Is Automated Forex Trading Really the Best Forex Trading Solution?

If you are setting up or just getting going with your currency trading business, you've likely come across offers for automated forex trading solutions. While no solution can totally remove the human factor completely, some of these can be effective and profitable if you know what you are getting. Here are five important things to consider as you compare these automated solutions.

Tip #1: Verify The Track Record

You should first verify the track record and previous result of any software that offers to automate your forex trading. Of course, past results cannot guarantee how well the software will work for you. That said, if you can't even verify the claims made on the program's sales literature, stay away from it. Verification can include contacting others who have used the program and asking them about their experience. Any reputable company will have some customers on file who should be glad to discuss their experiences with you. Screenshots documenting successful trading can also help, though they can be faked.

Tip #2: Make Sure Support Is Provided

No matter how automated the solution claims to be, you'll likely need some hands on help getting things up and running. You'll also want to make sure there is someone behind the product to help you should you encounter any bumps along the way. Make sure to test the company's support out ahead of time by emailing or calling with some pre-purchase questions. Of course, if there is no support email and phone number to start with, avoid the product at all costs. The speed and quality of the response you get to your pre-sales questions can be a very good indicator of the quality of support you can expect post-purchase.

Tip #3: What Is The Guarantee, If Any?

Make certain that there is a solid guarantee backing your purchase. This includes reading the fine print in the user agreement before you buy. You don't want to invest in an automated trading program that fails to deliver only to find out that there is no way to get your money back. That said, do not purchase until you are absolutely sure that the software is right for you by following the first two tips.

Tip #4: Is A Demo Account Provided?

Almost every company that offers a forex trading platform will provide a demo account for you to practice and learn on first. Stay away from any trading platform that does not provide this option. It is in every company's best interest for you to learn to trade as well as possible, and demo accounts are one way of encouraging this. Also, once you've chosen your platform, make certain to actually use the demo account first before risking any actual capital.

Tip #5: What Is The Minimum Amount You Can Start With?

Once you've narrowed down your choices with the questions above, you'll need to find out which platform will let you effectively trade with the amount of money you have to initially invest. Keep in mind, although you'll be able to trade larger amounts if you have larger amount to start with - never risk more than you can afford to lose.

Forex Trading: The Perfect Forex Trading System

Trading the Forex market has became very popular in the last few years. But how difficult is it to achieve success in the Forex trading arena? Or let me rephrase this question, how many traders achieve consistent profitable results trading the Forex market? Unfortunately very few, only 5% of traders achieve this goal. One of the main reasons of this is because Forex traders focus in the wrong information to make their trading decisions and totally forget about the most important factor: Price behavior.

Most Forex trading systems are made off technical indicators (a moving average (MA) crossover, overbought/oversold conditions in an oscillator, etc.) But what are technical indicators? They are just a series of data points plotted in a chart; these points are derived from a mathematical formula applied to the price of any given currency pair. In other words, it is a chart of price plotted in a different way that helps us see other aspects of price.

There is an important implication on this definition of technical indicators. The fact that the readings obtained from them are based on price action. Take for instance a long MA crossover signal, the price has gone up enough to make the short period MA crossover the long period MA generating a long signal. Most traders see it as “the MA crossover made the price go up,” but it happened the other way around, the MA crossover signal occurred because the price went up. Where I’m trying to get here is that at the end, price behavior dictates how an indicator will act, and this should be taken into consideration on any trading decision made.

Trading decisions based on technical indicators without taking price action into consideration will give us less accurate results. For example, again a long signal generated by a MA crossover as the market approaches an important resistance level. If the price suddenly starts to bounce back off that important level there is no point on taking this signal, price action is telling us the market doesn’t want to go up. Most of the time, under this circumstances, the market will continue to fall down, disregarding the MA crossover.

Don’t get me wrong here, technical indicators are a very important aspect of trading. They help us see certain conditions that are otherwise difficult to see by watching pure price action. But when it comes to pull the trigger, price action incorporation into our Forex trading system will definitely put the odds in our favor, it will generate higher probability trades.

So, how to create a perfect Forex trading system?

First of all, you need to make sure your trading system fits your trading personality; otherwise you will find it hard to follow it. Every trader has different needs and goals, thus there is no system that perfectly fits all traders. You need to make your own research on various trading styles and technical indicators until you find a concept that perfectly works for you. Make sure you know the nature of whatever technical indicator used.

Secondly, incorporate price action into your system. So you only take long signals if the price behavior tells you the market wants to go up, and short signals if the market gives you indication that it will go down.

Third, and most importantly, you need to have the discipline to follow your Forex trading system rigorously. Try it first on a demo account, then move on to a small account and finally when feeling comfortably and being consistent profitable apply your system in a regular account.