There is a lot of money to be made in FX online trading and yet most traders lose money when they start. There are many reasons for this. Sometimes the system that a person is following is simply not profitable, sometimes it is a matter of discipline, or emotions may get the better of you, or you may just make a mistake.

The good news is that you can learn to minimize your losses and maximize your gains. Having a clear plan and knowing how to implement it can help you avoid the worst of the loss situations, no matter what system you use.

Your Plan

Successful currency trading requires two things: a profitable system and an effective plan. There are many systems and they are too complex to list here, so we will assume you have one. The problem is that often people think that the system is enough, and it is not. It is equally important to have a plan for implementing your system.

Your plan should include three things:

- Your position size, that is the amount that you will invest in each trade. You will probably think of this in terms of lots but it is also worth considering the margin and what percentage of your total funds it represents. The percentage amount will vary depending on the leverage you are using and the level of risk that you feel happy with.

- Your stop loss level. This will be expressed in pips but again you should also think it through as a percentage of your funds. Most people would be well advised to set a stop loss so that they never risk more than 2% of their funds on a single trade. If you have a minimal account balance, however, you may have to risk more, otherwise you will find the stop loss is triggered by every little normal fluctuation in the market. Just be aware this opens you up to a bigger risk.

- Your exit level for a successful trade. This is one thing that many traders do not decide in advance, but they should. Deciding how much profit to take is the best way to maximize your profits in most situations. Do not be tempted to leave funds indefinitely hoping that the trend will keep going your way. Sooner or later it will turn on you and bite hard.

Sticking With Your Plan

There is no point in even having a plan for your FX online trading if you do not keep to it. There are many temptations: you will find voices popping up in your mind suggesting you deviate from your plan in all kinds of ways.

We just mentioned the temptation to leave your trade open indefinitely when things seem to be going your way. But there are other tempting situations too. For example, when you have just taken a loss, it is tempting to risk more on the next trade to try to recover your position. Don't do it.

Or perhaps you have not been able to trade in a long time because nothing has met the criteria for your system. Then along comes a situation that almost qualifies - but not quite. Do you take it? No. You must learn not to.

You also need to avoid distractions while you are trading so that you reduce the risk of making simple errors. When you start out you would not believe that you could ever do something so stupid as to go long when you meant to go short, enter the market for the wrong pair or set your stop loss at 10 times as many pips as you intended, but most traders have done this kind of thing at least once in their trading lives. Often it is because concentration slipped: the kids are banging on the door of your den, or the phone is ringing and you want to set your position quickly so you can go answer it.

One of the advantages of using a forex robot is that the robot will stick to your plan for you. Provided you get one that will allow you to set up a profitable system, it really will go and trade for you on autopilot. You are safe from temptations and distractions when you use a forex robot for your FX online trading.

Tags: fx online trading, fx trading, forex

There are many forex strategies that you can master or devise for yourself but one of the simplest involves using trend lines to indicate when you should buy or sell.

These lines are very simple to draw and can identify patterns in the movements of the forex markets. This could help you to predict a downswing or an upswing so that you can make money from buying or selling currencies at the right time.

Trend lines will be seen most clearly on a candlestick chart. First identify whether the market is rising or falling or broadly stable. You can do this at a glance with a candlestick chart.

If the market is rising, draw a straight upward line through the highest highs on the chart. Then draw a parallel line below the lowest lows. The area between is the channel through which the prices are currently rising.

If the market is falling, do the opposite by marking the line that passes through the lowest lows, then make a parallel line above the highest highs. This will identify a descending channel.

If the market is stable you will have a horizontal channel. You can then develop forex strategies based on these patterns.

The most common way that traders use these channels for spot forex day trading strategies is to assume that prices will remain within them in the short term. So any time the price hits the top line, that would be a trigger to sell, on the assumption that the price is likely to move back down within the channel. On the other hand, if it hits the bottom line, that would be a trigger to buy.

The upper line is considered a resistance line, above which prices are unlikely to rise while the trend continues. The bottom line is considered a support line, below which prices are unlikely to fall.

However you do have to keep in mind that the trend will reverse at some point. Because of this, many traders will only enter the market to sell when the price moves above the top (resistance) line of an upward trend, and not when it moves above the resistance line of a downward trend because this may be an indicator that the trend is reversing.

You could also look at what conditions would indicate that a horizontal pattern is likely to precede a breakout. For example you could backtest a theory that if a horizontal channel follows a series of downtrends, the horizontal channle in itself represents a support area and the next major trend is likely to be upward. However, always test theories like this before basing any system around them.

Of course there are no guarantees with any system and currency trading is always risky so be sure to make plenty of tests before you begin investing real money. You can use a forex demo account to run real time tests and be sure that your system shows a good profit over the longer term before you start to back your chosen forex strategies in a real account.

Tags: forex strategies, forex strategies using trend lines, forex