If you were to google the term "forex" you would get 57 million pages, most of which is complete garbage. Now I say this with a slight hint of reservation but understand that in the short 5 years of me trading on the FX market, I have come across outright scams, automated "systems" that supposedly would make an investor rich, gurus that profess huge returns if you allow them to trade using managed accounts, books that make outstanding claims ect. ect. The list goes on and on.
I am going to attempt to blow apart a lot of these "myths" that seem to circumvent the forex market online and hopefully, you will be able to use common sense when approaching these "products" and give you a solution that you can research to better help you with your trades.
Myth #1
- You can easily double your forex account by using (stick a broker or site name here).
Reality- Any site or broker that can give you a fixed percentage per month (like 10%) is doing something with your money other than trading forex. That is the bottom line and it doesn't matter if you think that it must be real because the site has been paying for several months.
My own experience: I had a managed account with an unsaid site that was averaging 20% per month and had been in operation for a couple years. I was quite pleased with the results and then all of a sudden, they vanished into cyber space...along with my money. This was a lesson learned the hard way but I want to tell you that if it sounds too good to be true, then...it is too good to be true.
As an aside, there are thousands of sites that claim to be trading forex. Most promise returns upwards of 50-100% per month. It is simply not possible.
Myth #2
Automated Software is better than Human Based Trading
- I have heard this spouted about since I came online and started trading. The idea is this...by taking away the human emotion, you can make significant profits. Since Fear and Greed moves the market, a computer based product that just crunches numbers should be able to accurately predict the market.
Reality- Automated Software does not work because the market moves because of human greed and emotion....
Real life Example- a couple years ago, after seeing automated system after system touted, I finally took the plunge and bought some software that would make my trades automatic. Luckily for me, I tested the bot using a demo account because after a month's time, I would have gone broke. The bottom line is that a computer can only implement indicators, much like a human can.
As an aside, if someone developed a "bot" that could do the dirty work for you and succeed, why on earth would someone sell it? Think about it...if it is too good to be true, it normally is.
Myth #3
Trading the news is the quickest way to profits and even a newbie can do it.Reality- While it is true that trading the news can result in some significant jumps in PIPS, it also has a few can of worms that most traders won't tell you about....
- Getting in on these trades has to be quick and most platforms perform typically slower than normal during these high volume times. The worst part of this is that you can't tell which brokerage firm is the better because the trades are seemless on demo accounts. The result is you get in trades but sometimes can't get out.
Real Life Example- I was subscribed to a service where the trader had a chat room in which trader's could come in. He had one of those fancy Reuters news tickers (that cost $2,500+) in which he could get the news at the exact same time that the banks got them. Basically, he would get the news and type "buy" or "sell" or "do nothing". When something hot broke, it would sometimes break for 60+ PIPS. That would have been great if I could have gotten in on the trade. However, I tried 5 different platforms and all of them were either very slow to open the trade (resulting in a loss of profit) or crashed at the time of the news....not good.
I investigated this and found that my problem wasn't just me. Other trader's had the same exact problem.
Now, my only way to combat this was to "guess" which way the market would go and place a stop/loss point on the other side just in case it went the other way. Then again...that is not trading...that is gambling...
Lesson learned: If you are going to trade the news, be prepared for some major frustration along the way.
Myth #4
You can make a lot of money consistently trading short term time frames (day trading)..
Reality- The key word is consistently. There are two things that are certain with trading forex. One, the market will rise....and two, the market will fall. With short time frames, you are basically guesstimating which way the market will go. And the market moves in these short time frames without much reason. In other words, it is no better than flipping a coin. Technical and chart analysis is absolutely pointless in these short time frames. If you don't believe me, spend a week watching these numbers and do all the chart analysis you want....Without knowing the long term trends, you are no more than a gambler betting red or black.
This said, there is only one PROVEN technical indicator in stock OR forex trading. And that is understanding retracements and how to chart using fibronacci techniques. Basically, it implies that when a market starts a pull back or rally, normally there are some keypoints that it retraces back to. The most important number is 50% (or the 50% retracement rule).
Now, I am not going to say that it is a slam dunk (there is none in trading). However, if you use history as an indicator, then you would see that the 50% retracement rule actually works more often than not.
Leo Dimilo has been trading forex as a hobby for 5 years now and has his share of bumps and bruises along the way. He has made alot of money AND lost a lot of money along the way.
Forex Trading for Beginners