What Is The US Dollar Index And How Can You Trade It?
What is the US Dollar Index?
The US Dollar Index (DXY, DX, USDX) measures the value of the United States dollar relative to a basket of other currencies, including the currencies of some of the US's major trading partners. The Dollar Index rises when the US dollar gains strength compared...
Everything You Need To Know About The Bank Of England
What is the Bank of England (BoE)?
The Bank of England is the United Kingdom’s central bank. The BoE is tasked with setting monetary policy and issuing currency, as well as regulating banks and being the lender of last resort – meaning it provides loans to banks and other institutions...
The Destructive Power of Revenge Trading
Revenge trading is quite possibly the most counter-intuitive, self-destructive behavioral pattern a Forex trader could ever slip into. And yet, so many investors can often find themselves shackled by this seemingly unstoppable compulsion to keep placing trades, even in the depths of a never-ending losing streak.
So what is it...
5 Ways to Improve Your Technical Analysis Skills
Technical analysis can sometimes be seen as an easier approach to forex trading than fundamental analysis.
But, truth be told, there is quite a bit of a learning curve to it.
Many forex traders who are just starting out find it challenging to understand the technicals. And it does take a...
The Complete Guide to Non-Farm Payrolls (NFP)
Non-farm payrolls data releases are influential on both economic policy and financial markets. Discover what non-farm payrolls are, the upcoming NFP dates for 2021 and how you can trade them.
What are non-farm payrolls?
Non-farm payrolls (NFP) are monthly measurements of how many workers there are in the US, excluding farm...
Currency Pair Correlations – Forex Trading
Understanding price relationships between various currency pairs allows you to get a more in-depth look at how to develop high-probability Forex trading strategies. Awareness of currency correlation can help to reduce risk, improve hedging, and diversify trading instruments. In this article, we will introduce you to Forex trading using...
An Introductory Guide to Using Fractals in the Forex Market
The laws governing the creation of fractals are found throughout nature. Fractal patterns are recursive as no matter how complex the whole, it’s built from many repetitions of the same process. Romanesco broccoli, spirals of pinecone seeds, ice crystals, trees, rivers, leaves and even water drops exhibit the properties...
Strengthen Your Trading Performance Through the Skill of Organizing
Boost effectiveness and trading results through the skill of organizing. Being organized is a valuable skill to have especially as a forex trader. It can enhance productivity and concentration in a day of trading for both physical and mental aspects. As opposed to seeing clutter and feeling distracted, being...
5 Must Read Trading Psychology Books
What separates a winning trader from a losing trader is psychology.
Trading psychology, for those new to the subject, refers to the emotional aspects dictating a trader’s decisions.
Irrespective of the trading plan employed, good psychology is a must-have trait for any trader.
Learning to govern emotions and develop good decision-making skills...
Understanding Risk/Reward Ratio in the Foreign Exchange Market
Should a colleague, one who has a reputation of borrowing money and returning it later than proposed, ask to borrow $100 and offer to pay back $110 the following month, what would your initial thought be? It’s probably not worth the risk or the hassle, right?
However, what if the...
Your Trading and Consciousness
Many of our products and workshops are about helping people increase their level of consciousness. Why? Many people trade unconsciously, without knowing at even a shallow level what they are doing in the markets and why. This applies to the psychological parts of trading like beliefs, emotions, discipline, etc....
How to Use Pivot Points
Pivot points or pivots are useful indicators for determining levels at which the sentiment of the market can change from bullish to bearish or vice versa. Generally seen as markers of support and resistance, pivot points are widely used by day traders in the spot forex market. These traders...
Butterfly Patterns and How Catching One Help You Profit In The Forex Market
Now despite its pretty name, this pattern can help you catch some deadly market reversals. As ever there are a few different measurements and parameters that we need to learn for identifying this pattern so stick with me here as we go through those. We’ll take a look at...
Double Tops With Stochastic Divergence
Stochastic Oscillator
The stochastics indicator is one of the most popular Forex indicators. This classic indicator was developed in the 1950s by a trader named George Lane. Essentially the indicator meaAsures the closing price of an instrument against a range over a specified lookback period and registers momentum as either...
Uncovering Bitcoin Transactions: How they Work
A bitcoin transaction is a signed piece of information for the purpose of transferring ownership of a set amount of bitcoins from one individual to another. The transaction records all the details of the sender’s unspent bitcoins, their origin (denoted by the transaction ID, or hash of the transaction),...
How to Apply the Right Trading Tools in the Forex Market
When trading the financial markets, one always faces the dilemma of whether to enter a trade or pass on it. Some forex traders use their “gut feeling” to make this important decision. This instinct or intuition that some feel they have is more-often-than-not based on two principle emotions: greed...
Two Simple Ways to Scalp the Markets
Scalping is a trading strategy or style where a trader makes multiple trades over short-term time frames.
This trading style is a low (profit) margin, high volume strategy that requires attention and dedication. If you choose to become a scalper, you‘ll need to dedicate several hours a day to trading....
What Is the “Kelly Criterion” in Forex?
Put simply, the Kelly Criterion or Formula is a way to calculate how much of their assets a Forex trader should risk on any given trade in order to maximize the return.
It became notorious among equities traders because it was said that Warren Buffet uses a version of it...
How Powerful Is Chaos Theory for Financial Forecasting?
At first glance, the markets are quite chaotic, and certainly very complex.
This seems to be a great fit for applying chaos theory and figuring out a mathematical model to generate good market picks.
Chaos Theory uses cutting-edge science, combined with things like algorithms and artificial intelligence, to generate forecasts.
Yet… there...
Trading the Head and Shoulders Chart Pattern
Technical analysis is an efficient technique used to study price movements of financial markets, with its findings forming a credible guide to future market direction.
One of the most well-known chart patterns is the head and shoulders formation, boasting not only high profitability, but also distinct rules for its assembly.
Although...
A Primer to Understanding Basic Chart Patterns
Do technical trading patterns exist and are they profitable?
This is a question often asked by new traders.
Depending on who you ask, the response will differ. Some academics and investors believe patterns don’t exist – that price action is entirely random, whereas the majority of technical analysts are adamant chart...
Interpret the MACD Indicator Like a Professional
Technical analysis contains numerous indicators, many of which traders use daily in the financial markets. Few, however, attain the popularity of the Moving Average Convergence Divergence (MACD).
Developed in the late 1970s by a gentleman who goes by the name of Gerald Appel, the MACD is primarily defined as a...
Trading Cryptocurrencies Using Technical and Fundamental Analysis
As most market participants are aware, there are two main types of analysis traders use to monitor markets and give them more detailed trade ideas. Technical analysis and fundamental analysis are the main areas of study that can be used for any markets, including new ones like cryptocurrencies.
Fundamental Analysis
This...
Reliable Ways to Prevent Yourself from Overthinking When Trading
When trading an active forex market, free yourself from constant worry and apply surefire ways to stop yourself from overthinking. For an effective trading career, you need to have powerful mental strength. To overcome difficult situations, traders need to stay sharp and get ready with the right attitude. By...
Bitcoin Keys and Addresses: What you Need to Know
Digital keys play a central role in the bitcoin network because they act as proof of ownership for the digital currency, and are necessary when signing digital transactions. Public-key cryptography is the science behind the keys, the encryption process basically uses two mathematically related, but not identical, keys -...
The Origins of the Digital Currency: A Beginning of a Long New Road
In recent times, especially after the 2008 financial crisis, we all became more familiar with financial terms such as “bail-in” and “bailout” and those of us who are not economists realised that the heart of a country’s economy beats in its local financial institutions and banks. Hence, the wellbeing...
Discipline in Keeping Your New Year’s Resolutions
As 2020 draws to a close and we look forward to 2021, I thought it was a good time to offer a refresher on how to maintain those New Year’s resolutions.
Here are several ideas that may help you to maintain your resolutions throughout the entire year.
1) Divide a General...
Accept Losses and Become a Consistent Trader
Learn to take losses. The most important thing in making money is not letting your losses get out of hand – Marty Schwartz
Accepting loss to gain trading consistency is an interesting paradox.
Every good trader endures loss. The difference between a successful trader and failure is understanding how to handle...
The Importance of the US Dollar Index
To say the US dollar is important is an understatement.
According to the 2019 Triennial Survey of turnover in OTC FX markets, the US dollar retained its dominant currency status, on one side of 88% of all trades. Additionally, more than 60% of foreign exchange reserves are denominated in dollars,...
What are V-Shaped, U-Shaped and L-Shaped Recoveries?
A lot of economic commenters have used letters as a shorthand to describe potential economic scenarios of what might happen after the covid-19 outbreak is controlled. They are great as visual aids, but what exactly is the difference between them? What do they mean in practice? After all, we...