In this Wiki, we will take a look at How to Tune Back into Trading and how you can use this to better perform in your trading when you have had time away from trading.
This Wiki is part of our Fundamental and Sentiment Trading Strategies. Be sure to check that out HERE.
How to Tune Back into Trading
As traders, our job is to constantly be tuned into the markets and understand what is going on and how to make a profit from it every single day. This is a simple case of remaining within the flow of information, but this process can become very tiring and mentally exhausting over time. Taking time to remove your mind from this flow allows relaxation and recovery which can re-energize you for the months ahead.
Coming back from a break you should be eager to return to your desk and get back into that flow of information which allows you to earn your pips effectively. This section is designed to explain exactly how to tune back into the market so that you are fully prepared for trading and to ensure that you are not missing anything that may have changed during your time off.
How exactly do you tune back into the markets after time away from trading?
Research
The key is to research and read all of your preferred news sources with the goal of making sure you fully understand what has been going on and what the current tone of the market is. To do this you follow a very simple plan which is laid out in this section:
When returning to your desk you should load up your saved bookmarks of financial news sites and spend plenty of time reading through the posted material. So the first step is to open up your news sources and start reading.
The best free sites are below for your reference and it is strongly recommend that you bookmark each one for future reference. There are also premium sites that you can use that are good which include Newsquawk, MNI, and Reuters Eikon.
These are the sites that you should read every day as part of your normal trading routine:
- http://www.forexlive.com/
- http://www.bloomberg.com/news/currencies/
- http://www.forexfactory.com/calendar.php
What are the exact steps you should take when trying to catch up with what has been going on?
Steps to Tune Back In
Step 1:
The first step is to read the main feeds of each site for all of the highlights that stand out. For example, all of these sites offer a fantastic ‘front page’ where you can check out all of the recent activity and news that is currently impacting the markets.
One of the best parts is that they also offer analysis and opinions about each event so that you can start to build a picture in your mind of what seems to be going on across the market rather than trying to figure out if one article is more important than another. We are looking for a general theme that ‘everyone’ seems to be talking about.
Step 2:
Once you have read through the headlines you will then click and read each article in full that stands out so that you can get a real flavour of what is being said and how it has been moving the markets. This allows you to determine what is important and what is to be ignored. This might take a day or two to tune your brain back into the market but that is completely fine and it will be well worth your time.
Step 3:
You will now have several currencies that stand out to you and that you can focus on heading into your first day back at trading. The final step is to make sure that you read any new articles or news points that are released between now and your first trade to make sure that the themes are intact and that you are tuned in correctly.
If you have traders around you that trade in the same way it would be good to chat them up to see what the main things that they have been focussing on while you were away from trading.
Conclusion
As you can see the process of tuning back into the markets is relatively simple and although you could spend significant amounts of money on premium feed there is a lot of information out there for free. The only thing that the premium feeds do is deliver the information faster which is not necessary when you are tuning back into the markets.
By replicating this process you will be fully prepared and ready to start making some pips.