Options Trading in Progress

Today we will discuss why your results in your demo account will probably contrast sharply with the results in your live account. When most people start trading, they believe their results trading with fake money will be the same as their results trading with real money. Of course, that is almost never the case. The reason for this is that a person's emotions greatly impact their decision making ability when real money is on the line . We will go over why this is, and we will go over some tips for blurring the line between demo accounts and live accounts. First off, I want to point out that I am not slamming demo trading. Trading a demo is how everyone should learn the basic mechanics of the trading platform. It also allows people to practice following their strategy and practice entering orders. If a trader goes in a slump, it can be effective to switch to the demo for a while. When a trader is in a slump, their brain is so focused on the money they are losing that they...

I am willing to bet that almost every person that has attempted to trade has heard some variation of "you should follow the trend" spoken as gospel. There are many traders who use a system called "trend following". Of course, this type of system is more complicated than just looking to see if prices are going up or down. But to the novice, this sounds like easy money. In fact, on this very site I have seen multiple comments to my features that basically say "this is so complicated, all you have to do is follow the trend...trading is easy!" Needless to say, it isn't that simple. First, we must decide how to define an uptrend and a downtrend. The easiest way to do this, is by looking at a plain old chart. If there are consecutive lower lows and consecutive lower highs, that is a downtrend. If there are consecutive higher lows and consecutive higher highs, that is an uptrend. That part really is that simple. There are many tools available to he...

What is concentration? For some traders, concentration is a mystical legend of some magical act performed by other traders, those who have access to magical spells. For others, it is a naturally occurring ability that is so second nature that they arent even really aware that they are concentrating. For the vast majority, however, concentration is an act that falls somewhere in between a magical feat and a second nature instinct. When we are feeling strong and positive, concentration comes easily. When we allow our negative emotions to cloud our ability to focus, we end up with poor concentration. Concentration is the act of focusing on one external or internal position or task without disruption from other thoughts. That is why when we have negative feelings about something unrelated to the task at hand (or on occasion really excited feelings about some unrelated topic) we find concentration so difficult. The mind is generally controlled by what we want to see, think, an...

The History Of Money: Currency Wars Money has played a very important role in every war since its creation. Ancient kings played with the percentages of precious metals in their coins to create more money to raise armies, feudal lords tried to undermine each other's treasuries and counterfeiters have run rampant throughout history. The most famous currency war, however, took place between the British Empire and its colony in America. Currency Wars In the 17th century, England was determined to keep control of both the American colonies and the natural resources they controlled. To do this, the English limited the money supply and made it illegal for the colonies to mint coins of their own. Instead, the colonies were forced to trade using English bills of exchange that could only be redeemed for English goods. Colonists were paid for their goods with these same bills, effectively cutting them off from trading with other countries. In response, the colonies regressed ba...

Getting Into The Gold Market From ancient civilizations through the modern era, gold has been the world's currency of choice. Today, investors buy gold mainly as a hedge against political unrest and inflation. In addition, many top investment advisors recommend a portfolio allocation in commodities, including gold, in order to lower overall portfolio risk. We'll cover many of the opportunities for investing in gold, including bullion (i.e. gold bars), mutual funds, futures, mining companies and jewelry. With few exceptions, only bullion, futures and a handful of specialty funds provide a direct investment opportunity in gold. Other investments gain part of their value from other sources. Gold Bullion This is perhaps the best-known form of direct gold ownership. Many people think of gold bullion as the large gold bars held at Fort Knox. Actually, gold bullion is any form of pure or nearly pure gold that has been certified for its weight and purity. This includes coins, ...

Why Gold Matters While economic recessions usually draw many comparisons to The Great Depression, so far there has been little (if any) historical precedent to the monetary and fiscal stimulative policies that our country embraced in the fall of 2008. For many investors, gold has never been seriously considered as a long-term investment. Yet in investing, to completely dismiss an idea simply based on reasons that are ultimately based on pre-existing views is not an intelligent idea. If anything, one should examine the situation for his or herself and come up with an independent reason as to whether or not an investment is to be made. The Gold Conundrum The topic of investing in gold came to the forefront of many investors' minds during the 2008-2009 recession. The most obvious reason for this is due to the rise in the price of gold. Market watchers love to sensationalize any stock or asset class that is experiencing a rise in price as the next possible investment to latch on. ...

Throughout the ages, gold has captivated societies, and in a post-gold-standard world, many feel that with the instability that occurred in the first decade of the 21st century, some form of the gold standard should be brought back. There were inherent problems with the gold standards implemented in the 19th and 20th centuries, and many people are failing to realize that gold, under the current free market system, is a currency. Gold has often been thought of in relation to the U.S. dollar, mainly because it is usually priced in U.S. dollars, and there is a rough inverse correlation between the USD and gold prices. These factors must be considered when we see that the price of gold is simply an exchange rate: In the same way one could exchange U.S. dollars for Japanese yen, a paper currency can also be exchanged for gold. (Learn more about the origins of currency. Gold Is a Currency Under a free market system, gold is a currency, although it is not often thought of as one. Gold has a ...