Money Shots

OK first apologies for the delay in getting this post out. Basically money management is to do with percentages. You may think that having a £1000 to invest is great, stop right there if you invest that much you will be overconfident and take risks. A few hundred to open an account is fine less if possible. Stake amounts at the lowest you can, if you are going to use the I G INdex account then you can start with very small stakes, take advantage of this. Otherwise one to two pounds or dollars per pip is usually the lowest so stay to that. This will concentrate your mind. Stop loss set at 10 to 15 pips for safety and if you set it at 10 remeber if it goes into a loss get out before 8 pips , if you set it at 15 then get out before it hits 10 pips. If you are on a dial up system then set limits to between 5 and ten pips for safety reasons but otherwise leave the limits alone if you go into profit, try to keep your head and dont get too greedy, grab a profit as soon as you can and get out. Only when you can do all this confidently and calmly are you safe to progress and stay in longer. Will say more about that in a future post. So quick recap : get on computer and online at least 15 mins before an announcement that will affect the GBP/USD or EUR/USD get charts of them up set the charts to candlesticks and 3mins make sure all is working ok, and about 5 mins before click on the deal button and go to the tab for setting up order and set limits and stop loss etc as instructed and go by the rough figure at that time , wait for announcement see if you go live . Remember to set up buy order on GBP/USD and a sell order on EUR/USD, try and stay calm. Wait about five mins after announcement if it still hasnt triggered cancel them , dont be despondant there are plenty more orders and days to play. DO NOT EVEN THINK ABOUT PLAYING LIVE ! Ok you can start on this strategy now in my next post will go through it all in a bit more detail. This is a good strategy to learn on. If you are still a bit unsure my next post will go through the whole process in detail so wait for that if you are a bit unsure. The reason this is a good strategy to learn on is that you have to do a lot of focusing and it makes you concentrate and all this builds confidence in dealing and you will quickly start making pip = profits but do go carefull. When i started i did well then got overconfident and made big losses but this strategy can soon get you making cash again and gets you to focus. Take care and will try and get a detailed step by step account of all this before next week. PLEASE PLEASE read through all my previous posts to get an idea and feel for all this.

(8) Taking Stock

Ok i hope you have read and taken on board all that i have said in previous posts 1 to 7, if not please go back and read them all through ! I have put up a link to the Wikipedia entry on Forex where it goes into great detail. Please go there and read it then come back here. You will need a valid email address, so set one up and i advise you use that exclusiveyl for you forex trading and related stuff. You will need to sign up with an online trading company. Now before you rush out and do that, please wait. My advice is to use IGIndex because they have a very tight spread and the site works well if you are in the UK go to the UK site anywhere else in the world go to the other site they are both in the links. BEFORE you sign up for an account remember they will ask you for details of who you are and where you live they will check you are registered at that address. Also please note they are unlikely to give an account to someone who is unemployed or has very little money, now they cant really check this out, but for instance they would like to see you had some savings and at least average wages or a little more than that so be aware of this when you fill in online application forms! IGIndex is good for another reason they offer a starters guide - sign up for it when you apply this will give your several weeks to place bids at very small amounts, please take advantage of this. The first strategy system i will be going into with you revolves around the GBP/USD and the EUR/USD later you can refine the system if you like or alter what pairs you play but for now use these they are widely traded and come up on first page so you wont even have to look for them. The first strategy consists of you getting online at least 15mins before an announcement checking your computer is working ok and online connection is fine athe time is right and the charts are all coming up and you have at least tried to get in the right frame of mind, then you will about five minutes before announcements you will set up two orders. But before that you need to know a bit about money management. So please wait till i have gone through all that before you sign up, but please read through my previous posts and go to the links and check info and familiarise yourself with sites etc and how they work. I will also talk to you baout stop losses limits and setting up the charts, and some more mental and emotional stuff to get you in the zone. Till next post then, take care. This pic is supposed to show a reflective mood, please read all i have said so far and reflect on it ASAP.

(7) Taking a Chance !

This post could have been called the difference between gambling and setting odds in your favour, but it seemed a bit long. Or you could say gambling is like being taken for a ride, whereas the techniques here is like taking control of a slippery situation! I do hope you are appreciating the pictures, they are not random. This one is the remarkable Brad Patton one shot he is being 'Taken for a Ride' and in the other pic he is 'Taking Control of a Slippery Situation'. Now gambling is being taken for a ride really, but just like we see here it can be a very pleasureable experience! Getting stiffed can give you a stiff! Personally i do like to gamble a bit, if you have ever had a problem with drinking steer clear of drink if you gamble away all your money steer clear of gambling but if like me you like a flutter then keep within your limits and enjoy it. When we play the Forex, like ice skating you have got to learn the tricks of staying still, moving fast or slow, cutting your losses when the risks are too great, turning, twisting and going with the flow,etc, you have got to learn that you can do this and enjoy this and it is not such a risk as it looks to the observers. Gambling is playing the lottery, which i enjoy doing, buy a ticket and enjoy the thrill of seeing if a number comes up. By the way only ever buy one lottery ticket per draw as statistically it is pointless to buy more unless you buy around 20,000 tickets only then do you really start to improve your chances of winning big, so just buy one ticket per draw on any one lottery you do - do the maths you will see i am right ! There are in fact over 50 big lotteries worldwide, i play most of them with a ticket and rarely win anything but love it anyway. If you live in UK you can buy Premium Bonds (check the Links) - here you keep your stake and instead of earning interest, the interest is paid out as winnings for lucky bonds that are drawn randomly - again i love this. In UK there are funny betting laws, the advantage is that all gains from winnings are tax free the downside is that if a betting firm takes your bet they cannot be forced to pay you your winnings! I use betfair online as everyone is online putting their money there on what they are betting on, say a race to win or even to lose etc, so if you do win you do get your money, i like this also you can work out your own strategies and play them if you like, so if you have figured out a system give it a try online. The advantage of all this is that there are various forms of chance taking and mainly gambling, but when we play the Forex it must be approached seriously like any other job you are not being stiffed for fun you are skating on ice! The advantage of Forex trading is that for tax purposes in UK all profits are tax free but also you are covered if you use a trading/spread betting company authorised and regulated by the FSA (Financial Services Authority). But hey getting stiffed can be fun just regulate what you are doing, i always find that if i gamble a little and paly lotteries it fixes in my mind that that is gambling and when i play the Forex it is a serious business i go about it in a very different way!

(6) Times and Calendars

This is a short post but important. In the financial markets world all announcements are given in GMT (Greenwich Mean Time) so you need to get used to what that means to you and find the announcements. I will give you three sites you can find anouncements that affect the Forex markets. These sort of site are very busy with tens of thousands of people tuning in to them so sometimes the pages get overloaded and also they are kept up to date, so when you go to them they will not always show, so that is why i am giving you the three i use so if one is down look at oneof the others for info. The FXStreet.com - this is good as it lists the GMT and other major cities near top of listing, ForexFactory.com - this gives very accurate times to expect announcements, and finally DailyFX.com , they are all pretty good with up to date info. By the way ignore all the details on the right it really is a lot of guesswork on their part and not relevant to the strategies i will be telling you about, if at some future date you make a lot of money and go on an advanced course you may learn to use it then, but i wont be going into that sort of detail here. The landing pages you need are listed in the 'Links' called Calendars. Look to the right!

(5) Forex & Spread Betting

Please remeber to start with my first post and then work your way up to the more recent ones OK. Check out the advertising to the right if you like, and learn about the Links listed by reading the posts. And i hope you like the pics it should keep the straight guys away from this blog !

I have been searching for a long while about how to explain the basics of how to use an online site. And i have now found a site that is really well designed to take a complete beginner and explain how to use such a site. Now most spread betting/forex sites are set out roughly the same so if you know your way around one you should find it straightforward to find your way around another. The problem i have in explaining that to you is that if you go on a course, or many courses i went on, you have someone in the room with you showing you what to do on the site and when i tried to explain everything in writing i found it was quite difficult without being there and showing you. So now by good fortune hae found a site site you that willshow you the basics of working the site. Whoever designed the site desrves an award there is lots on it including sound and cartoon demonstrations tutorials etc. BUT before you go there and see for yourself PLEASE NOTE i am not encouraging you to use this site to trade from. If you want to you can, if you feel comfortable with it maybe you should,but the reason i advise against it is this the spread is too wide really, so use the site to learn how to use these sites OK. the site is www.paddypowertrader.com i have listed it in the links. It is perfectly OK to get a demo account if you like and play around with it. Google Forex and you will see other sites listed go to them and see how similar they are set out get used to playing around with all the tabs, buttons etc, dont be afraid. I will give you a good site to use later on when we have gone through some more stuff, but for now go there and have a look around and get used to how these sites work.

(4) Needs, Wants and Goals

OK here we go again with a bit of advice. I want you to think about the difference between Needs and Wants. Needs are stuff like air to breathe, food, shelter, etc. Wants maybe winning the lottery! But not everything is so clear cut, if you are in a wheelchair or diabetic then medicines and technology are a necessity for you. In the Western World we have so much that it seems we take for granted many things that are in reality luxuries. If you can ever go camping or on a survival course it is a very good idea, it will help you to realise what you can survive on and how much you appreciate the luxuries of your life. I want you to think abut all this very carefully. And then set yourself some realistic goals that you can achieve - going for a walk a few times a week, thinking something positive about yourself at least once a day, eating a bit more healthily, anything as long as it is something you can do. And do it. You will be laerning from me how to earn money online and you need to think about getting your work and life balance right, so what do you need? and what do you want? Think about it carefully, make a list if you can and put it in some order of importance. Next i am going to talk to you about cosmic ordering! I have a bit of a theory about this - when you are asked something and you know the answer but can't bring it to mind and the more you try the harder and more frustrating it becomes, the answer is to not think about the question, think entirely of something else and a short while later quite unexpectedly the answer just pops into your head. We have all had that happen. I think that in some odd way cosmic ordering operates on some kind of similar principle. Google 'Cosmic Ordering' and you will find out about it, there is no need to buy a book on it all the info can be found on the internet so use that. Basically you need to set some time aside quietly and dwell on your problems the state you are in and where you would like to be your needs and your wants, don't worry how it will be achieved just visualise as best you can and then after a few minutes imagine that all of this is going into the universe which will sort it out and start to make things happen in your life, try it for say six days and then take a break, but try one thing at time. Like i say i think what maybe happening is the important thing is dwelling on the stuff and then relesing it and not thinking about it and , maybe the universe/cosmos hears, or maybe you subconscious get the message and starts to make you aware of things you can do and opportunities coming your way you just seem to notice stuff that will help more. Anyway its FREE and well worth the try, it is in fact a simple but effective form of meditation.

(3) Computer Stuff !

So what do you need to play the Forex? A computer , up to date time/clock, internet connection, a big screen or better still several screens, a browser that can cope. Before you panic, let me say that i started with a dial up connection and as i live in a very rural area it can be a bit iffy! I had a small screen, an old computer that was more than a bit tempermental ! So i am writing this for you if you were like i was. I will not lie to you, this sort of start is not ideal, but it can still work. But as soon as you are making some money you do need to upgrade to some decent gear. Change from dial up to broadband connection, you need at least 2MB for this to work well 15MB is more than you need. Make sure you go to microsoft updates page and get it to automatically keep your computer checked and updated. Get firefox browser - this can take 15 to 20 mins to download, it will ask you several questions do not allow it to be the only browser, that way you have the option of using the one you have already got, sometimes websites work well with firefox sometimes not so if you have both options the website will work well with one or other. Firefox is free. If you have a small screen then you will have to resize and rearrange charts etc, so when you can get 17" or bigger, or even several screens. Times, now your computer should keep good time and change for daylight saving etc, but this can be improved by getting a double check so that it checks it is in keeping with world clocks go to www.worldtimeserver.com/atomic-clock there you can get some free software for this. Now the computers i am going to advise you to get are from www.tradingcomputers.com they have a USA site and sites for UK and Europe, i have found that these are the best computers to have, they work well and the company is high profile in the financial industry - if you know someone who is a bit of a computer wizard show them the site and ask if they can build a computer like it guarantee it and do it for less money, there are computer experts out here who could do this, but i went to that company and have never had any troubles. Another useful site you may find useful is www.fhs.ch/en/worldclock.php it has map of the world and various times on it adjusted for daylight saving etc and is useful to refer to, so you can get a feel for what times are in various parts of the world. Do remember that throughout the world there are local trading times, but all announcements are listed as GMT, so be aware of this, but i will remind you of this in a later posting. Check out all these sites and list in your favourites in a folder is best. Next thing to do is to go to your local library and find out where all internet cafes are and any place you can go to use an online computer, plese note that not all public providers will allow you access to financial websites so find ones that do.

(2) Winners & Losers

For many years i felt i was a 'Loser' and wanted to be a 'Winner', but i have learned
something over the years and am going to share it with you. I don't want you to be a
'Winner' or a 'Loser'. Yes you read that right !! I want you to abandon altogether that way of thinking, i don't want you to think it about yourself or anyone else. Making money from Forex requires very much that you have a very level mind or at very least very level while you are working on the Forex, and the best way to do that is to get your head as clear as you can generally as soon as you can. Stop all this - 'I give it 110%'. You are just setting yourself up for a fall. I want you to change your perspective altogether. This is how i want you to look at things: In life we all get dealt if you like a set of cards, good looks, short, tall, good at maths, quiet, an extra finger or toe, birthmark, quick temper, find it difficult to mix and make friends, witty, etc, etc. We have to learn to make the best of what we get and what comes our way. We have all had both good things and bad things happen to us, true we can all look at another and see they got better than us and equally there is always those worse off than us too. But 'Winners' and 'Losers' are very similar, they have the same bad habit. Life is like a game of cards and we all have the cards we have been dealt, but the problem for 'Winners' and 'Losers' is they cant help but show us their hand! True a 'Winner' may seem to have got quite a lot of good cards which they cant wait to tell you about, but when you look at them carefully you see that they may have the odd good card but otherwise they are just as much like anyone else, they often are unrealistically optimistic about themselves and what they have to offer, they can do well but have to keep up the bluff and get very angry when you point out any problems. 'Losers' are basically the same, sure they have got a few bad cards, but they dwell on them, it would not matter if they won the lottery they still would find fault and be unhappy. So what am i saying to you? I want you to try and accept yourself as you are and be a bit realistic about what can be achieved, don't envy the 'Winners' they only seem happy on the surface they really do need to work 110% of the time to maintain their 'Winner' status both in others eyes and their own, and the main way they do this is by being unpleasant and picking on vunerable people and pointing out they are 'Losers'. Do not allow yourself to get upset by them, don't get caught up in this behaviour. If you meet someone who thinks of themselves as 'Losers', try being kind to them, point out they have some good things in themselves and their lives and there are plenty worse off than them, be gentle, but don't be surprised if they get angry because you refuse to go along their idea of themselves as 'Losers'. I must here make a confession, because i once was one of those rather insecure 'Winners' terrified that others may see through me and figure out that in fact i had achieved very little in life and using the easy diversion of picking on others and saying they were 'Losers'. I am not proud of this now, it is just the way i was. What i want you to do is make a very clear effort not to think in this way, if others want to classify people in this way let them, just don't go along with it and don't think about yourself as a 'Winner' or a 'Loser', you are just you and the advantage you have is that in the game of life you are no longer going to show all your cards to everyone else. Cultivate an air of mystery about yourself, say as little as possible about yourself, you will find it difficult to avoid the 'Winners' and 'Losers' but you can refuse to rise to their bait, let them think what they like of you. And what you may think has all this got to do with Forex ? ! Well when you play the Forex, you will have trades that win and trades that lose, you must accept this. You do not have the luxury of thinking that winning trades are good and losing trades are bad. You must get into the mental habit of accepting there will be losing trades and you must learn to recognise them and cut your losses as soon as you can, equally there will be winning trades and you must learn not to be too greedy. So getting the right mental attitudes to do this is very important, because when you play you must focus, so getting rid of a bad way of thinking is important. I found that giving up this way of thinking very difficult but as soon as i did i found that equally i was able to trade much better.

(1) Giving Back !

This is my first blog, so please bear with me while i get used to doing it. A few years back, i started out to make a living online buying and selling. Ebay was what I had discovered, but i also worked with other selling online and at markets, etc. Penny shares were something i knew of and had been involved in. Online i found 'Forex' and 'Spread Betting' and decided this was for me. It cost me a lot of money, made a lot of mistakes, and nearly gave up several times. When i first started to actually make money online, all i thought about was paying off debts and making more money and buying stuff i wanted. But there comes a time when you realise you ought to help others too. Capitalism is almost a religion for me and so giving something away for free is not easy for me, also have not figured out how to make this a members only blog ! Have helped and continue to help a few friends and family members, but not everyone has the right temperment to trade/play the Forex online. So have decided to put this info online for a while and hope it can help a few people start and if not become very rich at least make a reasonable second income. There are a few things i will ask of you. First when you learn how to make money on the Forex, i want you to promise you will try and help a few others to do so too and/or give some time or money to some worthy causes - now i know that if you are like me, this will be the last thing on your mind you just want to make some money as quickly as possible, thats OK but when you are set up and can see you can make money like this very well, then please turn back and help another and/or give to some cause, i will post a few i like on this blog in future but you choose whatever you like. Secondly i will put some links and banners on here and maybe some advertising and if you can please visit them, if they are of interest to you - if you ever find a problem with a link or any of the advertising let me know and will look into it, but am going to be very careful and only put stuff on that i know delivers and will comment on them too. I am not the worlds most patient man or a natural teacher, if i was i would be setting up courses and teaching this stuff for around £5,000 to £10,000 which is what i see these courses now charging, but i am not so patient nor am i prepared to answer loads of questions and emails, if i do get comments that need a point explained better i will add it to another post. From my own experience i know that you need the right frame of mind to play the Forex and therefore i will go on a bit about mental and emotional approaches aswell as stress relief, you may find all this tedious but it is important please trust me on this. This blog is called 'Rampant Rods' as a play on the graphs i use, they are normally called candlestick charts, green for rising (long) and red for falling (short), but it also got your attention aswell ! And here are some more Rampant Rods too!