Articles

When you start out trading, it feels exciting. It has no semblance of work in your mind. Illusionary, you imagine you’ve finally found something that will afford you the independence you’ve so much hankered for and are on your way to the ideal dream world you’ve always craved. Don’t get me wrong, this is absolutely possible but it takes more than what you think.   Some will even excitedly but naively quit their jobs in the hopes of racking in millions of easy monies. Unbeknownst to them, Forex trading is just like any other professional occupation that requires hours of dedication, study, and practice for it to work. It demands the same amount of commitment if not even more. Everything else that tends to paint a contradictory picture to this assertion is just a fancifully dream believe me.   It’s laughable that with every tick as a newbie you’re counting pips and dollars and envisioning travels, cars, properties, and thinking shortly anything you desire will be just a command away.   At this stage, without realizing it, you’re actually trading for the sheer excitement. You think you’re running an ATM. The mindset hasn’t factored into itself the business aspect. At…… Read More

In trading currencies, we are dealing with a financial product. The movement of this product is dictated by differences in supply and demand.  And these two are influenced by underlying external fundamental factors. These fundamental factors are mostly economic, usually represented in the form of financial/economic data reports; however these factors could also be political and geopolitical events as well as natural phenomena such factors will move the price of one currency against another in the context of a currency pair.   The state of the economy is usually described in financial reports which analysts study to predict price reaction and currency value in relation to other currencies. As such, for analytical purposes, analysts are interested in the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), level of interest in the economy, unemployment, inflation, Balance of Payments (BOP), political stability, budgetary deficits, and public debt reports. It is the analysis of these factors that’s referred to as Fundamental Analysis.   Fundamental analysis in general terms is the examination of the economic factors that determine currency rates on the Forex market. A combination of all external factors that can influence a currency or a currency pair are taken into account and used as a basis…… Read More

This is a report published weekly by the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). Big market players are required to submit reports of their contracts positions in the futures market. It’s published every Friday and is composed of data that is submitted to the CFTC on Tuesday. The goal of this report is to provide transparency to the futures market and prevent price manipulation.   The markets move by the amount of supply vs demand of institutions and this report gives us a sneak-peek into the intentions of these institutions in the sense of what they have just been doing or are currently doing and may continue to be doing for a while, enabling us to trade with smart money. Understanding this data prepares us for potential reversals and continuations as well as major price moves and better positions us to take advantage of them.   Despite the fundamentals that move the market, this is the real deal that gives you the edge you need in the markets. These smart money traders know better than mere fundamentals. What fundamentals do is to create volatility in the market but the smart money guys already know ahead of time certain likely outcomes…… Read More

The Fibonacci levels are points on a chart represented by horizontal lines which indicate potential price turning points. This retracement tool is fairly predictive in determining areas of possible future price turns once one has current levels of the most recent price turns in the form of swing highs and lows. Retracements are temporary reversals in price movements after impulsive moves in one direction to a gentle move in the other. They come after price has been mostly trending in one direction. When such a move is interrupted by a minor or temporary move in the opposite direction, such price change is what is know as price retracement.  This retracement could be with single colour candlesticks (which I’ll refer to as smooth retracement) or mixed (which I’ll call corrective). The mixed candlesticks are in a wavelike pattern with price creating a series of lower lows and lower highs in the case of a previous impulsive bullish move, and higher highs and higher lows in the case of a previous strong bearish impulsive movement.   The candles in a retracement are usually smaller than those in an impulsive move. As price retraces, the retracement is either a smooth one with single…… Read More

There are not so many businesses like trading forex. It’s such a wonderful business. I mean, just think about it: No boss to answer to, no accountability to worry about, no workers to spend on, no shifts to rush to, you work when you only choose to, you set your own targets, the freedom to work from wherever you want including the comfort of your bed, and oh the independence that comes with it. But wait, it’s actually business! And like any business undertaking, you must know what you are doing if you are to have any chance of success. Besides, you must put in the work before all the above is reality. Forex trading, as in any business endeavour, is not without challenges. There’s a danger of losing some or even all your investment due to bad trading habits. A lot of dedication, commitment, focus and practice goes into it before any level of success. Then there’s a need to work on self for all the work put in to pay off. This work is a bunch of a few little secrets that professionals hold and practice on a daily basis to become what they are.   Truthfully, there’s…… Read More

Trading the financial markets is not a walk in the park. It’s not an easy road for one to walk alone. It’s easy to get lost in the midst of indicators, strategies, systems, signals, robots, books, and everything sold on the internet in the name of forex.  There is a lot of great content on the internet that is available for free that one can make use as a resource to learn how to trade the forex market. You don't necessarily need a mentor.  The mentor's role is to help join the pieces  of all those resources and make sense of it so it can be translated into actual trading. In otherwords, they help shorten and quicken your learning journey   Having a coach to train you and a mentor to guide your walk can be the difference between success and failure for many.  They help sharpen your skill  by straightening what would have been ups and downs and trials and errors by lending you their valuable trading experience. Make use of every opportunity to gain from their experience. The easiest way to learn is by asking. Learning from your own experience is good, but be sure of the pains…… Read More

The forex market is an extremely big market that attracts people from all walks of life to get a share of its pie. With over six trillion traded daily, the lure of making money from it is high and this has brought about a number of participants who spot gaps in the industry and make opportunities out of them for profit without necessarily trading themselves.   This includes all sorts of coaches and mentors, market analysts, forex books authors, sales people with multi-level marketing modules, forex brokers, and of course the players themselves – the forex brokers. The most important makeup of these groups can be easily identified out as the market players who are the traders, and the brokers who are the facilitators of the online trading through their trading platforms.   Since you’re the trader, you know yourself better and don’t need discussion. All you need is a working strategy tested over time and proven to make money, trading discipline (good market psychology) and a trading plan.   However, even with all these, its not enough to ensure your profitability in trading. All individual traders must trade through a broker. This is the other piece of your trading…… Read More

Anything Of Worth Follows After A Plan Professionals like building engineers, surgeons, athletes, etc. all have plans they follow to ensure success in their plied trades. For example, an engineers at a construction site will not build anything unless there’s a plan that guides him on what exactly to do, where and how. Remember he’s a professional who knows his work yet without a plan the chances of success are slim to none as everything would be random. He needs to know the purpose of the building to be able to think for and advise the owner on what might be missing in the plan, and know what exactly to do. Their goal is the completed structure that suits the purpose for which its built. But the plan is their roadmap to the reality of the goal.   Doctors are no different. When it comes to surgeries, they must have a plan that guides their procedures to perfection. They know where to start, how much anesthesia is needed, how deep they should go, how much blood they’ll need, when to put the patient on oxygen, how to deal with critical moments and emergencies. They carry the necessary tools to the…… Read More

The forex market is the global interbank market where all currencies are traded. It’s just like any other market with real people buying and selling, only that there is no need for face to face exchange or need to move to the market place as everything is done online through platforms provided by brokers. It may sound complex, and indeed it is, yet we at Forex School Uganda will make it extremely easy for anyone interested in trading the financial markets through extremely teaching that anyone hearing about Forex trading for the first time will be able to trade it. Of course its not immediately, but our proprietary teaching methods and markets approach when learnt and applied will discipline will turn any newbie into a professional in record time.   The forex market is the largest of all financial markets. Its worth about to 3times bigger than the global GDP, with about $6 trillion traded every trading day in spot transactions.   What is FOREX?     The word FOREX a short form for Foreign Exchange. Forex as a trade or forex trading is the exchanging of one currency for another. Think of it in terms of you visiting a…… Read More

There are lots of business endeavors that one can engage themselves in as an entrepreneur. It might be Services, Microfinance, Restaurant and Bakery, Retail and Online store, Medical and Health Care, Manufacturing, Bar and Nightclub, Wholesale and Distributor, Real Estate, or maybe Construction and Engineering. It could also be Nonprofit. It's a fascinating look into the types of businesses most of us dream of starting, and how those dreams have changed over time. There’s so much one can do given exposure, training, and skill to help them learn the art of a particular business. Are you dreaming of starting a business and wondering what kind it should be? We can't answer that, but we can tell you of one we know best and the advantages we think it has over the others. Its Spot Foreign Exchange trading, commonly known as Forex Trading.   Forex trading, is the concurrent buying of one currency while selling another. It’s based on the movements of a set of currencies that are sold in currency pairs, where one currency is the base and the other is the counter or quote currency. It also puts the currencies in terms of one currency’s supply compared to the other currency’s…… Read More

If there was just one thing you had to learn, a single secret about forex trading before joining the trading business; if it had to be that one thing, the holy grail that would guarantee you profitability, success and longevity, this would have to be it. I call it the forex trading jackpot. So free yourself from all distractions and carefully attentively read this piece. It might be the make or break to your trading career, the secret to the success you have for long sought – the ‘holy grail’.   Holy Grail There is an increased chance of losing money when trading in high-risk markets, including commodities and forex. This is because these markets are highly liquid and volatile, and are affected by a number of internal and external factors, including economic indicators. Being well aware of this fact, many scammers masquerading as gurus have created many websites selling very promising indicators and trading systems supposedly to help traders circumvent these risks and make obscene gains. They show you account histories with how much they make per day, the cars they have bought out of their holy grail systems, expensive mansions, and all sorts of dreams. Multitudes are lured…… Read More

It’s a known fact that the best time to trade in stocks is around the opening and closing hours because the market is the most volatile at that time. The middle hours of are mostly avoided as prices are slower and kind of flat. Trading tends to slow down during lunch hours making trades take longer to complete. That’s a stock market fact, but how is it with forex trading?   Although the forex market is open throughout the day, it tends to be more active during particular sessions. The spreads are especially tighter when two markets in different geographic locations overlap each other. During this overlap the volume of trades in the market is high and volatility increases resultantly. Its ideally the best time for trading especially for the intra-day traders. Important to note though, this increase in volume caused by increased activities owing to more traders entering the markets from either end of the trading world are generally confined to the currencies found in both locations where the overlap happens.  Every kind of trader is attracted to the markets during the overlap period because the increased volume and high volatility provides the best opportunity to profit.   Market…… Read More

A Stop-Loss Order is an order placed with a broker after a trade entry that automatically closes a losing position once the market reaches a particular price within the trader's risk profile. It is designed to limit a trader’s loss on a position. It is a defensive mechanism that can be initiated to protect an order against deeper losses, including margin calls or account blowouts. It can be mental or automatic/hard.   A mental stop is one where a trader closes out a trade manually once price moves to a certain level. With a mental stop, a trader may have a price in mind, but really does not take action until they see their stop price reached but may or may not follow their trade exit rule. While an automatic stop is one that’s present and entered. They always follow the market and will close your trade almost guaranteed at the pre-specified price, preventing heavy losses on a losing position.   Many traders trade without hard stops for fear of stop hunters going after their stops. Much as stop hunting could be real, much of what's thought to be stop hunting is actually slippage and tends to hurt lower timeframe…… Read More

When it comes to trading the forex markets, we have experienced quite a vast array of conditions. While there are a lot of people out there telling of untold riches awaiting you every week, the reality is that the markets move at their own pace, and this is something we need to keep in mind as traders.   Our Trading Niche So we decided the best way to trade was swing trading, and much as we day trade  as well  we have conveniently incorporated aspects of swing trading in in our day trading as well. So whether we are day trading or swing trading, our mindset and approach to the financial markets is the same   The markets were here before you were, they’ll still be here long after you’re gone. So slow down. The market players are categorized as ‘Bulls’ and ‘Bears’. These two can be raging animals. And when you decide to get involved with the markets, these are the two ‘animals’ you’re coming to deal with.   Don't Be A Statistic Ever heard of the failure rate of all new traders be 90%? Ever wondered why this reality? They were ‘knocked out’ by either animal or a…… Read More

An order is an offer sent to from a trader through the broker using the brokers trading platform to effect a transaction of buying or selling a currency or index or commodity or stock at a specified price. The broker of course earns a commission on effecting these orders in the form of spreads. These orders are about trade entries and exits. They are in form of Market orders and Pending orders.   Market Order    This is an order to instantly execute a buy or sell at the current market price. A trader executes this trade by the click of the mouse on the buy or sell button after determining the position size, risk and target. This order may be entered by the broker at the request of the trader at either a higher or lower price than requested depending on the volatility in the markets as the best available price.   Pending Order A pending order is an instruction placed by a trader with a broker using the broker’s platform to          either buy or sell an instrument at a later time at a specified desired price. So the price is predetermined. Pending orders are…… Read More

When you understand supply and demand and learn how to blend it with price action and the interpretation of market stages and structure in deciding trades, you’ll have a better edge in the market. Wherever there’s anything to do with buying and selling, it’s all about demand and supply, nothing else. You can’t buy what’s not availed. And you can’t sell what is not demanded.   Demand and supply is what moves prices in the market. If you’ve done a bit of economics you must have come across the saying “the higher the demand the higher the price” or “the higher the price the lower the demand”. Higher demand drains the supplies on the market quicker leading to the rise in prices born out of scarcity. Simple concept, isn’t it?   When supply is less on the market, there’s an imbalance between supply and demand as demand becomes significantly greater than what’s supplied. This drives prices through the roof as buyers scramble to get a piece of what is scarce. The reverse is true. When there’s more supply than demand, prices tank as sellers seek to entice buyers with attractive prices.   Buyers Vs Sellers This is exactly what happens…… Read More

    The kind of trader you become is defined by the kind of trading you do based on what time frames you trade, your trading style, and the duration of your trades in the markets. There’re numerous participants in the forex markets that include Centrals banks, Investment and Commercial banks, institutional traders like hedge funds, and Retail traders who are private individuals like you and I. The style of trading by each of these differs depending on their risk appetite, patience levels, trading plans, strategies and trading goals.         Scalpers These are ‘hit and run’ traders. They’re in the markets for a few seconds to at best a few minutes. They look to take advantage of quick small price fluctuations. Such trading is so intense and requires one to be on the screen the entirety of the period their trade is running to be able to manage it. This is because their trades based on the price reactions in the lower timeframes and so are usually traded with big position sizes, which could be fatal should there be erratic price movements against such positions and so need to be on the screen to manually manage them.…… Read More

I believe that everyone is born unique but unfortunately through the years we work very hard to be like everyone else - a supervisor, a manager, a director, name all the enviable titles that make us feel like we are 'somebody' or have got 'somewhere' as though we weren’t before. These no doubt help our egos and perhaps raise our esteem, but many times they alienate us from our truest potential and turn us into the most distant strangers to our own life’s purpose and calling. As such, we end up conforming to society’s so-called “common-sense.” Unfortunately, it is just that – “common sense”. That does not mean its “good sense.”   There will be times along your journey of life towards your desired goal when you will be faced with extremely tough decisions to make, decisions like giving up your career to pursue your dream.  Such times will make your mind scream for fear, tremble at the unknown, and will make you reconsider your ability to accomplish your dream. They will make you come up with excuses to procrastinate. They will make you feel hopeless, powerless, and frustrated. They’ll make you doubt your reasoning, present imaginary pending disaster in your…… Read More

Experience Beats Skill This year marks the 10th year since I was first involved with the currency markets. It’s been an eventful journey. My first year was characterized by a series of losses and a blown account and extremely valuable lessons I wish someone had taught me when I first started.   I was introduced to forex trading and without any knowledge of it, I quickly invested money in a brokerage account and started trading with no rules, strategy or trading plan. In no time, I had quickly ‘gambled’ it away. After other hard knocks, I almost gave up trading thinking those that made it were either extremely lucky or had something I might never have.   That first year was a pain I would never desire another to go through, and that’s what Forex School Uganda is about. Only passion kept me around the markets. It was a bitter sweet experience that started my immediate and urgent quest for professional knowledge that would see me spend days devouring almost every forex book I came across which quickly turned into thousands of hours of study, practice and mentorship.   I tried almost every strategy I read about and tested them…… Read More