Recently I had to order a new batch of client tickets which means that I have now officially mentored over 100 traders one to one. And one thing I’ve realised is that a lot of them struggle with the same thing. I mentor traders who are complete beginners, anywhere to those with a bit of experience, all the way to those who have been trading for several years and struggling to get the results they want from their trading. Often the traders with a lot of experience feel very frustrated because they have been spending years learning fundamental analysis and technical analysis but are somehow struggling to make all of that information actually equal profits for themselves. And I’ve managed to identify a few common denominators which these traders have in common. When people come to me looking for a forex trading mentor and say they are struggling with their trading I now always ask them the same questions which are:
What time frame are you trading on?
What time of day are you placing trades at?
What strategy are you using to get into your trades?
What lot sizes are you using?
Are you on top of the economical calendar?
LETS BREAK THESE DOWN
WHAT TIME FRAME ARE YOU TRADING ON?
Almost always if a trader has come to me looking to be mentored because they are struggling to get results from their trading, they will either be trading on too small a time frame or the time frames they use are random and inconsistent. Firstly, on the point of the time frame often being too small, whilst scalp trading is a legitimate style of trading and many traders make a lot of money this way, it can also be thought of as being slightly advanced in the sense that you have to react very quickly and have impeccable risk management. I would say scalp trading is what you work your way up to if you have mastered swing trading or day trading first. On the point of the time frames being random and inconsistent, this shows that maybe no real trading strategy is being used here if you can’t say exactly why you are using certain time frames.
I like to start newer traders, or even traders who have been trading for a while but who are struggling to get results, on the 4H time frame. There’s a few reasons for this. Firstly it’s slow enough that you can take the time to analyse your trade set up with enough care rather than rushing into a trade because you are afraid you are going to miss the move. A lot of the indicators actually work better on the four hour as its not as sensitive to small fluctuations and won’t give you loads of false entires. For example, I’m a huge fan of using Heikin Ashi for momentum, it works very well on the 4H but if you go any lower to the 1H chart then suddenly you are getting false entries all over the place. It also works very well for traders who are working another job (as most are when they first start learning how to forex trade). If you only have to check the charts every 4 hours to take a reading then this is a lot more manageable. Trading the 5M chart while trying to hold down you 9 to 5 will lead to chaos in both and perfection in neither. You’ll want to keep your current boss happy as your day job is your main source of income at the moment right?
WHAT TIME OF DAY ARE YOU PLACING TRADES AT?
Another great thing about the 4H chart is it can help to create structure in your trading day. If you are taking a reading every 4H you can work out what time you need to be doing the same thing at every day. If you are taking a reading on 28 forex pairs every five minutes, again, this can lead to utter chaos. A lot of the time when traders first start out they don’t realise how important timing is in trading. I actually think this is up there with one of the most underrated aspects of trading and I don’t hear other trading mentors talking about this enough. Forex markets can often reverse as sessions open and close, they can often spike on news releases and they can be almost static on the lead up to news or during other times of the day. If you are just randomly hopping on your trading desk to place trades when its convenient for you to do so, you will need a lot of luck on your side to succeed as a forex trader. Strategically planning your day and your trades around the 9 trillion dollar market rather then expecting it to move according to your breaks at work is highly recommended.
WHAT STRATEGY ARE YOU USING TO GET INTO YOUR TRADES?
Often when I ask this question to a new trader or a trader who is disappointed with their results, I will get one of two answers. They may have no strategy at all which is easy enough to fix as they just need to be taught one. Or their strategy isn’t diverse enough to be effective. For example, new traders often LOVE indicators and think that if they use enough at once or find the right combination, they will have found the holy grail forex strategy which all traders are searching for. But while indicators can be helpful they are almost always based on lagging information. A good strategy also includes fundamental analysis and price action as well as some risk management and a clear take profit strategy. Trading Angel Academy teaches three different strategies which each go through a seven step process. For more details hit this link:
This information can tell me a lot (lol). Getting the right lot size for you and your account is more of an art than a science I would say. While there are rough guides you can follow you need to consider your own personal risk appetite as well as your risk tolerance (risk appetite is how much you are willing to risk and risk tolerance is how much you are able to risk). It’s important that the lot size isn’t so big that you are scaring yourself every time you open a trade and end up closing the trade early because small fluctuations spook you. But it’s also important your lot size is big enough that you are emotionally invested in the trade and learn from each one you place. Usually new traders are actually using too big a lot size hoping to make money quickly. If you know me at all you’ll know I love a trading analogy and particularly favour car/driving related ones. So here goes; trading with a small lot size is like learning how to drive in a car park before you get on the motorway. No one’s saying don’t get on the motorway in six months time but you never put a new driver there on day one!
ARE YOU ON TOP OF THE ECONOMICAL CALENDAR?
It’s easy to get so all consumed in technical analysis when you first start learning to trade forex , that you forget about fundamental analysis (which I argue is actually the thing which moves the markets). You need to understand technicals and how to read a chart if you want to be a forex trader but lets be honest, the value of a currency is to do which how that country is doing economically rather then if there was an engulfing candle or the RSI showed divergence. Not only does understand fundamental analysis help guide you in the semi long term/long term and short term direction but also knowing when the big economical data releases are due out will give you clues as to whether you actually want to be out of the market at certain time as you might get stopped out on spiking.
I made a video on YouTube recently which goes into this same topic, if you’d like to watch it click this link
When you first start trading the financial markets it can be like learning a new language. So I‘ve made this guide for you to help save you as much time as possible navigating your way through the new lingo. I’ve first of all listed all the words in order of how basic they are and how likely you will be to need to understand and find them when needed, with the slightly more obscure ones at the end. I’ve then decided to list them again below that in alphabetical order so that you can find the one you need quickly and easily if you are in a hurry
Happy Trading!
Love From, Your Trading Coach x
LONG
A long position in trading means buying.
SHORT
A short position in trading means selling.
BULLS AND BEARS
In trading, bulls refer to the buyers and bears refer to the sellers. If a trader was looking for buy positions they could be said to be bullish, whereas if they were looking for sell positions they could be said to be bearish. It’s thought the origin comes down to the way in which the animals fight. Bulls fight UP with their horns and bears claw DOWN.
BROKER
A broker is an independent person or a company that organises and executes financial transactions on behalf of another party. They can do this across a number of different asset classes, including stocks, forex, real estate and insurance. A broker will normally charge a commission for the order.
ASK PRICE
“ask” refers to the lowest price at which a seller will sell the stock. The bid price will almost always be lower than the ask or “offer,” price. The difference between the bid price and the ask price is called the “spread.”
BID PRICE
“bid” refers to the highest price a buyer will pay to buy a specified number of shares of a stock at any given time. The term ask refers to the lowest price at which a seller will sell the stock. The bid price will almost always be lower than the ask or “offer,” price.
SPREAD
The spread is the difference between the bid and the ask price. It is effectively a fee which you pay to your broker for each trade which you place. It’s always a good idea to try and find broker with the lowest spread possible to make it easier for you to make money.
SCALP TRADER
Scalp trading is the shortest form of trading with traders getting in and out of their positions very quickly, often just minutes but sometimes as quickly as seconds. Scalp trading requires a lot of attention to detail and very precise entries, while new traders are often easily tempted by the quick profits of scalp trading it can be a lot more difficult to master than slower forms of trading. Scalp traders will use small time frames such as 15M or 5M sometimes they even use 1M chart.
DAY TRADER
Day traders open and close their trades in the same day so they often hold their trades for a few hours but close them before going to bed meaning they wont have trades open overnight and they won’t need to pay overnight fees to their brokers. Day traders will pay close attention to daily market cycles such as session open and close times. They will trade on time frames such as 1D chart and 4H and even smaller time frames for entries such as 1H and 15M.
SWING TRADER
Swing traders will hold their trades overnight so they will hold for at least a couple days sometimes even as long as weeks. They will use time frames such as , 1W, 1D or 4H for entries.
POSITION TRADER
Position traders are not interested in the small day to day fluctuations in price, they are really only interested in the bigger picture as they hold their trades for long periods of time, weeks, months and even years. Understanding fundamental analysis and what moves the markets long term becomes a key skill for position traders.
PRICE ACTION
Price Action is a form of technical analysis which looks at price and time rather than indicators. Forex traders look at candlesticks and charts and the journey they have been on in a certain time period, to help them make decisions about market sentiment, where the price is likely to go next and also for precise entries and exits. This is price action trading. Ultimately price action is any action which is taken from price. It includes support and resistance levels, trend lines and channels.
INDICATORS
The use of technical indicators in trading is part of technical analysis. Indictors are tools which traders use to help them make decisions on their trading, they are often based on lagging information technical indicators are used to see past trends and anticipate future moves. Moving averages, relative strength index, and stochastic oscillators are examples of technical indicators
SLIPPAGE
Slippage refers to the difference between the expected price of a trade and the price at which the trade is executed. Slippage can occur at any time but is most prevalent during periods of higher volatility when market orders are used.
MARGIN
Margin is the amount of equity a trader has in their broker account. When a trader opens a broker account they need to have a certain amount of margin in that account at all times. If you go over this limit you will be given margin call from your broker, which is pretty much one of the most disastrous things that can happen to a trader.
MARGIN CALL
When you get a margin call from your broker this means you don’t have enough equity in your account to keep trading and usually your broker will close any open trades and tell you to add more money before you are allowed to continue trading. You must always have a certain amount of margin or equity in your account to cover your open trades, this is to prevent your broker for being penalised for your bad trading decisions.
LEVERAGE
Leverage in trading means you are given more buying power so your trades are worth more. Leverage is a double edged sword as you can make more money from leverage if you are a good trader but you can also lose more money more quickly if you make bad trading decisions. If, for example, you had leverage of 1:100 this would mean that you are able to trade with 100X the equity which is in your account
COVERING
When a trader closes a short position they must cover their position. When they buy a market to cover the shares they borrow from their broker.
SUPPORT AND RESISTANCE
Support and resistance levels in forex refers to horizontal lines which traders draw across the chart to help them identify key levels. Resistance levels are above price and support levels are below price. However these can be interchangeable as what was once support can become resistance and vice versa. Support occurs when falling prices stop, change direction, and begin to rise. Support is often viewed as a “floor” which is supporting, or holding up, prices. Resistance is a price level where rising prices stop, change direction, and begin to fall.
BREAKOUT
A breakout is any price movement outside a defined support or resistance area. Breakout trading involves looking for the price to cross these key levels and accelerate on to the next .
TECHNICAL ANALYSIS
Technical analysis is a range of techniques used to try and forecast future price movements of financial markets based on historical price movements and patterns. Technical analysis is when traders use the information on a chart to help them make trading decisions. This includes the use of price action and technical indicators.
FUNDAMENTAL ANALYSIS
Fundamental analysis looks at what is going on in the world rather than on the charts to make trading decisions. Fundamental analysis consists of three main parts: Economic data. Industry analysis. Company analysis.
MARKET SENTIMENT
Market sentiment refers to the overall attitude of traders toward a particular financial market.
RALLY
A rally refers to a period of continuous increase in prices
FADING
Fading is a contrarian strategy where traders seek to buy an asset whose price is falling and short one whose price is rising.
CABLE
Cable refers to the forex pair USDGBP, it dates from the days of the transatlantic cable that enabled faster communications between London and New York.
NINJA
Ninja refers to the forex pair USDJPY, because the famous heroic character originates from Japan.
DOLLAR
Although several currencies are types of dollar (such as Australian Dollar or New Zealand Dollar) referring to a Dollar pair or just Dollar this typically means US Dollar
LOONIE
Loonie is the nickname for the Canadian Dollar because the $1 Canadian coin has a picture of a loon on the reverse side of the coin.
AUSSIE
This refers to the Australian Dollar
KIWI
This refers to New Zealand Dollar
SWISSY
This refers to the Swiss Franc
PROP FIRM
A proprietary firm, otherwise known as a prop firm, is company which will fund a trader so that the trader can trade with money which isn’t their own. There is then an agreed upon split of profits usually around 50/50. This can be mutually beneficial if a trader knows how to trade but doesn’t have enough of their own money to make their profits worth while, whereas the prop firm may have the capital available to be invested and are happy to delegate the workload to the trader.
CFD
Contract For Difference Accounts are a type of trading account. When you buy through a CFD you aren’t buying an asset you are instead buying a contract to buy a certain quantity of the asset. You can then sell the contract as the price increases. CFD trading is illegal in the United States.
SPREAD BETTING
Spread betting is a form of trading where traders don’t actually own the assets of the market they are trading they are just speculating on whether the market will rise or fall. As it’s considered to be technically betting it is exempt from capital gains tax.
MARKET MAKER
A market maker is a company that quotes both a buy and sell price in a tradable asset.
LIQUIDITY
Liquidity refers to how active a market is. It is determined by how many traders are actively trading and the total volume they’re trading. One reason the forex markets are so liquid is because it is tradable 24 hours a day during weekdays.
LIMIT ORDER
A limit order is an order to buy or sell a security at a specific price or better. A buy limit order can only be executed at the limit price or lower, and a sell limit order can only be executed at the limit price or higher.
STOP ORDERS
A stop order is an order to buy or sell a stock once the price of the stock reaches a specified price, known as the stop price. When the specified price is reached, your stop order becomes a market order. The advantage of a stop order is you don’t have to monitor how a stock is performing on a daily basis.
GETTING FILLED
If an order you placed gets filed it means the price has reached the right price to trigger an entry
GAP UP OR GAP DOWN
This is when the market opens either up or down with a gap in the market, this is often because there was a big move overnight.
BLACK SWANS
A back swan in the financial markets refers to a crash or a situation which is incredibly rare. Think situations such as the oil crash of 2020 or Brexit.
HAWKS
Hawks in finance like central bank policy to be tighter with higher interest rates. A hawkish hike could refer to an increase of interest rates. The higher the hike the more hawkish it could be said to be. On the whole a hawkish move by central banks often see a rise in the currency but a subsequent fall in equities.
DOVES
Doves in finance prefer central bank policy to be looser and opt for quantitative easing rather than tightening. This means they prefer lower interest rates. If a move by a central bank is described as dovish this tends to mean a move down for the currency but a subsequent move up for the equities.
COMMITMENT OF TRADERS
The Commitment of Traders (COT) report is a weekly publication that shows the aggregate holdings of different participants in the financial markets. These can be found here:
This is often said when it’s believed a market is going to rise dramatically. It is a popular term in crypto trading
BAG HOLDER
A bag holder in trading is someone who holds a losing position for an irrationally long period of time
PUMP AND DUMP
A pump and dump is when false or misleading information creates a buying frenzy that will “pump” up the price of a stock and then “dump” shares of the stock by selling shares at the inflated price.
TRADER TERMS IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER
ASK PRICE
“ask” refers to the lowest price at which a seller will sell the stock. The bid price will almost always be lower than the ask or “offer,” price. The difference between the bid price and the ask price is called the “spread.”
AUSSIE
This refers to the Australian Dollar
BAG HOLDER
A bag holder in trading is someone who holds a losing position for an irrationally long period of time
BID PRICE
“bid” refers to the highest price a buyer will pay to buy a specified number of shares of a stock at any given time. The term ask refers to the lowest price at which a seller will sell the stock. The bid price will almost always be lower than the ask or “offer,” price.
BLACK SWANS
A black swan in the financial markets refers to a crash or a situation which is incredibly rare. Think situations such as the oil crash of 2020 or Brexit.
BREAKOUT
A breakout is any price movement outside a defined support or resistance area. Breakout trading involves looking for the price to cross these key levels and accelerate on to the next .
BROKER
A broker is an independent person or a company that organises and executes financial transactions on behalf of another party. They can do this across a number of different asset classes, including stocks, forex, real estate and insurance. A broker will normally charge a commission for the order.
BULLS AND BEARS
In trading, bulls refer to the buyers and bears refer to the sellers. If a trader was looking for buy positions they could be said to be bullish, whereas if they were looking for sell positions they could be said to be bearish. It’s thought the origin comes down to the way in which the animals fight. Bulls fight UP with their horns and bears claw DOWN.
CABLE
Cable refers to the forex pair USDGBP, it dates from the days of the transatlantic cable that enabled faster communications between London and New York.
CFD
Contract For Difference Accounts are a type of trading account. When you buy through a CFD you aren’t buying an asset you are instead buying a contract to buy a certain quantity of the asset. You can then sell the contract as the price increase. CFD trading is illegal in the United States.
COMMITMENT OF TRADERS
The Commitment of Traders (COT) report is a weekly publication that shows the aggregate holdings of different participants in the financial markets. These can be found here:
When a trader closes a short position they must cover their position. When they buy a market to cover the shares they borrow from their broker.
DAY TRADER
Day traders open and close their trades in the same day so they often hold their trades for a few hours but close them before going to bed meaning they wont have trades open overnight and they won’t need to pay overnight fees to their brokers. Day traders will pay close attention to daily market cycles such as session open and close times. They will trade on time frames such as 1D chart 4H and even smaller time frames for entries such as 1H and 15M.
DOLLAR
Although several currencies are types of dollar (such as Australian Dollar or New Zealand Dollar) referring to a Dollar pair or just Dollar this typically means US Dollar
DOVES
Doves in finance prefer central bank policy to be looser and opt for quantitative easing rather than tightening. This means they prefer lower interest rates. If a move by a central bank is described as dovish this tends to mean a move down for the currency but a subsequent move up for the equities.
FADING
Fading is a contrarian strategy where traders seek to buy an asset whose price is falling and short one whose price is rising.
FUNDAMENTAL ANALYSIS
Fundamental analysis looks at what is going on in the world rather than on the charts to make trading decisions. Fundamental analysis consists of three main parts: Economic data. Industry analysis. Company analysis.
GAP UP OR GAP DOWN
This is when the market opens either up or down with a gap in the market, this is often because there was a big move overnight.
GETTING FILLED
If an order you placed gets filled it means the price has reached the right price to trigger an entry
HAWKS
Hawks in finance like central bank policy to be tighter with higher interest rates. A hawkish hike could refer to an increase in interest rates. The higher the hike the more hawkish it could be said to be. On the whole a hawkish move by central banks often sees a rise in the currency but a subsequent fall in equities.
INDICATORS
The use of technical indicators in trading is part of technical analysis. Indictors are tools which traders use to help them make decisions on their trading, they are often based on lagging information. Technical indicators are used to see past trends and anticipate future moves. Moving averages, relative strength index, and stochastic oscillators are examples of technical indicators
KIWI
This refers to the New Zealand Dollar
LEVERAGE
Leverage in trading means you are given more buying power so your trades are worth more. Leverage is a double edged sword as you can make more money from leverage if you are a good trader but you can also lose more money more quickly if you make bad trading decisions. If, for example, you had leverage of 1:100 this would mean that you are able to trade with 100X the equity which is in your account
LIMIT ORDER
A limit order is an order to buy or sell a security at a specific price or better. A buy limit order can only be executed at the limit price or lower, and a sell limit order can only be executed at the limit price or higher.
LIQUIDITY
Liquidity refers to how active a market is. It is determined by how many traders are actively trading and the total volume they’re trading. One reason the forex markets are so liquid is because it is tradable 24 hours a day during weekdays.
LONG
A long position in trading means buying.
LOONIE
Loonie is the nickname for the Canadian Dollar because the $1 Canadian coin has a picture of a loon on the reverse side of the coin.
MARGIN
Margin is the amount of equity a trader has in their broker account. When a trader opens a broker account they need to have a certain amount of margin in that account at all times. If you go over this limit you will be given a margin call from your broker, which is pretty much one of the most disastrous things that can happen to a trader.
MARGIN CALL
When you get a margin call from your broker this means you don’t have enough equity in your account to keep trading and usually your broker will close any open trades and tell you to add more money before you are allowed to continue trading. You must always have a certain amount of margin or equity in your account to cover your open trades, this is to prevent your broker for being penalised for your bad trading decision.
MARKET MAKER
A market maker is a company that quotes both a buy and sell price in a tradable asset.
MARKET SENTIMENT
Market sentiment refers to the overall attitude of traders toward a particular financial market.
NINJA
Ninja refers to the forex pair USDJPY, because the famous heroic character originates from Japan.
PUMP AND DUMP
A pump and dump is when false or misleading information creates a buying frenzy that will “pump” up the price of a stock and then “dump” shares of the stock by selling shares at the inflated price.
POSITION TRADER
Position traders are not interested in the small day to day fluctuations in price, they are really only interested in the bigger picture as they hold their trades for long periods of time, weeks, months and even years. Understanding fundamental analysis and what moves the markets long term becomes a key skill for position traders.
PRICE ACTION
Price Action is a form of technical analysis which looks at price and time rather than indicators. Forex traders look at candlesticks and charts and the journey they have been on in a certain time period, to help them make decisions about market sentiment, where the price is likely to go next and also for precise entries and exits. This is price action trading. Ultimately price action is any action which is taken from price. It includes support and resistance levels, trend lines and channels.
PROP FIRM
A proprietary firm, otherwise known as a prop firm, is a company which will fund a trader so that the trader can trade with money which isn’t their own. There is then an agreed upon split of profits usually around 50/50. This can be mutually beneficial if a trader knows how to trade but doesn’t have enough of their own money to make their profits worth while, whereas the prop firm may have the capital available to be invested and are happy to delegate the workload to the trader.
RALLY
A rally refers to a period of continuous increase in prices
SCALP TRADER
Scalp trading is the shortest form of trading with traders getting in and out of their positions very quickly, often just minutes but sometimes as quickly as seconds. Scalp trading requires a lot of attention to detail and very precise entries, while new traders are often easily tempted by the quick profits of scalp trading it can be a lot more difficult to master than slower forms. Scalp traders will use small time frames such as 15M or 5M sometimes they even use 1M chart.
SHORT
A short position in trading means selling.
SLIPPAGE
Slippage refers to the difference between the expected price of a trade and the price at which the trade is executed. Slippage can occur at any time but is most prevalent during periods of higher volatility when market orders are used.
SPREAD
The spread is the difference between the bid and the ask price. It is effectively a fee which you pay to your broker for each trade which you place. It’s always a good idea to try and find a broker with the lowest spread possible to make it easier for you to make more money.
SPREAD BETTING
Spread betting is a form of trading where traders don’t actually own the assets of the market they are trading they are just speculating on whether the market will rise or fall. As it’s considered to be technically betting it is exempt from capital gains tax.
STOP ORDERS
A stop order is an order to buy or sell a stock once the price of the stock reaches a specified price, known as the stop price. When the specified price is reached, your stop order becomes a market order. The advantage of a stop order is you don’t have to monitor how a stock is performing on a daily basis.
SUPPORT AND RESISTANCE
Support and resistance levels in forex refers to horizontal lines which traders draw across the chart to help them identify key levels. Resistance levels are above price and support levels are below price. However these can be interchangeable as what was once support can become resistance and vice versa. Support occurs when falling prices stop, change direction, and begin to rise. Support is often viewed as a “floor” which is supporting, or holding up, prices. Resistance is a price level where rising prices stop, change direction, and begin to fall.
SWING TRADER
Swing traders will hold their trades overnight so they will hold for at least a couple days sometimes even as long as weeks. They will use time frames such as , 1W, 1D or 4H for entries.
SWISSY
This refers to the Swiss Franc
TEQUNICAL ANALYSIS
Technical analysis is a range of techniques used to try and forecast future price movements of financial products based on historical price movements and patterns. Technical analysis is when traders use the information on a chart to help them and make trading decisions. This includes the use of price action and technical indicators.
TO THE MOON
This is often said when it’s believed a market is going to rise dramatically. It is a popular term in crypto trading
When you first start trading the financial markets it can be like learning a new language. So I‘ve made this guide for you to help save you as much time as possible navigating your way through the new lingo. I’ve first of all listed all the words in order of how basic they are and how likely you will be to need to understand and find them when needed, with the slightly more obscure ones at the end. I’ve then decided to list them again below that in alphabetical order so that you can find the one you need quickly and easily if you are in a hurry
Happy Trading!
Love From, Your Trading Mentor x
LONG
A long position in trading means buying.
SHORT
A short position in trading means selling.
BULLS AND BEARS
In trading, bulls refer to the buyers and bears refer to the sellers. If a trader was looking for buy positions they could be said to be bullish, whereas if they were looking for sell positions they could be said to be bearish. It’s thought the origin comes down to the way in which the animals fight. Bulls fight UP with their horns and bears claw DOWN.
BROKER
A broker is an independent person or a company that organises and executes financial transactions on behalf of another party. They can do this across a number of different asset classes, including stocks, forex, real estate and insurance. A broker will normally charge a commission for the order.
ASK PRICE
“ask” refers to the lowest price at which a seller will sell the stock. The bid price will almost always be lower than the ask or “offer,” price. The difference between the bid price and the ask price is called the “spread.”
BID PRICE
“bid” refers to the highest price a buyer will pay to buy a specified number of shares of a stock at any given time. The term ask refers to the lowest price at which a seller will sell the stock. The bid price will almost always be lower than the ask or “offer,” price.
SPREAD
The spread is the difference between the bid and the ask price. It is effectively a fee which you pay to your broker for each trade which you place. It’s always a good idea to try and find broker with the lowest spread possible to make it easier for you to make money.
SCALP TRADER
Scalp trading is the shortest form of trading with traders getting in and out of their positions very quickly, often just minutes but sometimes as quickly as seconds. Scalp trading requires a lot of attention to detail and very precise entries, while new traders are often easily tempted by the quick profits of scalp trading it can be a lot more difficult to master than slower forms of trading. Scalp traders will use small time frames such as 15M or 5M sometimes they even use 1M chart.
DAY TRADER
Day traders open and close their trades in the same day so they often hold their trades for a few hours but close them before going to bed meaning they wont have trades open overnight and they won’t need to pay overnight fees to their brokers. Day traders will pay close attention to daily market cycles such as session open and close times. They will trade on time frames such as 1D chart and 4H and even smaller time frames for entries such as 1H and 15M.
SWING TRADER
Swing traders will hold their trades overnight so they will hold for at least a couple days sometimes even as long as weeks. They will use time frames such as , 1W, 1D or 4H for entries.
POSITION TRADER
Position traders are not interested in the small day to day fluctuations in price, they are really only interested in the bigger picture as they hold their trades for long periods of time, weeks, months and even years. Understanding fundamental analysis and what moves the markets long term becomes a key skill for position traders.
PRICE ACTION
Price Action is a form of technical analysis which looks at price and time rather than indicators. Forex traders look at candlesticks and charts and the journey they have been on in a certain time period, to help them make decisions about market sentiment, where the price is likely to go next and also for precise entries and exits. This is price action trading. Ultimately price action is any action which is taken from price. It includes support and resistance levels, trend lines and channels.
INDICATORS
The use of technical indicators in trading is part of technical analysis. Indictors are tools which traders use to help them make decisions on their trading, they are often based on lagging information technical indicators are used to see past trends and anticipate future moves. Moving averages, relative strength index, and stochastic oscillators are examples of technical indicators
SLIPPAGE
Slippage refers to the difference between the expected price of a trade and the price at which the trade is executed. Slippage can occur at any time but is most prevalent during periods of higher volatility when market orders are used.
MARGIN
Margin is the amount of equity a trader has in their broker account. When a trader opens a broker account they need to have a certain amount of margin in that account at all times. If you go over this limit you will be given margin call from your broker, which is pretty much one of the most disastrous things that can happen to a trader.
MARGIN CALL
When you get a margin call from your broker this means you don’t have enough equity in your account to keep trading and usually your broker will close any open trades and tell you to add more money before you are allowed to continue trading. You must always have a certain amount of margin or equity in your account to cover your open trades, this is to prevent your broker for being penalised for your bad trading decisions.
LEVERAGE
Leverage in trading means you are given more buying power so your trades are worth more. Leverage is a double edged sword as you can make more money from leverage if you are a good trader but you can also lose more money more quickly if you make bad trading decisions. If, for example, you had leverage of 1:100 this would mean that you are able to trade with 100X the equity which is in your account
COVERING
When a trader closes a short position they must cover their position. When they buy a market to cover the shares they borrow from their broker.
SUPPORT AND RESISTANCE
Support and resistance levels in forex refers to horizontal lines which traders draw across the chart to help them identify key levels. Resistance levels are above price and support levels are below price. However these can be interchangeable as what was once support can become resistance and vice versa. Support occurs when falling prices stop, change direction, and begin to rise. Support is often viewed as a “floor” which is supporting, or holding up, prices. Resistance is a price level where rising prices stop, change direction, and begin to fall.
BREAKOUT
A breakout is any price movement outside a defined support or resistance area. Breakout trading involves looking for the price to cross these key levels and accelerate on to the next .
TECHNICAL ANALYSIS
Technical analysis is a range of techniques used to try and forecast future price movements of financial markets based on historical price movements and patterns. Technical analysis is when traders use the information on a chart to help them make trading decisions. This includes the use of price action and technical indicators.
FUNDAMENTAL ANALYSIS
Fundamental analysis looks at what is going on in the world rather than on the charts to make trading decisions. Fundamental analysis consists of three main parts: Economic data. Industry analysis. Company analysis.
MARKET SENTIMENT
Market sentiment refers to the overall attitude of traders toward a particular financial market.
RALLY
A rally refers to a period of continuous increase in prices
FADING
Fading is a contrarian strategy where traders seek to buy an asset whose price is falling and short one whose price is rising.
CABLE
Cable refers to the forex pair USDGBP, it dates from the days of the transatlantic cable that enabled faster communications between London and New York.
NINJA
Ninja refers to the forex pair USDJPY, because the famous heroic character originates from Japan.
DOLLAR
Although several currencies are types of dollar (such as Australian Dollar or New Zealand Dollar) referring to a Dollar pair or just Dollar this typically means US Dollar
LOONIE
Loonie is the nickname for the Canadian Dollar because the $1 Canadian coin has a picture of a loon on the reverse side of the coin.
AUSSIE
This refers to the Australian Dollar
KIWI
This refers to New Zealand Dollar
SWISSY
This refers to the Swiss Franc
PROP FIRM
A proprietary firm, otherwise known as a prop firm, is company which will fund a trader so that the trader can trade with money which isn’t their own. There is then an agreed upon split of profits usually around 50/50. This can be mutually beneficial if a trader knows how to trade but doesn’t have enough of their own money to make their profits worth while, whereas the prop firm may have the capital available to be invested and are happy to delegate the workload to the trader.
CFD
Contract For Difference Accounts are a type of trading account. When you buy through a CFD you aren’t buying an asset you are instead buying a contract to buy a certain quantity of the asset. You can then sell the contract as the price increases. CFD trading is illegal in the United States.
SPREAD BETTING
Spread betting is a form of trading where traders don’t actually own the assets of the market they are trading they are just speculating on whether the market will rise or fall. As it’s considered to be technically betting it is exempt from capital gains tax.
MARKET MAKER
A market maker is a company that quotes both a buy and sell price in a tradable asset.
LIQUIDITY
Liquidity refers to how active a market is. It is determined by how many traders are actively trading and the total volume they’re trading. One reason the forex markets are so liquid is because it is tradable 24 hours a day during weekdays.
LIMIT ORDER
A limit order is an order to buy or sell a security at a specific price or better. A buy limit order can only be executed at the limit price or lower, and a sell limit order can only be executed at the limit price or higher.
STOP ORDERS
A stop order is an order to buy or sell a stock once the price of the stock reaches a specified price, known as the stop price. When the specified price is reached, your stop order becomes a market order. The advantage of a stop order is you don’t have to monitor how a stock is performing on a daily basis.
GETTING FILLED
If an order you placed gets filed it means the price has reached the right price to trigger an entry
GAP UP OR GAP DOWN
This is when the market opens either up or down with a gap in the market, this is often because there was a big move overnight.
BLACK SWANS
A back swan in the financial markets refers to a crash or a situation which is incredibly rare. Think situations such as the oil crash of 2020 or Brexit.
HAWKS
Hawks in finance like central bank policy to be tighter with higher interest rates. A hawkish hike could refer to an increase of interest rates. The higher the hike the more hawkish it could be said to be. On the whole a hawkish move by central banks often see a rise in the currency but a subsequent fall in equities.
DOVES
Doves in finance prefer central bank policy to be looser and opt for quantitative easing rather than tightening. This means they prefer lower interest rates. If a move by a central bank is described as dovish this tends to mean a move down for the currency but a subsequent move up for the equities.
COMMITMENT OF TRADERS
The Commitment of Traders (COT) report is a weekly publication that shows the aggregate holdings of different participants in the financial markets. These can be found here:
This is often said when it’s believed a market is going to rise dramatically. It is a popular term in crypto trading
BAG HOLDER
A bag holder in trading is someone who holds a losing position for an irrationally long period of time
PUMP AND DUMP
A pump and dump is when false or misleading information creates a buying frenzy that will “pump” up the price of a stock and then “dump” shares of the stock by selling shares at the inflated price.
TRADER TERMS IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER
ASK PRICE
“ask” refers to the lowest price at which a seller will sell the stock. The bid price will almost always be lower than the ask or “offer,” price. The difference between the bid price and the ask price is called the “spread.”
AUSSIE
This refers to the Australian Dollar
BAG HOLDER
A bag holder in trading is someone who holds a losing position for an irrationally long period of time
BID PRICE
“bid” refers to the highest price a buyer will pay to buy a specified number of shares of a stock at any given time. The term ask refers to the lowest price at which a seller will sell the stock. The bid price will almost always be lower than the ask or “offer,” price.
BLACK SWANS
A black swan in the financial markets refers to a crash or a situation which is incredibly rare. Think situations such as the oil crash of 2020 or Brexit.
BREAKOUT
A breakout is any price movement outside a defined support or resistance area. Breakout trading involves looking for the price to cross these key levels and accelerate on to the next .
BROKER
A broker is an independent person or a company that organises and executes financial transactions on behalf of another party. They can do this across a number of different asset classes, including stocks, forex, real estate and insurance. A broker will normally charge a commission for the order.
BULLS AND BEARS
In trading, bulls refer to the buyers and bears refer to the sellers. If a trader was looking for buy positions they could be said to be bullish, whereas if they were looking for sell positions they could be said to be bearish. It’s thought the origin comes down to the way in which the animals fight. Bulls fight UP with their horns and bears claw DOWN.
CABLE
Cable refers to the forex pair USDGBP, it dates from the days of the transatlantic cable that enabled faster communications between London and New York.
CFD
Contract For Difference Accounts are a type of trading account. When you buy through a CFD you aren’t buying an asset you are instead buying a contract to buy a certain quantity of the asset. You can then sell the contract as the price increase. CFD trading is illegal in the United States.
COMMITMENT OF TRADERS
The Commitment of Traders (COT) report is a weekly publication that shows the aggregate holdings of different participants in the financial markets. These can be found here:
When a trader closes a short position they must cover their position. When they buy a market to cover the shares they borrow from their broker.
DAY TRADER
Day traders open and close their trades in the same day so they often hold their trades for a few hours but close them before going to bed meaning they wont have trades open overnight and they won’t need to pay overnight fees to their brokers. Day traders will pay close attention to daily market cycles such as session open and close times. They will trade on time frames such as 1D chart 4H and even smaller time frames for entries such as 1H and 15M.
DOLLAR
Although several currencies are types of dollar (such as Australian Dollar or New Zealand Dollar) referring to a Dollar pair or just Dollar this typically means US Dollar
DOVES
Doves in finance prefer central bank policy to be looser and opt for quantitative easing rather than tightening. This means they prefer lower interest rates. If a move by a central bank is described as dovish this tends to mean a move down for the currency but a subsequent move up for the equities.
FADING
Fading is a contrarian strategy where traders seek to buy an asset whose price is falling and short one whose price is rising.
FUNDAMENTAL ANALYSIS
Fundamental analysis looks at what is going on in the world rather than on the charts to make trading decisions. Fundamental analysis consists of three main parts: Economic data. Industry analysis. Company analysis.
GAP UP OR GAP DOWN
This is when the market opens either up or down with a gap in the market, this is often because there was a big move overnight.
GETTING FILLED
If an order you placed gets filled it means the price has reached the right price to trigger an entry
HAWKS
Hawks in finance like central bank policy to be tighter with higher interest rates. A hawkish hike could refer to an increase in interest rates. The higher the hike the more hawkish it could be said to be. On the whole a hawkish move by central banks often sees a rise in the currency but a subsequent fall in equities.
INDICATORS
The use of technical indicators in trading is part of technical analysis. Indictors are tools which traders use to help them make decisions on their trading, they are often based on lagging information. Technical indicators are used to see past trends and anticipate future moves. Moving averages, relative strength index, and stochastic oscillators are examples of technical indicators
KIWI
This refers to the New Zealand Dollar
LEVERAGE
Leverage in trading means you are given more buying power so your trades are worth more. Leverage is a double edged sword as you can make more money from leverage if you are a good trader but you can also lose more money more quickly if you make bad trading decisions. If, for example, you had leverage of 1:100 this would mean that you are able to trade with 100X the equity which is in your account
LIMIT ORDER
A limit order is an order to buy or sell a security at a specific price or better. A buy limit order can only be executed at the limit price or lower, and a sell limit order can only be executed at the limit price or higher.
LIQUIDITY
Liquidity refers to how active a market is. It is determined by how many traders are actively trading and the total volume they’re trading. One reason the forex markets are so liquid is because it is tradable 24 hours a day during weekdays.
LONG
A long position in trading means buying.
LOONIE
Loonie is the nickname for the Canadian Dollar because the $1 Canadian coin has a picture of a loon on the reverse side of the coin.
MARGIN
Margin is the amount of equity a trader has in their broker account. When a trader opens a broker account they need to have a certain amount of margin in that account at all times. If you go over this limit you will be given a margin call from your broker, which is pretty much one of the most disastrous things that can happen to a trader.
MARGIN CALL
When you get a margin call from your broker this means you don’t have enough equity in your account to keep trading and usually your broker will close any open trades and tell you to add more money before you are allowed to continue trading. You must always have a certain amount of margin or equity in your account to cover your open trades, this is to prevent your broker for being penalised for your bad trading decision.
MARKET MAKER
A market maker is a company that quotes both a buy and sell price in a tradable asset.
MARKET SENTIMENT
Market sentiment refers to the overall attitude of traders toward a particular financial market.
NINJA
Ninja refers to the forex pair USDJPY, because the famous heroic character originates from Japan.
PUMP AND DUMP
A pump and dump is when false or misleading information creates a buying frenzy that will “pump” up the price of a stock and then “dump” shares of the stock by selling shares at the inflated price.
POSITION TRADER
Position traders are not interested in the small day to day fluctuations in price, they are really only interested in the bigger picture as they hold their trades for long periods of time, weeks, months and even years. Understanding fundamental analysis and what moves the markets long term becomes a key skill for position traders.
PRICE ACTION
Price Action is a form of technical analysis which looks at price and time rather than indicators. Forex traders look at candlesticks and charts and the journey they have been on in a certain time period, to help them make decisions about market sentiment, where the price is likely to go next and also for precise entries and exits. This is price action trading. Ultimately price action is any action which is taken from price. It includes support and resistance levels, trend lines and channels.
PROP FIRM
A proprietary firm, otherwise known as a prop firm, is a company which will fund a trader so that the trader can trade with money which isn’t their own. There is then an agreed upon split of profits usually around 50/50. This can be mutually beneficial if a trader knows how to trade but doesn’t have enough of their own money to make their profits worth while, whereas the prop firm may have the capital available to be invested and are happy to delegate the workload to the trader.
RALLY
A rally refers to a period of continuous increase in prices
SCALP TRADER
Scalp trading is the shortest form of trading with traders getting in and out of their positions very quickly, often just minutes but sometimes as quickly as seconds. Scalp trading requires a lot of attention to detail and very precise entries, while new traders are often easily tempted by the quick profits of scalp trading it can be a lot more difficult to master than slower forms. Scalp traders will use small time frames such as 15M or 5M sometimes they even use 1M chart.
SHORT
A short position in trading means selling.
SLIPPAGE
Slippage refers to the difference between the expected price of a trade and the price at which the trade is executed. Slippage can occur at any time but is most prevalent during periods of higher volatility when market orders are used.
SPREAD
The spread is the difference between the bid and the ask price. It is effectively a fee which you pay to your broker for each trade which you place. It’s always a good idea to try and find a broker with the lowest spread possible to make it easier for you to make more money.
SPREAD BETTING
Spread betting is a form of trading where traders don’t actually own the assets of the market they are trading they are just speculating on whether the market will rise or fall. As it’s considered to be technically betting it is exempt from capital gains tax.
STOP ORDERS
A stop order is an order to buy or sell a stock once the price of the stock reaches a specified price, known as the stop price. When the specified price is reached, your stop order becomes a market order. The advantage of a stop order is you don’t have to monitor how a stock is performing on a daily basis.
SUPPORT AND RESISTANCE
Support and resistance levels in forex refers to horizontal lines which traders draw across the chart to help them identify key levels. Resistance levels are above price and support levels are below price. However these can be interchangeable as what was once support can become resistance and vice versa. Support occurs when falling prices stop, change direction, and begin to rise. Support is often viewed as a “floor” which is supporting, or holding up, prices. Resistance is a price level where rising prices stop, change direction, and begin to fall.
SWING TRADER
Swing traders will hold their trades overnight so they will hold for at least a couple days sometimes even as long as weeks. They will use time frames such as , 1W, 1D or 4H for entries.
SWISSY
This refers to the Swiss Franc
TEQUNICAL ANALYSIS
Technical analysis is a range of techniques used to try and forecast future price movements of financial products based on historical price movements and patterns. Technical analysis is when traders use the information on a chart to help them and make trading decisions. This includes the use of price action and technical indicators.
TO THE MOON
This is often said when it’s believed a market is going to rise dramatically. It is a popular term in crypto trading
Forex trading is certainly not a perfect job but it is a pretty good one. I started reading about trading in 2015 but in the past few years it has spun into a full on passion and career, so in this blog post I’m going to share with you why I love being a forex trader and trading coach in 2024. For the sake of balance I will also include some of the negatives at the end so you are not convinced into believing it is like living a complete dream and impulsively quit your day job (Please don’t do this!! Trading takes time to master like anything else, don’t believe the Instagram account featuring a 21 year old posing in front of a Lamborghini claiming he retired at 19 after 1 trade, he probably rented the car with a credit card he can’t pay off!)
WFH
When we went into lockdown during the pandemic I realised how valuable it was to have a job which you could do from home or a way in which you could make money from home. And I think many other people realised the same thing too as WFH became the new work goals for many of Gen Z. While it wasn’t furlough-able during the pandemic it was sustainable after the furlough system ended and was reassuring that if anything like that happened again and the government couldn’t afford another furlough, forex traders would still be mainly ok. Other advantages to working from home include no wasted time on boring commutes, being able to work in your comfiest clothes and being able to get lots of house admin done in between trades. Working a full time 9-5 always left me feeling tired, overworked, unrepaid and like none of it was even worth it as I could never stay on top of basic tasks, working from home in comparison felt like one of the best life hacks ever discovered.
BE YOUR OWN BOSS
And while I never minded having a boss and always had a relatively positive relationship with those in authority, it’s still pretty good not to have to answer to anyone or worry about being micromanaged. If I’m five minutes late I’m the only person who’s going to yell at me and hold me to account. There is also something really nice about being able to build your own future rather than building someone else’s. When you work for a corporation you are often working hard to make someone else rich, whereas when you work for yourself you are able to pay yourself fairly for your work and make decisions in your best interest.
GETTING FUNDED
Access to funding for traders is now commonplace with many prop firms offering funding. If you fail a test or blow an account you can practice harder and move onto the next one. It’s no longer a case where you have to take university degrees for the slim chance of being offered a placement on a trading floor which may or may not lead to a permanent position. Anyone can apply to funding and there seems to be no shortage of options. There are also prop firms who don’t even require you to pass a challenge first, you are simply able to buy your way into the programme with a couple hundred pounds.
DEALING WITH INTELLIGENT PEOPLE
One of the best parts of working as a trading coach is that I have the privilege of being able to talk to so many intelligent people who I can share ideas with. Many of the traders who contact me looking for trading coaching are smart, driven, ambitious, resourceful people who are also seeking advice elsewhere and taking other trading courses. I often feel so lucky to work as a trading coach as all these people seek me out and in exchange for the coaching I offer them, they are often happy to share their own discoveries with me. I believe that everyone works better when we work together! I have mentees who are so clever that they often send me signals based on the trading strategies which I taught them. This sense of community and everyone working together honestly makes me feel like I have the best job in the world sometimes.
ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD
As long as you have a good internet connection you can trade anywhere in the world. Traders often love to take photos of themselves trading by swimming pools or on the beach and other luxury destinations. So far I’ve actually opted to just enjoy the holiday while I’m away rather than turning it into a working holiday, however it’s nice to know I have the option of working abroad if I get bored of the UK. I do actually live near Brighton which is a lovely seaside town in the UK so regular life isn’t so bad for me anyway. I went on holiday to South Africa and seriously thought about moving out for a few months to work but in the end decided it might not actually be plausible as they experience loads of electricity blackouts and the internet connection part of it is pretty crucial. So when I say anywhere in the world, I mean anywhere but South Africa!
AS MANY DAYS OFF AS YOU LIKE
I don’t tend to have many days off to be honest as I do love my job and am happy to work however it is nice to know that you have the option to take as many holiday days as you like.
THE SKY’S THE LIMIT
There’s something really motivating about knowing that there is no cap on the amount that you can earn and the harder you work the more money you can make for yourself rather than for your boss.
THE NOT SO GREAT ELEMENTS OF FOREX TRADING FOR A LIVING
As promised, to provide you with balance, I’m going to list a few of the negatives of being a forex trader. I know when you read the above it might be tempting to hand in your notice but I would strongly advise you not to do this until you have finished reading to the bottom of this blog post!
NO GUARANTEES
While I mentioned above that it is liberating to know that there is no price cap or limit to the amount you can earn, with that high reward potential also comes the high risk element and the fact that there are no guarantees. It’s really important when you first start forex trading you do invest in a trading mentor or a forex coach who can help you to understand the risks involved and how to minimise them and protect yourself against any disasters. It’s also a good idea to take a trading course or some trading classes so that you can learn some strategies and trading rules in order to give yourself the best possible start. So while most people start forex trading in order to make more money for themselves, often you do have to make a bit of an initial investment in your education before you start earning that money.
JUST BECAUSE YOU CAN TRADE FOREX DOESN’T MEAN YOU SHOULD
While it’s great that you are working from home and being your own boss and answering to no one and just doing your own thing, it does come hand in hand with that fact that just because you can trade doesn’t mean you should. If you are going through a trauma or crisis, suffering from anxiety or suffering from a lack of sleep, these are all reasons why you should probably take the day off. I realise that I’ve actually become a lot more healthy since I started forex trading, and while I understand this is a good thing and should have maybe been at the top half of the blog post, the reason for this is because I’m terrified of not feeling well enough to trade so I often end up missing nights out or anything which involves staying up late. I also always end up waking up before my partner so I can catch the London Open.
FOREX IS SEASONAL
Any good forex trading mentor will let you know the truth about forex trading is that it is actually seasonal. You can’t make money every single day of the week every month of the year. There are months when liquidity dries up and there’s hardly any movement at all in the forex markets. For example July and August are often the months when institutional traders take their summer holidays and these are famously very difficult months to trade in. Also that period between Christmas and New Year also proves to be very difficult for a lot of traders. Ironically, when new traders start trying to trade the financial markets, these are often the periods when they have the most flexibility from work and therefore seem to want to hit trading hard and really dedicate their time to it, often leaving them disappointed and confused about what happened. To be a successful forex trader you will have to be nimble and adjust to the seasons. You might have to learn to trade another market such as commodities or equities and if you are a funded trader this might mean that you need to find a prop firm which allows you to trade these markets. You may also not meet your pay out minimum if you are with a funded trader programme in certain months. You’ll need to be really disciplined with your profits when you are making good profits and understand there may be less profitable months.
ALL MY FRIENDS THINK I DON’T WORK
I know this is a fairly minor complaint about forex trading but it is worth adding here – none of my friends really understand what I do or the fact that I do actually have to work if I want to make money. There seems to be a general understanding that it’s acceptable to ask me for favours in the day and turn up unannounced during the day. I’m also frequently told to take days off. Everyone expects I can take their birthday off as an unpaid holiday or attend every special event and trying to explain that I do actually need to work seems to fall on deaf ears. So if you are going to go into a life of full time forex trading I would make it very clear what your boundaries are and avoid saying you are working from home if you don’t want to be answering the door all day!
SCAMMERS
And finally my least favourite thing of all about forex trading and being a forex trading coach is all the social media scammers which imitate me and try to convince people to give them bitcoin trading money. For the record, as mentioned above, traders can get access to funding from prop firms so there is no need at all for them to ever message you and beg for money. There are some really easy tell-tale signs that you are talking to a scammer and not a real trader, first of all the fact that they ask for trading money is a dead give away. They are also unlikely to be able to verify their ID as they are very unlikely to be who they are posing as. They will almost always ask for you to send bitcoin as a form of payment as this cannot be traced by police and is very difficult to recover or trace who it is. They will likely promise insane returns to tempt you and may even send over fake screenshots. Just remember that any real trader knows there are no guarantees. No trader would ever promise to double your money in a week. The most audacious promise you’re likely to get is 5% a year. While the general public are waking up to the spate of scammers I find it very frustrating having to warn any friends of family who follow me on Instagram that they will likely end up getting messages from fake accounts pretending to be me.
But all in all I love forex trading and I love working as a trading coach
Forex trading is certainly not a perfect job but it is a pretty good one. I started reading about trading in 2015 but in the past few years it has spun into a full on passion and career, so in this blog post I’m going to share with you why I love being a forex trader and trading mentor in 2023. For the sake of balance I will also include some of the negatives at the end so you are not convinced into believing it is like living a complete dream and impulsively quit your day job (Please don’t do this!! Trading takes time to master like anything else, don’t believe the Instagram account featuring a 21 year old posing in front of a Lamborghini claiming he retired at 19 after 1 trade, he probably rented the car with a credit card he can’t pay off!)
WFH
When we went into lockdown during the pandemic I realised how valuable it was to have a job which you could do from home or a way in which you could make money from home. And I think many other people realised the same thing too as WFH became the new work goals for many of Gen Z. While it wasn’t furlough-able during the pandemic it was sustainable after the furlough system ended and was reassuring that if anything like that happened again and the government couldn’t afford another furlough, forex traders would still be mainly ok. Other advantages to working from home include no wasted time on boring commutes, being able to work in your comfiest clothes and being able to get lots of house admin done in between trades. Working a full time 9-5 always left me feeling tired, overworked, unrepaid and like none of it was even worth it as I could never stay on top of basic tasks, working from home in comparison felt like one of the best life hacks ever discovered.
BE YOUR OWN BOSS
And while I never minded having a boss and always had a relatively positive relationship with those in authority, it’s still pretty good not to have to answer to anyone or worry about being micromanaged. If I’m five minutes late I’m the only person who’s going to yell at me and hold me to account. There is also something really nice about being able to build your own future rather than building someone else’s. When you work for a corporation you are often working hard to make someone else rich, whereas when you work for yourself you are able to pay yourself fairly for your work and make decisions in your best interest.
GETTING FUNDED
Access to funding for traders is now commonplace with many prop firms offering funding. If you fail a test or blow an account you can practice harder and move onto the next one. It’s no longer a case where you have to take university degrees for the slim chance of being offered a placement on a trading floor which may or may not lead to a permanent position. Anyone can apply to funding and there seems to be no shortage of options. There are also prop firms who don’t even require you to pass a challenge first, you are simply able to buy your way into the programme with a couple hundred pounds.
DEALING WITH INTELLIGENT PEOPLE
One of the best parts of working as a trading mentor is that I have the privilege of being able to talk to so many intelligent people who I can share ideas with. Many of the traders who contact me looking for trading mentorship are smart, driven, ambitious, resourceful people who are also seeking advice elsewhere and taking other trading courses. I often feel so lucky to work as a trading mentor as all these people seek me out and in exchange for the mentorship I offer them, they are often happy to share their own discoveries with me. I believe that everyone works better when we work together! I have mentees who are so clever that they often send me signals based on the trading strategies which I taught them. This sense of community and everyone working together honestly makes me feel like I have the best job in the world sometimes.
ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD
As long as you have a good internet connection you can trade anywhere in the world. Traders often love to take photos of themselves trading by swimming pools or on the beach and other luxury destinations. So far I’ve actually opted to just enjoy the holiday while I’m away rather than turning it into a working holiday, however it’s nice to know I have the option of working abroad if I get bored of the UK. I do actually live near Brighton which is a lovely seaside town in the UK so regular life isn’t so bad for me anyway. I went on holiday to South Africa and seriously thought about moving out for a few months to work but in the end decided it might not actually be plausible as they experience loads of electricity blackouts and the internet connection part of it is pretty crucial. So when I say anywhere in the world, I mean anywhere but South Africa!
AS MANY DAYS OFF AS YOU LIKE
I don’t tend to have many days off to be honest as I do love my job and am happy to work however it is nice to know that you have the option to take as many holiday days as you like.
THE SKY’S THE LIMIT
There’s something really motivating about knowing that there is no cap on the amount that you can earn and the harder you work the more money you can make for yourself rather than for your boss.
THE NOT SO GREAT ELEMENTS OF FOREX TRADING FOR A LIVING
As promised, to provide you with balance, I’m going to list a few of the negatives of being a forex trader. I know when you read the above it might be tempting to hand in your notice but I would strongly advise you not to do this until you have finished reading to the bottom of this blog post!
NO GUARANTEES
While I mentioned above that it is liberating to know that there is no price cap or limit to the amount you can earn, with that high reward potential also comes the high risk element and the fact that there are no guarantees. It’s really important when you first start forex trading you do invest in a trading mentor or a forex coach who can help you to understand the risks involved and how to minimise them and protect yourself against any disasters. It’s also a good idea to take a trading course or some trading classes so that you can learn some strategies and trading rules in order to give yourself the best possible start. So while most people start forex trading in order to make more money for themselves, often you do have to make a bit of an initial investment in your education before you start earning that money.
JUST BECAUSE YOU CAN TRADE FOREX DOESN’T MEAN YOU SHOULD
While it’s great that you are working from home and being your own boss and answering to no one and just doing your own thing, it does come hand in hand with that fact that just because you can trade doesn’t mean you should. If you are going through a trauma or crisis, suffering from anxiety or suffering from a lack of sleep, these are all reasons why you should probably take the day off. I realise that I’ve actually become a lot more healthy since I started forex trading, and while I understand this is a good thing and should have maybe been at the top half of the blog post, the reason for this is because I’m terrified of not feeling well enough to trade so I often end up missing nights out or anything which involves staying up late. I also always end up waking up before my partner so I can catch the London Open.
FOREX IS SEASONAL
Any good forex trading mentor will let you know the truth about forex trading is that it is actually seasonal. You can’t make money every single day of the week every month of the year. There are months when liquidity dries up and there’s hardly any movement at all in the forex markets. For example July and August are often the months when institutional traders take their summer holidays and these are famously very difficult months to trade in. Also that period between Christmas and New Year also proves to be very difficult for a lot of traders. Ironically, when new traders start trying to trade the financial markets, these are often the periods when they have the most flexibility from work and therefore seem to want to hit trading hard and really dedicate their time to it, often leaving them disappointed and confused about what happened. To be a successful forex trader you will have to be nimble and adjust to the seasons. You might have to learn to trade another market such as commodities or equities and if you are a funded trader this might mean that you need to find a prop firm which allows you to trade these markets. You may also not meet your pay out minimum if you are with a funded trader programme in certain months. You’ll need to be really disciplined with your profits when you are making good profits and understand there may be less profitable months.
ALL MY FRIENDS THINK I DON’T WORK
I know this is a fairly minor complaint about forex trading but it is worth adding here – none of my friends really understand what I do or the fact that I do actually have to work if I want to make money. There seems to be a general understanding that it’s acceptable to ask me for favours in the day and turn up unannounced during the day. I’m also frequently told to take days off. Everyone expects I can take their birthday off as an unpaid holiday or attend every special event and trying to explain that I do actually need to work seems to fall on deaf ears. So if you are going to go into a life of full time forex trading I would make it very clear what your boundaries are and avoid saying you are working from home if you don’t want to be answering the door all day!
SCAMMERS
And finally my least favourite thing of all about forex trading and being a forex trading mentor is all the social media scammers which imitate me and try to convince people to give them bitcoin trading money. For the record, as mentioned above, traders can get access to funding from prop firms so there is no need at all for them to ever message you and beg for money. There are some really easy tell-tale signs that you are talking to a scammer and not a real trader, first of all the fact that they ask for trading money is a dead give away. They are also unlikely to be able to verify their ID as they are very unlikely to be who they are posing as. They will almost always ask for you to send bitcoin as a form of payment as this cannot be traced by police and is very difficult to recover or trace who it is. They will likely promise insane returns to tempt you and may even send over fake screenshots. Just remember that any real trader knows there are no guarantees. No trader would ever promise to double your money in a week. The most audacious promise you’re likely to get is 5% a year. While the general public are waking up to the spate of scammers I find it very frustrating having to warn any friends of family who follow me on Instagram that they will likely end up getting messages from fake accounts pretending to be me.
But all in all I love forex trading and I love working as a trading mentor
One of the most helpful pieces of advice I was given by a trading coach was to establish a directional bias before you start your trading day. So in this blog post I’m going to be talking you through what a directional bias is, why it’s useful and how to establish one as well as some useful tools to help you decide on your directional bias and what time of day or week you should be looking for it.
A directional bias in forex trading means you have already pre-decided what direction you believe the market might move in before you place any trades. This means you can react appropriately and follow your trading plan if the market gives you the signs that you were correct. The alternative to this is having no plan because you have no idea where the market is going and can lead to impulsive and chaotic trading. For example if you decide your directional bias is for a buy position then you want to be following your trading plan and strategy in line with looking for a buy position and if you were to start noticing the market giving signs that it is moving down, rather than changing your plan and opt for a sell potion instead you would sit out the trade and observe instead.
THE POWER OF THREE
One helpful rule which I learned from the trading mentor who calls himself the mentor to your mentor, ICT or Inner Circle Trader, is to use the Power Of Three to help establish your directional bias when trading. The power of three is the journey which a candlestick or a market goes on in a 24 hour period. There are three stages which often starts with a false move in the opposite direction which allows a liquidity sweep to take place and orders to be triggered at those prices. This is then followed by the main move of the day (which is the one you want to be in as this is the one with the greatest momentum) as the day draws to a close there is often a small move back in the original direction (the opposite to the main move of the day). Obviously there are variations to this. Sometimes the main move has so much momentum that it closes with no wick however you’ll notice that most candles have a long body and a bit of wick on both sides. The wick on both sides shows the move in the opposite direction which took place either side of the main move of the day.
Now, why understanding the power of three is so crucial to establishing a directional bias is because you can use this to help give you a roadmap for your trade, in a way. Imagine if you were taking a long journey to a place you have never been before, if you looked at a map before you got in the car you would have a much better chance of correcting yourself quickly and getting back on the right track if you got lost as well as a much better chance overall of not getting lost in the first place. Understanding the power of three is like having a map of the trade which you expect to take place and if you don’t get the signals you were expecting you’ll be alert to sit out of the markets and wait and see what happens next.
One of the easiest and simplest ways to establish a direction bias is to check the market you plan on trading the day before as the markets close. I like to do this on higher time frames such as the 1D or the 1W chart to give myself a big picture view of where the market is at. Often looking on the time frame can make it very clear if you are in a long time down trend or a long term uptrend. A useful indicator which you can use is a moving average such as a 50 EMA which is a favourite of mine. If the candles on the 1W chart are above the 50 EMA then you are likely in a long term uptrend whereas if they are predominantly below the 50 EMA you are likely in a long-term downtrend. If the EMA is moving sideways and the candles are closing frequently above and below you are in a range and therefore it becomes a lot more tricky to establish a directional bias. Lets say the EMA is pointing upwards and the candles are predominantly above it we say we are in an uptrend. This means our directional bias is likely to be for a buy position. The next thing you want to do is to drop to the smaller time from of the 1D chart and see if this is in alignment. It’s possible that there could be a long term uptrend on the 1W chart but when you drop to the 1D you might be experiencing a small pullback in the market in which case you’ll want to hold fire before getting involved in a trade. A utopic situation is that the two are in alignment. Combining this with the power of three it would mean you’d expect a small move down when the markets open and then at a certain time of day (often it’s around the same time depending on what markets you trade and when the sessions are opening and closing) you’d expect a big move in the direction of your directional bias, which in this case is up. When you get the signs that the market is likely to move up you can place your buy position knowing that you are very well prepared for this trade.
USING MOMENTUM TO ESTABLISH YOUR BIAS
Another tool you can use to establish a directional bias is a momentum indictor as this can give you an idea as to what direction the long term momentum is in. Even when you are scalp trading on a very small time frame it is still important to have an idea of where you expect the main momentum of the day to be. There are many indicators you can use to gauge momentum. A popular one is the MACD or Moving Average Convergence Divergence, which has a nice colourful visual histogram. The dark green on the histogram signifies bullish momentum and the dark red signifies bearish momentum. Light green indicates a slow down in momentum to the upside and light red indicates a slow down in momentum to the downside. This is pretty useful when trying to establish if a trend is perhaps drawing to an end in which case you may not want to get involved in the trade, or use another set of rules for your direction bias. The size of the histogram on the MACD can be useful as well to give an idea of how strong the momentum is, the bigger the histogram the stronger then momentum.
Another momentum tool which I like to use is Heikin Ashi, These look very similar to normal candlesticks but uses a slightly different formular which smooths out the appearance of the trend. There are three main candlestick types when using Heikin Ashi, bullish momentum, bearish momentum and indecision. Bullish momentum Heikin Ashi candles are green and have a flat base with wick at only the top, whereas bearish momentum Heikin Ashi candles are red and have a flat top with wick at only the base. If on the weekly chart you see a green Heikin Ashi candle with a flat base and wick at only the top you could conclude you have bullish momentum and therefore your directional bias is likely to be for a buy position if this also matches on the 1D chart as well.
WHEN TO LOOK FOR YOU DIRECTIONAL BIAS
I like to use quiet times to establish my directional bias. In a way, this is almost the first step which I am doing towards planning my trade. Sunday is a great time to look at all the weekly charts and see how the charts are trending. As the financial markets are not open on the weekends this allows you to analysis the charts without feeling any pressure to get involved with a trade. This means you can be all analytical with minimal emotion. Similarly, at the end of the trading day when the markets are very quiet you can look at the daily chart to see how the candles close and decide what your directional bias is for the following day. Another great thing to do on the weekend and at the end of each trading day is to check the economical calendar so you know what’s coming up. This can also be really helpful for navigating your trading. What you’ll often notice is that if there is a big news release due out, the markets might be quite sticky and move in ranges as they await the news and then as the news is released you might find that the markets start to break out of their ranges and establish their new directional bias. If you notice that there is big news approaching and the markets are not moving in nice trends then just wait until after it is released. Also, make sure you are not in any open trades when the news is released as big economical data or news can often cause sudden and unexpected moves which might catch you out and hit your stop loss if you are already in an open trade. Examples of big news releases which you’ll want to be aware of is NFP or Non Farm Payroll, CPI or Consumer Price Index and Interest Rate Decisions. The financial markets tend to be much more reactive to any news from the Fed or America then any country so always be mindful of this. America tend to release new embargoes at 13:30 UK time so this is a key time in the day to be aware of if you are trading any market which is heavily affected by the US dollar. Often, if you have a trade which is moving nicely in the London session then it can end up moving suddenly In the opposite direction at this time. One hour later the New York Stoc Exchange then opens which again can cause big moves in the markets.
Remember as well when looking out for new releases, that the global financial markets have a very holistic relationship with each other and often a big move in one market can have a ripple effect on the others. For example, the indices all tend to mimic each other so if one has a sudden drop the others often tend to follow suit. So if you look for news releases which you think will only affect one specific market, just remember that if it is big news and if it has a big impact then it might send ripples through the rest of the market.
NEED A TRADING COACH?
If you’d like any help in your trading journey and creating a comprehensive trading plan and strategy then Trading Angel has a trading course which teaches a step by step guide to placing a trade which is designed to save you as much time as possible in your journey learning to trade. The trading coaching programme is very popular and spaces are limited but if you would like to apply to be added to the waitlist to have yourself a 1-2-1 trading mentor then you can use the contact form on the website www.trading.angel.co.uk or email info@tradingangel.co.uk. Having a trading mentor is one of the best tracking hacks as it will save you a lot of time and money in trial and error. I self-taught at the start of my trading journey and with reflection I should have probably invested in a trading mentor sooner. However as this can often be an unaffordable option for many I will be here updating blog posts each week and uploading new YouTube videos each week to help save you as much time as possible on your trading journey
Have you ever heard the saying that there are no mistakes, just data collection. I think Thomas Edison famously made 1,000 failed attempts to create a light bulb and declared he didn’t fail he just learned a load of ways not to do it in the process. I’m fairly certain the majority of us only remember him for his great success. Yet for some reason when it comes to forex trading, everyone seems to expect that they are to become an expert profitable trader straight away in their first year. You will make a lot of mistakes when you first start trading forex because it’s just part of the course of learning something which is new. Have you ever started any new job at all and made no mistakes??
But obviously you do want to make as few mistakes as possible and the ones you do make you want to keep them as small as possible, as your hard earned money is on the line here.
So here is how you can turn any losing trade in forex into a win:
Ask yourself two questions
What did I do wrong?
What can I do different next time?
And then, once you have established the answers to these questions you suddenly have a lesson which you would likely have paid a trading coach for. So just think of the loss you made on the trade as an investment in the lesson and make sure you don’t make the same mistake again!!
I always say that the trade is not over when the trade is closed, the trade is over when you have finished reviewing the trade.
On this topic, one of the best and quickest ways to improve your forex trading, is undoubtably to keep a forex trading journal. The same principle applies as you are keeping a note of the trades you placed and keeping note of what went wrong so you can avoid doing this next time. BUT also, I think it’s really important to look at what you are doing right as well. Because not only can you learn what not to do next time from your loses, but you can also learn what you want to do MORE of from your wins.
There are a few columns I like to have in my trading journal such as time opened, time closed, opening notes, closing notes, as well as the obvious things like which strategy you followed, which forex pair you traded and in which direction. The reason I like to pay close attention to when the trade was opened and closed is because this can help give you clues as to whether you are making more money at certain times of day or in certain trading sessions. You can also add categories such as what time frame you were trading on or if you let the stop loss hit or the take profit, or if you actually closed your trade manually.
While none of this information is particularly exciting for each isolated trade, once you’ve placed about 50 or even 100 trades, you will start to see patterns and clues creeping in making suggestions as to what you should be doing more (or less) of. Having a trading journal is like having your very own trading mentor!
I created my trading journal on Google Sheets, and it’s got some cool features such as the pips lost or gained column which is formatted to turn green for a win and red for a loss and all my wins and losses get added up on the bottom line which again automatically turns red for a loss or green for a win. I also use a lot of drop down menus to make it really easy to fill out. The more tedious something is, the less likely I am to actually do it, so these help keep the process quick and easy.
If you’d to watch a video tutorial on how I created my trading journal on Google Sheets then you can click this link and watch a YouTube video which I recently made
When I first started trading forex macroeconomics scared me, mainly because I didn’t understand it and it seemed to create all sorts of chaos on the charts. My technical analysis was on point but if I ever placed a trade which was text book technical analysis and then it unexplainably got stopped out on a spike I would just say ‘some big new must have happened, that was unlucky’. While I was correct that some big news often did happen, it probably wasn’t unlucky as we are actually told in advance when they are being released (more or less, sometimes they are a surprise). When I first started trading forex I was told about NFP and I was told don’t trade it. It causes a lot of volatility, spiking and strange reactions in the markets. This is all true. But one of the wonderful things about NFP is it happens once a month at the same time each month so we get plenty of warning. However as I had already dismissed it as something I wasn’t going to bother trading or understanding because it was too difficult and wasn’t worth it I often ended up completely forgetting when it was taking place and still letting it cause problems for me If I left trades open beforehand.
OK, I GET YOU WERE SCARED OF IT BUT WHAT IS IT
So the short version of the long story is that NFP stands for Non-Farm Payroll and is big economical data which comes out on the first Friday of every month (usually). This month, March 2024, it’s one of the few occasions it’s on the second Friday of the month. If you are in the UK like I am it will be released at 13:30 in the afternoon. As the name suggests it’s to do with payroll in America which ISN’T farm related. Which means, most payroll. The numbers when released show us how many jobs have been added or removed in the US over the past month. High numbers are generally good for the US dollar as its showing a healthy economy where people are in work and low numbers suggest a weakening US economy and can therefore can be seen as bad for the US dollar. While this might sound super easy to trade, just buy USD pairs when the numbers are high and sell when the numbers are low, there are actually some nuances which make it slightly less straightforward. What we get on our economical calendar is the previous number, and the consensus for what is expected to be announced on NFP. If, for example, the consensus shows we are expecting the numbers to be high and when they are released they are high, but not as high as expected but still higher than previous – this could be interpreted as bad news, or just confused news. You might see on a 5M chart a whipsaw of bull and bear candles trying to make sense of whether this is actually good news for the US economy or bad news. And that is why it’s not easy to trade NFP.
I’VE HAD A CHANGE OF HEART
Having said all of this I’ve actually recently become a little bit obsessed with NFP and all other forms of macroeconomic data. Having realised that my technical analysis was on point but my macroeconomics could do with some TLC I decided to book myself in for classes with my very own trading mentor. An expert in macroeconomics called Patrick Reid who works for a company called Adamis Principle. I could not recommend the mentor programme enough for those who need a bit of help with their fundamental analysis. Having a better understanding of financial news and economic data and how it moves the markets in the short term, long term and semi long term, I have now made friends with NFP. I stand by the fact that it can be difficult to trade on the day when the news is immediately released but paying attention to the numbers which come out and how this affects sentiment on the US dollar over the following weeks is incredible valuable. These sorts of big economic data releases can often be the thing which reverses trends and causes the markets to move in another direction, so paying attention to what comes out on NFP day, even if you don’t trade the day itself, can be really helpful for the following weeks.
FINANCIAL MARKETS HAVE A HOLISTIC RELATIONSHIP
And while NFP is referring to economical data in America and predominantly affects the USD pairs, the global financial markets have a sort of holistic relationship with each other and you’ll often notice that big news for one market can often have a big impact on other markets aswell. For example, often indices like SPX and NASDAQ can move in the opposite direction to the USD and XAUUSD or Gold can often move in the opposite direction to the USD. European stock markets like DAX or FTSE can then follow the lead of the American index funds and often move in a similar direction. And often AUD can move in the same direction as XAUUSD which means it will be moving in the opposite direction to the USD. I know there is a lot of information here but my point is basically to not leave any trade open during NFP thinking it won’t be affected just because its not USD!
I’d love to hear if you trade NFP or how you use the information or even if you found this information helpful
March 8th celebrates International Women’s Day and with females in finance being a hot topic and my speciality, I thought it would be fun to do a deep dive into the question, probably only women are asking, and that is ‘do women make better traders than men?’
Just to preface this, I’m all about equality and am not a crazy feminist, I have a great relationship with my father, I have a male partner who is the most intelligent and supportive person I know, and have loving respect for all the wonderful contributions men make in this world. But for International Women’s Day let’s take a moment to celebrate women today.
THE WORST GENDER PAY GAP IN THE UK
Females in finance is a hot topic because while the UK has made great progress in narrowing the gender inequality gap in many areas, finance is actually one where there is still a relatively sizeable gap. The data suggests that the number of women in financial services in the UK has been growing. Apparently 43% of the workforce in 2019 was women BUT the figures also suggest that significantly fewer of them are in leadership roles, executive or board positions. Reportedly only 15% of finance directors in the UK’s FTSE 100 companies are women. And as you can imagine in the finance sector, the divide in pay between those at the top of companies and those in more supportive roles, is huge. This means that consequently, the pay gap between men and women in finance in the UK is very significant. In 2021 it was reported that in the UK the finance sector actually had the WORST gender pay gap.
Having said all of this, the world is changing and there are now new ways women can work within finance. For example, I am a retail trader and a trading mentor, which means I trade from home and I teach others to trade on Zoom. This is an incredibly flexible position for me and there aren’t many barriers, other than reputation, which would prevent me from being in work. And I see many other women online who are choosing to take this path too, which is wonderful. Last year I was interviewed on the subject of being a female in the finance sector and I was asked if I felt like there were barriers for me and if I needed to work harder then men to be taken seriously. I answered, honestly, that no I did not feel this. It’s possible that I do have to work harder I’m just not aware of it, but it’s also possible that because I work from home and for myself, the same barriers which other women experience don’t necessarily apply to me. If I was trying to get a job in a bank in London, for example, I might start to experience some of the sexism I hear comes with the territory. But for me, working from home as a retail trader and mentor at my trading desk, I’m for the most part, blissfully unaware.
As part of International Women’s Day I have been invited by the broker XTB to take part in an annual event which they are putting on. This year they are focusing on women in trading and I’ll be joining a panel of females in finance to discuss if women do make better traders than men and the various stereotypes for women in trading. We are also going to be looking at what is possibly holding women back from learning to trade, and what can be done to try and encourage more women to get into trading.
DON’T LET THEM KNOW YOU’RE INTERESTED IN MONEY
This made me reflect on my own personal journey with finance. I remember always being interested in finance and business at school but I had a bad experience when I tried to express this as a teenager and the reaction I received put me off being open about this afterwards. I was about 15 or 16 and we were talking about various career options at school. I’d heard a few of the boys in my class talking about wanting to work in finance. I thought this sounded interesting too. One of our teachers was encouraging us to reach for the stars and believe anything is possible and in doing this asked us a series of questions which we needed to share with the class. One of the questions was to name something which interested us. Inspired by the conversations about finance the boys had been having, I realised that understanding money interested me too, learning about how some people were able to manage their money in a way in which it grew interested me, being financially savvy and understanding how the financial markets worked interested me. But as I was very young, I wasn’t articulate enough to express this quite like that, I just replied that ‘money’ interested me. And the whole class, altogether rolled their eyes and told me with disgust that I was pathetic. I believe a couple of the boys in that class have now grown up to work in finance. I was never quite sure why it was a respectable job for them to talk about wanting, but when I said it, I was pathetic. I think, with reflection, saying you are interested in ‘money’ people find jarring but if you say ‘finance’ it is suddenly acceptable. Not understanding this at the time I just noted that I wasn’t supposed to talk about an interest in money and went down the path of least resistance in media studies.
When I expressed an interest in trading later on in my teens I was told that traders died young because of the stress so I thought that probably didn’t sound worth being rich if I wasn’t going to live long enough to spend my money. All in all, I let the opinions and reactions of other people put me off doing what I wanted to do and only really came back around to finance (not money) later on in my life. And a pretty sizeable regret of mine is that I didn’t revisit the idea sooner. To be honest, trading isn’t quick to learn. There’s a lot of information and multitasking and I often liken it to juggling spinning plates. I wish I’d started learning sooner so I would have had the information sooner. Hindsight is always 20/20.
HOW DO WOMEN INVEST?
Is there a difference between the way women invest and how men invest? According to data by XTB the answer is ‘yes’. It seems there is a slight difference in the age of the average investor. Women are typically a bit older with the average age being 37, whereas for men it is 35. The way in which we invest is also seemingly different. Women tend to opt for desktops or computers while men seems to prefer using mobile devices. The analysis behind these differences has been put down to the fact that women typically take a bit longer to make decisions than men do, which means they are happier to opt for slower devices. Men on the other hand prefer to make quick decisions. Women typically seek advice from peers or experts whereas men often don’t ask for anyones opinion. This was the analysis from experts from the Koszalin University of Technology.
To be completely honest, in my experience working as a trading mentor I have worked alongside many men and women so it would be difficult for me to say if I believe this is true or not as the people who come to me for help are always seeking my opinion anyway, therefore I’m frequently getting asked for my opinion by men AND women. I have worked with over 100 traders one to one and the divide is roughly 60% men to 40% women. So I would say there isn’t too much in it from my experience, however I understand that I have only worked with a very small cross section of the overall population. Having worked as a trading mentor for a few years now and having encountered many female traders, here is a list of the qualities which I have found women typically have which make them great at trading forex.
WOMEN ARE GREAT PLANNERS
This is a great transferable skill which makes women excellent at planning events in their personal lives and also planning trades when they are forex traders. Planning a trade is a key skill to being a successful trader. All good traders need a trading plan!
WOMEN PAY GREAT ATTENTION TO DETAIL
We like attention to detail in many areas of life and this is why we are great at designing and making things look beautiful and why, in trading, we are great at putting a lot of time and care into making sure our trade is just right.
WOMEN SEEM TO LIKE HOMEWORK
I’m not going to say they all love homework but I’ve noticed a lot of my female mentees are pretty keen to be given tasks to do during the week between mentoring sessions. They seem to like learning and having the opportunity to grow and develop in their own time as well as in the trading classes.
WOMEN ARE GREAT AT REFLECTING WHEN THEY HAVE MADE A MISTAKE
This is important in trading. We all make mistakes, especially when we are brand new beginner traders. In fact, I‘ve heard some people refer to forex traders as professional losers! It’s important to be able to take loses and learn from them. In my experience of mentoring female traders, I would say that women are great at reflection when they have made a mistake, taking ownership and accountability of it and looking forward to what needs to be done to not make the same mistake again. This quality will take you a long way as a forex trader.
WOMEN LIKE TO TAKE THEIR TIME TO DO THINGS PROPERLY
As we have learned from the data from XTB, women like to take their time and to think through their investments before jumping in. They like to consult on their peers, or experts and make slow and thoughtful decisions. This is an excellent quality for a forex trader. One thing I have learned from my time trading forex is that sometimes the best trades take weeks to plan. Often the best set ups mean you are watching the market for ages waiting for the perfect snipper entry. Often when people regret their trading decisions it is because they went in too quickly and didn’t take enough time to think through everything which might go wrong.
WOMEN ARE INTELLIGENT
So I did a bit of research on this one to see if there were any studies done on the IQ of men and women and it seems that overall the average IQ between the two evens out. Seemingly more women hover around the 100 point whereas the spectrum seems to be a bit wider between men. So I couldn’t say either is more or less intelligent but women are certainly no less on average and shouldn’t be told otherwise.
WOMEN HAVE A HIGH THRESHOLD FOR PAIN
And if you’ve ever lost a trade, you’ll know why this is needed!!
So, now we know women can make excellent traders (I wouldn’t be bold enough to say ‘better’ as I don’t have quantitative data for this) what are the repercussions of not having more women in finance roles in the UK?
Firstly, studies suggest that companies with more diverse workforces perform better, are more innovative and productive. These workforces, needless to say, also promote inclusivity.
Gender balance and diversity can also help lead to more creativity, greater empathy with clients (which can in tern lead to company growth and profits) and all of these can also lead to greater job satisfaction.
If you’re a woman who is interested in learning forex trading then send me an email at info@tradingangel.co.uk with the title IWD23 for a special 20% discount on the Trading Angel trading course as part of international women’s day 2024.
March 8th celebrates International Women’s Day and with females in finance being a hot topic and my speciality, I thought it would be fun to do a deep dive into the question, probably only women are asking, and that is ‘do women make better traders than men?’
Just to preface this, I’m all about equality and am not a crazy feminist, I have a great relationship with my father, I have a male partner who is the most intelligent and supportive person I know, and have loving respect for all the wonderful contributions men make in this world. But for International Women’s Day let’s take a moment to celebrate women today.
THE WORST GENDER PAY GAP IN THE UK
Females in finance is a hot topic because while the UK has made great progress in narrowing the gender inequality gap in many areas, finance is actually one where there is still a relatively sizeable gap. The data suggests that the number of women in financial services in the UK has been growing. Apparently 43% of the workforce in 2019 was women BUT the figures also suggest that significantly fewer of them are in leadership roles, executive or board positions. Reportedly only 15% of finance directors in the UK’s FTSE 100 companies are women. And as you can imagine in the finance sector, the divide in pay between those at the top of companies and those in more supportive roles, is huge. This means that consequently, the pay gap between men and women in finance in the UK is very significant. In 2021 it was reported that in the UK the finance sector actually had the WORST gender pay gap.
Having said all of this, the world is changing and there are now new ways women can work within finance. For example, I am a retail trader and a trading mentor, which means I trade from home and I teach others to trade on Zoom. This is an incredibly flexible position for me and there aren’t many barriers, other than reputation, which would prevent me from being in work. And I see many other women online who are choosing to take this path too, which is wonderful. Last year I was interviewed on the subject of being a female in the finance sector and I was asked if I felt like there were barriers for me and if I needed to work harder then men to be taken seriously. I answered, honestly, that no I did not feel this. It’s possible that I do have to work harder I’m just not aware of it, but it’s also possible that because I work from home and for myself, the same barriers which other women experience don’t necessarily apply to me. If I was trying to get a job in a bank in London, for example, I might start to experience some of the sexism I hear comes with the territory. But for me, working from home as a retail trader and mentor at my trading desk, I’m for the most part, blissfully unaware.
As part of International Women’s Day I have been invited by the broker XTB to take part in an annual event which they are putting on. This year they are focusing on women in trading and I’ll be joining a panel of females in finance to discuss if women do make better traders than men and the various stereotypes for women in trading. We are also going to be looking at what is possibly holding women back from learning to trade, and what can be done to try and encourage more women to get into trading.
DON’T LET THEM KNOW YOU’RE INTERESTED IN MONEY
This made me reflect on my own personal journey with finance. I remember always being interested in finance and business at school but I had a bad experience when I tried to express this as a teenager and the reaction I received put me off being open about this afterwards. I was about 15 or 16 and we were talking about various career options at school. I’d heard a few of the boys in my class talking about wanting to work in finance. I thought this sounded interesting too. One of our teachers was encouraging us to reach for the stars and believe anything is possible and in doing this asked us a series of questions which we needed to share with the class. One of the questions was to name something which interested us. Inspired by the conversations about finance the boys had been having, I realised that understanding money interested me too, learning about how some people were able to manage their money in a way in which it grew interested me, being financially savvy and understanding how the financial markets worked interested me. But as I was very young, I wasn’t articulate enough to express this quite like that, I just replied that ‘money’ interested me. And the whole class, altogether rolled their eyes and told me with disgust that I was pathetic. I believe a couple of the boys in that class have now grown up to work in finance. I was never quite sure why it was a respectable job for them to talk about wanting, but when I said it, I was pathetic. I think, with reflection, saying you are interested in ‘money’ people find jarring but if you say ‘finance’ it is suddenly acceptable. Not understanding this at the time I just noted that I wasn’t supposed to talk about an interest in money and went down the path of least resistance in media studies.
When I expressed an interest in trading later on in my teens I was told that traders died young because of the stress so I thought that probably didn’t sound worth being rich if I wasn’t going to live long enough to spend my money. All in all, I let the opinions and reactions of other people put me off doing what I wanted to do and only really came back around to finance (not money) later on in my life. And a pretty sizeable regret of mine is that I didn’t revisit the idea sooner. To be honest, trading isn’t quick to learn. There’s a lot of information and multitasking and I often liken it to juggling spinning plates. I wish I’d started learning sooner so I would have had the information sooner. Hindsight is always 20/20.
HOW DO WOMEN INVEST?
Is there a difference between the way women invest and how men invest? According to data by XTB the answer is ‘yes’. It seems there is a slight difference in the age of the average investor. Women are typically a bit older with the average age being 37, whereas for men it is 35. The way in which we invest is also seemingly different. Women tend to opt for desktops or computers while men seems to prefer using mobile devices. The analysis behind these differences has been put down to the fact that women typically take a bit longer to make decisions than men do, which means they are happier to opt for slower devices. Men on the other hand prefer to make quick decisions. Women typically seek advice from peers or experts whereas men often don’t ask for anyones opinion. This was the analysis from experts from the Koszalin University of Technology.
To be completely honest, in my experience working as a trading mentor I have worked alongside many men and women so it would be difficult for me to say if I believe this is true or not as the people who come to me for help are always seeking my opinion anyway, therefore I’m frequently getting asked for my opinion by men AND women. I have worked with over 100 traders one to one and the divide is roughly 60% men to 40% women. So I would say there isn’t too much in it from my experience, however I understand that I have only worked with a very small cross section of the overall population. Having worked as a trading mentor for a few years now and having encountered many female traders, here is a list of the qualities which I have found women typically have which make them great at trading forex.
WOMEN ARE GREAT PLANNERS
This is a great transferable skill which makes women excellent at planning events in their personal lives and also planning trades when they are forex traders. Planning a trade is a key skill to being a successful trader. All good traders need a trading plan!
WOMEN PAY GREAT ATTENTION TO DETAIL
We like attention to detail in many areas of life and this is why we are great at designing and making things look beautiful and why, in trading, we are great at putting a lot of time and care into making sure our trade is just right.
WOMEN SEEM TO LIKE HOMEWORK
I’m not going to say they all love homework but I’ve noticed a lot of my female mentees are pretty keen to be given tasks to do during the week between mentoring sessions. They seem to like learning and having the opportunity to grow and develop in their own time as well as in the trading classes.
WOMEN ARE GREAT AT REFLECTING WHEN THEY HAVE MADE A MISTAKE
This is important in trading. We all make mistakes, especially when we are brand new beginner traders. In fact, I‘ve heard some people refer to forex traders as professional losers! It’s important to be able to take loses and learn from them. In my experience of mentoring female traders, I would say that women are great at reflection when they have made a mistake, taking ownership and accountability of it and looking forward to what needs to be done to not make the same mistake again. This quality will take you a long way as a forex trader.
WOMEN LIKE TO TAKE THEIR TIME TO DO THINGS PROPERLY
As we have learned from the data from XTB, women like to take their time and to think through their investments before jumping in. They like to consult on their peers, or experts and make slow and thoughtful decisions. This is an excellent quality for a forex trader. One thing I have learned from my time trading forex is that sometimes the best trades take weeks to plan. Often the best set ups mean you are watching the market for ages waiting for the perfect snipper entry. Often when people regret their trading decisions it is because they went in too quickly and didn’t take enough time to think through everything which might go wrong.
WOMEN ARE INTELLIGENT
So I did a bit of research on this one to see if there were any studies done on the IQ of men and women and it seems that overall the average IQ between the two evens out. Seemingly more women hover around the 100 point whereas the spectrum seems to be a bit wider between men. So I couldn’t say either is more or less intelligent but women are certainly no less on average and shouldn’t be told otherwise.
WOMEN HAVE A HIGH THRESHOLD FOR PAIN
And if you’ve ever lost a trade, you’ll know why this is needed!!
So, now we know women can make excellent traders (I wouldn’t be bold enough to say ‘better’ as I don’t have quantitative data for this) what are the repercussions of not having more women in finance roles in the UK?
Firstly, studies suggest that companies with more diverse workforces perform better, are more innovative and productive. These workforces, needless to say, also promote inclusivity.
Gender balance and diversity can also help lead to more creativity, greater empathy with clients (which can in tern lead to company growth and profits) and all of these can also lead to greater job satisfaction.
If you’re a woman who is interested in learning forex trading then send me an email at info@tradingangel.co.uk with the title IWD23 for a special 20% discount on the Trading Angel trading course as part of international women’s day 2023.
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