Posted: 21 Jul 2010 10:19 PM PDT

Guest post from visionsofaffluence.com

So you've made a couple of bad decisions and took some hard losses, and now you hesitate and let trades go that under normal circumstances you would have taken. This is no way for a trader to behave. In order to be successful you are going to have to develop the proper mindset. Losses are not the end of the world instead you should use them as opportunities for you to learn and grow as a trader. After all sometimes you have to lose a couple battles to win the war.

And that's kind of what trading is. Every time you open up your software and start looking for trades you are entering into a battle with traders all over the world that want nothing more than to take money from your account and deposit it into theirs. A trader's sole mission is to put more money in their account than they had when they started trading and the only way they can do this is to take it out of someone else's. Professional traders are ruthless and quick and when they see an opportunity for profit they will jump on it like wolves on a lamb. If you think that analogy is a little extreme I assure you its not. If you want to beat these traders or at the very least join them in the hunt then you are going to have to get over your fear of losing and just trade. You think the best traders in the world don't lose, well they do but the difference is that they accept it as a part of doing business and quickly move on. They learn whatever lesson the loss taught them and they keep trading, and if you want to be a successful trader then you need to learn to do the same.

If you want to discover what it takes to be able to trade for a living? Then visit visionsofaffluence.com

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Forex Daily Outlook – July 22 2010

Posted: 21 Jul 2010 02:00 PM PDT

U.S. Unemployment Claims and Existing Home Sales release followed by Chairman Ben Bernanke’s testimony before the Senate Banking Committee in Washington and Europe’s Industrial New Orders make the headlines. Here is a glimpse on today’s market moving events.

In the US, US Unemployment Claims, a weekly major indicator of economic health, and an early indicator for the Non-Farm Payrolls, expected to rise back to 453K following the previous dip to 429K.

More in the US, American Existing Home Sales is another leading indicator of economic health expected to continue decreasing from 5.66 to 5.15 million following last month’s dip.

Finally in the US, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke continues his testimony before the Senate Banking Committee in Washington.

In Canada, BOC Monetary Policy Report is released providing valuable insight into the bank’s view of economic conditions and inflation followed by a Press Conference where valuable information could be revealed.

More in Canada, Core Retail Sales forecasted 0.5% rise following the 1.2% drop in the previous month indicating improvement in market activity. Retail Sales including Automobile sales are expected the same 0.5% rise following 2.0% decrease in the previous month.

For more on USD/CAD, read the Canadian dollar forecast.

In Europe, European Industrial New Orders an extensive release for the whole region, a small drop of 0.1% is expected following a three month rise.

More in Europe, French Flash Manufacturing PMI continues the positive growth trend despite a small drop to 54.1 points foreseen now and the French Flash Services PMI is expected to reach 60.0 points very close to last month 60.8 points. German Flash Manufacturing PMI also expected a modest drop from 58.4 to 58.0 points and German Flash Services PMI forecasted to reach 54.6 points following 54.8 in June, nevertheless, these figures still point to economic expansion.

Finally in Europe, the continent’s Flash Manufacturing PMI expected to reach 55.2 points – 0.4 less than in June and Flash Services PMI forecasted 55.0 points 0.5 points weaker than in June.

For more on the Euro, read the EUR/USD forecast and Casey Stubbs' latest analysis.

In Great Britain, Retail Sales expected another 0.5% rise following the 0.6% rise in the previous month, certainly encouraging news for the British market.

Read more about the Pound in the GBP/USD forecast.

In Australia, National Australia Bank Quarterly Business Confidence, a leading indicator of economic health, has been rising in the past three months and is expected to do so again.

For more on the Aussie, read the AUD/USD forecast.

That’s it for today. Happy forex trading!

Want to see what other traders are doing in real accounts? Check out Currensee. It's free.

Transparent Forex Leaders – Making Forex More Mainstream

Posted: 21 Jul 2010 06:52 AM PDT

Not all investors want to actively trade. Some want to put trust in known, reputable traders that they can follow. In the fifth article in the series about making forex more mainstream, this option is examined.

In stocks, many investors don’t trade actively. The put their money with a some kind of trust fund and hope for it to succeed. Some of them do a more serious research about the reputation of the funds’ managers, success rate and level risk. Some just get a tip from a friend or go with their guts. In any case, they have a significant level of trust in this investment fund, and they can leave their money there for years. As far as I know, there’s no such thing in forex trading.

The bigger investors go for another option, that does exist in forex: managed accounts. When depositing big sums, an account manager will personally manage client’s funds according to personalized preferences. Forex managed accounts exist, but it isn’t a common way of investment. Most people who are into forex, trade by themselves.

Best Forex Trader

Apart from having forex managed accounts become a more accessible option for investors, we need to have easier solutions for small traders. A solution can take the shape of having successful forex traders expose their real trades and let others follow their actions. There are are already a few initiatives in this direction: Currensee, FXBees and others are in different stages of such solutions.

This is a good direction, but these things are still in their infancy. How can you tell? Well, can you point your finger on the 5 best forex traders? Not yet. When you think of a successful forex trader, the first name that comes to mind is George Soros. This famous investor is famous (or infamous) for making huge moves against the British Pound and cashing in on it. Unfortunately, we can see Mr. Soros’ moves by reading the news only after his moves are complete.

We need normal forex traders, which can lose money, but that all-in-all are successful and transparent – seeing their actions and understanding their methods. Being able to follow such traders in real time and having long-term positive yields, will sure make the forex industry more mature. The industry needs to open its doors to a new specie of forex enthusiasts – forex investors who don’t want to be actively involved in the industry – people who want to put their trust in known and transparent figures.

This is the fourth article in a series about the road of forex to the mainstream. Previous articles:

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