On this day of celebration in the United States, I’m kicking back enjoying the day outside with drink in hand. And like any other July 4th weekend I can’t help but reflect back on the history of my country…
Last month (April) was one of the most challenging months of trading for me in a while. Unfortunately, it took me most of last month and part of this month to figure out that I had to re-tool my approach in order for it to start working again. The grueling experienced last month was due to the bad timing – my decision to get aggressive with trading in April and the unfortunate change of market behavior getting weird…
A fellow trader, TraderCisco (his Twitter handle), suggested I write a post on price action trading – also known as “tape reading”.
The term “tape reading” comes from the old ticker tape containing real-time stock prices that used to stream endlessly onto the floor of physical stock exchanges in the early days. This was before the electronic ticker that you now see everywhere from the one hanging above the Big Board’s floor, to television and the mighty NASDAQ market site in Times Square. Traders back in the day used to read this strip of paper streaming out of a ticker tape machine (as pictured in this post’s feature image on my blog’s homepage). Ticker tape now is used to throw around during big VIP parades in New York City along the Canyon of Heroes…dealing with the mess afterwards is a different story.
Obviously, the days of reading stock prices on a narrow piece of paper being spit out by a machine is over. But reading prices, tape reading, lives on in its modern form via Level II screens and/or charts. For the purpose of my post, I will focus on chart reading since true Level II doesn’t exist in the FX markets (FX is a decentralized market with no single order book) and FX is what I trade. Here are what I would consider the five essentials of tape reading with charts:…
Probably one of the best write-ups I’ve seen in a long time describing how retail FX market making works can be accessed here. The article was written by Javier Paz, President of Forex Datasource.
If you ever wondered how how retail FX market makers (like FXCM, GFT, Gain/Forex.com, etc.) make prices and fill trades, this article says it all. I’ve heard a lot of crap over the years from amateurs or those new to trading the FX market who have interesting stories about how market makers screwed their trades. Though it’s possible for a market maker (particularly of a Dealing Desk model – see article for explanation) to routinely “screw” their clients, it’s very unlikely to not possible with external execution (No-Dealing-Desk) models.
The sad truth behind who’s to blame behind so many, “I got screwed by XYZ market maker…
Does having more free time to do what you want and when you want sound good to you? Don’t look back on your life 20, 30, or 40+ years from now just to discover that you’ve been stuck in the same dead-end career for most of your life.
I’ve already taken a step out of the “rat-race” door of what most people mistake for a life. The sad truth is that instead of a life most people we know are just struggling to make a living – physically, emotionally, financially, all-of-the-above.
This is my first of several posts that will focus on my blog’s tagline, “More Fun. Less Stress. The Life.” I know that everyone generally wants to be happy and enjoy life. It’s also safe to say that being able to minimize those things that stress us (more specifically “distress” us) will help us be happier. For many people, the drudgery of their work/professional lives is the biggest stress. Instead, wouldn’t it be great if your biggest stress was trying to decide between lounging around in Maldives or Seychelles for a month? Now that’s the life!
The fastest way to get a more enjoyable and profitable lifestyle…
o have killer instinct? Do you have what it takes to make tough decisions under pressure like a super-spy? If you do, then consider yourself in a minority of the population.
Why do you need to have killer instinct? Maybe you don’t. But if your hope is to pursue highly competitive fields or pursuits then you’ll need some to get ahead. This in part is what helps give me an edge at trading and other entrepreneurial pursuits. The good news is that you can get it if you don’t already have it. Here’s how…
Find ways to get involved with an activity that puts you under mental pressure and forces you to have to make quick decisions in a short period of time. For some people, they already get this exposure through their jobs…unfortunately, for them this is not entirely by choice. Other ways to do this that are much more fun are…
At last, I’m rolling out the revamped version of my blog. Although there are plenty more finishing touches needed, the site structure for the most part is in place and operational – that is…
