Do you want to trade in Forex, but you're not sure where to begin? That's okay; you're not alone. Literally everyone who trades in Forex was a beginner at some point, and you will need help to get started in this most potentially lucrative and exciting market.
Become Educated in Forex
When you begin in Forex, the first thing you'll need to know is how Forex works. The Internet is a great place to find resources on Forex, so that you can get educated in Forex before you try to trade in it.
Start by finding some resources online, such as free or paid Forex courses, so that you can learn about the market, and how to trade in it. Ideally, you will want these courses to have at least some video demonstration in them, so that you can see exactly what happens, in real time.
The second thing these courses should have written material you can refer back to at a glance as well, when you have questions.
Finally, the course you use (or you can use several) should get good customer reviews, so that you know the information you're receiving from the course is indeed useful and valuable.
Practice
Most online Forex brokers will let you practice with a demo account before you actually trade with real money. This is very, very important, because it gets you used to the fast pace of the Forex market, and it also lets you test out what you've learned without actually having to risk real money.
You can learn how to get in and out of trades seamlessly, and you can learn how to get in and out of trades based upon the data that your system tells you to do, rather than being emotional about your trades.
Here's the thing; one of the potential (and big) downfalls with Forex trading is that if you get emotional about a particular trade, such that you stay in when it's time to get out because you're winning on a trade and you think it's going to continue even though your data tells you it's time to get out, you're going to lose money.
The same holds true if you're staying in a losing trade in hopes that you'll make your money back, when you should get out. Practicing in Forex before you trade with real money helps you get your “ducks in a row” both psychologically and practically, so that you have the best chance of success.
Develop your strategy
As you practice with Forex, you're going to develop your own strategy. What's your entry and exit point for a particular trade? Learn the basics of both fundamental and technical analysis, so that you can use this most important information to decide how “healthy” the currencies in your currency pairs are.
When you have established your strategy, of course you'll need to tweak it as you go along and as you become more knowledgeable, but don't make drastic changes based upon emotion. Again, remember that emotion needs to stay out of your trades.
Start small
When you begin, make sure you start small. For example, most Forex online brokers will let you trade with very small amounts of money. While it's true that your gains will also be small when you first begin, the idea here is to learn to psychologically handle losses as well as gains, so that you profit overall.
Make sure you use stops
A stop is going to let you protect yourself against massive loss in the event a trade is going south. Decide when you want to get in and out of trades, and especially make sure that you get out of a trade if it's tanking.
Never trade with more than you can afford to lose
Finally, never, ever trade with money you can't afford to lose. The Forex market has significant risks, and you will experience some losses. Every successful Forex trader knows this; you will have some, too. The idea is to make sure you profit overall.
If you follow these steps, though, you can experience success in the Forex market, just as others do.
