Successful Trading Tips

There is no doubt that trading requires more than a few quick tips for success. You need experience, fortitude, capital and, above all, a solid trading system . However, for the average beginner and those who perhaps are losing their focus because of significant draw-downs, keeping things simple can help to introduce much needed focus into your trading. To that end, here are some tips that you can use for trading that can help you get a handle on these exciting markets:

1. Never add to a position that is losing.
2. Always determine a stop and a profit objective before you start entering a trade. Place stops that are based on market information, and not your account balance. If a "proper" stop is too expensive, it isn’t worth it to make the trade.
3. Remember the power of a position. You should never make a market judgment when you have a position.
4. Your decision to exit a trade means that you are able to perceive changing circumstances. You shouldn’t think you can pick a price, exit at the market.
5. In a Bull market, you never want to sell a dull market, in Bear market, you should certainly never buy a dull market.
6. There are times, due to a lack of liquidity, or excessive volatility, when you should not trade at all.
7. Trading systems that work in an up market may not work in a down market. It is good to know this and remember it.
8. There are at least three types of markets like up trending, range bound, and down trading, and you should have a different trading strategy for each.
9. Up market and down market patterns are ALWAYS there, and it is only that one is always more dominant. In an up market, for example, it is very easy to take sell signal after sell signal, only to be stopped repeatedly. Select trades that move along with the trend.
10. A buy signal that fails is really just a sell signal. A sell signal that fails is a buy signal.
11. It's always easier to enter a losing trade.
12. During the blowout stage of the market, up or down, the risk managers are usually issuing margin call position liquidation orders. They don't generally check the screen for overbought or oversold; they just keep issuing liquidation orders. It is best to make sure that you don't stand in the way.
13. It’s good to be superstitious; in that you shouldn’t trade if something bothers you.
14. Buy the news that you hear, sell the factual news.
15. News is only important when the market doesn't react in the direction of the news.
16. It helps for you to read today's paper tomorrow. When you read yesterday's paper each day with the knowledge of what the market already did, it will remind you that what happened yesterday has nothing to do with what will happen today.
17. You should never enter a new trade in the direction of a gap. Never let the market make you make a trade.
18. The first and last tick are always the most expensive. Get in late and out early. 19. When everyone else is in, it's time for you to get out.
19. Never trade when you are sick.
20. You should only change your unit of trading under a plan of attained goals. You should also have a plan for reducing size when your trading is cold or market volume is down.
21. Confidence is a bad thing. Remember, you really don't know anything unless you are a broker. You need to expect the unexpected. Always know your position and exit your trade immediately whenever you feel uneasy.
22. Measure yourself by profitable consecutive days and not by individual trades.
23. The best way to break a streak of consecutive loses is to not trade for a day.
24. Don't stop trading when you’re on a 'winning streak'. At the same time, however, stick to your stop-loss rules and money-management strategy, and don't think that luck has anything to do with it. Your trading system may simply be having an optimal time-period.
25. Don't turn three losing trades in a row into six in a row. When you’re off, turn off the screen, do something else. Sticking in when you are loosing is just silly.
26. Scalpers reduce the number of variables effecting market risk by being in a position only for a few seconds. Day traders reduce market risk by being in trades for minutes. 28. If you convert a scalp or day trade into a position trade, technically you did not consider the risks of the trade properly.
27. You should not worry about a missed opportunity. There is always another one just around the corner.
28. If you look for secrets in the market you will only find things that no one cares about. It is better to use the tools, which will be covered in the next section.
29. Never ask for someone else's opinion, they probably did not do as much homework as you did anyways.
30. When the market is going up, you should say it aloud. When the market is going down, you want to say that aloud too. The reason for this is that you’d be amazed at how hard it is to say what is literally going on in front of you when your mind is full of preconceived opinions.
31. Successful day trading requires flexibility. You have to do your homework so that you can understand the full potential for both sides of the market. This will allow you to make your trades based on what the market is doing at the time of the trade. 34. Here is a quote that would be good for you to remember: “When you wake up, your instincts are wrong.”
32. When you make a mistake of discipline, whine like a fool to anyone that will listen. Any errors that are made in discipline are mistakes you will keep on making for many years. Wearing ashes and sack cloth may help you to extend the time before you do it again.
33. If you whined or got fidgety while you read this list, then you share two obvious characteristics with many other traders:
    A. You have traded long enough to recognize that you (not the market) make mistakes, and you try to overcome them.
    B. This fact is awkward, you have become part of the market and you can never leave. No matter where life takes you, you will always check the market and you will also always want to continue being a part of it.
34. For small accounts ($25,000 and under), like I said before you need to trade with the trend. Many beginners look for trades that flow in any direction. While forex trading easily permits bi-directional trading, trading in the direction of the trend improves your odds over the long run.
35. You should have at least two accounts. One real account and the other a demo account. Learning doesn't stop when trading real dollars begins. Keep the demo account and use it to test any alternative trades etc. For example, you can shadow your real trades with identical ones in your demo account, but you will want to widen your stops in the demo in an effort to see if you're being too conservative.
36. You have to stop looking for leading indicators because there aren't any. While some firms make a lot of money selling software that predicts the future, the reality is that if those products really worked, they wouldn't be telling you about it.
37. Examine the daily charts, the four-hour charts and one-hour charts are there to assist you in timing your trades. While you are trading at 30- and 15minute time increments, it takes a great deal of dexterity.
38. Don't trade the time frame that is offered. Trade the pattern instead. Reversal patterns, hesitation patterns and breakout patterns show up a lot. Learn to look for the pattern in any time frame.
39. If you have the right amount of money, trading two lots is safer than just trading one. Trading three lots is safer than two etc. Trading is a big pile of emotions, technical analysis and money management. One lot alone makes it difficult to weigh these elements in deciding to enter or exit.
40. Extreme trading can be the most conservative trading when you think about it. Trading at the extremes increases the odds that you have chosen the right direction.
41. You should fully check the Big Five the dollar/yen, euro/dollar, Swiss franc/ dollar, euro/yen and pound/dollar before you decide to take a position in any one of them. There might be something obvious that you’ve missed.
42. Follow the Upside Down Rule. If you can turn a chart upside down and it still looks the same, avoid it all together.
    10.Don't keep count of your profits in your first 20 trades. Keep track of the percentage of wins instead. Once you know you can pick direction, profits can be increased with multi-plot trading and by using variations in your stops. In other words, now is the time to get serious about your personal money management.