Unfortunately, many people who start trading find success difficult to achieve, especially early on.  Trading is a challenging endeavour that has torn people from across the world across generations, from every extreme of their emotions.  

It is our money that is directly involved in trading and therefore at risk, and the potential of making more money is our primary motivation for beginning this undertaking.  Ironically, it is the money that encourages the vast majority to attempt to trade yet it is the money that causes most people to fail.

The most dominant issues in October were the looming deadline for Brexit and whether the United States Federal Reserve (Fed) would cut rates again.  The Brexit deadline of 31st October 2019, which has now been spoken about for a considerable time is no longer as the European Union agreed to extend the deadline by three months.  European Council president Donald Tusk said the EU's 27 other countries agreed to accept "the UK's request for a Brexit flextension until 31 January, 2020".  "The decision is expected to be formalised through a written procedure," he added. The latest extension allows the United Kingdom to leave earlier if a deal can be done.  The Fed approved a widely anticipated quarter-point interest rate cut in the last week of October however signalled that there won’t be an more movement any time soon. “The Committee will continue to monitor the implications of incoming information for the economic outlook as it assesses the appropriate path of the target range for the federal funds rate,” the post-meeting statement said.

Within the forex market, there are traders known as position traders (sometimes listed as “buy and hold” traders), who take positions for the long term. They base this on long-term charts and macroeconomics, and they operate in pretty much every market there is—including the hyperactive forex market. 

Considering how the popularity of position trading is growing, it’s worth putting this market approach under the microscope. Here’s a look at the details behind position trading, along with how common traders use positions.

If you’re serious about forex trading, you need to understand how charts and chart analysis tools can help you identify trades that maximize your potential earnings while minimizing risk. 

Standard chart patterns are easy to identify just by glancing at a chart and spotting certain movements, but advanced patterns, also known as harmonic patterns, require additional tools and information to identify trade opportunities and monitor price movements.

These harmonic patterns offer incredible value to traders who use them to inform their trading plan, and all of the tools you need to spot and track these patterns are available in online platforms such as MetaTrader 5. In general, the key characteristic of any harmonic pattern is the way the chart movement corresponds to the famous Fibonacci levels.

One of the things I wish I knew before I started trading was how influential my mind was going to be on my trading and how much of an emotional roller coaster I would go on. Many traders have heard others talk often about “psychology”; however, I always wonder how many people truly understand what it is they mean when they talk about it and its relationship with trading. 

In reality, your mindset controls anything you do and, consequently, any endeavour you undertake. Trading is no different, and it could be argued that this truth is even more applicable in trading, as your money is involved, which triggers many emotions inside us.

Concerns over global growth, Brexit’s looming deadline and the ongoing trade wars continue to dominate markets in September.  The head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Christine Lagarde has said in a recent interview that the trade war between the United States and China is weighing on the global economy ‘like a big, dark cloud’.  Ms Lagarde asserted that the ongoing tariffs are forecast to remove 0.8% off global economic growth in 2020. “That’s a massive number.” Lagarde said in an interview. “It’s fewer jobs. It’s less business going on. It’s less investment. It’s more uncertainty. It weighs like a big, dark cloud on the global economy.”

One of the biggest challenges of forex trading for beginners is knowing when to close your position. When your open position keeps rising in value, it’s tempting to believe the earnings will never stop. And when prices take a turn for the worse, pride and ego are often begging you to hold on and wait for things to turn around.

But timing is everything. When you hold an open position for too long, it almost always ends up eating away at your profits. In general, how long you should hold an open position is dictated, at least in part, by the type of trade you’re trying to win. Different traders use different strategies to turn a profit on forex price movements, and it’s always important to stick to your guns when allowing a strategy to play out.

With that in mind, here are some guidelines on how long you should hold an open position, depending on the type of strategy you’re using.

It is fair to say that the foreign exchange market is very news driven.  For example, a central bank governor says something unexpected and there can be a significant impact on currency prices in a short period of time.  Even something as simple as a different word used from the previous month, to describe market conditions can send a ripple through the markets.  

When central banks change monetary policy and change the official cash rate, that countries’ currency may also move very quickly.  

There are also numerous regular reports which provide an insight into how well an economy is performing or not.   These can lead to assumptions on what central banks decide to do in order to stimulate an economy or keep in inflation in check, which then has a direct impact on currency prices. 

Global growth (or lack thereof), Brexit and trade wars were the main concerns in August, however it was the trade wars between the United States and China that resumed its spot in the limelight in the markets.  According to some market strategists and US economists, the ongoing trade wars increases the chances of equities declining and more significantly, a global recession over the next 12 months. Morgan Stanley’s chief economist, Chetan Ahya has suggested that the global economy would fall into recession around six to nine months after the U.S. and China enforce their new round of tariffs.  “Risks remain skewed towards further escalation at least until material market or economic weakness shows,” Ahya told clients in a note.

If you’re involved in forex trading, you probably have at least some familiarity with the Metatrader 4 and 5 platforms. These software solutions rank among the most popular trading platforms for a wide range of traders and advisers, thanks in large part to the value of their trading tools and resources when evaluating positions and taking action.

Although their names might suggest that MT5 is an updated version of this trading platform, the reality is that these two solutions offer different functions and features that serve distinct trading audiences. Choosing whether to use MT4 vs. MT5 can depend on your background and your trading goals, among other factors.