Any successful trading strategy must incorporate money management, technical analysis, fundamental analysis and discipline. A trader must review is previous trades and make a note of the trade setups that have worked in the past and resolve to stick with the tried and true.

Over the years I have traded currencies I have refined my trading strategy and have come up with this strategy that works pretty well for me. I thought I would include it here to give other forex traders a look at what works for me. I know it is not common for a trader to share his secrets but having seen to pain and expense that ignorance and inexperience can cause, I thought I would help shorten the learning curve of as many traders as I can.

Before I enter a trade, I will check a number of factors. Of course I don’t always do a fundamental analysis for every trade because I generally specialize and so I am constantly aware of the realities surrounding a given currency pair.

Before I enter a trade I check a number of things, here there are.

- Determine the trend or price range - Establish that there is a clear trend or range.
- RSI levels – If a pair is overbought I will be averse to buying, likewise I would be averse to selling if it is oversold.
- Pivot Points – Pivot Points generally define a currency pair’s daily price range. So if a pair is in a large up-trend I will be looking to enter a long trade at the pivot point or at the pivot point S1 (support one). Good setups usually include a chart pattern that is supported by on of the pivot lines.
- Money Management – At all cost resist the temptation to go beyond a 5:1 leverage and don’t add to a bad trade. If traders would content themselves to take smaller gain they could sustain more losses and prevent margin calls, and hopefully allow them to make a profit before the trading account is ruined.
- Check other risks – Check that there are no pending news release that could cause huge price movements within an hour or two of entering a trade. Also if the spreads are unusually wide this could be an indication that the market is illiquid and therefore more unpredictable.

If anyone of the above trade checks is not to my liking I will close the platform and go do something else. This helps me avoid the temptation of entering the market in less than ideal conditions. No one is holding a gun to my head and forcing me to trade, it is my money and if I don’t see the right conditions I don’t have to trade; there will always another opportunity tomorrow, I can wait.

Consider the pips lost, while waiting for the patterns to form, as insurance against making a very bad Patience/Discipline trade. Even though ones intuition may says otherwise.

A Forex broker is a trader’s link to the markets and therefore choosing one is integral to the success of one’s forex trading strategy. A simply way to choose the right Forex broker is to compare the different service offerings of each broker and choose the one that is right for a specific need. Among the things to consider are the broker’s charting package, spreads and margin call policy

Before a trader starts looking at the finer details, he must narrow the list of choices by comparing brokers table comes in. Here is a list of forex brokers, commonly regarded among the top 10.


Interactive Brokers
Minimum Deposit - $10000
Maximum Leverage - 40:1
PayPal Deposit - No
Credit Card Deposits - Yes
Mobile trading - No
Automated Trading – Yes

ThinkOrSwim
Minimum Deposit - $3500
Maximum Leverage - 100:1
PayPal Deposit - No
Credit Card Deposits - No
Mobile trading -Yes
Automated Trading – Yes

CMS Forex
Minimum Deposit - $200
Maximum Leverage -100:1
PayPal Deposit - No
Credit Card Deposits - No
Mobile trading - Yes
Automated Trading – No

Deutsche Bank (DB FX)
Minimum Deposit - $5000
Maximum Leverage - 100:1
PayPal Deposit - No
Credit Card Deposits - No
Mobile trading - No
Automated Trading – No

FX Solutions
Minimum Deposit -$250
Maximum Leverage - 400:1
PayPal Deposit - Yes
Credit Card Deposits - Yes
Mobile trading - Yes
Automated Trading – No

MIG Investments
Minimum Deposit -$5000
Maximum Leverage -200:1
PayPal Deposit - Yes
Credit Card Deposits - Yes
Mobile trading - Yes
Automated Trading – Yes

IG Markets
Minimum Deposit - $1
Maximum Leverage -700:1
PayPal Deposit - No
Credit Card Deposits - Yes
Mobile trading - Yes
Automated Trading – Yes

Interbank FX
Minimum Deposit -$250
Maximum Leverage - 400:1
PayPal Deposit - No
Credit Card Deposits - No
Mobile trading - Yes
Automated Trading – Yes

Alpari (UK) Ltd
Minimum Deposit - $1000
Maximum Leverage - 500:1
PayPal Deposit - No
Credit Card Deposits - No
Mobile trading - Yes
Automated Trading - Yes

OANDA
Minimum Deposit -$1
Maximum Leverage - 50:1
PayPal Deposit - Yes
Credit Card Deposits - No
Mobile trading - Yes
Automated Trading - No

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The forex market tends to move most decisively when news is released, be it economic, geopolitical or otherwise. The forex trader puts great odds in his favor when he is aware of what’s on the economic calendar and trades at those times. However, there is a huge difference between trading the news release and trading fundamentals... Read More.

With Forex brokers competing on who can provide the highest leverage, newbie traders can be forgiven for thinking that more is good. My experience has revealed that the less leverage that is used the greater the chances of succeeding at currency trading... Read More.

Finding and executing successful trades is challenging enough but the process can become utterly frustrating when losses are being made from many angles. You need to be aware of the ways that the market and/or your broker can take your money. If you manage to reduce the hemorrhaging in these areas, while increasing your win/loss ratio, your trading success will sour... Read more.

The carry trade is a forex trading strategy that seeks to make a profit from the interest rate differential of two currencies. This is achieved by going long on the currency with the higher interest rate and shorting the other. Because Japanese interest rates have stayed relatively low for a long time the ‘Yen carry trade’ is the most popular carry trade... Read more