What is Forex Trader Psychology - and - Have you Got What it Takes?

Can you succeed at Forex Trading? Have you got the mental profile required to do the job it in the vicious, sometimes sky high, other times mine-shaft depression low world of FX Trading? OK this may sound like a coaches motivational rant, but having the right psychology WILL influence your profits - So before you lose your savings read this and ask yourself - Is this me? Or should I stay with regular shares?

There are many aspects of Forex trading that are outside the investor's control.

Forex market players number in the millions - traders from the world's banks, governments and private people - just like you. Unlike shares, even the biggest traders have a minute effect on exchange rates.

Even when setting interest rates and other actions that influence inflation, the largest governments can have no immediate impact on exchanges. The Forex markets are simply too large - $2 trillion daily - for any one player to dominate the action.

Trading strategies, which are essential, can increase the odds of making profits and help minimize or avoid losses. They give the knowledgeable trader that tiny edge that can make the difference between winning and losing on a given trade, or over time.

But before looking at market influences, and even before developing a set of technical strategies that help guide trading choices, the novice Forex investor has to honestly and objectively examine his or her own attitudes.

Currency trading is very fast, complex and needs a well considered strategy. That game plan has to be executed with nerve and skill. Trading successfully in a demo account for several weeks is essential but can lead to unwarranted confidence. Traders who invest Monopoly money will often take chances, leading to successful trades, that they wouldn't dream of taking with real money.

Real trading requires answering honestly a number of questions that can be difficult to answer objectively when the subject is the self-same trader asking them. What are your financial trading goals? Looking for a quick buck? Seek elsewhere. You will have losses that wipe them out. Looking for secure, low-risk capital accumulation? Try AAA bonds instead.

Currency trading can be a stimulating mental game and an exhilarating adventure at the same time. The thrill of victory! The despair of (temporary) defeat! The mastery of the intricacies of Fibonacci, Parabolic SAR, Stochastic Oscillators and Doji Stars. All this, and much more, is part of Forex investing.

As a result, you have to be very honest with yourself and decide how (and whether) you are prepared to deal with the fear and pressure. Even professional traders do not have any certain system of ensuring profits and avoiding losses.

The pressure of deciding when to buy and when to sell is many times larger than in stock trading. The fear of loss is greater, in part because of the amplification provided by 100:1 or larger leverage.

Even winning can be problematic. With practice and persistence, provided you don't quit too soon or run out of money too quickly, you will have periods when it all seems laughingly easy. That can lead to euphoria, which is great. But it can also lead to cockiness, which is fatal. Nothing will wipe out a trader quicker than arrogance. Confidence is essential, vanity is suicidal.

The other side of the coin to be avoided is too much second guessing. Successful trading requires bold moves based on sound judgment and confidence. Every decision is a small leap of faith, since no one can know in advance for certain what the outcome will be. Probability of one degree or another is the best that can be achieved.

All this will be accompanied by the fear of loss of capital, which often leads to panic selling in the face of what would have been a temporary price movement. From such panics are depressions made, both psychological and economic.

Forex is a roller coaster ride. But if you have a good inner ear and a strong stomach, bolstered by the brain of a statistician and the nerves of a pro billiards player, you will be well suited to end the ride with full pockets.