Have Realistic Expectations

Another big failure in traders is expecting themselves to make huge profits straight away, this, of course, is not realistic and will lead you to be too aggressive in your trading. Set out realistic goals to achieve month by month, this way you won't think about daily gains or losses too much.

Don’t Hold Trades Too Long in a Loss

Always cut your losses to minimise risk, it’s essential to exit quickly if you feel a trade is running away from you or your reasoning wasn’t correct before you made the trade. You can not control the market, if the trade is bad, cut the loss.

Expect the Worst

Remember something very vital, your past performance doesn’t represent future results. What you did yesterday or last month doesn’t mean you will do it again tomorrow or next month. Be prepared for making losses here and there. Also, be prepared for shock moves in the market where currency pairs can drop or rise very quickly on fundamentals. Having your risk mapped out before you place the trade will help prepare you.

Have Your Targets Planned Before You Enter

Always ensure you have a target in mind before entering into the setup, otherwise, you will be lost while in the trade with no direction of when to exit. Having targets solidifies discipline in trading.

Always Use Stop Losses

Ensure you are always using stop losses in every position you take, this is both sensible and logical to do for any trader. It will shield you from making huge losses or being surprised by a shock move in the market. Stop losses can vary on trades depending on the strategy, but for Platinum Trading Academy, we use stops anywhere from 20 pips to 40 pips on a trade.

Stop losses are vital to survive in forex trading, remember longevity in trading is more important than anything else. You can’t expect to make long term profits if you can't survive, stop losses also mean you don’t need to monitor the market all the time. They will give you the confidence to step away from the screen knowing if anything goes wrong you have something to cut your loss.

Never Trade With Emotions

This is easier said than done of course. But trading after you have just suffered a bad loss is not a good idea. You will be trying to chase that money back by risking too much or over trading. This will lead to further losses and greater anger in the trade. A good tip for this is to take a break from the screen for a while and return with a fresh point of view.

Stay on top of your position sizes and don’t alter them just because you made a loss the trade beforehand.

Understand Leverage

Leverage is something many clients fail to understand when it comes to forex trading. Leverage essentially enables you to trade your capital at bigger position sizes to produce greater profits. I.E if you had a $1,000 trading account with a 1:200 leverage you can place a trade up to $200,000. Remember the notional value of 1 lot is $100,000. So you would effectively be able to trade a position size of $20 per pip.

But higher leverage doesn’t mean you will gain more profits, it also means you can lose more too. Be cautions and ensure you are trading within your limits to best survive in the market.

Longevity is Key

Always set out a longer term 3-5 year plan of where you want to be, thinking too short term will ruin you and end up blowing your account out. Thinking long term will get all the negative thoughts out of your mind and enable you to focus day to day. Do not stray from your trading plan, stay true to it throughout the process.

Watch this video: A trading tip to limit your risk (05mins 01secs)

Conclusion

Follow the forex trading tips provided above to exercise effective money management, if you follow these you will be on your way to becoming successful. We would recommend practising all these tips on a trading demo account first and foremost.

Now that you have read through the vital forex trading tips that will enhance your trading, I can reveal the secret to forex trading is to stop looking for shortcuts for trading in the forex markets. There are a lot of forex signal services, and Self-made Trading Guru’s out there be aware. As a longer term, you can lose money, confidence, and time. Merely following forex trading tips cannot lead to becoming a successful forex trader as you need to have a versatile strategy that will adapt to different market conditions and seasons.

Learn to trade from professionals that have traded in the currency markets; successful forex trader stories are few and far, so be selective in your journey to becoming a forex trader. There is no holy grail or secret trading strategy in the world.

Forex Trading requires dedication, patience, and discipline. At Platinum Trading Academy these are the principles that we embed into our students and clients. We hold your hand through your Financial Trading journey no matter what level of experience, every successful athlete, entrepreneur, etc. has had an outstanding mentor and this is precisely what You shall get from our platinum mentors should you join our forex trading courses.

In short, managing your capital is one of the most important things you can do as a trader. Use the tips above to ensure you keep your trading account healthy and keep them in mind as you go through your trading day. Whether you're a beginner, a novice, or an experienced trader, each one of these tips still applies.

The most important thing you can do as a retail trader is get yourself a proper trading education. Find a teacher or mentor with a proven track record with years of experience in the markets. With the right guidance, you can make trading go from a hobby to your primary source of income, and free yourself from the 9-5 working for other people's dreams.