Forex Trading Scams.

Don't be a sucker.

One of the first things you must learn about the Forex market is that although it is enjoyable and exciting, there is no magic button that will instantly turn your pennies into millions of dollars. You may have already heard about Forex scams that are filling the marketplace. These companies purposely mislead people into thinking that making money in the Forex is easy and that they have found the “Magic Solution” to raking in booku bucks with a simple click of a button.
Sadly, the number of Forex scams is rising. The Commodities Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) released a report citing that in recent years, they have seen a sharp increase in the rise of Foreign Exchange scams. The CFTC warns consumers to be cautious of sales solicitations in newspapers, radio or television. You’ve probably even seen some of these companies. I hear about them all the time from people whenever I try to explain the Forex. The first thing they say is that they think the Forex is a scam. That makes me so angry! The Forex is a tremendous investment opportunity for people and because of these scammers, they miss out on a good way to make money.
The truth is that no matter how you slice or dice it, education is the only fool proof way to consistently make money in the Foreign Exchange. Even after you finish reading through BabyPips.com, your journey as a FX trader is only the beginning. I have never met a successful Forex trader who stopped learning. There is always something new to learn and you must actively seek out as much information as you can. 

The best investment you can ever make is in yourself.

Don’t spend your money on a company that promises huge returns; even if they show you their track record. It might look pretty and colorful; and I’m sure that the line on the graph that seems to keep going higher and higher makes it look like there is no way you could lose money, but don’t let them fool you. In fact, I could take my broker statement right now, touch it up with Photoshop and voila! – I have now just become the most successful trader on the planet. Pretty impressive huh? I know I’m laying it on pretty thick, but I really want to prevent you from falling into any traps. Instead of giving your hard earned money to someone else, you could put that money aside into a trading account and take the time to educate yourself.
Notice that I didn’t say you should put your money into a trading account and start trading.
Keep that money in your account and gradually add to it as you continue to learn. Before you know it, your account size will be bigger than you realized, and to top it off, you’ll have a wealth of Forex education under your “traders” belt.
So remember, Forex scams DO exist. Be wary of them and hold onto your money. The good news is that there ARE legitimate Forex companies out there. Make sure you do thorough research on a company if you are thinking about giving them a shot. Ask other traders on the forums  if they've had experiences with them. There is a wealth of information on the Internet so do your homework and you’ll be just fine.

Why Have a Trading Plan?

Uh oh! You’ve learned so much and have come so far in your education, and yet you're still haven't graduated high school. No, you’re not dumb, BUT you didn’t have a trading plan.
Our point is that you can fill your mind with plenty of information, but without a good trading plan and the discipline to stick to it, you will NEVER be profitable.
Think of your trading plan as your map to success. It will be a constant reminder of how you will make money in this market. Of course it’s not required, and if you can make your living by trading without a plan, we will bow down and hail you as the Market Zeus of the Forex.
So you CAN trade without a plan if you want, but before you make that decision, let us give you a few reasons WHY you should have one.

Why Have a Trading Plan?

Reason 1: It keeps you in the right direction

Consistency is very important to have in your trading routine because it allows you to truly measure how successful you are as a trader. If you have a sound trading system but always break your rules, how can you ever really know how good your system really is? Your trading plan will keep you on target. Read it every day and stick to it. 

Reason 2: Trading is a business and successful businesses ALWAYS have plans

I have never seen a successful business not start out with a plan.  Do you honestly think Walmart was just created on a whim and then magically became successful?  Or what about McDonalds?  I’m sure almost anyone can make a better hamburger than McDonalds, but the difference between them and the individual is that they have a successful business plan that guides them to success. 
In the same way, you can relate the McDonald’s story to your trading career.  Whether it’s by luck or experience, everyone can make money in the forex. However, the difference between a losing trader and a successful trader is the PLAN.  If you have a good trading plan and you are disciplined enough to stick to it, you will be successful!
Now you know why you should have a trading plan. Let's find out what makes up a trading plan...

What Should be in Your Trading Plan?

Trading Plans can be as simple or complex as you want it, but the most important thing is that you actually HAVE a plan and you FOLLOW the plan. With that said, here are some of the essentials that every trading plan should have.

1. A Trading System

This is the heart of your trading plan. This system should be one that you have thoroughly backtested, and have traded for at least two months on a demo account.
Include all the necessary information about your system such as: time frames you use, criteria for entries and exits, how much you risk during each trade, which currency pair(s) you trade and how many lots you trade.

Example: I am an intraday trader and I trade off of the 10 minute charts. I enter when there is a moving average crossover and all my indicators support the direction. I only trade the EUR/USD and I risk no more than 2% of my account on each trade. For now, I trade 5 mini lots and will increase my lot size according to my 2% money management rules.

2. Your trading routine

This is a crucial part of your plan because it will determine three very important things: when you will analyze the market and plan your trades, when you will actually watch the market to take trades, and when you will evaluate your actions during your trading day.

3. Your mindset

Ask any trader out there and they will all tell you that one of the hardest things to do when trading is to take out your emotions from it. This section of your trading plan will describe what frame of mind you will be in when you are trading.

Example:

• I will see what is on the charts and not what I want to see.
• No matter how biased I am towards a direction, I will make sure to trade only what my eyes see and not what my feelings tell me.
• I will not get “revenge” on the market if I lose on a trade.
• I will not beat myself up if I make a losing trade. Instead I will take it as a learning experience and move on.

4. Your weaknesses

Yes, we all have our weaknesses. We just don’t like talking about them. But ask yourself this, “How will you ever get better, if you don’t admit to what you need to work on?” This section will be an objective way to keep track of things that you need to work on in order to become a better trader.

Example:

• I tend to overtrade. Whenever I lose on a position, I get upset and immediately try to get “revenge” on the market.
• I tend to exit early on trades.
• I don’t stick to the rules of my system every time
• I don’t stick to my money management rules every time

5. Your goals

“To make a lot of money” is not a good goal. Sit down and really think about what you want to accomplish as a trader. Do you want to trade for a living? How much return can you realistically expect from trading based on your knowledge and experience? Your goals don’t even have to be about making money. Maybe you would like to be more disciplined or gain more confidence. These goals can be personal. What do YOU want to get out of this? Use these goals as your motivation when times get tough. These goals will be your vision, and you must always keep your eyes on the prize!

6. Your trading journal

This will be a valuable tool to helping you become a better trader. Make sure you log all your trades and why you took them. Later down the road you can look back and evaluate your trades and see how you are progressing. I’ve looked back at my trade journal and have seen just how much I’ve grown as a trader. My first entries were very basic and as I’ve progressed, my trades make more sense to me now. I’ve gained a lot of confidence throughout my career and by looking back at my trades, I’ve really been able to evaluate myself and see if I am getting closer to my goals. This tool will help you tremendously in the long run, so take a few minutes each day and log your trades. You’ll be happy you did!

Summary of Trading Plans.

Your trading plan will be your trading “bible”. 
Read it everyday and stick to it. 
You can have all the trading tools in the world, but if you don’t have a plan on how you will use them, you will never be successful. 
Remember, you are starting a business, and if you want your business to succeed, you need to have a PLAN!

The history of Forex trading.

Initially, the value of goods was expressed in terms of other goods, i.e. an economy based on barter between individual market participants. The obvious limitations of such a system encouraged establishing more generally accepted means of exchange at a fairly early stage in history, to set a common benchmark of value. In different economies, everything from teeth to feathers to pretty stones has served this purpose, but soon metals, in particular gold and silver, established themselves as an accepted means of payment as well as a reliable storage of value.
Originally, coins were simply minted from the preferred metal, but in stable political regimes the introduction of a paper form of governmental IOUs (I owe you) gained acceptance during the Middle Ages. Such IOUs, often introduced more successfully through force than persuasion were the basis of modern currencies.
Before World War I, most central banks supported their currencies with convertibility to gold. Although paper money could always be exchanged for gold, in reality this did not occur often, fostering the sometimes disastrous notion that there was not necessarily a need for full cover in the central reserves of the government.
At times, the ballooning supply of paper money without gold cover led to devastating inflation and resulting political instability. To protect local national interests, foreign exchange controls were increasingly introduced to prevent market forces from punishing monetary irresponsibility.
In the latter stages of World War II, the Bretton Woods agreement was reached on the initiative of the USA in July 1944. The Bretton Woods Conference rejected John Maynard Keynes suggestion for a new world reserve currency in favor of a system built on the US dollar. Other international institutions such as the IMF, the World Bank and GATT (General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade) were created in the same period as the emerging victors of WW2 searched for a way to avoid the destabilizing monetary crisis which led to the war. The Bretton Woods agreement resulted in a system of fixed exchange rates that partly reinstated the gold standard, fixing the US dollar at USD35/oz and fixing the other main currencies to the dollar - and was intended to be permanent.
The Bretton Woods system came under increasing pressure as national economies moved in different directions during the sixties. A number of realignments kept the system alive for a long time, but eventually Bretton Woods collapsed in the early seventies following president Nixon's suspension of the gold convertibility in August 1971. The dollar was no longer suitable as the sole international currency at a time when it was under severe pressure from increasing US budget and trade deficits.
The following decades have seen foreign exchange trading develop into the largest global market by far. Restrictions on capital flows have been removed in most countries, leaving the market forces free to adjust foreign exchange rates according to their perceived values.
But the idea of fixed exchange rates has by no means died. The EEC (European Economic Community) introduced a new system of fixed exchange rates in 1979, the European Monetary System. This attempt to fix exchange rates met with near extinction in 1992-93, when pent-up economic pressures forced devaluations of a number of weak European currencies. Nevertheless, the quest for currency stability has continued in Europe with the renewed attempt to not only fix currencies but actually replace many of them with the Euro in 2001.
The lack of sustainability in fixed foreign exchange rates gained new relevance with the events in South East Asia in the latter part of 1997, where currency after currency was devalued against the US dollar, leaving other fixed exchange rates, in particular in South America, looking very vulnerable.
But while commercial companies have had to face a much more volatile currency environment in recent years, investors and financial institutions have found a new playground. The size of foreign exchange markets now dwarfs any other investment market by a large factor. It is estimated that more than USD 3,000 billion is traded every day, far more than the world's stock and bond markets combined.