Controlling Your Forex Risk

If you know about Forex you know that there can be a lot of risks involved, especially for new traders. Forex can mean high rewards, but as with everything in life, high rewards come with a high risk. So when you start trading you should reduce your risk until you understand trading more and can control your risks. AGEA is perfect for new traders because it gives you loads of options which can reduce your level of risk. Controlling these factors can considerably control your risk level: Leverage Leverage is a loan provided by the broker to the trader, so that the trade can trade more capital than they have. It is given in a ratio to the amount of money you have to trade. For example a common leverage is 1:100, this means if you put $10 on to trade with, we will make this $1,000. Initially this sounds great, as the higher amount you trade the higher profits you can make, but consequences the leverage can mean higher losses. “Higher Leverage Can Mean Higher Losses.” “AGEA leverage can be from 1:1 to 1:500” A lower leverage is the best way to control your risk. AGEA gives a wide range of leverage to allow you to choose the level of risk which suits you. MetaTrader4 - 1:1 to 1:500 (initially 1:100) Streamster – 1:100 Capital Capital is the amount of money that you invest. The ultimate risk of forex is losing capital. But you have to start with some money to make money in forex – right? Actually no! AGEA will give you $5 to start trading live – so you don’t need any capital to get started. If you search the internet for “Forex Bonus” you will find offers up to many thousands of dollars – but beware, these all come with multiple terms & conditions. Most will only give you bonus’ equal to the amount you deposit – so if you don’t have anything to deposit, you’ll get no bonus. “AGEA will give you $5 to start trading live”  “No deposit is needed, no expiry limit, withdraw whenever. Simple!“ So you search for “No Deposit Forex Bonuses” – again you will get options, but most have strict conditions on withdrawing profit from these bonus , for example you may have to triple that bonus before you can withdraw any money. Here are a couple of real Terms & Conditions on “No Deposit Bonuses” “1. To withdraw your free bonus you need 60 TPoints (trader points) 2. One bonus per household/IP address. 3. The bonus expires in 3 months.” “You can use the bonus for live trading, but you cannot withdraw it.” AGEA is different! We have no such conditions. Everyone gets $5 when they open an account, it can be used on MT4 or Streamster, no deposit is needed, no expiry limit, withdraw whenever. Simple! Spreads Spreads are, basically, the “fee” a broker charges for you making trades. So the higher the spread the harder it will be for you to make a profit. The brokers are themselves charged a spread by their liquidity provider (a Company who sets the forex rates).		So there will never be no spread on a trade, but the excess added to the liquidity providers will depend on the forex broker. AGEA charges NOTHING extra on top of the spreads charged by their liquidity provider on MetaTrader 4. And has great spreads on their platform, Streamster. Check out AGEA’s great spreads at: “AGEA charges No Commissions or Exchange Fees” Streamster Spreads:   http://www.agea.com/index.ncre?page=streamster-services MetaTrader4 Spreads:   http://www.agea.com/index.ncre?page=mt4-services Virtual trading The best way to become a forex trading expert is to practice. Test out your strategies, and see if you profit. But you don’t want to be practicing with real money, so start with a demo account.A demo (or virtual) forex account is a simulator of a real forex platform, but you trade with virtual (fake) money. With AGEA you can open demo accounts with MetaTrader 4 and Streamster. You can download these at   http://www.agea.com/index.ncre?page=downloads “AGEA awards  $100 to the  trader who makes the  highest virtual profit” Now you can make REAL money from trading with VIRTUAL money, through AGEA’s Master of the Month forex contest. Every month AGEA awards $100 to the trader who makes the highest virtual profit (via Streamster). You will automatically be entered when you start trading virtually on Streamster. For more information about this contest (one of many!) go to http://extra.agea.com/en/promotions/be-the-next-agea-contest-master Education “Knowledge is Power” – Sir Francis Bacon Many successful traders use fundamental or technical analysis to predict when currencies are going to rise or fall, and hence when they should buy or sell. “AGEA has an extensive education website - Why Not Read a Page A Day?” You can’t just guess which way a trade will go; you need to understand the currency and what affects it. AGEA has an extensive education website so you can learn how to get the most from your trades, and plan your strategy. Why not try reading one page a day at:   Extra.agea.com/en/education “24 hour, Multilingual Live Support, known for friendly and helpful assistants” Support You definitely don’t want to be losing money because you don’t know how to use the platform right. AGEA has a 24 hour, Multilingual Live Support, known for friendly and helpful assistants. So any time you have any problems you can contact them at:   https://www.agea.com/_nsssupport.ncre So now it’s time to get trading! Below a summary to help you decide which account suits you. Open Your Account at Open Account

How do I open an MT4 account with AGEA?

There are two main parts to opening an MT4 account:

You need to ensure you have the software

And you need to have an appropriate Live account – Cent, Standard, or STP

1. Login to your account

2. Go to “Services” at the top right hand corner of any page on the AGEA site.

3. Click “Downloads” in the left hand column of the Services page

4. Go down the page to the MetaTrader4 section and within the highlight box click “MetaTrader 4 Platform Services”

5. A box will pop up – Click “Save File”. It will be Saved into your downloads as ‘Agea-mt4-platform.exe”

6. Find the saved file and double click it.

8. The AGEA Agreement will come up, click “Next”.

9. You will then see where the program will be saved, and can select whether you want a shortcut made and the program to open after installation. Click “Next”.

10. The program will be downloaded, click “Finish” and you are done!

1. Go to your “Account Center” (this can be accessed by clicking the button in the top right side of any AGEA page).

2. Click “Platforms” > “MetaTrader” > MT4 Cabinet

3. On the page “MetaTrader 4 Cabinet”, click “Add a new account on the MetaTrader 4 Platform” which is at the bottom of the page

4. Choose which account type you want: Cent, Standard or STP, and your primary currency, and then click “Add Account”.

Cent - $10

Standard - $100

STP - $1000

5. A message will come up requesting you to enter a new password for your MT4 account.

Note: The “Master Password” is the password you use for Streamster.

If you do not add your password at this point, or want to change it at a later point, you can find this option at: “Account Center” > “Platforms” > “MetaTrader” > “MT4 Cabinet” . Then in the “Services” dropdown menu select “Change Password”.

6. Open your MT4 Software. Your Demo Account will automatically be displayed

7. To change to the Live Account – Go to “File” > “Login”

8. Enter your “Account ID” in the “Login” box, and your new password in the “Password” box.
The change the Server from “AGEA-Demo” to ‘AGEA-Live”.

9. Now you can start trading live on MT4. Remember to transfer funds into your MT4 account at “Account Center” > “Funds” > “Transfer Funds”.

To download software

Alternatively you can just click “Get Software” at the top right side of all AGEA pages.

 

7. A pop-up box will appear – Click “Run”.

Now you have access to MT4 and can practice trading on your virtual desk where you have been given $10,000 virtual money to trade with.

Set up your Live Account

Click Here to Open AGEA Account

Click Here to Open AGEA Account

Remember minimum deposits are required for these accounts as follows:

To learn more about which account to choose see our Article “Which MT4 Account”



As long as you have the required deposit, the account will now be added.

Click Here to Open AGEA Account

Now you will have your Account ID (which can be found again in the MT4 Cabinet if needed) and your password.

Click Here to Open AGEA Account

A Disciplined and Organized Approach to Trading in the Stock Market

A Winning Approach to Trading in the Stock Market 

Many traders lose simply out of ignorance. They base their trades on hunches, news, or tips from friends, and do not define specific risk and profit objectives before placing trades.

Others have the merit of educating themselves but fall victims of their emotions. They hold on to losing positions hoping they will turn into winners and sell winners by fear of losing a small gain. They overtrade to fulfill a need for action or by fear of missing out.

The consistent winners follow a winning approach:

• They have a strategy to enter and exit trades
• They use good money management
• They take consistent actions, they follow a trading plan
• They keep good records so they can review their actions
• They avoid overtrading
• They have a winning attitude

A strategy to enter and exit trades

You need to a strategy to put the odds in your favor for each trade you take. Your strategy should be as objective as possible and include the following elements:

• Entry: conditions required before you can enter a trade - may include technical analysis, fundamental analysis, or both.

• Initial stop loss: price at which you will close the entire position if it does not go in your favor. The risk per share is the difference between the entry price and the initial stop.

• Initial price objective: price at which you will take some or all profits if the trade goes in your favor.

• Trade management: set of rules that dictates your actions while a trade is opened. It may include trailing stops, closing position, etc…

For every action you take, the reason should be clearly described in your strategy.

Money management rules to keep losses small

The goal of money management is to ensure your survival by avoiding risks that could take you out of business. Your money management rules should include the following:

• Maximum amount at risk for each trade. The different between your entry price and your initial stop loss is your risk per share. Your maximum amount at risk for each trade determines the share size.

• Maximum amount at risk for all your opened positions.

• Maximum daily and weekly amount lost before you stop trading – avoid trying to trade your way out of a hole after a loosing streaks.

During your learning phase, your goal should be to survive, not to make money. Start with low limits and raise them as you become a consistent winner otherwise you will simply go broke faster.

Good record keeping

Although the process of gaining experience cannot be rushed, it can be made much more efficient by keeping good records of your actions. Good records will allow you to:

• Review your actions at the end of each day to make sure you followed you strategy, not your emotions.

• Learn from your losses – they cost you money, make sure you get the education in return.

You should also keep a journal of your observations.

A trading plan to keep emotions out of your decisions

During trading hours, emotions will turn smart people into idiots. Therefore you have to avoid having to make decisions during those hours. This requires a detailed trading plan that includes your strategy and your money management rules.

For every action you take during trading hours, the reason should not be greed or fear. The reason should be because it is in the plan. With a good plan, your task becomes one of patience and discipline.

You have to follow the plan without exception. Any valid reason for an exception - for example, correcting an oversight - should become part of the plan.

Overtrading

Sometimes the best thing to do is to do nothing. Not trading on those bad days is key to becoming a consistent winner – in some situations it is very tempting to overtrade:

• If you trade to fulfill a need for action, to relieve boredom
• If you can’t find the proper setup but can’t wait
• If you fear you are missing out on a great trade or on a great market
• If you want to make up for losses (revenge)
• If you trade to feel like you are working instead of sitting around. Trading involves a lot of work other than the actual buying and selling.

You should not trade under the following conditions  

• You are not following my trading plan
• You have reached your daily or weekly maximum loss
• You are sick or very tired
• You are very emotional (upset, pressured to make money, self-esteem destroyed)
• You are using new tools you are not completely familiar with
• You need time to work on your trading plan

A winning attitude

Losing traders look for a “sure thing”, hang on hope, and avoid accepting small losses. Their trading is based on emotions. You must treat trading as a probability game in which you don’t need to know what is going to happen next in order to make money. All you need to know is that the odds are in your favor before you put a trade.

If you believe in your edge, which is you believe that the odds in your favor for each trade you enter, then you should have no expectation other than something will happen.

Your attitude will have a direct influence on your trading results:

• Take responsibility for all your actions – don’t blame the market or world events.

• Trade to trade well and for the love of trading, not to trade often and not for the money. The money will come as a result of trading well.

• Don’t be influenced by the opinions of others. Reach your own decisions and follow them.

• Never think that taking money from the market is easy and never assume that you know enough.

• Have no particular expectation when you place a trade because you know that anything can happen.

• Don’t try to guess the future – trading is a game of probabilities.

• Use your head and stay calm – don’t get excited or depressed.

• Handle trading as a serious intellectual pursuit.

• Don’t count how much money you have made or lost while you are in a trade - focus on trading well.

Learn more about the Ten Steps To Profitable Trading, the best trading strategy at http://besttradingstrategy.com