Determine direction

The first step is to determine the direction of the chart: uptrend, downtrend, or sideways trend. This should lay the groundwork for the kind of trade you want to take. Surely you would not want to bet against a raging bull, and you’re unlikely to correctly call bottom in a bear market; thus, following the trend is the best way to get an instantly higher success rate. This is why day trading strategies, such as following the NYSE tick, do so well; you move in tandem with the trend, not against the market.

Know what you’re doing

The second step is truly understanding why you’re entering the trade. Trading discipline is just as important a factor as the alignment of your technical indicators. Knowing what you plan to trade and why you will trade it is one of the single most important things to know.

Many traders place trades just “because they feel like it” and get dangerously caught up in a game of cat and mouse. Proven strategies do not need your twists and turns; they just need to be executed faithfully.

Turn down the radio

The third step should, of course, be to avoid distractions. The period when a trade is open can be hectic; the ups and downs of the market shown on your computer screen make it that much worse. Couple those emotions with loud music or a TV chatting to itself in the background and you have a recipe for disaster. Your first task should always be to preserve trading capital, even if this means limiting the odds that you’ll lose even by modifying small pieces, such as distractions.

Bring the game plan with you

Don’t forget the strategy. This is the fourth and final step, though not much a step at all. Your day trading framework can go down to dust if you forget the most important asset you have as a trader: your trading plan. Without a plan, you’re speculating, not investing. There is plenty of money to be made in the markets for responsible and careful investors. It is a fact that proven strategies prove profitable over the long run. Why alter perfection?

Learn how to master day trading by downloading two of Trading EveryDay’s FREE products: Tools of the Trade eBook and a Trading Plan Planner. Dedicated to helping people become profitable traders, Leroy Rushing, a professional day trader, trading coach, and author, is the CEO of Trading EveryDay, a distinguished provider of educational trading products and services.

I think one of the most important things you have to understand is how you will sabotage yourself. What I’m talking about is your emotions. They have this way of making you reject logic and reason, for a feeling. Obviously this isn’t a smart move and always has bad consequence in the long term. If you’re someone that gets gut feelings, or stresses out easily, you need to learn to control it. If these feelings start to influence trades, you’ve just turned this from a business into gambling.

Another important forex currency trading beginner tactic is having the right tools to get the job done. A lot of people try to avoid getting trading software because they want to “do it themselves”. There’s just too much information to take in this market to do it completely on your own. It’s open 24hrs a day, so eventually you’ll have to sleep and you need software to watch over the market and your trades.

The Secret Forex Code is a great place to start. Not only does it give you a complete course on how to profitably trade, it comes will all the tools you will need, including trading software.

Learn more at the Secret Forex Code Review.