Forex and the Job

So you live in the western part of North America (I trade from Phoenix, Arizona) and you have discovered the power of trading the Forex market. Your passion runs so deep that almost instantly you are convinced that you want to do this full time. You get your requisite training and are ready to trade your live account. Just one problem … the job is keeps getting in the way!

Those of us who live in the Western part of the United States and Canada have a unique challenge when it comes to currency trading. Our time zones are not conducive to trading the European session and our window is small to trade the New York session before we must pack it up and hit the road. The Asian session is perfect timing, but not very active in the currencies rookies tend to focus on first.

I absolutely love trading the European session, but I am wasted the entire day from lack of sleep. I am very selective when I trade with London, because you ALWAYS want to be focused and on top of your game when trading!

Here are some simple recommendations to help you through your transition period.

1. Do Your Homework! This is valid with any trader, but for those of us who have a small window to trade peak hours need to be prepared to take advantage of any pips the market is offering up. This is really not a disadvantage. This can build and nurture a most profitable habit.

2. Go to Bed Earlier! It is very important to get your rest and trading in the Pacific Time zone requires an early wake up call to trade the London-New York overlap session. I awake 4:00 am pacific time to make sure I am awake and prepared when New York opens.

3. Develop a Solid Exercise Plan! I find when I am in decent condition I can get an additional 2 hours more of focused time out of my day. Those two hours I dedicate to making myself a better trader.

4. Find Your Trading Style! Synergize your trading style with your trading session. If you are like me and primarily trade from the 15-minute, 1-hour and 4-hour charts the European and New York sessions are my bread and butter. I use the Asian session to do my homework. If you are a position trader a whole new set of synergies come into play.


5. Be confident in your analysis. When I first started seriously trading currencies and juggling the job I found I had done my homework, planned an entry only to miss it because it occurred while I was in the middle of my mid-morning meeting. I learned very quickly to get comfortable with entry orders.

As you can see from these simple examples that becoming successful in currency trading requires two key elements…

Persistence will allow you to climb the learning curve and learn from your mistakes!
Change of mindset to not allow life to dictate the level of your currency trading success!