How to Learn Forex Trading in Record Time - Realistically!

The key to learning Forex trading quickly is managing your time with respect to what you must learn. The world of Forex trading is filled with hucksters promising Forex currency trading systems and Forex trading software that will shorten or bypass the Forex trading learning curve.

No Shortcuts

1. Your 1st step in saving yourself precious time is to resist the temptation to succumb to shortcuts, magic formulas, and "cracked secret codes" that guarantee you instant wisdom in Forex trading.

It's not rocket science to create a Forex trading system that works very profitably with canned data. It's quite another endeavor to deliver a Forex trading system that performs well in live markets. To profit in Forex trading, there are things you must learn and time you must allocate to observing the markets in motion. There's no way of getting around that.

The Basic Basics

2. Give yourself time to learn how pips (the standard Forex unit) are calculated for the different currency pairs, the difference between a base currency and the counter or quote currency, and the difference between bid and ask prices.

3. Select one currency pair that interests you and a free charting package that you feel comfortable with. Begin observing price action at once, while you are learning everything else about Forex trading.

4. Your schedule permitting, allocate time to watch Forex trading price action at various times of day and night. Key times include the Tokyo Open (7 PM Eastern), the London Open (3 AM Eastern), and the New York Open (8 AM Eastern). New York news, released at 8:30 AM Eastern time, make 8:15 AM - 9 AM Eastern time a particularly dangerous time for trading the Forex: whipsaws are common, and often wide enough to stop you out of any trading position. Watch what happens to price from 12 - 2 PM Eastern time, when hungry New York stomachs begin to growl.

Your time investment for steps 1 - 3 of learning Forex trading in record time? Shall we say a week? Maybe two?

Candlesticks

5. Forex trading is charted using Japanese candle formations, not the bars used for charting stocks. You will need to allocate at least one week (preferably two) for learning how various candlestick patterns are interpreted for Forex trading by your fellow traders. Hammers, morning stars, railroad tracks, kajis-- learn to recognize these candlestick Forex trading patterns and their meaning or you will be at a significant disadvantage.

Your time investment to learn Forex trading is now anywhere from two to four weeks.

Indicators

6. Learning the top 5 financial indicators used for Forex trading is essential. At the very least, you must familiarize yourself with and reach a comfortable level of understanding MACD, Stochastics, RSI, Moving Averages and Pivot Points. These five indicators are used by financial institutions and professional traders for determining Forex tradng entry and exit points. Learn them well if you are serious about Forex trading. Learn how they work. Learn why they work. Watch them in action.

Will you allocate one week's worth of learning to each indicator? Times five indicators?

Your total time investment for learning Forex trading now stands at seven to nine weeks.

Trendlines

7. Trendlines come and trendlines go. Trendlines are dynamic and need to be redrawn as new "swing highs" or "swing lows" are reached. Forex trading with intuitive trendlines is fun and easy, but not the road to riches. Forex trading with an eye on the big bucks means that you will want to learn Tom Demark trendlines, the standard from drawing industrial-strength trendlines.

Let's add a week to your Forex trading learning curve. You're now pat at eight to ten weeks. The good news is: you've reached a milestone. The time required for the remainder of your Forex trading learning curve is up to you.

Combinations of Indicators

8. Professional Forex trading means that you do not take positions based on the signals given by any one financial indicator. Winning at Forex trading means getting confirmation from at least two additional indicators before taking the plunge. For your preferred currency pair (EUR/USD, USD/JPY, etc.), you will need to become knowledgeable about how the top five financial indicators interact with each other and how they plot on charts across four time frames: the daily chart, the one-hour chart, the 15-minute chart, and the 5-minute chart.

You'll be looking at successful buy/sell signals that each financial indicator generates, taking note of the confirmation signals from the other financial indicators. As well, you will be analyzing failed signals and locating spotty or weak confirmation signals that should have warned about staying out of the market.

Stop Losses

9. Developing the knowledge and discipline to place effective stop-loss orders for trades that do not go your way will either make you or break you. You can win 70% of your trades and still lose money at Forex trading without effective stop-losses.

Paper / Demo Trading

10. Before you begin live Forex trading, you will need to spend some time practicing. Paper trading, or demo trading (where you trade with pretend money)? Your choice. However! Do not pass Go, do not collect 200, and do not even go to jail. Just practice trading without real oney until you show steady 70% wins AND consistent profits.

Conclusion

The ten steps that I have outlined for you are how you learn Forex trading in record time. Skip any one of these and you will greatly lengthen the amount of time it takes for you to become a successful currency trader in the Forex.