A lot of things in your life can affect your trading performance. You might have had an argument, or just have many things going on at the same time. The more distracted you are, the more your trading results will suffer. Mediation can help you get into the right mindset before you trade. Watch this video and do the exercises before trading to settle yourself and increase your chances of trading well. It's a short video that won't take up too much time, like some other videos out there. How to Use This Video This video is meant to be used before you start trading. It will help you calm your m ..read more

A great feature in Forex Tester 5 is the ability to install custom indicators. This allows you to use the trade journaling and analysis tools in Forex Tester, while using the same indicators that you would use in live trading with MetaTrader. It really speeds up the backtesting process. If you use MetaTrader as manual backtesting software on its own, it's works, but it's cumbersome and slow. But there are some limitations to importing indicators into Forex Tester. So in this tutorial, I'll show you how to add custom MT4 indicators to Forex Tester 5, and show you why it might not be as useful a ..read more

A stop loss is one of the most important order types in trading. In this tutorial, I'll go over what a stop loss order is, how to implement it, and I'll answer some frequently asked questions at the end. After you read this tutorial, you'll know everything there is to know about entering a stop loss. What is a Stop Loss Order? All trading platforms that I've seen have a stop loss feature. Some are easier to use than others, but the basic function is the same. A stop loss order is a type of order that traders use to limit their loss on a losing trade or lock in profits on a winning trade.  ..read more

A stop loss a vital component of a profitable trading strategy. It limits your risk if you're wrong, and it preserves your capital so you can take advantage of the next opportunity. This complete tutorial will show you how to calculate your risk and position size, based on your maximum risk.  Calculate Your Stop Loss The first step to calculating a stop loss is to measure your stop loss in pips or dollars, or whatever your chart is quoted in. To calculate your exact stop loss, use this formula: ABS(Entry – Stop Loss) = Risk It doesn't matter if the risk number comes out positive or negat ..read more

Withdrawing money from MetaTrader 4 can be a little confusing when you're a beginner. The important thing to understand is that MT4 is just a trading platform. In other words, it's just a piece of software. Your broker is the one who actually holds your money, not MetaTrader. When you trade, your broker gives you access to the money in their brokerage account via MT4. In order to withdraw money from MT4, go to your broker's website and login with your username and password. Once you are logged in, there will be a page that will allow you to request a withdrawal to your bank or other funding so ..read more

Most traders will experience a large trading loss at some point in their career. That generally happens in the beginning when they are first learning, but it can also happen later if they become overconfident. The key to coming back after a large loss is to stop trading, review your process, then make the necessary adjustments. After you've made the proper adjustments, start trading small before you step back up to your full risk per trade.  Now I'll break down the details into 7 simple steps that you can follow to do this. Table of Contents Step 1: Take a Break From Trading Step 2: Acce ..read more

This is a common question that new traders ask, but there isn't one simple answer. In this post, I'll break down how to figure out exactly how long you should test a trading system. As a general rule, you should backtest a trading system for as long as it takes for you to have confidence to trade the system with real money.  In other words, it depends on a few different factors. Let's dive into what you should know about backtesting and how long you should do it. It all begins with defining our terms… The Definition of “Long” The first thing that I have to clarify is the what is meant by ..read more

Traders use a trailing stop loss to take advantage of trends and maximize their profit per trade. In reality, nobody knows exactly when a trend will end. Therefore, if you set take profit price, you'll lose out on a lot of profit if price keeps moving in the direction you expected. A trailing stop loss will allow you to flow with the market and ride big moves. Before I get into the actual methods, let's first look at the advantages and disadvantages of using trailing stop losses. Advantages of Using a Trailing Stop Loss The biggest advantage of using a trailing stop loss is that it gives you a ..read more

There are many trading strategies available on the internet. But how do you know if a trading strategy is profitable or not? A trading strategy is considered profitable if it has a positive result in backtesting and/or forward testing. The results have to meet the return requirements of the trader, and go through a series of filters to be sure that the results are an accurate representation of real world trading conditions.  That's a mouthful, so I'll break down everything in this tutorial. I'll get into how to define a profitable strategy and how to do the testing to figure out the perfo ..read more

There are 2 primary methods of analyzing markets: technical analysis and fundamental analysis. Technical analysis uses the historical price chart of a market to predict future price moves. Fundamental analysis looks at underlying characteristics of a market like news, balance sheets, and other financial reports.  Which one should you use? Or should you use both? Let's get into the details of each type of analysis, the benefits and downsides of each, and how to figure out what you should be using. Technical Analysis Technical analysis is basically the study of patterns on price charts. Th ..read more