These are very troubled times in the global financial markets, but does this mean that it is a bad time to trade the foreign exchange market?
About a year ago when the U S dollar was in free fall against a basket of currencies, Warren Buffett announced that he had great faith in the long term strength of his national currency and he made a very large purchase of the U S dollar.
At this moment in time, when markets are diving and previously strong currencies are dropping like a brick, the U S dollar has shrugged off the overall state of the economy and is gaining strength – Just as Warren Buffett predicted.
How did he know?
In times of turmoil and financial depression there are always those few who do rather well. So what is their secret?
In the book – The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams – one of the central characters is a researcher for that guide, and he states that one of the things that has made the guide so popular is that emblazoned on the front cover are the reassuring words:- DON’T PANIC
I would suggest that these words would apply equally to all forex traders at present.
The reason that there are a few who succeed when chaos is all around is that amongst other things, they understand the need to not panic. They know that there will still be opportunities, but unlike during the “good times” those opportunities need to be watched and waited for. They also understand that this will not be a good time to make rash decisions. High probability trades will still be available, but there may be fewer of them.
When trading the forex, there are a galaxy of trading methods and instruments to call upon. What worked well for you in the past may continue to work – if you have the control to watch and wait for the right moment, but this will not be a good time for those traders that like to “jump right in”
Warren Buffett states that when he sees everyone getting out of something, that is the very time that he likes to get in. This is a classic case of DON’T PANIC.
I should add here that although getting in as everyone else is getting out has obviously worked extremely well for Warren Buffett, do bear in mind that he does have “very deep pockets” which allows him to “buy and hold”.
Even in these turbulent times the age old adage “the trend is your friend” still holds true – albeit that the trends may be of somewhat shorter duration than we may have become used to. Perhaps a better adage would be “the short term trend is your friend.
As I have stated, although we are in the early stages of very turbulent trading times which I suspect will get worse before they get better, this is a good time to learn not to panic.
Take time to review your trading method or system and ensure that it is a suitable method for turbulent market conditions.
If necessary add some additional filters to smooth out some of the turbulent action.
Be prepared to spend time adjusting your trading system to the current market conditions and to spend time demo trading to test any adjustments that you may make to your trading system. It would be very unwise to test any alterations that you have made to your trading system in a live account.
For some, this volatile period will be a very profitable time. Make sure that you are one of them.
Martin Bottomley is a full time professional forex trader, acknowledged author, forex tutor and co-developer of forex trading software including The Amazing Stealth Forex Trading system.
You will find more information at: http://www.stealthforex.com
