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The Part Time Forex Trader

Talking Points:

*Trading FX does not have to be a full time job

*Learn three methods to trade in your spare time

*Try them out in a practice account

As we speak to many different traders and investors around the world, the one thing that surprises me a lot is how many traders looking to get into FX perceive FX to be a day traders market. Sure, if you have time during the day to sit in front of the screen and hammer away at several trades, the FX market offers simple access with no day trading restrictions.

Many traders new to FX would be surprised to know that the 24 hour nature of the market also makes FX attractive to part time traders. A part time trader would be somebody who has a day job and may have only a couple of hours per week to research or make trades.

Part_Time_Forex_Trader_body_pict0000.png, The Part Time Forex Trader
Part_Time_Forex_Trader_body_pict0000.png, The Part Time Forex Trader

Trading typically doesn’t require a lot of time. The act of actually pushing the buttons to get into or out of a trade or moving stop losses doesn’t happen often. The challenge is that traders don’t have the confidence in their plan so they choose to watch each pip roll by rather than stepping away from the computer monitor.

There are variety of tools and strategies available to assist the trader in accessing the full time market in a part time fashion.

There are 3 general ways to trade:

  • Investing with currency baskets

  • Trade automation

  • Discretionary Trading

The strategies implemented and time required for each of the 3 styles above will vary. Let’s take a moment and review each one. There is likely a method that works for your personality and time availability.

Currency Baskets

Currency baskets can require as little as a couple hours per month with most of the time spent researching for trade ideas. The idea behind a currency basket is that you wish to take a position in a currency rather than a pair.

For assistance while researching which pair to trade, check out the Strong & Weak publication series. There are generally 2-3 article published per month which asses the strongest and weakest currencies based on the current market environment.

Additionally, check the DailyFX Plus Live Classroom for regular webinars on trading the strongest and weakest currencies.

Trade Automation

Much like the currency baskets, trade automation can be one of the simplest methods of accessing the full time 24 hour FX market in a part time fashion.

There are 2 general ways to trade with automation. First, you can set up your own network to run the strategies from your computer. Once the network is set up, turning strategies on and off are simple. This would be more complex and requires a basic knowledge of computers and networking because the strategies are run on your network. The benefit, you control it and you only need a 3rd party broker to execute the trades.

The second way is using the mirror platform. This method is geared for the beginning as you can choose from a menu of strategies to trade. The strategies are held on Mirror’s servers so you can turn off your computer and let the strategies run while you are away.

(Try out a free Mirror practice account where you can test out trade automation or even currency baskets.)

There are a variety of resources available on Mirror including a weekly webinar Time Efficient Trading. The webinar is also held inside the DailyFX Plus Live Classroom.

Discretionary Trading

Lastly, there are strategies that you can trade by hand without spending a lot of time in from of the computer. These are strategies that trade off of longer intraday charts or daily chart time frames.

For example, a breakout strategy is a common strategy that does not require a lot of time. This is because it utilizes entry orders. Simply log in, set the entry orders and then, wait for those strategic price points to get hit. This can be accomplished through a simple 4 steps to trading breakouts.

Also, there is a strategy that trades using a 4 hour candle chart which is called the 4 hour trader. This means every 4 hours, a new price bar will close and you can scroll through each of the charts looking for trade set up. The 4 hour trader is a good strategy for somebody with mobile access that has the ability to check the charts a couple times per day.

---Written by Jeremy Wagner, Head Trading Instructor, DailyFX Education

Follow me on Twitter at @JWagnerFXTrader.

To be added to Jeremy’s e-mail distribution list, click HERE and select SUBSCRIBE then enter in your email information.

See Jeremy’s recent articles at his DailyFX Forex Educators Bio Page.

DailyFX provides forex news and technical analysis on the trends that influence the global currency markets.
Learn forex trading with a free practice account and trading charts from FXCM.

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