Essential Elements of a Successful Trader

Essential Elements of a Successful Trader

Courage Under Stressful Conditions When the Outcome is Uncertain

All the foreign exchange trading knowledge in the world is not going to help, unless you have the nerve to buy and sell currencies and put your money at risk. As with the lottery “You gotta be in it to win it”. Trust me when I say that the simple task of hitting the buy or sell key is extremely difficult to do when your own real money is put at risk.

You will feel anxiety, even fear. Here lies the moment of truth. Do you have the courage to be afraid and act anyway? When a fireman runs into a burning building I assume he is afraid but he does it anyway and achieves the desired result. Unless you can overcome or accept your fear and do it anyway, you will not be a successful trader.

However, once you learn to control your fear, it gets easier and easier and in time there is no fear. The opposite reaction can become an issue – you’re overconfident and not focused enough on the risk you’re taking.

Start by analyzing yourself. Are you the type of person that can control their emotions and flawlessly execute trades, oftentimes under extremely stressful conditions? Are you the type of person who’s overconfident and prone to take more risk than they should? Before your first real trade you need to look inside yourself and get the answers. We can correct any deficiencies before they result in paralysis (not pulling the trigger) or a huge loss (overconfidence). A huge loss can prematurely end your trading career, or prolong your success until you can raise additional capital.

Both the inability to initiate a trade, or close a losing trade can create serious psychological issues for a trader going forward. By calling attention to these potential stumbling blocks beforehand, you can properly prepare prior to your first real trade and develop good trading habits from day one.

The difficulty doesn’t end with “pulling the trigger”. In fact what comes next is equally or perhaps more difficult. Once you are in the trade the next hurdle is staying in the trade. When trading foreign exchange you exit the trade as soon as possible after entry when it is not working. Most people who have been successful in non-trading ventures find this concept difficult to implement.

For example, real estate tycoons make their fortune riding out the bad times and selling during the boom periods. The problem with trying to adapt a ’hold on until it comes back’ strategy in foreign exchange is that most of the time the currencies are in long-term persistent, directional trends and your equity will be wiped out before the currency comes back.

The other side of the coin is staying in a trade that is working. The most common pitfall is closing out a winning position without a valid reason. Once again, fear is the culprit. Your subconscious demons will be scaring you non-stop with questions like “what if news comes out and you wind up with a loss”. The reality is if news comes out in a currency that is going up, the news has a higher probability of being positive than negative (more on why that is so in a later article).

So your fear is just a baseless annoyance. Don’t try and fight the fear. Accept it. Have a laugh about it and then move on to the task at hand, which is determining an exit strategy based on actual price movement. As Garth says in Waynesworld “Live in the now man”. Worrying about what could be is irrational. Studying your chart and determining an objective exit point is reality based and rational.

Another common pitfall is closing a winning position because you are bored with it; its not moving. In Football, after a star running back breaks free for a 50-yard gain, he comes out of the game temporarily for a breather. When he reenters the game he is a serious threat to gain more yards – this is indisputable. So when your position takes a breather after a winning move, the next likely event is further gains – so why close it?

If you can be courageous under fire and strategically patient, foreign exchange trading may be for you. If you’re a natural gunslinger and reckless you will need to tone your act down a notch or two and we can help you make the necessary adjustments. If putting your money at risk makes you a nervous wreck its because you lack the knowledge base to be confident in your decision making.

Patience to Gain Knowledge through Study and Focus

Many new traders believe all you need to profitably trade foreign currencies are charts, technical indicators and a small bankroll. Most of them blow up (lose all their money) within a few weeks or months; some are initially successful and it takes as long as a year before they blow up. A tiny minority with good money management skills, patience, and a market niche go on to be successful traders. Armed with charts, technical indicators, and a small bankroll, the chance of succeeding is probably 500 to 1.

To increase your chances of success to near certainty requires knowledge; acquiring knowledge takes hard work, study, dedication and focus. Compile your knowledge base without taking any shortcuts, thereby assuring a solid foundation to build

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A year of the new DoubleClick Ad Exchange: improving large publishers’ returns

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Sunday, January 16, 2011

A year of the new DoubleClick Ad Exchange: improving large publishers’ returns

Sunday, January 16, 2011 | 1:19 PM

Fifteen months after launch, the new version of DoubleClick Ad Exchange is showing strong momentum -- we’ve tripled the number of transactions since last year -- which translates into more dollars for publishers. We’ve embedded new technologies into the Exchange, allowing us to expand upon research we conducted in mid-2010 showing that publishers could expect a 136% increase in effective CPMs (eCPMs) by making pre-emptible ad space available through the Exchange. Our updated finding? According to a new white paper released today, when publishers make inventory available in the Ad Exchange, and the Exchange wins the auction, they generate, on average, 188% more revenue compared with upfront sales of non-guaranteed ad space to networks and other third-party buyers.

The white paper’s findings reflect how publishers are materially benefiting from upward pricing pressure, a result of increased demand as more AdWords and Google Display Network buyers come online. Yields are also going up thanks to higher spending through agency trading desks and new third-party technology providers. And real-time bidding continues to be a major draw, now accounting for 56% of buyer spend.

We are also continuing to add features to the Exchange that put publishers even more firmly in control of what types of ads appear on their site, enabling them to build and protect their brand. Recent enhancements include:

• Private Ad Slots: Customizable, invitation-only auctions that allow publishers to make certain ad spaces available only to trusted advertisers and assign variable pricing floors depending on the buyer
• Category Blocking: Greatly expanded blocking capabilities based on 170 fine-grained vertical categories
• Troubleshooting Toolbar: A new browser toolbar that allows publishers to quickly identify the source of ads for easy blocking

Download the white paper.

Posted by Campbell Foster, Product Marketing Manager

Tunisians sceptical of new govt

The new 'national unity' government includes several members of the incumbent party [Reuters]

The announcement of a new 'unity government' by Mohamed Ghannouchi, the Tunisian prime minister, has been met with anger by some protesters, who say too many members of ousted President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali's party remain in power.
The PM announced that the former defence, foreign, interior and finance ministers will keep their key posts in the new government formed after the public uprising led to the flight of President Ben Ali.
Up to 1,000 protesters gathered mainly near Tunis' Habib Bourguiba Avenue to demonstrate against the announcement.
Tanks and troops were deployed, and water cannons and tear gas fired against activists who demanded that members of Ben Ali's Constitutional Democratic Rally (CDR) be excluded from the new government.
"Who did the revolt? It's the people, those trade union leaders ... they need to find their aspirations in the government. This government does not answer those aspirations," Masoud Ramadani, a workers union activist, told Al Jazeera.
Al Jazeera's correspondent Ayman Mohyeldin said protesters were "rejecting the possibility that any incoming or caretaker or national unity government could possibly have figures or leaders from the previous regime".
"They want the CDR party completely abolished, completely removed from any form of government".
Members of the interim government have defended its composition, however, saying that the members of the incumbent party who have been retained are not politicians.
"Members of the ruling party that are in the government are technocratic, they are not political. And we demanded that people who are dirty in corruption and crimes should be evacuated from this government," Ahmed Bouazzi, a member of the Progressive Democratic Party (PDP), said.
coherent opposition as "one of the biggest problems that Tunisia faces for the time being".
He said there were no "charismatic leaders" who could "channel the energy" from the uprising towards the formation of a new government.
In part, this is because "Ben Ali tailored the whole state around his persona. The police, the parliament, everything was linked to him", our correspondent said.
Furthermore, the opposition has been clamped down on for nearly three decades, with most of its leadership either "driven out of the country, or [spending] many years in jail".
"This is the big question. Who is going to take over, who is going to lead Tunisia into the future?"
Interim government
Ghannouchi announced the country's new interim government on Monday, adding that a number of opposition members will be assigned to ministerial posts.
The prime minister named Najib Chebbi, founder of the PDP, which opposed Ben Ali, as minister for regional development.
Ahmed Ibrahim, leader of the Ettajdid party, was named minister of higher education and Mustafa Ben Jaafar, head of the Union of Freedom and Labour, got the health portfolio.
Significantly, there will be a separation of the state from political parties, meaning that under the coalition government, the collection of parties will not fall under the control of a ruling party.
Opposition's limited role
One of Tunisia's best known opposition figures, Moncef Marzouki, on Monday branded his country's new government a "masquerade" still dominated by supporters of ousted strongman Ben Ali.
"Tunisia deserved much more," the secular leftist declared. "Ninety dead, four weeks of real revolution, only for it to come to this? A unity government in name only because, in reality, it is made up of members of  the party of dictatorship, the CRD,"said Marzouki on France's I-Tele.
According to Ahmed Friaa, Tunisia's interior minister, 78 people have been killed in the country during the recent turmoil, almost quadrupling the official death toll. He also estimated that the unrest had cost the country's economy $2.2 bn as a result of disruption of economic activity and lost export revenues.
Rachid al-Ghannouchi (no relation to Mohamed Ghannouchi), the exiled leader of the Nahdha Movement party, told London-based Asharq Alawsat newspaper that leaders of his party had not been invited to participate in the negotiations in forming the new unity government.
He expressed anger at the exclusion, but said his party would consider joining the government if asked to do so. 
Meanwhile Ban Ki-Moon, UN secretary general, called for the establishment of the rule of law in Tunisia, while the Arab League said Arab states should consider what lessons could be learnt from the crisis.
Reforms announced
Ghannouchi also announced on Monday that the Tunisian government will investigate anyone suspected of corruption or of having amassed huge wealth under the country's deposed leader.
"Anyone who accumulated enormous wealth or is suspected of corruption will be put before a committee of investigators," said Ghannouchi.
He also said that there will be "total freedom" for the media in the country, which experienced especially tough crackdowns during the recent weeks of unrest.
Additionally, the prime minister said that a ban on the activities of human rights groups in Tunisia will be lifted and that all political prisoners would be freed.
"We have decided to free all the people imprisoned for their ideas, their  beliefs or for having expressed dissenting opinions," said Ghannouchi.