I don’t know about you, but I have never wanted to work on Wall Street, or in an exchange, or for a bank, or be a fund manager, or manage other people’s money for that matter (by the way, I tried it and hated it). That’s not to say those are not important or fulfilling jobs. It’s just that I have never been much of an employee. I’ve always wanted to work for myself, and that really is just my way of saying I want to dictate when and how hard I work. You’re probably not that different from me. Who doesn’t want that freedom? That’s what trading is to me, freedom. There are plenty of ways to make a good living in this world. But I can’t throw a 90 mile-an-hour fast ball, I can’t sing or dance, and I always kick myself for not thinking of putting bird seed in a balloon and selling it as a stress relieving grip ball. Oh well.
So it ain’t just the money! Trust me when I tell you that trading is the hardest way to make an easy living I can think of.
I am a part-time trader. I think that people who are employed as traders are professional traders or full-time traders, but there goes your freedom out the window. I have never been great at answering to anyone as my mother will attest. And I do like to sleep in from time to time, as a few of my friends will attest when they have called me in the morning only to wake me up!
So really by that definition I am a part-time trader and darn proud of it. Does that mean that I treat my trading as a hobby? Definitely not! But consider that forex, which is the main topic of this book, is a 24-hour market. I don’t know about you, but I like to sleep, cook, train, golf, play a little Wii, read a book, maybe write a book, talk with friends, do a little blogging, dive, ride my motorcycle, go out to lunch with friends, go fishing, travel, you know, have a life! So obviously there are going to be times that I can’t be in front of my computer and more often, don’t want to be!
Let me tell you now that I was not always so enlightened. When I first started getting into trading, I was totally addicted. Addicted to the action, the charting, getting my hands on everything and anything trading related, and going at it 16 hours a day. No joke. And I’ll tell you the whole tale later, but suffice to say, I’m a chart junkie. My trading wasn’t better with my eyes glued to dual monitors. My friendships weren’t better, and I’m pretty sure my husband thought I had lost my mind. Although he still might be holding that opinion.
So I eventually unplugged and embraced the life of a part-time trader. You can and should do the same.
There are a few things that will make it clear once you understand them. Just a few simple things are all you are going to need. I will show you how to use time frames to your advantage as well as the prime trading times for each pair. I’m going to lay it all out for you.
The forex is a 24-hour market, so do full-time traders ever sleep?
Okay, so now you may be thinking, “Raghee, won’t I miss trades if I only watch the market part-time?” And I will answer, “Yeah. You, me, and everyone else.”
Even full-time traders have to sleep, eat, and well . . . you know. And believe me when I tell you that I have known quite a few traders with computers in the restroom. So trading forex is all about picking your spots and knowing when the market is most likely to move. This luckily is not completely unpredictable. Markets, like people, have a natural daily rhythm. As a trader, I count on it. In many ways, trading forex is trading the opinions of seven different financial centers: Sydney, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Singapore, Frankfurt, London, and New York. These seven represent the major financial centers around the world, and each has its own psychology, volatility, liquidity, and rhythm. You can find a time to trade. It’s really going to be more a function of your personal schedule. I will tell you though that all financial centers are not equal. Some are more important (New York) and larger (London) than others. Since the six most traded pairs are U.S. dollar–correlated (they reflect strength or weakness versus the greenback)—EUR/USD, USD/JPY, GBP/USD, USD/CHF, USD/CAD, AUD/USD—the “best” trading time is the overlap between Frankfurt, London, and New York which makes the forex “prime time” 7 A.M. EST to noon EST. What if you can’t be in front of your computer then? I’ll show you how to trade it anyway, and that goes for any financial center. With proper and well-thought out order entry and a firm grasp of time frames you can handle just about any market.
Just accept it now; you are going to miss the occasional trade. The sooner you can come to terms with that fact the less likely you will chase trades, and the less likely you are to revenge a trade. And if you didn’t know it already, doing that will empty your trading account at a nauseating pace.
So it ain’t just the money! Trust me when I tell you that trading is the hardest way to make an easy living I can think of.
I am a part-time trader. I think that people who are employed as traders are professional traders or full-time traders, but there goes your freedom out the window. I have never been great at answering to anyone as my mother will attest. And I do like to sleep in from time to time, as a few of my friends will attest when they have called me in the morning only to wake me up!
So really by that definition I am a part-time trader and darn proud of it. Does that mean that I treat my trading as a hobby? Definitely not! But consider that forex, which is the main topic of this book, is a 24-hour market. I don’t know about you, but I like to sleep, cook, train, golf, play a little Wii, read a book, maybe write a book, talk with friends, do a little blogging, dive, ride my motorcycle, go out to lunch with friends, go fishing, travel, you know, have a life! So obviously there are going to be times that I can’t be in front of my computer and more often, don’t want to be!
Let me tell you now that I was not always so enlightened. When I first started getting into trading, I was totally addicted. Addicted to the action, the charting, getting my hands on everything and anything trading related, and going at it 16 hours a day. No joke. And I’ll tell you the whole tale later, but suffice to say, I’m a chart junkie. My trading wasn’t better with my eyes glued to dual monitors. My friendships weren’t better, and I’m pretty sure my husband thought I had lost my mind. Although he still might be holding that opinion.
So I eventually unplugged and embraced the life of a part-time trader. You can and should do the same.
There are a few things that will make it clear once you understand them. Just a few simple things are all you are going to need. I will show you how to use time frames to your advantage as well as the prime trading times for each pair. I’m going to lay it all out for you.
The forex is a 24-hour market, so do full-time traders ever sleep?
Okay, so now you may be thinking, “Raghee, won’t I miss trades if I only watch the market part-time?” And I will answer, “Yeah. You, me, and everyone else.”
Even full-time traders have to sleep, eat, and well . . . you know. And believe me when I tell you that I have known quite a few traders with computers in the restroom. So trading forex is all about picking your spots and knowing when the market is most likely to move. This luckily is not completely unpredictable. Markets, like people, have a natural daily rhythm. As a trader, I count on it. In many ways, trading forex is trading the opinions of seven different financial centers: Sydney, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Singapore, Frankfurt, London, and New York. These seven represent the major financial centers around the world, and each has its own psychology, volatility, liquidity, and rhythm. You can find a time to trade. It’s really going to be more a function of your personal schedule. I will tell you though that all financial centers are not equal. Some are more important (New York) and larger (London) than others. Since the six most traded pairs are U.S. dollar–correlated (they reflect strength or weakness versus the greenback)—EUR/USD, USD/JPY, GBP/USD, USD/CHF, USD/CAD, AUD/USD—the “best” trading time is the overlap between Frankfurt, London, and New York which makes the forex “prime time” 7 A.M. EST to noon EST. What if you can’t be in front of your computer then? I’ll show you how to trade it anyway, and that goes for any financial center. With proper and well-thought out order entry and a firm grasp of time frames you can handle just about any market.
Just accept it now; you are going to miss the occasional trade. The sooner you can come to terms with that fact the less likely you will chase trades, and the less likely you are to revenge a trade. And if you didn’t know it already, doing that will empty your trading account at a nauseating pace.
