The forex market isn’t exclusive to big company and hedge fund traders anymore.

These days, anyone can get into the foreign exchange markets, so long as they have the capital to get started and the access to a computer to trade on. However, just because you can rush into something doesn’t mean you should—after you register Valutrades and make a deposit, you shouldn’t be in a hurry to put your money where your mouth is. Smart traders, new and old alike, can understand the value that comes with a forex demo account.

To those unfamiliar with financial markets, the words “pips,” “points,” and “ticks” may sound like something out of a Dr. Seuss book. But there’s a reason why these units of measurement exist in the trading lexicon. In order to assess risk and reward and understand profits and losses, it’s important to know what these terms mean in different contexts.

While forex trading of international currencies has been an established industry for decades, the cryptocurrency market has grown from a fledgling idea to a multibillion-dollar market in less than a decade.

Today, many traders might be investing in both forex and crypto at the same time, hoping to leverage the profit opportunities that come with each distinct market. But while cryptocurrency earning potential has garnered a lot of media attention in recent years, this market also features key differences from forex trading that can increase your potential risk when investing money into these digital “currencies.”

Before forex traders dip their investments into cryptocurrency, it’s important to understand what these markets have in common as well as how they diverge from one another.

There is serious earning potential at hand when you choose to trade currency, something that every investor should be trying to unlock. Looking at the scale of forex trading, it’s certainly worth knowing not only what the top traders are making, but also how they are making it along with how top traders differ from the rest.

While most forex traders leverage their free margin to maximize trading power—and, thus, their earnings potential—margin trading is only one aspect of their success. What is free margin in forex? Basically, it’s the amount of available equity you have in your account to open a position using the borrowed margin offered by your online broker.

Again, this is just one characteristic of high-earning forex traders. Here’s a look at some of the other traits that are common among the world’s top forex trading professionals.

Margin and margin requirements are something that no forex trader can afford to ignore. Margin has often been labeled a “good faith deposit” to open a position.

Margin is usually presented as a percentage amount of the full position, 0.25%, 0.5%, 1%, 2%, and so on. You can calculate the maximum leverage you can use with your trading account based on the margin required by your broker.

Those who are just starting out in the world of forex trading are likely to face a wealth of options on the trading platform front. ZuluTrade, NinjaTrader, and Trading Station—among others—all have plenty to offer, but there is one trading platform that appears to be head and shoulders above the rest. MetaTrader 4 (MT4) is used by all leading forex trading experts and is truly award-winning in stature. Considering its comprehensive nature and growing reputation, the following looks at why MT4 is the perfect trading platform for almost every forex trader.

Each month, investors and economic analysts cast an eye over a number of key reports. Since 1951, the Retail Sales Index (RSI) report has solidified its status as one of the most important of these, largely due to its overview of the value of merchandise sold within the retail trade sector. Calculated by reviewing a selection of companies engaged in the business of selling end products to consumers, the report has always been a true testament to how companies of all sizes—from Walmart down to small-town stores—are collectively impacting the U.S. economy.

To help you understand its consistent relevance, the following breaks down the RSI report, explaining why it’s important and how you should approach it from a forex trading perspective.

“He that can have patience can have what he will.” - Benjamin Franklin

I believe that one of the most underrated character attributes of a successful trader is patience. It doesn’t matter whether you are a short-term, medium-term or long-term trader, whether you only trade foreign exchange or other financial products, patience is still applicable in several different situations.Patience is important when considering how you manage your trade exits, whether it be at a loss or profit.  If you lack patience you may have difficulty seeing a trade through until it hits its take profit level, and in order to achieve consistent long-term trading success, it is important that you do allow trades to take their course.

Price movements in the forex market may be hard to predict, but they aren’t entirely random, either. There is logic behind the way currency pairs rise or fall in value, and decades of forex trading have revealed that this logic can often be identified—and then predicted—through the use of technical indicators.

Technical indicators come in many shapes and sizes, and no specific indicator is viewed as a required tool for assessing potential forex trades. As traders gain experience and learn about the different technical indicators at their disposal, they end up developing a preference for specific indicators that align with their trading strategy and prove to be reliable over time.

These technical indicators can be broken down into three broad categories.

It is amazing how many people I speak to about trading and how often the conversation eventually makes its way to the topic of cutting losses and exiting trades.  It is almost as if people accept that most of your trading success boils down to this single clearly identifiable task.

Whilst trading routinely involves decision making, there are not too many more important decisions you have to make than when to exit trades.  It is one of those items that you probably wish you knew when you first started trading – as a beginner, it is incomprehensible that your trade exits are so important to making money.