Last year I made a post asking you what you struggle with in Forex. The post got over one hundred comments with people asking for help….
… and now its time to do it again.
In this post I want you to do one thing, answer the question below.
What are you struggling with in Forex that is keeping you from being consistently profitable? Leave a comment below and let me know.
I will read and reply to every comment personally. So if you want my advice, now’s the time to let me know what problems you are having with your trading.
Sebestyen Arpi
Hi Nick, my biggest problem as a newbie, I am looking at too many timeframes. I jump from TF to TF. I read about the H8, but if you can help with additional information I really appreciate. thx
Nick
The answer to this problem is easy. Stick to a single timeframe. However, lets take a more in depth look at this problem. I am getting a feeling that you do not have a proper trading plan. If you had a plan you would have a set number of time frames and a set number of pairs to look at…
… If your plan tells you that you can trade the 8hr and Daily timeframes then you would not be switching.
So do you have a proper trading plan? If so, why aren’t you following it?
As for your last question, sign up to this weeks webinar.
https://bullrushacademy.com/trading-less-making-more-using-higher-time-frames/
Sebestyen Arpi
I modified my plan, at the beginning I use H8 exclusively. I have chosen the following pairs: AUDUSD, NZDUSD, GBPUSD, EURUSD, USDCHF, USDCAD & USDJPY. It is OK or I should eliminate a few from this list?
Thank you in advance.
Nick
It looks good, let me know how it goes.
Steve Keen
Nick,
I think my biggest issue is sticking to a trading strategy that works for me. I know the principals to candlestick trading and recognise the daily struggle in a bear/bull war. However, I work during the day and I have a monitor that I use for my trading platform. Most of the time I can check in every 30mins or so and other times it will be a few hours. I am lucky living in the UK as this seems to suit most trading strategies with London Open and NY close. Maybe I am suffering with too much analysis and trying everything and anything until something works for 5 minutes; then I jump. I know that I know candlesticks but need to learn how to set out my levels and look for certain patterns. Then the fear jumps in and I’m not confident whether it’s a reversal or continuation, so I sit and watch; then kick myself.
Nick
Ok, this is pretty common actually. My first question is do you have a trading plan? Jumping from strategy to strategy suggests that you do not have a trading plan.
As for the time issue… this is an easy one. Trade 8hr charts or Daily charts. You only need to check 1-3 times a day to spot setups. Once you spot a trade you only need to check in once every few hours to monitor the trade. Are you trading small timeframes right now?
Steve Keen
Nick, you’re right about me not having a set trading plan. This will be my first task.
I have signed up to FXCM who have charts that can be set at 8hr. I have been trading the 4hr on MT4 but still look to lower TF as a three stage confirmation. It’s a mess and I need to sort it out and get focused.
I plan on reviewing all the information on your site and build my confidence and knowledge whilst clearing my head of all of the numerous trading methods that I try to implement.
Many thanks for your guidance.
Steve
Nick
No problem Steve, glad you are putting together a plan.
Alves
I’m looking for a strategy that works well and one I can study it and learn it very well, so I can trade with profits at least most of the time. What do you recommend?
Nick
My strategy. It is free…
https://bullrushacademy.com/forex-trading-strategy/
dave11111
Hi Nick, I’m trying to follow your strategy for trading the support and resistance levels on the 8H eur/usd pair. I have all your levels on my chart but not sure what to look for that would signal a reversal or a continuation. Take the 1.3020 level where it is now. I’m really guessing as to whether it will continue to go down or turn and head back up from here. Can you help me spot the correct indecision signals please.
Nick
Have you read the entire strategy?
https://bullrushacademy.com/forex-trading-strategy/
If so and you need further help let me know. I will make a post about spotting indecision if this is the case.
Tonym
Nick,
I’ve read so much information about Forex trading and attended so many trading webinars that I’m unable to decide which system/plan to follow. I think it’s a case of information overload and I just don’t know where to start so anything you do to help would be greatly appreciated!!
Nick
Start with my free strategy and build from there.
https://bullrushacademy.com/forex-trading-strategy/
I would go for higher timeframes, 8hr or Daily charts. They require less management and are easier for newbies to trade.
Cristi Mitrea
Hi Nick!
My main problem I guess would be placing the right S/R. I think I know how to place them, but when I compare them to yours, they’re rarely the same. I guess that’s why most of my trades don’t work out, despite seeming to be the perfect set-ups. Also, I’m jumping from one time frame to another. I trade the 4H, 8H and daily. As a beginner I should stick to just one, right? And how many pairs would you recomend I should trade? At the moment I’m watching 7 ( EURUSD; GBPUSD; USDCAD; AUDCAD; AUDUSD; GBPJPY; USDJPY)
Thank you!
Nick
Support and resistance can be tricky. Are you placing it on the same timeframes as I am? I place mine on 4hr, 8hr or Daily.
I would stick to the 8hr timeframe as a beginner. It provides quite a few trades, but it does not need constant monitoring. Trading larger timeframes allows for you to handle more pairs. I would replace AUDCAD with GBPAUD or just add GBPAUD to the mix. It is a good pair.
Oggalan
Hi Nick:
My main problem is accepting losses, when I see my Stop Loss is going to be hit, I cancel it and sometimes let the losses run. I have a profitable strategy, the problem is I do not respect my Money Management Risk. I win on average 8 trades of 10. I usually risk 15 pips to make 15, the problem is when the losses comes, sometimes a loss of 15 pips becomes a loss of 100 pips because I do not execute the Stop Loss on time.
I would like to have your advise how to accept losses.
Sinceraly,
Osmin
Nick
This is more of a trading psychology issue. I had some similar issues when I started trading. I resolved them pretty easily. I stopped monitoring my trades. I would set a limit order and a stop order. I would then leave my computer and stop watching my charts. I would check back in hours later to see how the trade went. Disconnecting yourself from your charts makes it impossible for you to make bad decisions.
Mitja Zunko
Hi Nick,
i picked up a strategy combining support and resistance
levels, channels, EMA, with indicators such is MACD, RSI and Stahostic
and i thing its good but my biggest issue i realize is discipline. Im
jumping in to too many trades and different time frames trying to figure
out where the direction of price is going and then used it in a smaller
time frames! So far i’m in the middle capable to living my account
unchanged +-
And for others guys here i must say that this side is awesome it helped me alot with studying forex
tnx
Nick
One question…. do you have a trading plan? If so you should have a set amount of pairs and time frames written into your plan.
Zed
My problem is somewhat difficult for me to put my finger on ie if I knew what is as doing wrong, I would correct it as is the case with most failing traders. I believe there is something about being consistent that no body can really teach, even the professionals cannot put it into words…it seems to be gaining enough experience to know what to expect at each and every step.
If it was something that could be taught, there would be a lot more successful trades than there are now.
Nick
What percentage of your trades fail? Sometimes trades simply fail, it is not a mistake the trader makes, it is simply random.
I agree though. There is a point at which you’re doing everything right and you simply need to gain more experience.
DaveDavies
Hi nick, my problem is similar to the one from Dave111. when is a candle and ID candle or not? I’ve mentioned this before to you but still have problems identifying a potential reversal. what about a decision candle ie a strong reversal without an indecision candle when say a bullish trend suddenly reverses? would you trade it?
I raised a query today (27 June) on the forum about GBPUSD which seemed to be a short trade into support.
Look forward to hearing from you
Nick
No I would not trade an immediate reversal. The problem with taking those kinds of reversals is that they move too fast. So by the time you are in a large percentage of your potential profit has already been eaten up. Understanding indecision is only half the battle. You seem to understand indecision Dave. However, your entries tend to be a little off.
Justin Hernandez
Hi Nick. I am a college student looking to eventually be a very profitable forex trader. I feel like I do have a good understanding of candlesticks and price action and a decent understanding of S/R. I am looking to be a day trader and I am trying to find te righ timeframe to trade on. I’ve tried all the time frames and I just can’t seem to be consistent. I am having a hard time finding entries and exits for profits. What do I do? I can’t seem to find the right price action strategy to be profitable. And what timeframe to trade off of. i have trouble leaving a trade overnight so thats not my type of trading, id say. Would love to hear your advice.
Nick
Sometimes you need to leave trades overnight. If you are not willing to do that you should not be trading. The market gives you several trading opportunities. It is up to you to take those opportunities and ride them out as long as you need to, sometimes even overnight.
Obviously you can trade small timeframes such as the 5min charts. However, it is very hard to find any consistency on those timeframes. Finding consistency on higher timeframes is much easier. If I were you I would trade the 8hr charts.
pgtips
Hi Nick,
Its 2 things I’m struggling with.
1, making a consistent run of positive trades, for every good get a bad one, I’d love to see a review of one or 2 currencies each week to see everything in action.
Second, I struggle to see how its possible to make a wage with forex, it seems more like an investment tool. Equal winners to losers (point 1). Almost every person I meet doesn’t do this for a living but has a day job.
PG
Nick
I need some more information on how you are trading. What pairs, timeframes and what strategy are you trading?
Most people you meet on forums, chatrooms are novice traders. They all have day jobs because they are not professional traders. Forex can earn you enough to make a living as long as you have enough capital to trade with. I make enough money from Forex to live comfortably.
pgtips
Thanks Nick,
Pairs, I’m wary of GU right now but pretty much i would trade anything on any time frame that gave me a high probability signal. But that’s the problem now, I have zero confidence in any method and my ability. I keep watching your vids but I just can’t read the charts like you seem to be able to, god knows what missing,
Nick
Perhaps you lack focus?
“i would trade anything on any time frame that gave me a high probability signal”
That is not really a good thing. You should focus on 2-3 pairs on one time frame. This will allow you to get use to looking for very specific setups. Once you’re looking for something specific, it becomes easier to spot and understand it.
Double R.
Hi Nick,
I guess I’m just not really putting enough time to study more then I currently do.. also I’m not sticking with one time frame as well.. my question is what are the best time frames to trade?? and at what time of day would you recommend trading, from what to what? Thanks!
Ross House
I was up to about 150% of my initial deposit during the 8H challenge but something drastic happened during the 8H challenge and I’m now sitting at about 50% of my initial deposit with only a 50% win rate. I have absolutely no idea what went wrong because as far as I can tell, my trading plan hasn’t changed outside of moving down to 4H charts to give that a try.
Nick
Give me some more info Ross. What pairs are you trading and what strategy? I assume you’re using my strategy, but just want to be sure.
Ross House
I currently have EURUSD, GBPUSD, AUDUSD, and EURJPY 4H charts and I’m using your strategy. I did watch your 100pip GBPUSD trade video and you mentioned the lower highs and lower lows and I had a duh moment. I’ve completely forgotten about that so I went back yesterday and saw the indecision happening on EURUSD around 1.30630 and saw the lower lows and lower highs coming in so I went in below the low and had a 30 pip SL and 45 pip TP and moved my SL to +15 pips and ended up making all 45 pips so that really helped with my confidence. I think I need to be a little more thorough in my decision process when pulling the trigger on my trades from now on. We’ll see how that goes.
Nick
Yeh, highs and lows are important. Glad the video helped you out!
Tim Hine
I win small amounts of a dollar or two, but when I loose I loose much bigger amounts of hundreds of dollars at a time. Overall, with a lot of reading and studying plus several paid-for courses taken and completed, I have lost around $9,000 in about 14 months of forex trading and now I have just $120 in my forex trading account.
Nick
Tim… do you have a risk management plan? If so you should never be in a position in which you lose more than you gain.
John
Hi Nick, simillar problem to some, on the 8HR TF which indecision candle is the right one. eg. Right now on the GBPUSD there is a great pinbar almost completing, like a reversal signal, but the trend is clearly down. How do you determine whether to take it or get caught in a bull trap? Do you jump down to lower TF or is it a gut feel? Thanks John
Nick
It is all about the entry. I want to see a transition of power from the sellers to the buyers. I want buyers to prove that they have taken control of the market. In the trade you mentioned I had my entry at 1.5280. Buyers would need to do two things to break that level…
1. Break the highs of the previous two candles, this creating a higher high.
2. Make a twenty pip move from the open price and break a minor psych level (1.5280)
These two things would indicate that buyers have taken control of the market. It is not always about the indecision…
Indecision means that price is undecided, it could still go either way. You need to wait for a clear winner before you enter. You need to work on your entries.
Roberto from Brazil
Hi Nick, well I do not have consistency in my trade results. It seems the market is ramdom!! When I a take profit in my trades it seems it was just luck and not I well done trade. I become frustrated an think in give up of being a trader. I am struggling in forex for more than 5 years. In 2008 I bought your corses, but unfortunately I had no time to trade since the method was not to “part time trader”.
Nick
My strategy is for part time traders. Use it on the 8hr charts and you only need to check in three times a day.
Ryan from USA
Hi Nick. Please recommend a forex brokerage in the USA. I am starting with a small capital of $500. Also what platform do you recommend for trading higher timeframes i.e. 8 hour if the brokerage does not have it on their charts? Thanks.
Nick
I am not familiar with many US brokers at the moment. I suggest you ask this question on a reputable Forex forum such as BabyPips.
shahid
Hi NIck, I believe my biggest problem is position sizing. I randomly choose position size thinking that some trades will work better than others and take big losses due to this. another thing is drawdown which make me to trade with revenge. what do you suggest, how many months of profitable trading i should have to increase my position size.
Nick
You need to put together a proper money management plan. I created a free video guide on this a while ago. You can watch it here.
https://bullrushacademy.com/free-course/
kdmyhre
I just need to get my confidence built up again by finding and getting into some sucessful trades.
Nick
Hopefully you can do that now that you are part of the advanced course!
jean
I’m struggling with myself, my fear of loss and lack of confidence on my own analysis, missing some good trades.
Nick
Do you have a trading plan? I ask this question a lot but when somebody lacks confidence is their own analysis it is often because they are not following a plan.
Henry
Hi Nick, firstly thanks for taking this initiative, secondly I am finding it difficult to read whether the candlestick/s, at support/resistance levels on 4H and 8H charts, are indecision candle/s or just part of trend continuation candles and thus very often getting the entry direction wrong! If I wait for another closed candle to confirm the direction, then I am usually too late for entering with an acceptable risk/reward ratio. I know most of the major known candlestick patterns, however I feel that often they are not being formed, eventhough the market still reverses or continues. I would very much appreciate if you could help me to better understand this point.
Thanks
Nick
I do not follow the major candlestick patterns, they tend to be useless. Trading candles is not about pattern recognition it is about reading price action. What is an acceptable risk/reward ratio to you? I tend to get 1:2 most times with my first target. I need to know what you deem acceptable before I can help you further.
Henry
Hi Nick, I aim for 1:2 Risk/Reward ratio, but will occasionally accept minimum 1:1.
Andy Barnett
Nick
Thanks for taking the time to try to help us. My biggest problem is trying to work and trade, I am self employed and busy. I make a lot more working than I can trading at this time. I am sure the are Mobil applications that can help this, trades come when I am busy, or the opportunities arise as I am leaving. I am self employed so can incorporate the things into my routine if I can figure how to use them. Thanks Again
Nick
So, what you need is some kind of alarm? There are some apps that help with this like you said. Checkout this http://traido.biz/ I think i can get you a code there that gives you a bunch of extra free SMSs
David
Hi Nick,
My main blind spot is setting stops and targets with profitable risk/reward ratio’s. I’ve learnt a lot from you about support and resistance and set my stops and limits around them but I find it difficult to find trades that have space for a 1:2 or better risk reward. Most are 1:1.5 which haven’t proved to be profitable for me in the long term and if I tighten my stops the trades stop out to frequently. Not a lot is said on this subject but you did touch on it in your latest trade video which I really appreciate. Is setting 2 targets the answer?
Nick
Yes, setting two targets is the way to do it. You may also want to look at trailing stops.
buzby19
Hi Nick, my biggest problem is finding the trades, everyone is trading or finding trades. I don’t seem to see what they are seeing. Appreciate the help.
Nick
Do you have a trading strategy?
Leong
Hi Nick, Thanks for your help…I’m n new traders..What struggle me is i don’t know how to find the good entry point..Does stochastic a good indicator? I always use 1hour chart..1 hour chart Vs 4 hour chart, which one is better?
Nick
You need a proper strategy. I do not use indicators at all so I cannot recommend the stochastic.
Leong
Nick, how you make a entry? My strategy is using 1 hour chart with 200 SMA and stochastic.
Cristina
Hi Nick, while recognizing the rightset up to buy or sell is not a problem, I struggle to entry at the right time always too early or too late! I also have trouble placing stop loss and to understand when it’s time to get out of a trade.
Many thanks
Nick
What strategy are you trading? I can’t really help with entries if I do not know more details about your strategy and the timeframes ect.
Nick
I need more information before I can answer. What time frame are you trading?
Fritz
That is a great question!
John
Hey i have a system with win ratio around 54 percent but now it has dropped to 50 percent and the risk reward ratio is 1:1.5 is that really profitable in the long term? i have messed around with the system that’s why the win rate has dropped from 54 percent to 50 percent.
Lesego Molefi
My risk management is affecting my trades’i fear to lose money so I keep on getting knocked out. And I’m a self thought forex trader I’m 18.
Arran/Blue Knibbs
Hi nick and team. i know ive asked this before but…. im still struggling to find a broker in the uk with the best spreads and low commission. right not im with non uk brokers and i would like to change this. im using free version of trading view for my charts which i want to upgrade but its a new broker im wanting. pleqase help. cheers Blue.
Nick
Hey Arran – some brokers that you can check out are Plus500, IG, ActivTrades, Dukascopy. I strongly recommend looking at reviews of brokers though and trying a few different ones.
Andrew
I am struggling to find good trades at the moment. Im expecting a recession very soon in the USA (next year at the latest) due to the inversion of the yield curve and the extended 10 year bull market that has happened. I usually swing trade off of trendlines in the direction of the trend while respecting fundamentals (so I usually long CHF, XAU and JPY because they are safe haven currencies). Lately those currencies have broken out of range and are difficult to predict after trump said he may be able to make a partial trade deal with china (witch only delays a recession). Should I change my trading system (or make a new one), change my outlook on fundamentals (because the recession is still most likely to happen) or should I simply trade less because the market is volatile and uncertain?