The key to success in the foreign exchange market is getting the right education. Without the proper education and training, you will continue to spin your wheels without getting anywhere. Even if you are the most hard-working trader around, you cannot expect to excel in the FX markets without the proper tools. And the most important tool that you need on your side is knowledge about the markets. So let’s look at what some of the best forex trading education looks like.
Forex Education For Beginners
As with any new endeavor that you become interested in, the first step in the process is getting a good education on the subject matter. Without the proper education and training, it will be very difficult to make it in any field. This is no different when it comes to trading the markets. You must learn the basic mechanics of trading, along with a viable strategy that provides you an edge.
Additionally, trading requires a level of mastery around your own thinking process. When you have a certain mindset, you will not readily succumb to the most common emotional mistakes and pitfalls. Although this is an area that some traders try to bypass altogether, it is a critical component to your success in the markets.
So where does a beginning trader start acquiring the necessary knowledge needed to excel in market speculation? Well, that is the purpose of this lesson. We’ll outline various types of resources that you can tap into to get started on your trading journey.
Some of these resources will be completely free, while others will require some investment on your part. It’s up to you to decide which format works best for you, while keeping in mind that the list is not mutually exclusive. And that you can gain the most benefit by incorporating multiple types of learning objects.
The one advantage that you have as an aspiring Forex trader today compared to many veteran traders who have been around the markets for a decade or more, is the availability of both free and premium Forex trading education. That is to say that the biggest problem that a new trader faces today is not one of absence of information, but rather the inverse which is information overload.
It’s important to distinguish between relevant and quality Forex trading information versus fly-by-night and low-quality educational resources. This however is not always an easy task for novice traders due to their inexperience in the market. Nevertheless, it’s important that you perform your proper due diligence on any Forex trading educators or services that you are considering.
Forex Trading Books
Trading books are an excellent way to get started learning about the markets. There are countless books on Amazon and Audible written by expert traders and market professionals. This includes topics related to Forex trading basics, trading psychology, money management, technical analysis, fundamental analysis, position sizing, and more. You can spend countless hours reading the insights from some of the best minds in the industry and do so on an extremely limited budget.
There are a few books that every trader should read regardless of whether they trade stocks, futures, Forex, or any other market for that matter. The first of these is Trading In The Zone, by Mark Douglas. Mark Douglas was a renowned psychologist whose primary work revolved around studying trader habits and the psychological aspects of trading. It’s an excellent book that provides insights on how to think about the markets and apply our specific edge in the market.
Another book that’s well worth the read is the Elliott Wave Principle. This book was written in the 1970s by Robert Prechter and A.J. Frost. It is an advanced book on market structure, and in it, the authors detail the varying patterns that recur in the market at all degrees of trend. It also describes price movements in the market as being influenced by mass crowd behavior. Additionally, it ties in how the Fibonacci sequence of numbers relate to financial markets.
Without a doubt, the most entertaining trading book on trading has to be, Reminiscences of a Stock Operator. This is a classic book on trading and highlights the life and times of Jesse Livermore, one of the most renowned stock traders of all time, who lived during the Great Depression era. There are tons of anecdotes that traders will be able to relate to and timeless lessons that that should be heeded.
Forex Trading Forums
Forex trading forums are another venue that beginning FX traders have access to. Joining a community of like-minded individuals can help you to grow together. Within a forum setting, less experienced traders can ask questions and get answers to many of those questions.
It’s also a good place to start getting ideas about the types of trading strategies that you may want to employ in the market. Being exposed to varying methodologies will help you to learn more about what’s out there, and what you feel most comfortable with. Some forums will have threads relating to a specific trading methodology such as chart analysis, Fibonacci analysis, candlestick analysis, and more.
It’s always helpful to read what some of the more experienced traders are saying and doing. Although eventually you will want to rely on your own market analysis, following a more experienced trader in the beginning can certainly help in the learning curve. Within the foreign exchange trading niche, there are two well-recognized Forex trading forums. This includes Babypips and Forex Factory.
Babypips offers the traditional forum format, along with a host of educational blog posts, tools, and calculators. In addition, Babypips offers beginning traders a free Forex education course called the School of Pipsology.
As you go through this course, you will learn about Forex trading terminology, trade mechanics, basic trading strategies, and more. If you’re seeking free currency education, this would be one of the places you will want to join.
Forex Factory is another reputable Forex trading forum. This forum gets millions of pageviews on a monthly basis, and many traders return to the site quite frequently. As with Babypips, Forex Factory offers information and threads on many different Forex trading related topics from strategy creation and development, automated systems, money management, and more. One of the more popular tools within Forex Factory is their economic calendar. It is one of the best and most widely utilized economic calendar in the industry.
Forex Trading Blogs
Forex trading blogs are another great resource for those interested in learning more about the currency markets. There are tons of FX trading blogs in the industry, however, only a handful of them are really worth reading. Unfortunately, not all forex education websites and blogs are set up by professional traders or market experts,. And as such many of these blogs suffer from inadequate or sometimes downright incorrect information.
Novice traders need to be very selective in choosing which blogs that they will spend time reading and absorbing information from. It’s often said that it takes longer to unlearn all of the incorrect and unnecessary information about the markets, then it does to learn all of the necessary and relevant information about the market. This is one of the challenges that faces new aspiring Forex traders. Nevertheless, there are a handful of trading blogs that are worth the time and effort to read on a regular basis.
Aside from our blog which you are currently reading, we would suggest a handful of others that are worth consideration. This includes the DailyFX, FX Street, and Forex Live. These three blogs have an abundance of quality information posted daily. Keep in mind that many of the writers on these blogs tend to be contributors.
As such, you will find that some of the contributors offer more educational value than others. Regardless, most of the contributors on these blogs have been vetted and are generally considered to have some authority on the subject of Forex trading, and some qualifying credentials.
Forex YouTube Channels
After Google, YouTube is the largest search engine in the world. Virtually any information that you need in video format can be found on YouTube. For currency traders, YouTube can be a great resource for learning some of the more basic concepts within the foreign exchange market.
Since most of the videos are relatively short in length, you can get some general knowledge around the trading subject or topic. However, do not expect to receive in-depth training on any specific trading methodology or strategy. Usually what you’ll find is some teaser information, which will lead you to a premium product such as a training course or other related offering.
As with some of the other mediums that we discussed, you will need to filter through the noise to find those channels that provide the most valuable information. Some YouTube channels catering to Forex traders that are worth consideration include Trading With Rayner, 2nd Skies Forex, and Urban Forex.
These are just a few quality YouTube channels that provide valuable training on topics ranging from price action trading, to trading psychology and risk management. As such, these training educators focus more on evergreen trading topics, which are certainly worth learning about.
For those that are more interested in current market analysis as it relates to specific trading instruments, there are a few YouTube trading channels that are also worth looking into. This includes Elliott Wave International, and Sentient Trader.
The first, Elliott wave International provides insights into markets from the perspective of the Elliott wave theory. They cover a vast array of markets including foreign exchange, futures, and equities markets. Additionally, Sentient Trader also offers high quality market analysis via their YouTube channel. David Hickson, who is the head of Sentient Trader, offers analysis based on market cycles, particularly Hurst cycles. It’s well worth subscribing to both of these YouTube channels.
Forex Trading Courses
While some of the free Forex educational resources that we’ve mentioned thus far can be helpful in your journey, at some point you will need to consider taking a premium trading course to advance your learning. This is because most of the free Forex education that you get on the Internet will be fairly limited in scope. That is to say that you may receive a good deal of basic foundational knowledge on a particular trading subject matter, but it will not be sufficient to gain mastery. This is where a well-organized trading course can come in.
Forex trading courses that are put out by reputable sources will provide you with both the theoretical and practical components of a trade methodology, and illustrate different examples of the methodology on real price charts. The vast majority of Forex education courses these days will come in video format. This is generally the preferred format for trading courses. Videos allow the creator to better illustrate the concepts visually which will enhance your learning experience.
There are generally three levels of Forex training courses offered in the marketplace. This includes a beginners or entry-level course, which teaches would-be traders the basics of trade mechanics and execution, along with some other general concepts around trading FX. The intermediate level courses will start to dive into concepts related to trading techniques, systems automation, and risk containment. Advanced level trading courses will tend to focus on providing in-depth instruction on a specific market analysis methodology.
So you might be wondering, what are some high quality Forex trading courses available for beginner and intermediate traders? Well, for those interested in more of the beginner type courses, then I would suggest looking into courses offered on Udemy. Many of the courses there on Forex trading are fairly inexpensive, and can provide you with the necessary knowledge that is required before you actually start trading a demo or live account.
Then there are those that consider themselves at the intermediate or advanced level. Meaning that they are be familiar with basic market and trading mechanics, however, they are still in search of a profitable strategy that they can apply in the markets consistently.
For these traders, I would suggest looking into our very own premium trading course entitled, “High Probability Trading Using Elliott wave And Fibonacci Analysis”. It’s an in-depth trading course with 12+ hours of video training on the practical applications of Elliott wave and Fibonacci in the markets.
Forex Coaching Services
Now, we are really getting into the more advanced FX trading education available in the marketplace. At some point, you will have signed up to various FX industry blogs, subscribed to several YouTube channels, read several trading books, and become a member of one or more Forex forums. You may have even signed up for a premium trading course.
So what’s next after this? Well, some Forex educators that offer a training course, will also provide additional coaching and mentoring services to students. These can be formatted as group sessions, or one-on-one sessions. Obviously the more personalized the service, the more expensive the coaching sessions will run you.
Most traders who have reached a high level of success in trading will tell you that they had a coach or mentor at some point in their life to help them in their trading journey. It’s one thing to know how to trade a particular strategy, but it can be very challenging to execute effectively in the market due to various psychological factors that can influence our decision making process.
A trading coach can help you overcome some of those hurdles, especially if they themselves, have been trading the market for a substantial amount of time. They can also help you to remain accountable and ensure that you are following the path that you have set out for yourself. When you have the right Coach or Mentor, it can be the best forex trading education investments you can make.
Summary
As we have learned here, there are a wide array of Forex education outlets available online today. Some of these resources will be completely free of cost, while others will need to be purchased. Generally, individuals entering the FX market will begin by studying the various freely available information on the web, and then graduate from there to some more specialized learning modes such as premium trading courses and coaching programs.
One of the biggest mistakes that novice traders make is that they enter the FX market with a get-rich-quick mentality. Although, there is an enormous potential for making profits in the foreign exchange market, it requires the right education, mindset, and work ethic. That is to say that if you work hard, and put in the necessary time to educate yourself and follow through with making incremental improvements over time, then you stand a reasonable chance of thriving in the FX markets for longer-term.