1. Realism

You must be hard-headed about your goals if you are going to hold on to any profits that you make. Forget making great amounts of cash in an exceedingly brief time : that’s only possible if you take gigantic risks, which will see your profits wiped out as quickly as they were made. Aim for a realistic profit goal and keep your trades miniscule while you are learning.

2. Training

No-one was born a successful forex trader, we all have to learn. Search out good strong training in the fundamentals of trading, including analyzing the market, risk management and mental aspects. Training comes in many forms and at many costs from free to thousands of bucks. Price and quality are not necessarily firmly related. Having said that, don’t expect to get everything freely.

3. Support

There’s not a lot wrong with asking for help when you need it. Just be sure you ask someone who can really help you, and not a confused newb who likes to hang out in forums.

4. Good Trading Practices

Everyone seems to be searching for the ideal system, but there’s no such thing. Systems don’t work independently of our trading practices. If you have a sound plan, particularly regarding risk management, stop losses and profit targets, you can earn cash with any profitable system.

5. Discipline

But having a sound plan and a good system isn’t the whole story. You also need to develop trading discipline in order to apply your plan and your system. Making inconsistent decisions or acting on the spur of the moment is a recipe for disaster in foreign exchange trading.

6. Patience

You may have to wait around a while for conditions to be right for you to open a trade. It is very alluring to leap in on something that looks good but doesn’t fit your system. Develop patience so you can avoid those random trades.

7. Stop Losses

Knowing how to cut your losses at the right moment is vital. Never hang on to a losing trade beyond a certain point which should be figured out before the trade is opened. It is a delicate matter finding the balance between having a stop loss that is triggered by little fluctuations, and holding onto your trades for so long that you make a massive loss. It will change for each system, so take care you get this right before you start trading a new system in reality.

8. Impassivity

It’s important to remain calm under pressure, because there’ll be plenty of that. Do not permit your trading to be motivated by fear, panic or dreams of massive profits.

9. Realism

Forget what you can see in advertisements about doubling your money every month. A profit target of between 5 and ten percent per month is a good return on any investment, and will keep you out of the most dodgy situations.

10. Records

Eventually, keep records of your trades. Yes it is tedious, but if your trading records are thorough they can let you take back control whenever things appear to be going wrong. Having results to investigate gives you a massive advantage in currency exchange trading.