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Bollinger bands will help you to predict big trending moves, act on big trend reversals and finally, time trading positions with greater accuracy for bigger profits.
Here we have related Bollinger bands to the currency markets (as it is here that they are most useful) – but they are useful in all financial markets.
What are Bollinger Bands?
Developed by John Bollinger, Bollinger bands are volatility bands drawn around a simple moving average.
You calculate Bollinger bands using the standard deviation of price over the same period as moving averages and plotted as lines above and below the moving average.
As moving averages have been traditionally used to identify the underlying trend, Bollinger bands combine this with the volatility of the individual market (or the standard deviation) – to plot a trading envelope.
The distance between upper and lower Bollinger bands reflects the volatility of the market traded.
As prices force themselves away from the longer-term average, the standard deviation rises – and thus the bands will fluctuate in varying amounts, away from the average.
Why Bollinger Bands Work
In any market, the value of currency traded tends to rise slowly over the longer term.
Prices may spike short term, but will normally dip back to the longer term moving average (the centre band) – which represents realistic value.
The volatility of the outer bands therefore gives us an indication of how volatile prices are – and how far away price is from longer-term value.
Most price spikes are caused as much by trader psychology, as the supply and demand backdrop – and this scenario is reflected in the concept of Bollinger bands.
Why are Bollinger Bands so useful?
Bollinger bands perform three major functions for traders:
1. Spotting a Breakout and New Trend
Markets move between low volatility trading ranges, to high volatility trending moves.
When a market makes trades in a narrow range, the Bollinger bands will narrow together and this shows a market with extremely low volatility – however this is a warning that a high volatility trending move is likely to follow.
When prices break above or below the upper or lower band, it is an indication that a breakout and trend is about to develop – traders will then take a position in the direction of the breakout, and try to ride the trend.
2. Timing Entry Levels in a Trend
We all know long term currency trends last for months or years – but we need to get in at the best risk / reward level.
Bollinger bands will help get you in to the trend and time your entry.
All you do is watch for dips toward the centre band – and enter in the direction of the trend – it really is that simple!
To time your entries with greater accuracy, and filter out “false” breaks we recommend using a momentum indicator – such as stochastics, to confirm the move.
3. Spotting Market Reversals
When the price touches the top of the band, a sell is generated, and prices should revert back to mean, or the middle moving average band.
If the price touches the bottom of the band, traders can buy a currency, assuming that it is oversold, and will rally back towards the top of the band.
The spacing, or width of the band, is dependent on the volatility of the market, but gives traders a clear indication of where prices will go, and when to enter.
A Word of Caution!
Bollinger bands are a useful tool – but need combining with other indicators, as with any single indicator, they should not be used in isolation.
We personally feel Bollinger bands should be used with basic charting, to get the big picture – and the best timing indicator is the stochastic as stated, to filter out “false” signals
When choosing a third party signal provider for your forex account you need to be carefull. Here are a few tips and things to look for when making your decision.
Keywords:
forex, fx, trading, third party signal, autotrading, trading systems, automated trading
Article Body:
With the growing popularity and easy access to the foreign exchange (ForEx) market, more and more people are drawn to it as their financial vehicle of choice. Along with this popularity come all the extras. This includes all kinds of software, trading systems for sale, books, videos, and third party signal party providers. Today I’m going to touch on a few points when seeking out a third party forex signal provider.
Before we get into choosing a provider we need to have a good understanding of what a third party signal provider is. A signal provider is a trader or analyst that generates trades that in turn get placed on your account. You can have several signal providers trading your forex account or just one.
Like anything else, all third party signal providers are not created equal. At first glance a trader may look like a home run. That same trader may well end up completely torpedoing your entire account in one afternoon. To help make sure this doesn’t happen we’ll set down a few guidelines. These guidelines will give us something to look for when choosing our third party signal provider.
1. The first thing I look at is weather the trader is a winner or a loser. This may seem obvious to nearly everyone, but I often see losing signal providers with 50-100 people trading their signals.
2. The next thing I look at is how long they have been a winner. If a trader has been winning for a week that means nothing to me. I recommend that you don’t trade any signal provider with less than a few months of results to show you. Any one can place a few good trades one week and get lucky. If you are going to be trading this trader’s signals they need to be established.
3. Look at the max draw down. This is the largest peak to trough draw down in equity that the trader has historically had. Some traders refuse to take a loss. This causes them to hold on to losing trades forever or until they turn to a winner. Turning a loser into a winner sounds great, but it will eat up a huge chunk of margin and may never turn around. If it doesn’t turn in your direction, you will have your entire account destroyed by a trader that could have taken a 30 pip loss but held on until it was an 800 pip loss.
4. The first three are easy to look at. They will be displayed right on the main screen of signal providers to choose from. Once you get a few signal providers you are thinking of using, its time to dive a bit deeper into their history.
a. Look at their actual trades. Do they have a good win rate because they have opened a ton of trades all at the same time on the same currency pair? They may have 20 winners in a row. This looks great, but if you look a bit deeper you will see that its really only 1 winning trade places 20 times. Not as impressive is it?
b. Look at their draw down on individual trades. Do they let a trade go 300 pips against them and then close it out when it hits 5 pips of profit? This is a trader who lets their losses run out of control and cuts their winning trades short. It’s not a trader that you want in control of your money.
c. Do they add to losing positions? A trader who constantly adds to losing positions hoping it will turn for them is not someone you want trading your account.
5. Choose a signal provider that suits you. Some traders may provide larger returns over time, but take bigger risks leading to bigger draw downs. This might be OK with you. If you are more conservative and cannot stomach large drops in equity you probably should choose a more conservative trader.
These are just a few things to look for when choosing a third party signal provider to trade your forex account. You should always trade a demo account before opening a live account with real money. Remember it’s your account. In the end you choose the signal providers, and you are responsible for what happens.
Below you will find the six common beliefs followed by the bulk of traders – and if you believe these myths as well, then they will restrict your chances of making significant currency trading profits.
Ninety percent of currency traders believe at least one or more of these myths – which explains why ninety percent of traders don’t make much profit by trading currencies!
1. You should always be in the Market in Case you Miss a Move
Traders love excitement, and their view is, if they are in the market they may catch the big move. Well they may – but chances are they won’t.
The big trends only come a few times a year in each currency – and you should stay out the market until they come, otherwise you will take losses, and run up commissions that will deplete your account.
Wait for the big trades – patience is a virtue in trading.
2. Diversification Reduces Risk, and Increases Profit Potential
Diversification simply dilutes your profits.
You hit a big move, and your other trades that lose, or give you only marginal profits, eat up all your currency-trading profits.
You need to have confidence to go for the big moves, when they occur, and load up these trades.
Currency trading is about calculated risks – if the trade looks good, hit it hard for big profits.
3. Day Trading is Better than Long Term Trend Following, as it’s Less Risky.
Many brokers spread this myth – and why not? – They make more commission if you believe it!
You will end up having more losses than profits in your trading. You will never make enough money in a day to cover your inevitable losses. When you add in commission and slippage, it’s inevitable that you will lose.
You need to hold longer-term trends, as these yield the big profits to cover your smaller losses.
4. Timing the Market is the Correct Way to Make Profits
Timing the market means you are trying to PREDICT where prices are going to top and bottom – this is not a good way to trade and the odds are against you.
A better way to trade is to wait for the market to CONFIRM a trend is under way, and jump on board. You may not buy the bottom or sell the high, but you can catch the major chunk in between – and with currency trends lasting for many months or years, you can still get plenty of profits from the trend.
5. Markets are the Same Today as they Were Hundreds of Years Ago
Rubbish! Trends now are much more volatile than they were even 50 years ago. Why? Today, with the Internet, price information reaches every corner of the globe in a split second. This increases volatility as everyone has the same information at once – and everyone tries to enter the market at the same time.
This was not the case even 50 years ago – the trends are still there, but volatility is much higher – traders get the direction of the trend right, but they find themselves stopped out by the volatility. How often has this happened to you? – It happens to all traders. Look at using options to give you staying power.
6. You can use a Black Box System to Make Money
You can buy a system from a vendor for a few thousand dollars – and it can make 50 to 100% profit per annum.
These systems normally have a hypothetical track record – and use price information where the results are already known, and of course, the logic of the system remains hidden from you – as it’s unlikely to have a sound basis.
Have you ever wondered why these vendors sell systems, when they could simply get a bank loan and trade their own systems?
Enough said on this one!
How about some Positive Advice?
If you want to make big currency trading profits, you need to do it for yourself.
Get a plan you have confidence in, and execute the plan with discipline – and have the courage to trade for large gains when they occur.
Good luck!
In this day in time your personal information such as your address, credit card number, checking account number, and even your telephone number, is at an all time high of theft. Telemarketing companies and marketing companies will pay top dollar for your personal information depending on the type of information collected. Identity theft and other related crimes are also at an all time high.
There are a couple things that you can do to help reduce the risk of having your phone constantly ringing day in and day out with a telemarketer on the other end and to keep your personal information secure from theft.
1) The number one mistake and the easiest way for a person to steal your information is actually in a very accessible place known as your trash. Most criminals of identity theft find your bills, check stubs and other personal info in your trash. Make sure you discard your personal info in a proper way, shredding is one way to cut down on this.
2) The internet is the number one source of information distribution in the world. When buying, applying, or signing up for something on the internet make sure it is a reputable company and they have a secure online certificate, otherwise known as a SSL cert. This scrambles all the information on the page into a code so others cannot see what is being typed into the screen.
3) Beware of scams either via phone or on the internet. If you haven’t heard of the company before or are unsure of what they are telling you don’t give them any information.
4) Never give your credit card information to companies that call you asking you to pay a bill. Most of the time they are legit companies but the other half are scams. Ask them to send you a bill in the mail.
Comments on Forex Trading Account Sizes, Lots and Margin Calls.
Written by admin on December 31, 2011 under Currency Trading
Forex trading is one of the best business opportunities you can think of joining these days. No other market in the world allows the “Leverage” that the profitable world of currency-trading does. Leverage is all about margin trading. In the Forex market, it is essentially the ratio of the amount used in a trade to the required security deposit needed, by the particular broker you chose to use, for that trade.
Normally, for most brokerages, a margin deposit of just $1,000 allows you to control a $100,000 position in the Forex market. That’s 100:1 leverage, or 1%. Or, said in a different way, a “regular full-sized account”, sometimes referred to as a 100k account, allows you to trade with lot sizes equal to $100,000. Each lot is worth $100,000 in currency. So It would only require $1,000 to trade one lot.
This great feature in Forex trading is what makes this market the hottest market to trade in right now. The Forex broker has given you a loan of $99,000 dollars secured only by your $1,000! This is a huge loan and, as you may know by now, this is what allows traders to make extraordinary incomes in this market. And, as you also are probably used to hearing , “leverage is a two-edged sword” , it is what can cause you to lose a lot of money if you trade without rules or Stop-loss orders.
But just as an example, let’s say you were a person that likes to trade with reckless abandon, i.e., with no strategy, no common sense, no money- management principles, etc. That’s never recommended for anyone, but being a Forex trader has such great advantages, that even someone with a trading mind like the one described before, will never lose more than what he has placed into a trade.
Unlike Futures (Commodity Trading), the market that most people associate with High leverage, you can never have a debit balance when trading Forex.
So, despite the greater leverage associated with FX trading, it is still arguably less risky than futures trading. Futures markets are often prone to sudden and dramatic moves, against which you can’t protect yourself, even by trading with protective stops. Your position may be liquidated at a loss, and you’ll be liable for any resulting deficit in the account. But because of the Forex markets great liquidity and 24-hour, continuous trading, dangerous trading gaps and limit moves are very unprobable. Orders are executed quickly, without slippage or partial fills, which is just great.
And as it was not enough, there are no margin calls, for your protection, the forex broker’s trading platform will automatically close out some or all of your open positions if your account equity, meaning the total floating value of the account, falls below the level required to hold the positions. Think of this as a final, automatic stop, always working on your behalf to prevent a debit balance.