By Admiral Markets

Dear Traders,

When it comes to trading, discipline is one of the hardest things to achieve.

At the same time, it is the most important element of successful trading.

It is up to every trader to establish a pre-market routine and build strong trading habits.

Trading routine should consist of:

1. pre-market analysis
2. major market hours trading
3. end of day (EOD) hours.

Pre-market analysis

No matter which timezone you live in, you need to wake up at least 30 mins before the major markets open.

These include:

1. London
2. New York
3. Tokyo.

The price moves more noticeably during major market sessions, so you can ignore minor markets.

Major markets provide you with a great number of setups too.

In fact, you can already:

1. check the day’s economic calendar for any strong economic reports that may influence your setups; then
2. move to price action analysis, to see if the prices have broken through important support or resistance levels.

My advice is to trade trending markets.

Try to picture the market as a shark and yourself as a fish.

A smart fish doesn’t stand in the way of a shark:

…it follows a bigger fish…

…and collects whatever the shark leaves behind.

Let’s assume you’ve decided which markets you want to trade.

Now what?

Major market hours trading

It is common knowledge that the Forex market trades 24 hours a day.

But not all those hours are viable for day trading.

If you are a day trader, you want to pay attention to the following trading aspects:

1. volatility
2. momentum
3. direction
4. trend
5. divergence.

And, you need to decide between positional trading and scalping.

Take positions that seem to be most obvious, because these are the best way to maximise your profits.

Learn to spot no-brainer setups, with our analysis and webinars.

Also, pay attention to your trading schedule.

Remember that the first three hours of each major session, are the most profitable.

End of day (EOD) hours

When London session is over, you have two or three additional hours.

If you fail to use them, your trading will stop in its tracks until Tokyo session opens.

EOD trading is different, as you usually need to trade against a trend.

Why?

Because when most day trading market movers take profits, the price retraces.

Every close of a buy position, is an automatic sell back into the market.

The huge advantage of EOD trading, is that it does not require constant monitoring:

…which makes it ideal for traders with a day job.

15 rules for a successful trading routine

One of my friends is a full-time equity trader with impressive discipline.

When I asked him about the secret behind it, he shared his routine.

It consists of 15 simple rules.

1. Perform pre-day support/resistance analysis.
2. Always be patient for entries.
3. Never let margin call happen and keep your equity used percentage in check.
4. You should only exceed 20% equity used in very specific circumstances.
5. Avoid overtrading – if you reach 3% for the day, then allow the last trade to hit target.
6. Pre-trade analysis requires a review of Asia Equities, EUR/USD, oil, gold, and economic data.
7. Do not trade every day if the setup is not there.
8. Risk management and money management are key – maintain 0.5 to 2% risk on normal trades.
9. Consider reversal dates with low leverage and risk management.
10. Avoid days with low liquidity like bank holidays, Christmas, etc.
11. Always have at least a 300 pts buffer at all times, which is the limit for leverage trades.
12. Work on your discipline and be consistent.
13. Do not take risks to exit trades sooner – let the market do its work.
14. Losing trades requires hedging or wide spaces between re-entries.
15. Use higher time frames for direction like 4H, 1H and 15M.

A bit overwhelming, right? But we have an effective solution – Join our free webinars and you will be able how we do it on a daily basis

But once you start following these 15 rules and assuming you aren’t already doing that, you will notice how your trading rapidly improves.

Make it a habit to review these rules from time to time.

You can even change them slightly, according to your trading preference.

Most importantly, have a positive mindset and be willing to put in some effort.

Being a successful trader means being stubborn.

Cheers and safe trading,

Nenad

Article by Admiral Markets

Source: Building a successful trading routine

Admiral Markets is a leading online provider, offering trading with Forex and CFDs on stocks, indices, precious metals and energy.