A popular way of identifying trends is using moving averages. A moving average is a line on a chart that smoothes out price action by calculating an average of closing prices over a period of time and displaying the result on a chart providing an overall direction for a set period.

There are two variables to be determined when using a moving average. You need to decide first on the time period you are going to use to obtain the average and, second, what method of averaging you are going to use.

Volatility is a two-sided coin when it comes to forex trading. On the one hand, volatility is how forex traders are able to turn a profit, especially when looking to make a quick buck off short-term trades.

What a month!  Only a month ago we were talking in terms of tens of thousands of people infected with COVID-19, which has now ballooned out to several hundreds of thousands and quickly approaching one million.  Financial markets are rattled and have become ludicrously volatile with wild swings being experienced on a regular basis. Most major central banks have taken emergency action to cut rates (some repeatedly) and increased stimulus measures. 

In a TV interview, the OECD’s secretary general Angel Gurria has said the economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic will be felt far beyond the immediate impact of the virus. “What you have is an economic effect now that, very clearly, is going to be prolonged beyond the period of the pandemic,” Angel Gurria said.  “We’ll hopefully get rid of the pandemic in the next two or three months and then the question is how many unemployed (will there be), how many small and medium-sized enterprises will be in a very, very severe situation if not disappeared by that time,” he added. “Life, and economic activity, is not going to be normalized any time soon,” he said. “We’re going to have the impact of this crisis for a long time to come.”

One of the most common questions I receive at trading events relates to making that transition from being a part time trader to trading full time and deriving an income from their trading activities.  

I know many people think about this - how should one start out in forex trading while still holding down a full-time job?  Then, how should one transition from a full-time job to be a forex trader?

This is always a difficult situation to assess and of course, everyone’s situation is very different.  It is important that people don’t think they can quit their job on Friday with next to no trading experience and start trading successfully the following Monday.  This ambition is farcical.  

The reality is that developing the necessary skills and attributes to be a successful trader takes time – a lot of it.  We almost need to train ourselves to think very differently and counter intuitively. 

All financial markets have been concerned about for the last month has been the Coronavirus out of China, which has now infected tens of thousands of people around the world.  As regular updates emerge about the coronavirus and how quickly it is spreading, markets and investors around the world have been gripped by fear with the rapid spread of the coronavirus.  Equity markets have plummeted and generally across the board we have seen a surge in volatility. U.S. Federal Reserve (Fed) Chair Jerome Powell has previously said the rate cuts last year kept the economy on solid footing and no further decreases were needed unless the outlook darkened.  Well now with the virus, "Uncertainties about the outlook remain, including those posed by the new coronavirus," Powell said at a recent media conference. "There is likely to be some disruption to activity in China and globally" from the virus. "It's too early to say what the effect will be" in the U.S. "We are monitoring it carefully.", he added.

“If I wanted to become a tramp, I would seek information and advice from the most successful tramp I could find. If I wanted to become a failure, I would seek advice from people who have never succeeded. If I wanted to succeed in all things, I would look around me for those who are succeeding, and do as they have done."

Joseph Marshall Wade

Along my own trading journey, I have met many intelligent and savvy people who have taught me something about myself and trading. 

Index trading is a popular, easy way to invest in a group of businesses, or a representative sample of a country’s largest companies, without being forced to invest in individual companies.

For forex traders, index trading is an attractive alternative to directly investing in a specific country’s stock market. Typically, indices are designed to offer a reflection of a given country’s economic strength. But these indices can also serve as a high-performing collection of select holdings from a single market, offering a more concentrated investment opportunity in a foreign country’s economy.

Contract-for-difference (CFD) trading is popular for index investments. Of the various indices available around the world, the US30 is one of the best-known options available to traders, offering an easy way to get exposure to 30 of the United States’ largest companies.

If we didn’t have enough issues rattling financial markets, along comes the Coronavirus out of China, which has now infected thousands of people around the world.  As regular updates emerge about the coronavirus and how quickly it is spreading, markets and investors around the world have been gripped by fear with the rapid spread of the coronavirus.  According to data from the World Health Organization (WHO) and Chinese state media, the deadly coronavirus has taken the lives of at least 170 people in China and infected thousands more globally.  As widely expected, the U.S. Federal Reserve kept their benchmark rate steady. Fed Chair Jerome Powell has previously said the rate cuts last year kept the economy on solid footing and no further decreases were needed unless the outlook darkened.  "Uncertainties about the outlook remain, including those posed by the new coronavirus," Powell said at the post meeting media conference. "There is likely to be some disruption to activity in China and globally" from the virus. "It's too early to say what the effect will be" in the U.S. "We are monitoring it carefully.", he added.