10 Forex Strategy (2-Continue)

Currency Trading Strategy Number 11:
That all said and done, if you entered a trade close to a pivot point,
or a particular significant bar pattern (like a double top, for instance,
or a trendline breakout), place your stop on the other side (but not
too close to) the event that caused you to take action. This is
because price has a tendency to snap back to that situation that
caused it to bolt away from it in the first place. If you follow the 20-
30 pip stop rule, but a 33 pip stop on the other side of that event
would safeguard you against such a reaction, then so much the
better. So, yes the stop rule is 20-30 pips, but within reason of
course.

Currency Trading Strategy Number 12:
Stops (read “stop-loss”) are for insurance purposes only – not
necessarily for taking profits. However, you can most certainly
employ “trailing stops,” whereby you keep moving your stop up (or
down, whichever the case may be) to protect your profits, as price
advances, or declines.
Currency Trading Strategy Number 13:


Only use “reading bars,” MACD divergence, pivot points, and
trendline analysis in your forex trading toolkit. That’s all you need for
this market. Be a technical bigot. Focus on pure technical analysis,
and avoid funnymentals. Even news is factored into price action, soyou don’t need to be up on it each and every nanosecond. If you
don't have my .pdf file on reading bars, please send me an e-mail,
and I'll forward it to you: prbain@tradingsmarts.com As was pointed
out to me by a client, "reading bars" includes spotting double, or
even triple, tops and bottoms.

Currency Trading Strategy Number 14:
And now for the tough part. I know my documentation says that the
forecast low and high for the next trading session can be M1/M3 or
M2/M4. However, trading is shades of gray. It is not a black and
white business. If it were, the world would be paved in gold, and
everybody would be rich. Now, we wouldn’t want that would we? The
forex would be nothing more than a Church at the end of a road
connected to a river bank at the other end with nothing in between.
The point I am trying to make is that the “actual” low and high for
the next session could very well be any combination of M1, M2, M3,
and M4. It could be M1/M4, M2/M3, or combinations of the other five
pivot points. The M1/M3 and M2/M4 calculations are just guideposts,
but are not poured in concrete. Price is the number one indicator. It
will determine what the low and high are going to be. And one other
thing, you should use these forecasts in conjunction with the other
three “tools” in your forex trading toolkit – “reading bars,” MACD
divergence, and trendline analysis. In other words, if price has been
trending down from the past session into the current one, price is
trading at, say, M3, and price is still going down, then M3 may very
well be the high for the new session, regardless of the fact that my
system may have called for M4 to be the high. So, use the pivot
points in conjunction with other three possible signals – “reading
bars,” MACD divergence, and trendline analysis. I have seen it
happen, as in the example just given, where price was trending down
from one session to the next right through M3 at the open of the
next session – simultaneous with the formation of a “double top” bar
pattern. Well, there you have three indications that price was headed
south for sure. And, I believe MACD was also trending down in that
particular case. So, that was another clue that the high for the
session had probably already been put in.

Currency Trading Strategy Number 15:
When you are first starting out, pick one currency of the four major
pairs (EUR/USD, USD/JPY, GBP/USD, and USD/CHF) to trade, and
become a specialist in it. I would personally recommend the Euro,
especially if you are going to be asking me questions, as that's what
I focus on with my clients around the world. Get to know its rhythm.
When you are doing well with it, then move on, and trade the other
three major pairs, as you see fit. When you are in learning mode,
you will have your hands full trying to figure out what to look for,
and how to manage your trades – enough so that you don't want to
be skipping back and forth between currencies.

Currency Trading Strategy Number 16:
Keep a log of all your trades – both good and bad. Analyze where
you went right and wrong, and vow not to repeat those situations

that could have been done better. This is all part of being organized
as a "professional" trader - with good habits. This is not about gunslinging
and winging it with "Hail Mary" passes.

Currency Trading Strategy Number 17:
Important point here: If price action opens in the upper end of the
projected range for the session (all the way up to R2, and beyond) –
in other words, in the sell area (that area above the central pivot
point) – and there are other suggestions that price is too high (such
as a particular bar reading, MACD divergence, or trendline breakout),
then price has probably achieved the upper end of its price range for
the session. The same holds true where price action opens in the
lower end of the projected range for the session (all the way down to
S2, and beyond) – in other words, in the buy area (that area below
the central pivot point) – and there are other suggestions that price
is too low (such as a particular bar reading, MACD divergence, or
trendline breakout), then price has probably achieved the lower end
of its price range for the session.

Currency Trading Strategy Number 18:
If there is nothing to do, then don't do it. Don't just do something
because your "gut" tells you to. That can get you in a lot of trouble in
this business. Only react to bona fide signals provided by the four
indicators talked about above – "reading bars," MACD divergence,
pivot points, and trendline analysis.

Currency Trading Strategy Number 19:
Only use an "industrial strength" market maker with the lowest pip
spread in the industry. If you would like more information on this,
please send me an e-mail: prbain@tradingsmarts.com

Currency Trading Strategy Number 20:
Occasionally, you will see a huge spike up in price, as we did 11 May
03. This just happened to be on a Sunday, shortly after recommencement
of trading, after the weekend respite. Ordinarily, I
would take the OHLC numbers from Friday, but given the nature of
the wild swing up that evening on one of the 15 min bars, I would
then use the OHLC numbers from Sunday night's session close to get
a better reading on support and resistance levels for the next
session. This is, of course, if you are using a market maker that
delineates its break between trading sessions in the late evening -
anywhere between 20:59:50 and 24:00 (midnight).

Currency Trading Strategy Number 21:
I often get asked by fellow traders why my pivot points aren't the
same as theirs. Good question. The answer is, of course, that you
may be using a different market maker, where a daily 24-hour
session is "cut off" at a different time. Some end at 20:59:50. Others
at five pm. Where you take your OHLC from will have a direct
bearing on the pivot points that you calculate using my program. Theresults will obviously not be the same. But, that is okay – because
you want to use the pivot point calculations that are reflective of the
last 24 hours at the market maker you are trading with. That way,
the resulting numbers will be truly indicative of the support and
resistance levels you should be working with during the next session.
If you are trading with a firm that cuts off at 5 pm, and using OHLC
figures from another source that cuts off at a different time, your
figures will be "out-of-sync." I hope this all makes sense. If not,
please send me an e-mail: prbain@tradingsmarts.com Also, in your
message, you can ask me how to get a copy of my program, if you
don't already have one. You can also ask me where you should be
trading – i.e., which market maker you should be using. I only
recommend "select" providers, after considerable research, and
feedback from my clients.