# Forex trading methods that actually work?



## grah33 (15 August 2017)

i've been struggling to find stuff that works in timeframes that would be good for my needs (D1,h4,h1, i should stick to D1 and h4 though..).   went through about 7 systems (tested using forex tester). and realized lots of ideas (range trades, TL bounces) just don't seem to work for me.  my feeling is there is more to it.


anyone know any methods/websites that teach you how to succeed at forex , that really do work?  i've seen many of the popular sites but their ideas (e.g simple swing trades, trendline bounces etc) just don't seem to work.

it's frustrating.


----------



## CanOz (15 August 2017)

Cash fx is one of the most difficult markets to find an edge in...imo 

Each pair is a market unto itself. I reckon trade one at a time until you get the feel for it. Use higher time frames and fade into support and resistance.

My 2 cents


----------



## Garpal Gumnut (15 August 2017)

A good thread. It's different for every asset base and age. 

I'm at the age where I'm looking at Aus Bonds as I see a massive correction looming in the US. 

gg


----------



## Garpal Gumnut (15 August 2017)

Garpal Gumnut said:


> A good thread. It's different for every asset base and age.
> 
> I'm at the age where I'm looking at Aus Bonds as I see a massive correction looming in the US.
> 
> gg



Sorry didn't realise it was a forex thread.

gg


----------



## grah33 (16 August 2017)

Thanks Canoz for the tip.  I just seem to be attempting  to trade stuff that is as you say, difficult to find an edge in.  Just wondering are any of those future/commodities stuff in mt4 easier to trade short term (H1) or moderate term longer (D1/H4) term? and thanks for the fading range tip (i'll consider that one)

(no probs Garpal)


----------



## History Repeats (16 August 2017)

I do weekly, daily and 4h. 4h for entry. price action only, never do breakout only trade pullback for me anyway. Keep an eye on news but dont trade it intra day. I trade spot and futures.


----------



## aus_trader (17 August 2017)

History Repeats said:


> I do weekly, daily and 4h. 4h for entry. price action only, never do breakout only trade pullback for me anyway. Keep an eye on news but dont trade it intra day. I trade spot and futures.



I've had experience trading Forex and as quoted above I think sticking to the higher time frames is the best option. I've tried shorter time frames and although back tests may show profits live just does not seem to work which what was mentioned at the start of this thread. Yes it's frustrating. One of the reasons could be the spread you pay which is a few pips but on shorter time frames since you are targeting a few pips here and there the spread (which you can think of as commission) is a huge percentage of the profit potential.

On the other hand if you are targeting a 50pip move on a daily then a 2pip spread on that trade is not as bad.


----------



## tech/a (17 August 2017)

If your having trouble finding an edge
Why do you persevere?
Just trade something else.


----------



## OmegaTrader (17 August 2017)

grah33 said:


> i've been struggling to find stuff that works in timeframes that would be good for my needs (D1,h4,h1, i should stick to D1 and h4 though..).   went through about 7 systems (tested using forex tester). and realized lots of ideas (range trades, TL bounces) just don't seem to work for me.  my feeling is there is more to it.
> 
> 
> anyone know any methods/websites that teach you how to succeed at forex , that really do work?  i've seen many of the popular sites but their ideas (e.g simple swing trades, trendline bounces etc) just don't seem to work.
> ...



My two cents

1) Forex with the exception of the carry trade is not a yield producing asset.

 Look at something like asx stocks. Over its history the stock market has increased in most western countries especially Australia. So even if you had no edge and invested long randomly with reasonable risk management and diversification. Any sucker going long stocks would have eventually made money in the bull market. But with forex if you have no edge you are just getting gobbled up by spread. There is no yield to offset your commission.

2) Forex is an OTC market. 

How do you know you are not getting gamed by the broker when you do not even know the price. There is a massive potential for conflict of interest. With exchanges you know the price with more clarity- that can explain some of the additional loses.


----------



## grah33 (17 August 2017)

but what about websites with  stuff that actually works?  i'm considering nial's methods...


websites like e.g. babypips is good but you can use that and come up with your own stuff which doesn't work. my main focus was short term, but i did some brief tests on D1/h4 as well,and i'm thinking that may not be so straight forward too. but i would like to do those tests more thoroughly.


Tech/a, i've persevered because i've hoped that it would be possible to crack  forex. can't keep changing from one thing to another. 

quite a few people are saying futures is easier. just wondering which contracts aren't too tricky to find an edge in? maybe that's on MT4 (some of them don't require a lot of captial to trade)

omega: i might have to ditch forex at some point if it doesn't work out.  but, unless i'm reading  lies, there are people out there who are making good money on it.


----------



## aus_trader (17 August 2017)

OmegaTrader said:


> How do you know you are not getting gamed by the broker when you do not even know the price.



I can personally confirm this. i.e. broker cheats in certain hours of the market. They mysteriously widen spreads and slowly bleed you (your Forex account) out! I even confronted them about these in my robot testing days and they come up with lame excuses like "there was lack of liquidity during the 12345 market hours" etc etc. It's a 24hr market, so don't believe a word they are saying. Just be careful please...


----------



## Trembling Hand (17 August 2017)

grah33 said:


> quite a few people are saying futures is easier. just wondering which contracts aren't too tricky to find an edge in?



I think here is your problem. You believe it's easy and you should be able to find something that works. It's close to impossible to find something simple that can be quantifiably proven to 'work' over a long enough period to bother.


----------



## grah33 (17 August 2017)

Trembling Hand said:


> I think here is your problem. You believe it's easy and you should be able to find something that works. It's close to impossible to find something simple that can be quantifiably proven to 'work' over a long enough period to bother.



i'm a little loose in words.  i really don't know how hard futures is, just that Canoz was saying it's hard to get an edge in forex.  i was under the impression that people here are finding futures to be a better trading instrument, in terms of finding ways to trade it.  and i was wondering if there are any mt4 contracts worth looking at?


----------



## Trembling Hand (17 August 2017)

You could look here to see if you can find  a" better trading instrument" by eyeballing the moves

http://finviz.com/futures_charts.ashx


----------



## grah33 (17 August 2017)

haha...yeah i should.  





CanOz said:


> Cash fx is one of the most difficult markets to find an edge in...imo
> My 2 cents


----------



## History Repeats (18 August 2017)

aus_trader said:


> I can personally confirm this. i.e. broker cheats in certain hours of the market. They mysteriously widen spreads and slowly bleed you (your Forex account) out! I even confronted them about these in my robot testing days and they come up with lame excuses like "there was lack of liquidity during the 12345 market hours" etc etc. It's a 24hr market, so don't believe a word they are saying. Just be careful please...




Yeah sure theres some dodgy brokers in forex. But really no one is after your stop. You just have to understand the market structure of your instrument you are trading.


----------



## History Repeats (18 August 2017)

grah33 said:


> i'm a little loose in words.  i really don't know how hard futures is, just that Canoz was saying it's hard to get an edge in forex.  i was under the impression that people here are finding futures to be a better trading instrument, in terms of finding ways to trade it.  and i was wondering if there are any mt4 contracts worth looking at?




All markets are hard, you have to figure out which instrument you want to trade and just stick with it. You need patience to learn the instrument, dont jump around. I'll just say this about forex, best thing about forex is that you can start trading with $10 or $50, if you lose it all it's only a week worth transport cost. Also you will learn more about trading, price action is price action although you can use volume in futures and economics (ie interest rate drive money flow hence going to various assets, carry trade risk on risk off, ect) not just click buy, click sell. I think its benefit to overall development as a trader as you know what drives asset X up, asset Y down. my


----------



## aus_trader (19 August 2017)

History Repeats said:


> Yeah sure theres some dodgy brokers in forex. But really no one is after your stop. You just have to understand the market structure of your instrument you are trading.



True. Also that was a few years back so I don't know if this practice still occurs with brokers. These days I've seen guaranteed spreads during all market hours advertised by some brokers that seems more safe.


----------



## eNyce (25 August 2017)

Did they offer DMA or were they market makers?


----------



## rogblack (7 September 2017)

grah33 said:


> i've been struggling to find stuff that works in timeframes that would be good for my needs (D1,h4,h1, i should stick to D1 and h4 though..).   went through about 7 systems (tested using forex tester). and realized lots of ideas (range trades, TL bounces) just don't seem to work for me.  my feeling is there is more to it.
> 
> 
> anyone know any methods/websites that teach you how to succeed at forex , that really do work?  i've seen many of the popular sites but their ideas (e.g simple swing trades, trendline bounces etc) just don't seem to work.
> ...




After four years of trading, making and losing a lot I have identified a system that guarantees profit but it's based on weekly chart nothing lower.


----------



## grah33 (7 September 2017)

rogblack said:


> After four years of trading, making and losing a lot I have identified a system that guarantees profit but it's based on weekly chart nothing lower.



well that's interesting. the weekly chart is something i was going to look at in more detail.  what kind of setup you using? could ya show an example?


----------

