Chances are that you won’t come across many forex traders who started out as a full-time forex trader, in fact, that honor is held to only a few and to be honest, let’s not necessarily a bad thing.
You see, the odds of making money through forex trading is not in your favor, only around 20% to 25% of traders don’t lose money while trading forex.
For those of you who believe these are great odds then make sure your ego is in check because statistically speaking these are appalling odds that you’re facing.
While the path to successful forex trading isn’t easy, it is a journey nonetheless that is worth the hardships, and should you possess the drive, integrity, and grit to see it through not only will you benefit but so will those closest in your life.
The primary difficulty that many of you are currently facing would be finding the best time to invest forex or finding an effective trading strategy that doesn’t revolve around a full-time trading schedule, because as we noted moments ago, most full-time forex traders didn’t start out that way.
Instead, we would hazard to say that most online currency traders made a gradual transition into full-time and that was ONLY after they proved that they could sufficiently do this for a living and conquer the immense learning curve – or at least find a forex trading system to get them to that point.
We bring this up because most forex traders started out like you, with another job in motion where your attention was brought to the prospects, advantages, and potentially lucrative rewards of forex trading in one fashion or another.
With these truths in mind, we’ve taken the time to compile a guide to the best forex trading strategies that are ideal for part-time traders in 2020.
So without further ado, let’s begin!
Recognize Available Forex Markets
Speculating that you work the typical 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. work shift in the U.S. which means you have the opportunity to trade before and/or after work.
While this may seem like a hassle it makes the matter of trading forex much more straightforward.
What you should be seeking out during these precious investment hours would be which currency pairs are showing signs of the most movement, otherwise known as price action.
In addition, you’ll want to take advantage of the natural influx of market volatility that is exhibited during the U.S. and London market overlaps, which occurs between 8:00 a.m. EST to 12:00 p.m. EST.
This leaves you with an hour to take advantage of this market overlap, which may not seem like much time but then again you don’t need to place a handful of trades but rather one or two high-probability trades.
During market overlaps, such as the U.S. and London overlap (where around 70% of all forex trading occurs) price movements deviate from an average of 30 pips movement (during non-market overlap hours) to upwards of 70 or more pips with ease due to the increase in market participants and trade volume.
So you see, you don’t need many trades to make good headway, just a few strong positions and a better understanding of the foreign exchange markets.
Should you have the option to choose trading before or after work, however, we would suggest that you try to take advantage of the U.S. and London market overlap before work because the markets will be closing right around the time you get off and price movements won’t be as volatile as during market overlaps so you’d have to execute more trades just to experience a similar outcome of trading results.
[Powerful Part-Time Trading Strategy]
The Saving Grace of Stop-Loss Orders
For part-time traders sometimes the best forex strategy would be leveraging an automated forex trading system in conjunction with stop-losses.
By incorporating a forex trading system into your active trading routine you not only minimize the time and commitment that you need to put forth but more often than not legitimate trading systems are far more effective and consistent than traders.
While traders are subject to emotional trading should things go not as planned, the reliance upon a trading system may well save your hard-earned money from potentially brash and irreversible trading mistakes.
Additionally, by using a stop-loss with your trading system your money is better protected should the foreign exchange markets riot and go against your prediction.
Here are the 3 Best Forex Systems in 2020:
Each of these trading systems come with an automated stop-loss feature that is calculated upon value or percentage that you set.
Forex Trading with Price Action Strategy
Price action is the summation of all buy and sell orders over any given period of time.
Price action is the price movements that you see on a charting solution, like MetaTrader4.
For those of you who can’t trade before or after work, you can conduct a price action trading strategy on shorter time frames to capitalize on a couple of investments during that lunch hours or work break of yours.
Vladimir Ribakov, an International Certified Financial Technician, professional forex trader, and Founder of TradersAcademyClub.com created an in-depth guide on How to Trade Price Action with No Indicators earlier this year that you can learn the subtle art and science of price action trading.
Also, you may find value in this comprehensive Price Action Strategy webinar created by Vladimir Ribakov.
Additional Forex Trading Approaches
The forex trading approaches below may also assist your part-time trading venture:
- Prepare Trading Orders – Minimize the number of trading opportunities you miss out on by preparing a stop-loss, take profit, setting limits, and establishing additional entry and exit orders.
- Trade Long-Term Over Short-Term – After you’ve taken the time to better understand what market determinants influence your preferred currency pairs you can optimize your strategy around trade entries that last for several hours to days opposed to quick-hitting trade opportunities. Remember, less trade frequency is oftentimes better when it comes to forex trading. Having a few long-term positions is a wise strategy when incorporated with stop-loss orders, so be patient and let time do the rest!
- Leverage Technology – We are currently living within the Technology Era, therefore, utilize the power of technology and monitor currency price movements through creating custom and automated alerts that can be delivered in-app, SMS, email, or through social media.
- Take Advantage of Free Trading Resources – There are many free forex trading services and trading systems that are available to you. For instance, every week Vladimir shares Weekly Forex Trade Ideas that you can leverage into your trading plan, or alternatively you could consider harvesting the invaluable forex trading resources, tools, and strategies shared for free on this site.
Additionally, you may benefit from the high-calibered trading strategies shared throughout our Top 5 Forex Trading Strategies of 2020.
The Bottom Line
Most successful forex traders started out as part-time traders, so why can’t you?
As a 24-hour market, the opportunities that can emerge as a result of part-time forex trading are immeasurable but you have to be fully committed to making the most out of every opportunity that presents itself.
Given the sheer volume of the forex market, by nature, it is exceptionally volatile which makes it considerably risky for all traders but these risks can be negated if you employ an appropriate strategy such as Price Action or utilize online trading systems.
While there are many variables to take into consideration, the incorporation of the elements shared above can help deviate you from not only becoming a successful part-time forex trader but also evolving into an excellent full-time trader when focusing on the long-term.
Tim Lanoue
Guest Author
