Is there a forex education road map?

Saturnus · February 28, 2022

Hello, everyone. I've been reading here as time allows for a few months now. (I have a full-time job that requires me to work long hours, which is why I'm trying to learn a new career.) It appears that I know even less than when I began reading post after post in my quest for my first baby steps into a new career path. First and foremost, I don't want this to come across as ungrateful. Quite the opposite is true. I am grateful for the knowledge that successful traders contribute to this forum in order to assist others. It's a truly selfless gesture that's much appreciated. What I'm having trouble with, and perhaps other newcomers are as well, is that I see a lot of posts stating that you must put in your time. Get a college education. For lack of a better term, get your "degree." Doctors wouldn't be doctors if they didn't have an education, and I don't expect to be a good trader without the same commitment to learning. But there aren't many posts about WHERE to get that education. So, here's my extremely long-winded request for some of the people who have already received their "degree": HOW? Which path did you choose? How did you get started? What did you consider to be valuable? What did you consider to be a waste of time and/or money? The veterans could post a "road map" of their education and what was of benefit to them, and why, which would be extremely helpful to all newcomers to trading on this site. Every student who attends a traditional university must complete a required curriculum in order to complete their education. This should be no different, but I'd appreciate some guidance on what the curriculum should be and where to find it. I'm having trouble focusing because the posts that are helpful reference so many other posts that a spider web effect occurs, and I don't get the benefit that the poster intended. Thank you once again for a fantastic website.

MaemaeMemZs · February 28, 2022

Well, this is going to be a long post, LOL.

I won't go into detail about how I arrived where I am, but I will gladly provide some information that will hopefully be useful.
Yes, it's something you hear all the time. Put in the time in front of the computer, pay your dues, and you'll be rewarded with the knowledge of profitable trading. It may appear to be a load of nonsense to some, but there is some truth to it as well.

You must devote sufficient screen time in order to observe market movement. This is a good place to start. Many people are perplexed when they first open a chart and see the massive amount of bars or candles on their chart, trying to figure out where to begin. As a result, there is no substitute for chart time. But how about gnawing on something to sharpen your teeth? What's the best place to start? And how do you know if the information you're consuming is even valuable???

Anyone can find a wealth of information through books, e-books, websites, forums (no offense, FH), and even word of mouth. It's a difficult task to separate the valuable from the worthless. And I believe that not having someone to guide or recommend places to start is one of the reasons why it takes so long to get to a point of profitability.

Some things you just have to figure out on your own. When I first started trading, I read a lot of information about trading psychology and dismissed it. I want to emphasize to anyone reading this that trading psychology is extremely important. You must have a strong sense of self-awareness. You need to know how you react in stressful situations, how you react when things are going well, and how you react when you are bored or overactive. If you don't know how you handle situations like these, you'll find out once you put some of your hard-earned money on the line.

What follows is a path that I believe may be useful in shortening one's learning curve, but it is by no means a complete step-by-step guide to becoming a profitable trader.

1. First and foremost, you must educate yourself about the market you intend to trade. Learn the fundamentals. Learn about the major players in the Spot Forex market. What is it that drives the markets, and given that they can be traded at any time, it would be useful to know what central banks are trading which currencies at what times.

2. Know what a Personal Improvement Plan (PIP) is. Look it up if you don't know what PIP stands for (Percentage in Point). Will it help you become a successful trader? Probably not, but you'll understand what it is and how it relates to price. Which is probably more than the majority of newcomers to this site (no offense meant).

3. Recognize the term "leverage." I'm not going to go into detail about it right now, but you should be aware of it. You must recognize how it can be a two-edged sword.

All of the above can be learned within FF, and you can also go to Baby Pips School, which is completely free and a great place to start.

4. Create a practice account with a broker. A broker that uses the MT4 platform is the one I would recommend. The reason for this is that the platform is extremely user-friendly. The goal is to be able to put price on a screen and see how it moves, as well as to understand and learn how to use some of the fundamental tools (trend lines, fibs, MAs, and so on). I don't mind if you never open an account with that broker; the point is to get a feel for the market and learn how to use some tools, as I mentioned. You can do this on most platforms, but MT4 is one of the easiest to learn.
Now that you have a basic understanding of the markets, some terminology, and have played around with a platform, it's time to get your feet wet.

5. After that, you must learn about market fluctuations. You must learn how to recognize areas of support and resistance, as well as how to spot a trend. The fundamentals are straightforward, but determining whether the trend is continuing, stalling, reversing, or entering a range is more difficult. I'm not suggesting you become a price forecaster, but you should have rules in place to determine when a trend has ended or begun. Predicting where prices will turn around is a difficult game to play. Trading the Ross Hook, a book by Joe Ross, would be my recommendation in this case. It's an excellent read with some very useful data that can be seen in any graph. It isn't the only source for this, but it is unquestionably one of the best.

6. Once you've mastered the fundamentals, you can start experimenting with a trading strategy that suits your personality and schedule. The ideal method is one that can be traded on all time frames and includes a detailed trading plan that includes entry criteria, initial stop placement, profit taking criteria, and how to manage your trades so that they continue to move in the right direction. The best system in the world can fail if it is not properly managed. Reread that sentence. "The best system in the world can fail without proper money management," and the opposite is also true: "Excellent money management can make a system that is only correct 30% of the time profitable."

7. Now things start to get dicey. You've gained a wealth of new information and are ready to take on the world, but how do you know if a method is worth the paper it's written on? This, my friend, is where the con artists come in, eager to part you with your money in the pursuit of the holy grail. As many traders as there are ways to trade the markets, there are many ways to trade them. Consider this forum as an example. On this forum, there are a number of worthwhile systems. James16, The System II (yes, with irony), and Cornflower Hourly System are a few that stand out. Is it true that these are the only ones? NO, but there are a few that are quite good. Don't get too hung up on using a system with a lot of indicators. I'm not saying you shouldn't use indicators at all, but they should be used sparingly. Remember that indicators are designed to aid in trade confirmation, not to determine whether or not a trade is worthwhile. Do not rely on them as a crutch; price is king now and has always been. If you keep that in mind, you should be on the right track.

8. Last but not least, stick to a single system. Put it through its paces and give it a fair shot. Keep in mind that no system can guarantee 100 percent winning trades. If you stick to one system, you'll be able to spot the small differences that occur when price does certain things. As you become more familiar with the system, your confidence will grow, and you'll be able to put your trading feet on the ground. If you turn tail and run at the first sign of adversity (losing a few trades in a row) and head off to find the next best system, you'll find yourself system hopping all the time, looking for that one system that will give you the results you want. And as soon as it goes through a losing streak, you're back on your feet. Take your time and keep going; your account will follow suit as your confidence grows.

One final point. Another book I read had a significant impact on me. I wouldn't recommend getting it right away, but it's a must-have for those of you who are having trouble with your trading or are still trying to figure out how to make your method profitable. Joe Ross's book "Trading is a Business" is a good place to start. It's a quick read that will really help you sort out some internal psychological issues that are keeping you from making progress. I am not a representative of the man, but he writes some excellent material.

If you have any other questions, please post them here or send me a private message. I'd be happy to assist in any way I can.

Best wishes!

RitoParty · February 28, 2022

Nothing is easy, including finding the right curriculum.

However, I believe this is a good place to start.

Nothing is easy, including finding the right curriculum.

However, I believe this is a good place to start.
Note: I did not begin this way, but I now will. I trade full-time and only trade, and I make a decent living doing so.

I'd open a few demo accounts with different brokers and trade them as if my life depended on it. On each, trade the same pair. When it goes backwards, be concerned, just as you would if it were real. Compare and contrast the two brokers' results. Learn the tricks of the trade so you know what to expect. Because your price action is based on order flow and how the market fills orders, learn about order flow and how the market fills orders. There's a lot of information on the internet about this.

Get a couple of good books like "beating the forex dealer" and "candlestick trading for forex" while you're doing that and in conjunction with your trading. Choose your trades based on the books, and figure out which parts of the books you'll use in live trading.

Always remember to wait for the market to come to you rather than chasing it.

You'll learn to recognize high-probability setups if you trade the sideways and trends. I'm not suggesting you trade a sideways market in real time, but it's good practice, and who knows, you might get quite good at it.

Don't invest in an EA! You'll be wasting your time in class.
If you don't hire a trade manager, you'll go insane.

If the price action is making you nervous, keep an eye on the difference in session times and always close a trade 30 minutes before the London close.
It's also not a good idea to start the Sydney session in the first hour.

Consider what is driving the price action and continue to learn until you can consistently make a profit.

I don't believe there is a quick fix, but I believe this approach will save you time and money.

After about 3 or 4 months of consistent practice as you read, you should be able to make consistent profits.

Requotes, slippage, and higher spikes will all be present in live trading, as opposed to a demo account.

I'm not sure how you'll prepare for this, but if your trade manager is good, you should be able to get it to open the order for you, and you'll avoid a lot of requotes and be able to dial in the acceptable slippage.

You'll be fine if you win 6 out of 10 trades and risk 20% of your expected profit.

A good trader never considers himself or herself to be good enough, and they strive to improve every day.

Good luck, and I hope this has been of assistance.