Forex Trading Basics

Buzz It
This program assumes you understand certain basics about
Forex trading, but to just be sure here is a brief review.
Currencies are traded in pairs, meaning that you are really trading
one currency for another. A simple way to understand this is to
consider what you do when you go on foreign vacations. If you
are an American (for example), and you plan to travel to another
country, say Canada, then you might take say $1, 000 USD to the
bank to change it for Canadian dollars. Let’s say the exchange
rate is 1.4000, then for your $1,000 USD they would give you
$1,400 CAD (ignore bank spreads/commissions). Now let’s say
you didn’t spend the money and upon coming home you decide to
change it back to USD currency. Now let’s say the exchange rate
is 1.3700 (a change of 300 pips that could happen in a week), so
your $1,400 CAD would convert back to $1,021.89 US (again,
ignore bank spreads/commissions). Therefore you just made
$21.89, a 2.19% increase in funds (not bad).
In the Forex market you could have simply traded the “Currency
Pair” called USD/CAD, first selling USD for CAD, and then later
buying back USD with the CAD you have. Basically, you are
trading one currency for the other.
Usually currencies are traded against the US dollar (USD), so you
may be trading the US dollar against the Euro (EUR), British
Pound (GBP), Swiss Franc (CHF), Japanese Yen (JPY),
Australian Dollar (AUD), New Zealand Dollar (NZD), and of
course Canadian Dollar (CAD). There are other currency pairs,
but you normally won’t be dealing with those.

When you are trading you are attempting to capture “PIPs” (Price
Interest Points), which is one/one-hundredth of a cent (for
dollars). You will notice that the exchange has two extra decimals
at the end. From our example above, there is a one-pip
difference between 1.4000 and 1.4001.
One pip may not seem like much, but when you are trading large
volumes of currency, say $100,000, then one pip times 100,000 is
equal to $10 (less on certain currency pairs). When you are
trading currencies the broker gives you typically a 100:1 ratio
meaning that to “control” one lot of $100,000 all you need is
$1,000 on margin.
Thus, as has been explained before, when you capture 20 pips
from this amazing trading system then that means you have just
earned $200.
Now, if you don’t have at least $2,000 to open a regular Forex
trading account, or can’t afford potential 10 pip losses, then you
may want to consider a “mini” account. Most online brokers offer
mini trading accounts that you can open for as little as $300. With
a mini account you are trading lot sizes one-tenth of a regular lot
(10,000 vs. 100,000), with risk being one-tenth as well as your
rewards one-tenth. Trading a mini account means that 1 pip
equals roughly $1. If this is the only way you can afford to start
trading then open a mini account. Remember, as your account
quickly grows you can trade multiple mini lots, and trading ten
mini lots is the same as trading one regular lot. You could open a
mini account with say $300 and experience 100% to 200% gains
in your first month, quickly building your account to be able to
trade larger lot sizes.

Please remember to exercise good equity management in all your
trades, never risking more than 2% of your margin account on any
single trade, however if you have a small mini account you may
bend this rule to 5%. For example, if you have $300 in your
account, 2% is $6, equal to 6 pips loss. Realistically you need to
be prepared to suffer 10 pip losses with this system, so obviously
your risk per trade has to be a bit higher than professional traders
would normally employ. Once you get your account to $600 or
more then definitely limit your risk to only 2% of your margin
account on any single trade. Don’t be greedy and you’ll survive a
few losses to continue your gains. Please don’t trade money you
can’t afford to loose.
If you need more explanations about any of the above then simply
surf the web a little, particularly looking at online Forex brokers
websites as there you should be able to learn more about the
basics of how currency pairs work, or enroll in a good Forex
training program to make sure you understand all this. I have
also included valuable bonus you can download from the
Resources website (see Appendix A) that gives you a lot of Forex
training, and should answer your questions (I’ve had over $10,000
worth of Forex training and can say with knowledge that the
resources I’ve provided you there will teach you everything you
need to know).
A couple more things before we continue with explaining this
amazing trading system. You should have the following three
things already set up. (1) An actual trading account with real
money in it, (2) a demo trading account with fake money in it, and
(3) access to charts. I would personally recommend opening up
an account with one of my recommended brokers (listed in the
Resources Section – see Appendix A), however any of the other
major brokers may do, or whatever favorite you have.

Trade is Not Executed

Buzz It
Let’s say that you are receiving recommendations from MasterSwings or MrSwing
Lite and your trade is not executed on the day the order is placed. You can repeat
the process for up to 5 trading days. If the stock gaps up or down, wait the appropriate amount of time (30
minutes for a gap up and 5 minutes for a gap down) – determine the entry
and exit prices based on the current day’s prices. If the stock opens with 50 cents of yesterday’s close, the entry and exit prices
are based on the previous day’s prices.
The chart on the following page should make the trading rules clear.

After the Trade is Executed

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Once the trade is executed, the exit orders are placed. The profit order – a sell limit order is placed at a price that is 7% above the
entry price. The capital preservation order – a sell stop (stop limit) order is placed at
4% below the entry price OR 6 cents below the low of the day that was
used for the trade (whichever is higher) – for a stock that opened without a
gap the previous day sets the prices; for a stock that opened with a gap, the
price action before the day (high and low) sets the prices.

As with when to trade and how to enter, the following day’s activity depends on
whether the stock gaps up/down or not. If the stock price doesn’t gap up or down,
the stop loss is changed based on the previous day’s prices. If the stock gaps up or
down, the stop loss is changed based on the current day’s prices. Whether based
on the previous day’s prices or the current day’s prices, stop loss rule is the same. When the stock opens within 50 cents ($0.50) of the previous day’s
close – if 6 cents below the previous day’s low is higher than yesterday’s
stop loss, raise the stop loss to this new price. This is known as raising the
trailing stop, which further limits the downside risk. When the stock gaps up or down 50 cents or more – wait 30 minutes
for a gap down or 5 minutes for a gap up – if 6 cents below the today’s
low is higher than yesterday’s stop loss, raise the stop loss to this new
price.

Enter the Trade

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As with when to trade, how to enter depends on whether the stock gaps up/down
or not. Typically, the stock price doesn’t gap up or down and the entry price is
based on the previous day’s prices. When the stock gaps up or down, the entry price
is not based on the previous day’s prices, but on the current day’s prices. Whetherbased on the previous day’s prices or the current day’s prices, the entry rules are the
same. The most common occurrence – the stock opens within 50 cents
($0.50) of the previous day’s close – buy the stock the moment it trades
6 cents (1/16) above the previous day’s high. This can be accomplished by
using a buy stop order. This increases the likelihood that the price is moving
in the direction of the bullish (long) trade. Occasionally a stock gaps up or down 50 cents or more – buy the stock
the moment it trades 6 cents above the high of the new day. This would be
30 minutes after the market opens for a gap up or 5 minutes after the
market opens for a gap down.

Profit and Preserving Capital

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An important aspect of the Master Plan is setting a profit target and preserving
capital. The approach is fairly conservative – the profit target is approximately 7%
with a potential loss capped at 4%. The actual profit is likely to be more than 7%
while a loss is likely to be smaller than 4%. Here’s how it works. Once the target price is reached (7% above the entry price), half of the
shares are sold, locking in a 7% profit. The other shares remain invested to
benefit from any further increase in price. If the price moves against the trade, the maximum loss tolerated is 4%. This
preserves capital for future trades. Typically, more trades will produce a profit than a loss. The net result is
profit. The movement of the entire market is very powerful. When the market is
moving with your trades, a very high percentage of your trades will be
profitable. When the entire market is moving against your trade, a higher than expected
percentage of your trades will lose. The stop loss protects you from
excessive losses.