5 Pro Trading Tips

The importance of technical analysis in trading cannot be denied. Technical analysis depends on the price action in the market. Price action is purely driven by the mass psychology. But depending too much on technical analysis without going into the fundamentals that are driving the price action in the market can be short sighted. Good traders always understand the importance of fundamental analysis and how it drives the long term trends in the market. You need to combine technical analysis with fundamental analysis!

For example, heating oil demand tends to rise in the fall and winter. Now a novice trader will think that it is a good strategy to go long on heating oil futures December contract without thinking that professional traders are already aware of this seasonality in the heating oil futures and factored this fact into the December contract prices.

Another thing that you need to always keep in mind is the date and time of release of Economic Reports. You can't do anything about the breaking news. It is always a surprise. But as far as the Economic Reports are concerned, they have a fixed schedule. These reports are released at a fixed time and date of the week or the month. NFP is report is always released on Friday at 8:30 AM EST. So, if you are trading on Friday, you need tos top trading before 8:30 AM EST as the market usually gets too volatile around this time. There are traders who specialize in trading the NFP Report. But if you are not specifically trading NFP Report, you need to stay away from the market around this time.

As a trader, you need to keep yourself abreast of the developments in the world that are going to have an effect on the market that you trade. Read the Wall Street Journal, The Financial Times or the Bloomberg regularly. This way, you know what fundamentals are driving the market that you trade. There are some markets like the agricultural commodities and others that might not get extensive coverage. In that case, you need to subscribe to a specific newsletter that you think is good and can keep you informed about what is happening in these markets.

Always remember that markets are interrelated and often influence each other. What starts in one market may eventually spread to other markets. Remember the subprime mortgage crisis that started in 2006-07 and eventually spread to the stock market as well as other markets bringing down many big financial behemoths.

Now markets like crude oil, gold and US Dollar can significantly impact other markets. So never limit you scope to one market only. Always use intermarket analysis to figure out what is happening to the other market and how it can spread to the market you trade.

You should make a checklist to help you execute a trade. A trend may appear different on different timeframes. Always check that your daily charts are in agreement with the long term trends. Use multiple timeframes to figure out the primary trend in the market.

Source : articlecity