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Unsuccessful Trading: Is It You or Your Strategy?

11:10 AM Nov 11, 2020
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Trading Psychology

It is not a secret that not all traders are successful, and many reasons affect your trades. Financial markets are very competitive, and the wrong trading plan or emotional trading usually is the main problem. It's essential to track your trades and prevent these factors, so let's discuss how to understand that the problem in your trading plan or your emotions during the trading session.

It is human nature to look for the guilty. When it comes to Forex, unsuccessful traders blame a bad trading strategy. And it is true but only in 5% of cases. The remaining 95% of traders themselves provoke their losses. Today I'm going to tell you an easy way to check if you should change your strategy or start working on yourself.

Who Needs This Check

The method I'm talking about is not suitable for everyone. If you are a completely newbie then such a test is not necessary for you. Just do your best while learning and trading.

Verification is needed for those who meet the following criteria:

  1. You have been trading for quite a long time. To conduct the test, you will need a trading history for the last 3 months.
  2. Throughout these months, you have used the same trading strategy. If you haphazardly open trades hoping to get lucky, then you don’t need this test. Lack of a plan is your main problem.
  3. You keep making losses despite your best efforts

The Actual Check

This test has one important rule: be 100% honest with yourself. If you are not ready to accept that you may be the cause of your trading failures then you can skip the check. If you're in the mood for work and success, let's get started.

Step 1

You will need a trading history for the last 3 months. There can be several ways to get it:

  • Download it from your trading terminal. To do this, in your MT4 menu go to “View” - “Terminal” - “Account History” tab. Right click on history and select the 3 months period.
  • FXCL clients can view the history in their Trader’s Cabinets. The account statement is also sent to you by mail.
  • If you keep a trading journal, then you can take a list of your trades from there.

Try to print your trading history. This will make it easier for you to analyze your trades and draw the necessary conclusion.

Step 2

Check each of your trades for a clear adherence to your trading plan. If your trading position fully corresponds to your strategy, put a checkmark right next to it. If you have moved away from the plan, put an X mark.

If the deviation from the plan was really insignificant, which is quite realistic in Forex trading conditions, then you can put a checkmark. However, you need to be completely honest with yourself and cross out trades that didn't really match your strategy. This usually includes positions that are open for the wrong reasons:

  • Greed
  • Revenge
  • Boredom
  • Euphoria from a previous victory, etc.

Once you have mastered the assessment of your trades, proceed to the check itself. Count how many positions in a row you make with 100% adherence to your trading plan. If you were really honest with yourself, then you are unlikely to get 20 trades in a row. Or even 10.

If you are unable to follow your plan even 20 trades in a row, then the problem is not your strategy, but haphazard trading. The most common reasons for this are emotional trading and lack of discipline. It is up to you to decide which of these things you should work on. I can only wish you luck.

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terms Stop Loss news trading economical calendar major news release currency pair currency rate national currency trading journal trades profit/loss emotions news release positions size Expert Advisors platform trading robot cryptocurrency volatility day trading position size lot account types cent accounts Mini account ECN Copytrade ECN accounts swap-free minimum deposit order execution liquidity providers demo accounts real account low-risk trading EUR/USD economic calendar majors cross-currencies exotic currencies base currency quote currency quotes bid ask Brexit United Kingdom European Union GBP Euro GDP WTO price levels moving average 4-hour chart 1-hour chart bulls bears false breakout cross-currency USD price action pin bar trading inside bar trading hands off breakeven stop loss 50% stop loss pin bar high-frequency trading position trading swings breakout strategy trading style Entry order Take Profit hammer shooting star inside bar pinocchio bar head and shoulders harami risk to reward ratio trading calculator trader’s age emotion control stop-hunting false signal trading session New York session Asian session non-farm payrolls fed rates decision central banks mentor teacher Forex education Forex books candlesticks bonuses tradable bonus no deposit bonus deposit bonus cashback pending orders counter-trend trading risk-to-reward ratio 1-2% rule uptrend downtrend news releases slippage emotional trading stop orders limits orders trailing Stop correlation Correlation Matrix EURUSD EURJPY RSI Overbought/Oversold indicator doji morning start candlestick pattern liquidity London session gap requote US dollar greed excessive trading Expert Advisor trading instrument Twitter Trump euro Canadian dollar Japanese yen Mexican peso currency pairs Fed China economic news currency wars USA interest rates trade agreement H1 H4 D1 sell trade buy trade price level trading system COVID-19 coronavirus lockdown checklist Default mode network Nonfarm Payrolls intraday traders lot size Stop Out margin breakeven pip point entry price chart candles weekly candle daily candle engulfing candle Doji W1 fears money management trading signals Charles Dow Dow theory primary trend Relative Strength Index signals market noise trading volume oversold/overbought corrections candle M30 GBPUSD GBPJPY pending order fundamentals Interbank order Stop order Limit order Standard account Interbank account liquidity provider M5 chart gold XAUUSD Chinese yuan flat US Dollar Fed Interest Rates inflation level XPTUSD platinum XAGUSD silver USDCNY Chinese Yuan instruments swap trading hours Buy Stop Sell Stop Average True Range ATR range sideways range price level trading scripts Excel tables entry point equity balance applications highs and lows RSI Fibonacci terminal server proxy OS Windows XP self-trading Forex advantages gap trading Fibonacci levels USDJPY Buy Limit Cherry Blossom market cycle mark-up mark-down consolidation distribution long positions short positions double bottom triple bottom double top triple top pattern signal presidential cycle Elliott wave Kondratiev wave Forex terminology quote standard lot mini-lot micro-lot cross pairs exotic pairs counter-currency terminology Margin Call long position short position buy sell candlestick chart bar chart line chart range market channel high low ADX OHLC patterns profit level martingale aggressive EAs VPS demo account EA tester trading signal chasing the market clicking the button oil trading lot EUR cent account Forex mentor novice trader emotions control fear psychological level round numbers Key Levels indicator MetaQuotes iOS Android mobile trading mobile terminal VPS server financial portals day trader position closing short timeframe fast trading news site news portal FXStreet Investing.com Forex Factory ForexLive DailyFX CPI PPI economic indicators Non-Farm Payrolls monetary policy FOMC retail sales inflation rates program installation intuition apps ECN brokers market makers financial 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market cryptocurrency market figures diamond divergent triangle symmetrical triangle reversal signal financial intelligence financial education long-term investing triangle ascending triangle descending triangle risk control stocks Forex mutual fund EUR/AUD AUD Australian Dollar Australia ECB RBA demo live live account spike bearish spike bullish spike breathing techniques meditation unusual trading tips useful habits nutrition intermittent fasting Three indians pamm mam expert advisors start-up capital business Forex business oversold overbought reverse signals 15-minute chart full-time trading discipline drawdown inflation devaluation IDR LAK export Russia regulations regulators Central Bank quantitative easing quantitative tightening Donald Trump Joe Biden coins indexes DXY ICO Mrs. Watanabe beginner trader carry trading young traders women traders productivity self-discipline rectangle sideways channel trend figure Alexander Elder John Murphy Jack Schwager limit order leaving Forex 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losing streak perfectionism consistent profits starting capital initial investment market psychology japanese candlesticks PAMM trust management money manager holidays market sentiment CHF CAD Great Britain pound Swiss Frank reserve currency averaging morning routine initial capital potential profit reverse pattern rounded bottom rounded top saucer inverse saucer IB Program IB Commission Sharing reversal patterns deposits payment methods payment systems local transactions trader’s block market balance