The common
saying is that 90% of traders lose 90% of their money in the first 90 days.
That’s not an encouraging statistic for someone who wants to start trading, but
there are some common reasons why most beginner traders fail and knowing them
can help you to avoid the same mistakes and increase your chances of success.

KNOWLEDGE

The first
mistake is to jump into the markets without enough knowledge. That’s like
gambling and if you don’t know what you are doing and why, then you won’t
survive for long. Just look at how many retail traders jumped into the markets
during the covid pandemic and eventually lost all the gains. There are
stories of lucky people changing their lives yeah, but they are very rare, and
the chances are the same as winning the lottery.

EDUCATION

The second
mistake is getting the wrong education from social media influencers whose
goals are just to sell courses and signals. You have to be careful when you
invest in education because “an investment in knowledge pays the best interest”
but an investment in the wrong education can be deadly.

CAPITAL

Once you
have some knowledge, you need capital. The rule of thumb is to trade only the
money you can afford to lose. DO NOT trade money you need to pay bills or to
live off of in general. If you do that, you will already set yourself up for
failure because the psychological pressure will be so high that you will easily
make all kind of emotional mistakes, from fearing of missing out to revenge
trading.

EXPERIENCE

Even if you
get the knowledge, skills and capital, the last thing you need to get is
experience. Real life experience can’t be taught, it’s something you acquire
through practice and mistakes. It’s the best teacher for anything in life. Yes,
you can learn from other people’s mistakes, but nothing can substitute your
own.

In fact,
many successful traders study the past experiences to better forecast the
future. A famous saying by Mark Twain goes like “history doesn’t repeat itself,
but it often rhymes” and that happens in the financial markets as well. The
business cycle repeats many times and the market most of the time follows the
same pattern of booms and busts.

UNREALISTIC EXPECTATIONS

The last
mistake is setting unrealistic expectations. Beginner traders think that they
can become rich quickly with trading.
Unfortunately, this is a lie that comes from social media influencers
and marketers who need to sell a dream to make money.

Just to put
things in perspective, the best traders/investors in history average around 30%
yearly returns in the long run. This includes traders like Druckenmiller and
Soros who once bet 200% of their fund on one single trade.

On the
other hand, we have social media influencers talking about things like 1% per
day or 10% per month consistently. You can see the huge discrepancy here. In
general, if you can consistently beat the S&P 500 returns over the long run,
then you are good.

FINAL WORDS

You should
approach trading/investing as a skill that will help you grow your wealth over
time, not something that will make you a millionaire overnight. It’s not a way
out of poverty or way out of your job.

Fall in
love with the process, learn every day, give yourself time to understand things,
don’t rush and enjoy the ride. Trading can teach you a lot of stuff, from
geography to history, from politics to economics. All of this will make you a
better person both in the markets and in your life.

This article was written by Giuseppe Dellamotta at www.forexlive.com.

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This article was written by FL Contributors at www.forexlive.com.

The technical look for the pair is no different from where we were here yesterday. The drop earlier in the week brings into focus key technical support near the 200-day moving average (blue line). And that is still where we are now ahead of the ECB and more US data later in the day.

The pair moved down on Tuesday to test the 200-day moving average, alongside the 61.8 Fib retracement level at 0.8883. That saw the drop get arrested, before a minor bounce yesterday. The bounce itself then stalled at the 100-day moving average (red line), which allowed sellers to push price back lower today.

It’s now a battle in between these two levels in identifying what will come next for USD/CHF.

Break below the key support region highlighted, and there is much room to run to the downside. On the flip side, break back above the 100-day moving average, and that is an opportunity for buyers to wrestle back some control after the break under 0.9000.

The potential trigger events today are the ECB and the US weekly jobless claims later today. If that doesn’t move the needle in USD/CHF, it will be over to the US jobs report tomorrow to settle the score.

This article was written by Justin Low at www.forexlive.com.

• Prior -5.7%
• Market index 180.4 vs 190.3 prior
• Purchase index 132.3 vs 138.4 prior
• Refinance index 432.1 vs 463.8 prior
• 30-year mortgage rate 7.07% vs 7.05% prior

That’s another soft reading as the recent rebound in mortgage activity has all but faded now. The latest drop in the market index brings it to the lowest since the end of February.

This article was written by Justin Low at www.forexlive.com.

Let’s talk about risk to
reward ratio. This is something controversial, because setting a fixed RR
(reward to risk) like 3:1 isn’t fully wrong, but it isn’t even right. You need
to understand that there are no certainties that your trade goes to the target,
it may reverse at 1:1.

You may say „yeah,
but I would have already put my SL at BE (breakeven) by that time, because I
trailed it“ and you would be correct, but what if all of your 3:1 trades
end up at breakeven? Your account would be actually down a little because of the commissions
you paid. You would have worked hard for nothing.

That’s why you shouldn’t
have a fixed rule like that, in trading you need to adapt, be flexible and
proactive. Your soft target may be a technical level like a strong support or
resistance zone, or maybe a Fibonacci extension level and so on, but your trade
should remain active until you see that the reasons for the trade
have changed, or you lost conviction in it.

If your reasons are still
there you can keep it active or maybe you can take some profits off the table
at different times and let the rest run. You can also manage the trade by
trailing your stop loss behind strong swing points for example. But if the
reasons aren’t there anymore just close it and get what you gained instead of
hoping and losing all your gain exiting with a BE trade, or worse a loss.

You can even cut your
losses limiting them to a fraction of your original risk, there’s no need to
holding just because of hope. You can see that this way your trade can even
turn into a 5:1 or more and that will compensate for your losing trades. Remember
that it’s not about being right or wrong but how much you make when you’re
right and how much you lose when you’re wrong.

This article was written by Giuseppe Dellamotta at www.forexlive.com.

„I think there is certainly a high likelihood. But it is not inevitable at the moment.“

Until one of the major players pioneer the use of a digital currency successfully, one can expect these „plans“ to be ongoing indefinitely. China has been the leader in this space and even through forceful means, a digital yuan can hardly be said to be a success. So, I wouldn’t expect other major central banks to adopt this any time soon. But if and when the change comes, it will be a swift one across the globe.

This article was written by Justin Low at www.forexlive.com.

Fundamental
Overview

The mood in the markets has
been slowly improving this week after the month-end flows last week impacted
the risk sentiment. The US data this week came on the softer side which sent
Treasury yields lower and consolidated the market’s expectations of two rate
cuts by the end of the year.

The risk-on sentiment is
still present in the markets as the data overall has been showing good growth
without worrying inflationary pressures. If this were to continue, Bitcoin could
reach a new all-time high in the next few weeks.

Bitcoin
Technical Analysis – Daily Timeframe

On the daily chart, we can
see that Bitcoin bounced on the 67275 support and extended the rally into the next
resistance around the 72000 level. The buyers continue to buy the dips looking
for a new all-time high as long as the risk sentiment supports the market. The
sellers, on the other hand, might lean on the 72000 resistance with a defined
risk above it to position for a drop back into the 67275 level.

Bitcoin Technical
Analysis – 4 hour Timeframe

On the 4 hour chart, we can
see that we had some nice confluence around the support with the trendline and the 38.2% Fibonacci retracement level. This technically strengthens
the support zone, so the sellers will need to break below that level to target
the 60000 support next. If we get a pullback from the 72000 resistance, we can
expect the buyers to lean on the trendline again to position for a breakout to
the upside.

Bitcoin Technical Analysis – 1 hour Timeframe

On the 1 hour chart, we can
see that we have some choppy price action at the moment around the 70640 level.
This recent breakout should see the buyers increasing the bullish bets into the
all-time high. The sellers will want to see the price falling below the 70000
level to position for a drop into the major trendline. The red lines define the
average daily range for today.

Upcoming
Catalysts

Today we get the US ADP and the US ISM Services PMI. Tomorrow, we will see
the latest US Jobless Claims figures, while on Friday we conclude the week with
the US NFP report.

This article was written by Giuseppe Dellamotta at www.forexlive.com.

In FX, USD/JPY is the main mover on the day with the pair up 0.9% to 156.20 currently. Besides that, USD/CHF is up slightly by 0.3% to 0.8925 amid a test of key technical support here. But outside of that, the changes are minimal with narrow ranges still prevailing on the day. I mean, EUR/USD is still contained within a 15 pips range so that does say quite a bit.

In other markets, bonds are also settling down a bit after the strong bids since last week. 10-year yields in the US are up 1.3 bps to 4.349% amid another test of the critical juncture here. As for stocks, European indices are up slightly in catching up to the Wall Street rebound yesterday. US futures are a touch higher but nothing outstanding as of yet.

All eyes now are on the US ADP employment roulette data coming up later. This is a report that I’ve grown to detest over the years and I’m sure I am not alone on that. It has lost much of its importance in terms of relating to the overall labour market report on Friday. And the numbers here can even come up to be rather random at times. Hence, the roulette table meme.

Today will be no different with the estimated reading seen at 175K for May, down from the 192K in April.

Still, it is one that markets will look towards to make any moves. Or at least the algos will. That especially if there is a big miss or beat on the estimate. So, do keep an eye out for the data later even if it might not be one that predicts well what to expect from Friday’s non-farm payrolls.

This article was written by Justin Low at www.forexlive.com.

Headlines:

• The one word that markets are concerned with right now
• Safety flows dominate the major currencies bloc on the day
• Equities sour further in European morning trade
• What are the main events to look out for today?
• BOJ reportedly mulls reducing bond purchases as early as June meeting
• BOJ’s Himino: It is inappropriate for monetary policy to target exchange rate
• Germany May unemployment change 25k vs 7k expected
• Switzerland May CPI +1.4% vs +1.4% y/y expected

Markets:

• JPY leads, AUD lags on the day
• European equities lower; S&P 500 futures down 0.4%
• US 10-year yields down 1.6 bps to 4.386%
• Gold down 1.0% to $2,327.48
• WTI crude down 1.5% to $72.92
• Bitcoin down 0.3% to $68,911

The dollar is finding a footing in the new day, as risk sentiment in markets soured in European trading. There wasn’t a direct trigger but I would argue that softer US data as of late is starting to bring about stagflation risks. And that is seeing market players start to stand up and take notice.

Equities sold off right from the onset with European indices bordering on 1% losses across the board. S&P 500 futures fell from flat levels to be down by 0.6% before pulling back a little.

In the bond market, 10-year yields continue to retreat in a fall to 4.386% today. For some context, it was as high as 4.638% just last week.

Going back to FX, USD/JPY fell from around 156.40 in Asia all the way down to 154.70 at the lows for the day. The pair is now still down 0.6% but holding just above 155.00. That makes the yen the lead gainer on the day.

The dollar is seen gaining elsewhere with EUR/USD down 0.4% to 1.0860 and GBP/USD also down 0.4% to 1.2750 on the day. The commodity currencies are the laggard amid the dour risk mood. USD/CAD is up 0.4% to 1.3680 while AUD/USD is down 0.7% to 0.6640 currently.

The flight to safety also saw a selloff in commodities with oil back down under $73 and gold down 1% to $2,327 levels at the moment. The big drag though is in silver, as the precious metal is down over 3% in a fall back under the $30 mark.

It is on to the US JOLTS job openings next.

This article was written by Justin Low at www.forexlive.com.

After a flurry of nominations
across both categories – Broker Awards and B2B Awards – the Nomination Round in
the UF AWARDS Global 2024 has officially come to an end. The response has been
overwhelming, with a staggering number of nominations received.

The focus now shifts to the
exciting stages ahead, starting with the Voting Round where industry players
and fintech enthusiasts alike have the opportunity to cast their votes for
their favourite online trading and fintech brands.

The Voting Round will remain
open until 12 June, so anyone wishing to participate in the next stage of the
process is encouraged to do so without delay by visiting the UF AWARDS
website.

The UF AWARDS recognise the
brands that truly excel in the online trading and fintech space, and every
accolade is a testament to the industry benchmark of the best companies to
trade and do business with.

With so many business players
battling for global recognition, the industry’s zest to recognise and celebrate
excellence in online trading and fintech is at an all-time high. Here are some
of the categories calling industry insiders to vote:

Broker Awards

• Best Global Broker
• Broker of the Year
• Best Trading Experience
• Best CFD Broker
• Best Trade Execution
• Best IB/Affiliate Programme

Fintech Awards

• Best Technology Provider
• Best Payment Service Provider
• Best CRM Software Provider
• Most Trusted Liquidity
  Provider
• Best Bridge Provider
• Best Social Trading Solution

Cast your vote in 3 simple steps

For those less familiar with
the UF AWARDS voting procedure, below are 3 easy steps to follow:

●
Register
at the UF AWARDS website, or log in if you have already done so.

●
Select the brand you wish to vote for in each
relevant category.

●
Click ‘SUBMIT’ to confirm your vote. Make your
voice heard!

Remember! You can vote in
multiple categories but only once in each.

Good to know

The nominated brands have
been selected following a stringent vetting process designed by the organisers
to ensure the utmost transparency and fairness. To see the line-up, visit the
UF AWARDS Global 2024 website and cast your votes today!
It’s time to make an industry-wide impact.

Voting closes with the highly
anticipated UF AWARDS Global 2024 Ceremony set to take place on 20 June at
Columbia Beach Bar in Limassol, Cyprus. The best of the best in online trading
and fintech will be called to the stage for everyone to applaud.

Attended by C-level
executives and thought leaders, the UF AWARDS Global Ceremony will offer the
perfect mix of business and entertainment, allowing participants to relish the
atmosphere of this exclusive seafront venue. You can’t miss this!

This article was written by Jeff Patterson at www.forexlive.com.