Trading schools in the world. Hashtag “respectfully” .
I mean—Finally! Heh… I’m here. The Oakland… miserable red-collar guy is here. Can you believe it? Considering all the blown accounts and failed trades—I finally left the country to… South Africa.
Pfft… Don’t mind my excitement—at least—I’m not sitting on my a*s reading this article because I have a problem. You are!
i’m pretty sure you haven’t travelled out yet and it’s cos’ you keep losing. You’re a loser! At least… someone had to tell you.
Don’t worry that makes two of us. Yeah—you and uh… you!
Ugh… duh… I know you are not here for my—school of candles story. You’re here cos—you are stuck!
Am I right?
Anyway, I’ll help I promise. But, you have to promise me that I won’t be wasting my time. Do you promise? Okay—Great.
So…
Analysis Paralysis In Trading (What Does That Even Mean?)
Look at them… so peaceful. Quick question—Have you ever really stopped to watch kids play? The laughter, glee, ambience, passion—so peaceful; so serene!
These guys literally have nothing to worry about. Don’t you miss that?
When last did you laugh? No… like actually laugh. These days—we have to watch a funny illiterate online to… crack up. How miserable can one’s life be?
So sad; so depressing and why’s that?
I don’t know about you—but, I miss those days. Nothing to worry about.
You’re probably wondering, “What’s he on about?”… I just had to remind you of what your life (hopefully you’re still breathing)… is supposed to feel like. Before… I tell you how it actually feels like. That’s why you’re here right.
Shucks. Analysis paralysis—wonder who comes up with these names. In a lame man’s term, it’s basically being paralyzed (not literally) from over-thinking. over-researching and over-analyzing…
Why do we do these things; why do we even do anything. Imagine the thought of—mentally paralyzing yourself… Do you love yourself at all? Of course not—Humans (you reading this now) think of the possible worst for—every situation.
Imagine… You go out and a complete stranger gives you money, from nowhere; out of the blue. What’s the first thing that comes to your mind? Be honest, Don’t lie.
That’s what I thought.
Anyway, Being completely mind-paralyzed is bad. I mean … have you seen—how they have to literally drive paralyzed people everywhere… They become furnitures (not trying to be insensitive); they really can’t do anything… on their own.
You’ll end up—A furniture trader!
Analysis Paralysis In Trading (How Can You Tell?)
In school (school of candles), I attended every class. Wyckoff 101, Fibonacci 203 (borrowed course), Way of the candles, Price-action 105, Order blocks and Market structures 103, Supply and Demand, Indicators not manipulators… Weird ones! I took all.
Trust me —I was a diligent student. But, I had no direction.
I practically learned everything and anything. I mean—I wanted to be a great trader (don’t we all).
The next class (Final year) required… Mastery. I realized that—sticking to one thing was a problem. Oh! No, I can’t choose. I literally attended all classes—just to find out what was best for me—even after taking these classes… in my first year.
Hello Jane, I know this is kind of awkward… But, what’s your major?
Uh… Order blocks.
Imagine! I couldn’t even come up with something. What the H-E-L-L do you want Jamal? You’re just going round in circles.
I couldn’t choose. Wanted to take action but, how could I? No one gave me the memo. I don’t even know what making decisions feels like. “Making Decisions” suddenly sounds like the strangest word in—the dictionary.
So, tell me have you been in this position. All you keep doing is learning—anything; everything. But, no actions!
Two ways you can tell:
Can’t seem to make a decision.
Always looking for a better solution—without actions!
For analysis paralysis in trading It’s not something you can cheat. As a trader, You can’t go over or under it—Dealing with it is… the only solution.
You keep delaying actions—whilst over-analyzing every situation. For this trader—you keep imaging downsides… Always the negatives; never positives. Imagine taking a trade—but, you’ve already imagined—300 scenarios of your plan going badly.
Pfft… heh—who does that? Uh! you. You’re literally mentally paralyzed. What other options do you have than over-thinking everything.
Are You Asking The Right Questions?
Ta-ta… I envy them so much. Anyway, You learn to be in the comfort zone because…
Why stress your brain till it’s paralyzed. Your brain is literally “yours truly”—It would always try to keep your safe. It will protect you, which is good. But, you become safe and unsuccessful.
In trading, which do you prefer?
Actually making a decision irrespective of the outcome or… staying out and avoiding everything.
I mean if we’re being honest—the second option looks safe and comfortable. Will you choose that though? Remember you want to be rich; you want financial freedom.
Even if you go through hell—do it without hesitations.
Yup—That quote is a reference to the previous sentence. Eh… your lack of decision making will only make you—miss out on a million market opportunities. So, are you asking the right questions?
When you literally ask yourself the right questions… It gives room for a clearer thought process and faster decision-making.
Honestly though—Let’s blame google.
An increase in options; an increase in choice. The fear of making the wrong choice arises. Then you become mentally paralyzed.
Most traders today are stuck.
I remember meeting a guy (Joe)—In one of my trading communities—in school. This guy found it hard to make a decision. Heh… So he buys and sells at the same time.
Analysis paralysis in trading can make you a fan of gambling. But, there’s a solution…
You can start by answering the right questions. What are the right questions?
Is it worth the risk?
Will it matter in 5 minutes?
What was my first choice?
Can you answer these questions? Make it a habit to answer these questions before—you take a trade. Not just trading—anything at all… Train that brain of yours.
Is It Worth The Risk?
You know some-times the best way to eliminate choices is to—know the risk attached to each choice. Imagine having a $50 account (your only money) and trying to take a trade. You’ll probably over-think every thing because—you just can’t lose that money. I mean… Heh—that’s all you have right?
So, the first question should be… “If I take this trade, is it worth the risk”. Note that… you might lose—but, the keyword here is “risk”. How much are you willing to let go of?… That should be the first thought.
Try this exercise and you have to be truthful—always!… If I was given $50 and I was told to give someone $5 (out of your $50)… Would I be okay with that?
If you will, then you can decide to risk 10% of that account—knowing that you won’t feel bad if you lose.
Ergo, You’ve just made a decision—because you eliminated your options.
I mean losing 10% of $50 is better than losing all.
Now what next? you need to eliminate all trades that will make you lose more than 10%. See, No mulling— just progress.
Note that… Not all trades are negatives. But, we should always consider the risk.
Will It Matter In 5 Minutes?
Now you know the risk you’re willing to take, the next question is—Will it matter in 5 minutes?
Ever heard of the “5 by 5 rule”?
Well, the 5 by 5 rule states that—if you come across an issue take a moment to think—whether or not it will matter in 5 years. If it won’t, don’t spend more than 5 minutes stressing out about it.
Forget the “5 years”—My own 5 by 5 rules is… don’t waste 5 seconds pondering over it, if it won’t matter in 5 minutes. Mine works right?
I mean… 5 years is a pretty long period you know. By the way, the market waits for no man. The fact of the matter is, there are some problems that do not need your full attention.
Why stress over some money you’re okay losing. If after 5 seconds you’re cool with it then—go ahead!
Do me a favor. Let’s practice… Um—can you remember what you just did 5 seconds ago? If you can, it matters; If you can’t, “It’s irrelevant and doesn’t matter. There, fixed right!
What Was My First Choice?
The human mind is like a sick computer virus.
It’s basically, randomly, just processing relevant and irrelevant informations and thoughts. You tend to have all these choices, thoughts and feelings all mixed up—especially during pressure. I was listening to Roger Khoury the other day and he said, “When driving a car in a—calm state—you’re basically just following the rules of the road right? But, what happens when you’re late for a meeting—You find yourself breaking all these rules.”
Similarly… same applies to the market. You don’t have time; you’re supposed to make a decision—If not, the market leaves you.
Then if you’re like me that attended all classes in—Pretoria, you probably don’t have a particular strategy. Different options; different opinions. What happens?
You become paralyzed!
All this can be avoided if you remember your first choice. Many traders fail to understand that our gut feelings, our instincts—matter.
Where do instincts come from?
In as much as the brain behaves sick sometimes—It also stores useful informations… knowingly or unknowingly. These useful informations are usually processed when needed.
Do you ever know something and wonder—how you know that thing?
It’s cos’ you probably already came across that stuff but, you ignored it. Cos’—It didn’t matter. But, look who wasn’t ignorant “your brain” yeah, remember… “Yours truly” loves you.
Those first choices… are thought of for a reason. So, make them your last resort—always!
Havoc Of Analysis Paralysis In Trading
Hey guys, my name is Jamal and I’m a victim of Analysis Paralysis in trading … “Hey Jamal”…
Sounds familiar. Yeah, group home.
My encounter with Analysis Paralysis in trading wasn’t a great one. There were consequences. Each with its own baggage.
After I narrowly graduated from the School of Candles, Pretoria. I mean I’ve learnt everything—I was ready for the market.
On Tuesday, May 3, 1994, I deposited $50,000 to my trading account. As a graduate of School of Candles—what was the next thing? To get into the real world of trading .
A nasty encounter in the market occurred. I found a GJ (gbp/jpy) trade, the daily had a bearish head and shoulder, the—4 hour, a double bottom. On my chart, I had Bollinger bands, Moving averages, Relative strength index… Name it.
Yeah —I was that confused. Didn’t know if to—buy or sell. Oh! No, a clash of interest.
My indicators… some gave me buy signals; others sell signals. Oh my God! What now? What’s the direction—Now I’m exhausted, tired, I can’t think straight!
The market decides to buy… Yeah, I guess I’ll go long now.
The sound your phone makes when you just placed a trade. Greedy old Jamal, used 2 standards for US30 on a $50,000 account. I was more than confident.
The market does it thing. What! no… no… n0—Why is there a sell taking place now? No!
The Havoc
That’s it… That was so easy I lost it all.
Everything! “What was the point of school then?” I thought. Useless! You’re so useless Jamal. You can’t get anything right.
I couldn’t make a decision… My brain said, “Pause”. I was paralyzed and I failed. Three things happened to me:
My trading performance reduced
Creativity was gone. Couldn’t decide on a strategy and all patterns became useless.
Lost my willpower. I couldn’t make a decision—too many options.
Thank you for listening! “Thanks for sharing Jamal”.
How To Overcome—Final Words
Don’t ask me what I went to a group home to do. Analysis paralysis in trading affects you mentally—It builds into a habit and you become the hesitant trader.
Do you remember him? That guy who couldn’t make decisions, that insecure coward. Yeah—that was who I became.
June 23, 1994, I was in bed. Thinking, crying, staring—”What went wrong?”, I thought. How come… I mean i’ve gone to one of the best schools, learnt everything there is to learn, and graduated with a 2:1. So, what exactly is the problem.
I discover that—I was.
“Jamal you are the problem”—I discovered 6 things. These 6 things I’m going to tell you are very important. I’m telling you because—I love you.
You shouldn’t follow my past; you shouldn’t make my mistakes. My mom’s teaching helped. Remember when she gave me the trading elements and principles…
Steps To Overcoming This Nuisance.
This is the truth; this is my truth. After a month I discovered that:
You need to trust you. No one else opinion matters in the business of trading. It’s your business—You should mind it.
Limit the amount of research (information you consume) you do. It’s called “learn and earn” for a reason—Not “Learn and continue learning”.
Talk to someone. If you think you’re stagnant, you need to pour out all those information—on someone. Teach them!
Perfection isn’t the key. Progress is!
Know your end goal always.
Notice every thoughts and emotions. If possible, write them down.
If you follow this manual, you should never have reason to be stuck or mentally paralyzed. Remember sharing is caring!
Tell someone about this article. Most traders have no idea what analysis paralysis in trading is.
Educational. How to trade a broadening wedge pattern? In this video:
* How to spot and draw a broadening wedge pattern.
* What constitutes an official broadening wedge pattern.
* Is the pattern bullish or bearish?
* What is the probability of breaking down vs. moving further up?
* How to measure target down and how to measure target up?
* Other notes to make on how to trade.
FALSE BREAKOUTS | SPOT/AVOID/TRADE THEM LIKE PRO📈📉
FALSE BREAKOUTS | SPOT/AVOID/TRADE THEM LIKE PRO📈📉
How often have you opened a key level breakout trade, and then the price turned against you? False breakout happens quite often and it is a problem for many traders who buy at highs and sell at lows.
❗️Breakout trading is a fairly popular and viable trading strategy. However, some breakouts often turn out to be false. This can be quite frustrating, not to mention that it can often lead to a losing trade.
However, in many cases, an experienced trader can analyze the market situation and react to it accordingly. False breakouts can make a profit if you know how to trade them correctly.
⚠️A false breakdown is a situation when the price violates an obvious level, but then suddenly changes direction. When the initial breakout of the level occurs, many traders open a trade in the direction of the breakdown. These traders are trapped when the price reverses, which triggers a series of stop losses. New traders are also entering the market, and this puts additional pressure on the price. This often turns the price into a new trend, the opposite of the initial breakout.
A breakout that turns out to be false is a sign of strength in a downtrend or weakness in an uptrend.
As you can see, a false breakout can easily cause significant losses for any trader.
Some traders develop their entire strategy around trading false breakouts, as this can be a very powerful trading approach. Some of the best trades happen when market players fall into a trap and their stops start to work.
✅How to find patterns of false breakouts?
🟢If you do not learn how to correctly identify false breakouts, you will not be able to trade them profitably. For example, there will be situations when the price returns to the breakout point, and only then continues its movement.
🟢One of the ways to detect false breakouts is to monitor the volume. Real breakouts are usually accompanied by strong indications of trading volume at the time of the breakout. When this volume is absent, there is a higher probability that the breakout will not happen.
🟢Thus, if the trading volume is low or it decreases during the breakout, a false breakout is likely to occur. In contrast, if the volume is large or it increases, a real breakdown is likely.
🟢It is also useful to monitor not only the trading volume but also the price movement on the lower timeframe. In many cases, you will see that the price makes a very sharp pullback on the lower timeframe, which is not visible on the higher timeframe.
✅False Breakout Trap
🔴After all, many trading textbooks say that a breakout can be considered confirmed when a candle closes above the resistance level. However, the price moves in your direction for a while and then turns 180 degrees. As a result, you have a stop loss triggered.
🔴The false breakout trap includes several candlesticks, usually 1-4, that go beyond the key support or resistance level. Such breakouts occur after a strong movement, as the market has reached an important level, but the price momentum still retains its strength.
Have you ever been trapped by a false breakout?
Sand and its recent pumpHey, we are going to talk about a pattern today, called falling wedge, as it happened few days ago in SAND I'm just gonna talk about it as a good example.
Basically a wedge is a shape looking like triangle, it causes to make lower highs and higher lows which are closer to each other as we go along. we have 4 types of wedges listed below :
1. Falling wedge ( in uptrend or downtrend )
2. Rising wedge ( in uptrend or downtrend )
well I'm not gonna tell you how to trade it as its explained in books or some youtube channels; what you'd normally find out there is that when you see Falling wedge in uptrend we are probably going to see another leg up ( what happened in SAND ) and rising wedge in an uptrend would probably cause trend reversal, but lets just say this is not true and market doesn't care about what we all think :D
what I'd suggest is to treat all these shapes as kind of channels, You can buy low sell high and when the break happens get in and ride with it ( DO NOT FOMO ).
But lets talk what is actually happening behind these formations, lets talk price action a bit; a wedge usually happens after a trend, we usually find it after a leg up or leg down, and basically that means market is probably going to play around the highs or lows it made for a while before making a second large move ( Correctional or not ), so it will start forming these shapes.
normally when we see the price making lower highs in an uptrend ( or higher highs in a down trend ) we'd suspect a trend reversal, but in this case , the highs are really close and we are also making higher lows, this tells us, market is not going anywhere yet, because there is a fight going on between bulls and bears. eventually one of these sides will give up, and the support or resistance will break, That's the moment for us to get in and ride along the market.
This is basically all you need to know about wedges. pretty simple but useful. check the price action on Sand as an example and let me know if there are any questions.
🔴biggest MISTAKES🔥 in trading and how to FIX🔧 themHi Guys 👋
I wanted to share with you a mistake in trading that can severely hurt a trader, but I saw that all my cases and experiences are similar to Cory Mitchell experiences, so I decided to share this text with you to read it from Avoid the mistakes we made in the beginning and move forward with a certain order and strategy and make a profit.
👇👇👇👇👇👇
My biggest trading mistakes have included letting losses run, not taking profits, hesitating on good trade setups, and being over-eager to trade (overtrading). Here’s how I manage these issues. Hopefully, my experiences will help you as well.
Mistakes happen, especially in an arena as dynamic as trading. There is a lot to process and sometimes the wrong decision will be made.
Losing a trade does not mean a mistake was made. Losses are a natural part of trading. No matter what strategy we are using, it will only win a certain percentage of the time. The rest of the time it will lose. As long as it produces a profit over many trades, that is what matters. Therefore, I’m never upset over a losing trade. What I do get upset about (at myself) is when I don’t follow my strategies.
Win or lose, not following our strategy is a big mistake. But of course, we all know that. So below are some of the biggest issues I have experienced that cause me to deviate my strategies.
Interestingly you will notice that trading presents a bit of a paradox. For example, one mistake is being too eager to trade which cause impulsivity and poor trading decisions, while another mistake is being too hesitant which can result in the really good trades being missed.
The key is to realize these problems are entirely based on context. Impulsivity and over-eagerness tend to occur when there isn’t a good trade setup, but we try to make something happen anyway (doesn’t work). Hesitation occurs when there is a good setup, but we are scared of putting our money on the line.
Interestingly, one state of mind often leads to another. For example, you may hesitate and miss a really good trade. You are mad, and so you become over-eager to get that money back and you start jumping into random quality trades that don’t align with the strategy. After a few losses you feel dejected and lack confidence, and end up missing the next really good trade again.
Now, let’s look at the four biggest trading mistakes I have made, and that I see others making, and how I manage them.
🔥 Biggest Trading Mistake: Holding the Loss
The price can move big in our favor, or against us. The mistake I regret the most is not taking a loss when I am supposed to. Before every trade, I know where I will cut my loss. While the occasional loss will come back and produce a profit, the ones that don’t can ruin you.
Through some hard work, I have gotten rid of this problem. I get out when I supposed to get out. In my early years trading, when I looked through all my stats, I found that my worst days were almost always due to one or two oversized losses.
On the trades where I took these big hits, I felt trapped and didn’t want to take the loss. Usually, I was trying to get out, but instead of just doing it I would bid or offer the position out to try to save myself a few cents/pips/ticks. As the price kept moving against me I would move my orders to where the price was, and then keep watching it move against me. Instead of just punching out, I was always scrambling to try to save a few cents. Those few cents I was trying to save have cost me tens of thousands of dollars over the years.
Now, I just get out when I am supposed to.
The use of stop loss orders can aid in this matter. They will execute when (not necessarily where) they are supposed to and get you out. Assuming the trader doesn’t move them…which I sometimes did in my early years.
🔧 Fixing It
If you are facing this issue, convince yourself this is a problem you no longer want to have. The distaste for taking a bigger loss than you are allowed must outweigh the “hope” the price will come back in your favor. Whether the price comes back in your favor is irrelevant. If the price hits our loss limit, it is time to get out. Period.
To develop the distaste for taking a big loss, look through your results. If you have a decent method, it should be producing regularly profitable trades. Now, look at all the losses that are much bigger than they should be. If you got out where you were supposed to on those trades, how would your overall profitability differ? It would probably be much better!
In addition, a normal loss shouldn’t affect our psychology too much. We can keep trading and should be able to maintain focus and emotional neutrality. Take a big loss, though, and that can create a domino effect of bad decisions. When you go through charts and historical trades, consider how that one bad trade may have negatively affected other trades that followed.
The end result of this exercise is that you will have an objective dollar figure of what holding onto losing trades is really costing you.
When you add it up and see that just by getting out when you are supposed to your profits would have been increased (or your losses decreased) by $500, $2,000, or $5,000 per month–or whatever your number is–that will help you clearly see how important it is never to let a single trade move past your stop loss level.
With that knowledge, instead of hoping a losing trade will turn around so you can get out flat or make a few bucks, you will know that getting out at the loss is actually putting X number of dollars in your pocket!
When you know that getting out is going to make $2,000 (or whatever your number is) extra on average each month, it becomes a lot easier to accept losses and to never let them get out of hand.
🔥 Problematic Trading Mistake: Not Taking Profit
This is not AS big of a problem as not taking losses, but not taking profits when we are supposed to can also dampen performance.
When I trade, I typically use profit targets. Before every trade I have a price set that is both reasonable based on how the asset is moving, and that also more than compensates me for my risk (reward-to-risk must be greater than 1.5:1). Yet, my strategies allow for a bit of leeway. For example, if the price comes extremely close to my target (90% of the way there) but then starts to move away from it, I am supposed to just get out without thinking about it.
The real-world is sometimes more complicated than a simple rule, though. For example, today while day trading I had a $0.30 target on my trade ($0.30 being the difference between the entry price and planned exit price). The price quickly moved to it and touched that price but didn’t fill my order. At that point, I was $0.29 on side. A split second later a big sell order came in and I was only $0.15 onside. I hesitated a second longer and then was only onside $0.02. I got out.
Regardless of whether the price continued to drop or went back up doesn’t really matter. A mistake had already been made. I hesitated and it cost me another $0.13 per share. It doesn’t matter that I was onside $0.29 one second and only $0.15 the next. I have the rule to get out if the price gets close and then moves the other way for a reason: I don’t want a big winner to turn into a loser.
That is my rule, it may not necessarily be yours. My point is that just like taking losses when we are supposed to, we must also take our profits when we are supposed to, according to our strategy.
🔧
Fixing It
Hesitation usually kills. If you know you have to get out, it is usually better to do it that second earlier than that second later…because usually by the time you notice you need to get out the price is already moving against you. In the example above, even though it sucked that half my profit disappeared before I could react, it could have made a lot more if I simply didn’t hesitate to get out when I had the chance.
Do what needs to be done. Plan it before the trade happens. While in the trade, rehearse what you will do if different situations unfold.
What are your exit rules on profitable trades? If you just leave your profit target and stop loss alone, and let the price hit them, that is a great method too (this is the method I recommend to all new traders), because you will never have this issue or the one discussed above (assuming you don’t mess with your orders once in a trade). If you do allow some flexibility on when you exit a profitable trade, go through all your trades and see how much more you would have made over the last month if you got out of those trades when you were supposed to.
Just like looking at your losses, you may find that on average you could have made $0.10 more (per share) per day if trading stocks, or 10 pips more per day if day trading forex. That may not seem like a lot, but if trading 2000 shares, that’s $200 day…or about $4,400 per month (22 trading days).
What many traders fail to realize is that the difference between really successful traders and those that lose is small stuff like this. It is finding a few extra pips here or a few extra cents or ticks there. It is all those little improvements which are the difference between winning and losing, and winning big and being mediocre.
forex strategies course for weekly charts banner
🔥 Biggest Trading Mistakes: Hesitation on Good Setups
Occasionally, traders will send me a screenshot of their charts to look over…usually on their bad days . What I notice is that while they did end up in some bad trades, the far worse travesty is that they missed the good ones! Since I always aim to make more money on my winning trades than I lose on my losing trades, missing even one or two winnings trades in a day can mean the difference between having an amazing day or a dismal day, or at least between winning and losing.
For example, let’s say I take three trades and lose 10 pips on each. I am down 30 pips. But, assume I missed two profitable trades. Those trades should have been at least 15 to 20 pips (1.5:1 to 2:1 reward to risk). Taking one of those trades means a greatly reduced loss for the day. Taking both those trades means a likely profit for the day. It still wasn’t a great day, but missing the winners made it far worse.
My worst days are typically the ones where I hesitated and missed the one or two (or maybe three) really good trade setups that occurred. Because I missed those good opportunities, at the end of the day I am only left my losses to show for my couple hours of work.
Missing a good setup is usually about twice as costly (because I am often using a 2:1 reward-to-risk ratio) as a losing trade. In other words, while many traders are scared to lose, I am far more afraid to miss out!
🔧 Fixing It
Not hesitating on a good setup comes down to psychology. We need to be confident to place trades, but not arrogant (see being over-eager below). Unfortunately, most of us can’t just decide to be confident. But, we can practice hard, and the more we practice our methods the better we will feel about them. Slowly, over many trades, we will see that if we follow our strategy the money will come. This helps build confidence in the method.
In How to Overcome Trading Anxiety I stated that “Confidence is created by courageous acts–constructive decisions which are made even when a lot of anxiety is present.” Even great traders have moments of doubt or anxiety. We are all human. For whatever reason, we may not want to pull the trigger on that good trade setup, but we have to. Doing so is a courageous act. And it is only through routinely making trades, in spite of our anxiety or apprehension, that we will start to see that those trades will increase our overall profitability.
Just like any other trade, there are no guarantees the trade will work out if we take it. That is why it is a courageous act. But by taking these trades routinely, our results will improve because we will start catching more of those good trades we have been missing.
One of the most courageous things to do is to get back into the same trade after being stopped out. We have all had that experience. The price touches your stop loss and then starts flying in the direction you expected. Here is where psychology comes into play again. If it is still a good trade, we need to get in again! We can’t fret about the loss. It happened, all we can do is capitalize on the opportunity that is still in front of us.
As traders, we need to move from a state of worrying about losing, to an opportunity-seeking mindset. We aren’t worried about past winners or losers, rather we are focused on the now and the opportunities that are arising. If we are always thinking about past trades or that loss that just happened, it is almost impossible to stay in the moment and seize that next great opportunity that occurs a split-second later.
Practice your method enough so that a loss, or a potential loss, doesn’t phase you (because the fear of losing is what usually causes us to hesitate on a good trade). As long as you worry about losing, you will likely miss opportunities. Stay in the moment but remain calm. We are ready to pounce if needed, but only if a good trade setup arises. When no trades are present, we are focused on the market and watching for trade setups. We do this without expectation or apprehension. We simply watch, and wait for the market to come to us (do what we want) before taking action. This way, we are ready to act when the moment comes.
🔥 Biggest Trading Mistakes: Being Over-Eager to Trade
We have all heard “Don’t over-trade!” While that is true, hearing that won’t cure your overtrading. That’s because overtrading is a symptom. Overtrading doesn’t cause overtrading, something else does: our mental state. Being over-eager to trade, fantasizing about big profits, or feeling we need to get a certain number of trades in today are mental states that cause us to overtrade. In order to control our overtrading, we need to control our mental state.
I haven’t personally met anyone who has mastered their own mind yet, and I am no exception. I sometimes overtrade. Every once in a while I will have one, two, or sometimes even four or five days in a row where I am just really amped up to trade, and this usually costs me some money. Such stretches typically follow a long string of winning days. Feeling confident, that confidence can sometimes turn into taking trades that aren’t that great (arrogance). We start relying on our own intuition, instead of trusting the strategies that produce the gains.
I have told many students over the years that a good trader is nothing more than a button pusher for their system. The more I implement this theory, getting in and out when my system calls for it (see all points above), the better I tend to trade. When I deviate from this belief, my profits decline.
🔧 Fixing It
Being over-eager is often a result of one or several underlying issues.
The most likely cause is that the trader doesn’t really have a solid plan for trading in the first place. Without a plan, every move in price looks like a trading opportunity. Experienced traders know this is not true. If you don’t definitively know when you should be taking trades, figure that out before you trade.
Another cause is the desire to make money. While we can make money trading, unfortunately, we don’t get to determine who much money we make this instant. The market determines that. You can have the best strategy in the world, but it means nothing if the market you are trading isn’t moving right now. The market determines our profit on each trade, and at any moment it can do anything it wants.
We don’t control the market or the opportunities it provides. But, we do control how we react to the market, and can improve our methods so we have a say in how much money we make over many trades. We can study our own reactions to find ways to improve our performance. We can also look at how the market tends to move which may aid us in finding better ways to implement our trades. All this work is done OUTSIDE of our trading time. While we trade, our only goal is to implement our current strategies. To study your reactions to the market, take screenshots of every single trade you take, and then review them regularly.
Many people who over-trade are conducting experiments while they trade: “Let’s see if this works” or “I think I can make a few bucks…I will get out quick if it doesn’t work.” This sort of thinking undermines discipline and patience, two traits which guard us against overtrading.
Related to the section above, about hesitating, over-trading sometimes comes out of frustration from missing a good trade. When we miss a good trade, we try to make that money back by taking random trades and hoping they will work out. This generally leads to more losses, more frustration, and even more random trades as we fumble around hoping to make back some of the money we lost. We can often avoid this domino effect by not hesitating and missing the good trades in the first place (see section above).
Over-trading can also result from “playing with the house’s money”. When we are up for the day/week/month/year, some traders tend to relax their standards for trades. They take mediocre trade setups, or let losses run further than they should. Having made money is not an excuse to overtrade.
Every trade is independent. It is taken or left alone based on its own merits. Past trades don’t affect decisions about current trades (unless you are using a daily stop loss, in which case you want to make sure a loss wouldn’t put you over your daily maximum loss). As discussed above, as traders we are simply button pushers for our system. We calmly wait for the next signal without expectation or apprehension. The insights in this Fixing It section, and the ones above, should aid in getting you there.
As with the other sections, sometimes reducing the mistake to dollar figure can help. Go through your charts and see how much all those random or poor-quality trades cost you each month. Seeing the dollar figure may cure your overtrading right then and there, because you will see that you could make a lot more money by sitting on your hands until the good setups for your strategy occur.
🔥 Final Word On the Biggest Trading Mistakes
Once someone has a decent trading method, and assuming they keep risk to 1% or less per trade, the most common trading issues I see and deal with are covered above. These are the big ones. While insights into handling these issues have been offered, all the solutions involve actual work. Reading and conceptualizing won’t cut it.
To reduce these mistakes, if applicable to you, you should actually go through at least a month or two of your trades/screenshots and add up how much your over-sized losses cost you. Do the same for not taking profits when you were supposed to; find the dollar figure. If you hesitate on trades, focus on staying present and consciously forcing yourself to take those trades and sitting through the trade even if it makes you squeamish. There are a number of reasons why people over-trade. Find your root causes, and then formulate a plan for how you will improve the issue.
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What were your mistakes in trading?📈📈📈
Different Type of Crypto ExchangesLet's talk about Different Type of Crypto Exchanges
Centralized Exchanges ( CEX )
👉A third-party managed exchange system used to transact, manage your portfolio, store, and trade.
👉Binance, Kraken, FTX, Coinbase, and ByBit are some of the most renowned and heavily used centralized crypto exchanges.
👉Centralized crypto exchanges provide a convenient and user-friendly interface, including websites and apps that make it easy to transact cryptocurrencies at any time.
👉Since centralized exchanges are managed by companies who are responsible for the holdings of their customers, they are susceptible to cybersecurity risks.
Decentralized Exchanges (DEX)
👉Decentralized exchanges allow users to trade cryptocurrencies without the need for a third party or Know-Your-Customer requirements.
👉Dydx, Uniswap, 1Inch, PancakeSwap, and SushiSwap are some of the most popular decentralized exchanges with good volume .
👉Decentralized exchanges aren't as easy to operate and are not recommended for beginners. This is due to factors such as gas fee settings, price slippage settings, use of hot wallets, etc.
👉Decentralized exchanges are non-custodial, meaning your funds are held in your wallet of choice. This lowers the susceptibility to cybersecurity risks, but since all dexes operate with smart contracts, potential exploits are possible.
Hybrid Exchanges
👉Hybrid exchanges are a combination of both centralized and decentralized crypto exchanges. They combine the positive features of both the exchanges.
👉Some of the examples of hybrid exchanges are Qurrex, Eidoo, and Legolas.
👉They adopt the ease of use of centralized exchanges and the security and privacy of decentralized exchanges.
👉Hybrid exchanges are the missing link that unites the advantages of both decentralized and centralized exchanges.
👉The funds are not held in hot wallets, which means that they are placed in cold storage, thus making cyber-attacks on hybrid exchange highly impossible.
Let us know in the comments section below and tell us what exchanges you trade on and why?
For more educational ideas, analysis and scripts follow us.
Happy Trading!
Elliot wave with Diagonal Ending Elliott Wave Count in Bitcoin Daily Chart
In most cases, if wave 5 is formed as a diagonal triangle, it will cause severe falls after the end of the process.
So after recognizing these diagonal triangles in wave 5 - you can close your long trades at the right point and make good profits from short trading in corrections waves.
Please like our tutorial and follow us
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You can see our analysis and signals in the following links :
Creating A Trading Plan and Executing A TradeCreating A Trading Plan and Executing A Trade
As with all great trades, we require a trading plan. This is a perfect example of how to analyse, execute and manage your trade. See linked chart for the initial trade idea.
See below for a step by step guide on how we entered this trade and what we looked for.
Goodluck and trade safe!
Mar 26
Comment: First step: Identification. You have to identify when a trade set up is coming. For this pair, we were waiting for the ascending wedge to break down. From this you can see that we had an impulsve break of the ascending wedge indicating that the trend is about to reverse.
We also marked out an area of interest where price may come back to retest.
Second step: Preparation. We now wait for price to retrace back to the area of interest. We should also attempt to draw a trendline on the smaller timeframe to allow us to monitor the correction and get ready for the next step, execution.
We now wait for the correction to break. Entry is on the break of the correction with stoploss just above the correction. We use the start of the correction as the first TP or a level to put our trade in breakeven. For this set up, the stoploss was only 30pips and first target was 106pips (Risk reward 3:5)
Improve Forex TradingWhen I was learning how to trade and when I was watching and reading different trading educators, these words naturally pissed me off. What the hell are you talking about? What confirmation?
It was a full-blown mystery...🤯
Then, once I started to mature in trading and trade full-time, I became an author on TradingView.
Posting my forecasts and trading setups, I frequently mentioned the confirmation.
And now the newbies that are reading me and learning from me are pissed off...🤬
That is so funny I guess.
But the truth is that the confirmation must become a fundamental part of your trading strategy. It is your key to successful trading.
What exactly is the confirmation?
It depends on many many different things, in this article I will discuss with you the 4 main types of confirmation and give you detailed examples.
1️⃣ - PRICE ACTION CONFIRMATION
That is actually what I prefer.
Analyzing different markets and searching for decent trading opportunities often times we find some peculiar instruments to watch.
Identifying the market trend and key levels we find the potential spots to trade from.
But do we just open the trade once the "ZONE" is spotted?
I wish it could be that simple...
Trading just the zone, without additional clues brings very negative figures. We definitely need something else.
Price action & candlestick patterns can be those clues.
Accurate reflection of the current local market sentiment makes the patterns a very reliable confirmation.
Dodji's, pin bars, double tops/bottoms ...
Proven by history, the skill of identification & reading the patterns will pay off quickly.
Being in some sense the language of the market, the patterns are the fundamental part of my trading strategy.
2️⃣ - FIBONACCI LEVELS
Fibonacci levels are a very popular technical tool. Being applied properly it helps the trader to confirm or, alternatively, disqualify the identified "ZONE".
With multiple different methods like confluence trading, fibs are applied in hedge funds and various banking institutions.
The main problem with the fibs, however, is complexity and a high degree of subjectivity. Meeting different traders and watching different posts on TradingView I noticed that all traders tend to have their own vision. There is no universal system to apply here, a proper fib.confirmation technique can be built only with long-lasting backtesting and practicing.
3️⃣ - FUNDAMENTAL NEWS
The figures in the economic calendar, news, tweets. Actual fundamental news can become your best confirmation tool.
However, the main obstacle right here is the promptness, validity and reliability of the data that you get.
The information shouldn't be delayed and it must be objectively true.
The search for such a source is by itself is a very time-consuming and labor-intensive business not even mentioning its potential costs.
And that is not all. Knowing how to make sense of that data, its proper perception, and understanding requires a solid economical and financial background and experience.
At the end of the day, becoming an expert in fundamental analysis , the trader can easily sort the trading zones and trade only the ones that are confirmed by a decent fundamental trigger.
4️⃣ - TECHNICAL INDICATORS
I believe all the traders apply some indicators. From a simple moving average to some complex composite algorithms, indicators play a very important role in trading.
Being 100% objective and providing up-to-date real numbers and figures, they are our allies in a battle against subjectivity.
For many traders, the various signals from indicators are considered to be accurate and reliable confirmations.
Many algotrading solutions are operating simply relying on such signals and being able to bring consistent profits proves the power of technical indicators.
What confirmation type should you rely on?🧐
I guess the main rule right here is that the confirmation must MAKE SENSE to you. You should feel the logic behind that. It must make you confident in your action, even in case of the occasional losses, it must keep you calm and humble.
Let me know in a comment section what confirmation do you prefer!