How To Have Two Trading Platforms Open At The Same Time
Having two or more versions of the trading platform can be helpful by putting different accounts or charts on each platform then watching both at the same time on different monitors (if you have two monitors). This way it is easier to track more stuff and have larger screen shots of what you are looking at. Below you will find the instructions of how to download two or more versions of the MT4 trading platform
1. To install multiple platforms: Use normal procedures to install the platform the first time. Use link: http://secure.ibfx.com/Downloads/MT4.exe for MT4.
2. If you already have a copy of the platform change the name of the icon on your desktop before you download a second version.
3. Use the link above and reinstall the platform again but this time change the name when you get to the screen that asks you to “Select the destination folder where you want to install Interbank FX Trader 4.00.” This can be as simple as adding an A or B etc. at the end of the name. You could also name one for live and one for demo trading, whatever is easy for you to remember.
Are You A Trade Rusher?
There are traders that lose money month after month, and the reason is that they always rush into trades without studying them carefully and seeing which way the trend is going or waiting for any sort of retracement before entering the trade. They see a breakout on a currency pair and put in orders to buy, once the order is filled they spend the next hour complaining that they bought the high of the move. They always seem to buy when the currency has had a big run up in 10 minutes.
They are scared to miss a big move, and so they rush in and then wonder why they can’t make money. The worst part is that they tend to exit these trades at the bottom of their retracement because they can’t take the pain anymore, and then watch the trade go to new highs, where they buy it again.
Develop patients, discipline, and observation of which way the trend is going. Once the trade comes to you get in and go for a nice ride not a journey of pain.
TEN: Must Have Trading Tools
A trader must see the big picture in trading to survive and prosper. If you only look at the small time frames you are only seeing the foothills of a tall mountain. It is necessary to look at the larger time frames and trade in the direction of the larger trend.
If a trader is going to be in the currency trading business very long they must look at the current trade as only one of many trades. This will help to get out of a bad trade without the emotions.
Keeping a trading journal and using the trade tracker are two of the things that will improve your trading more than anything else. It can be hand written, or on a computer but keep a trading Journal. It is not important to have good grammar and spelling. You can record all the dates prices and facts about the trade but be sure and record your thought and feelings about the trade. Why you took it and why you got out. You can do this on the trade tracker. This exercise will put you on the right track faster than anything else. It will uncover your strengths and weaknesses. You can guarantee that you’ll see a pattern in your behavior. There is probably something you are doing consistently that’s causing negative results. Once you know what you are doing wrong you can correct it.
NINE: Balanced Life Trading
Trading is all about making money. If you are doing it for any other reason then you are doomed for failure. You need to trade from good old mechanical thinking, which is a mark of a good trader. You get a signal you make a trade you get another signal you exit a trade. Large profit, small profit, or small loss it is all part of the process in becoming a good trader.
Now you need to meet people, get out and do things, find other interests. Remember what you did before you started trading. Spend time with your family, friends, and anyone that does not deal with trading. When you have a life other than trading you will be a better trader.
This will help you keep emotions, fear, and greed out of your trading. You will have more fun and be in a frame of mind to make more money by seeing and acting on the proper signals.
SEVEN: Call It What It Is
If you take trading seriously you will think of trading as a business. Not just a hobby, or a way to get a quick rush, or a way to escape life’s problems, or a way of spending some of your extra time. You can think of trading, as a lot of things but to make the big bucks you talk and dream about, you need to think of it as a business.
Businesses have income and expenses. Most of us know that you have to spend some money to make money. When you lose, that is an expense and when you win, that is income.
Most successful business take off slowly build a good foundation then take off. All businesses have different time frames before they become successful. Many businesses have to adjust when their markets changing. By making small changes in the way they do things as they learn and grow they are staying in tune with their market.
SIX: You Are In Charge
You are responsible for your success or failure as a trader. You’re in charge of your trading, not the platform, not your broker, not your trading group Just you. If something goes wrong you are the one that has to figure what to do to get out of any given trade.
One of the best things a trader can do is be aware of their feelings, be aware of how you are reacting to things when they have gone right or wrong. Traders have to learn how to coach themselves. By keeping the trade tracker a trader can see what they are doing right and what they are doing wrong after only a few trades. Having a “winning day” or a “Losing day” is not the issue at all. It is how a trader is performing on the job.
Are you in control emotionally? Do you find yourself looking for someone else to blame, like the market, your life, something that happened to you outside of trading?