Friday, August 14, 2009

How to Choose a Forex Robot

By Mike Ashford

I get at least 5 spam forex related emails in a day. Most have some amazing automated forex robot that will make me a lot of money in a hurry. The temptation is high to get the great forex robot, especially when it is only being offered to a few "special" forex traders.

Having fallen for such forex scams before, I am now more careful when searching for a reliable automated forex trading system. These are a few rules I use before I buy an automated forex robot.

1. Never trade before Back testing

When one looks at the results of some of the automated forex systems, one is tempted to immediately trade their real accounts. This might lead to heartache when one discovers that the automated system is not for them.

It is imperative that the forex trader finds out if a forex robot has worked before. It is not enough to read testimonials and listen to salesmen to confirm that an automated system actually works. The prudent forex trader needs to back test the results themselves so they can be confident that it actually works and also to know the inner workings of the automated system.

Other than back testing I also make an effort to forward test the system. Forward testing involves actually trading the system in a demo account with current market action. In this way I am able to find out the strengths and weaknesses of the automated system.

2. Customer Support

If a company selling a forex robot does not have customer support, I never touch it. I have bought forex systems that come with an eBook with the notion that the ebook will come with all the information I will ever need to trade the forex robot.

This is rarely the case and do not be surprised to find a forex instruction manual with poorly written English. Some forex robot vendors are in such a hurry to sell their forex robots, they never think about giving proper support for their product.

If a vendor can not take the time to give quality customer support, then it is very likely that they used the same amount of effort in creating the forex robot. If you have paid for a product, it is not too much to ask that your questions are answered so that you can use the product to the optimum level.

Over your forex trading journey, you are going to come across a new forex system every day. It is important for your profitability to ensure that your forex robot is not over optimized. Just concentrating on the win/loss ratio and the total profits of any forex robot is not encouraged. One should take the time to figure out if the forex system has positive expectancy and the system can also survive drawdown. Ignoring drawdown in an automated forex robot is a major cause of pain especially for new forex traders. Make sure that your forex robot is profitable during the good times and also conserves your trading capital during the bad times. - 23309

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Money Management in Automated Forex Trading

By Mike Ashford

Automated forex trading can be profitable for even new forex traders. A good forex trader in addition tries to increase his chances of profitability by looking for forex trading robots that also include money management techniques.

A good forex trading robot should enable the forex trader to take profits, limit loses and even trail their stops. In other words, other than just being profitable, the automated forex system should also increase his trading exposure in winning periods and reduce trading exposure during losing periods.

Money management in automated forex trading is very crucial for the following reasons.

1. Preserving Capital

A forex trader who does not learn how to preserve trading capital is bound to lose it. Many forex robots only allow you to trade a system. Few are able to protect a traders capital even when they are in a drawdown. A good forex robot should be able to have trading parameters that allow the forex trader to preserve his capital when the market is not in tandem with the automated forex system.

2. Adequate Capital

Other than preserving your capital during slow forex trading periods, a good forex robot should also ensure that the trader has adequate capital to trade the system.

There is nothing worse than a forex trader entering a trade without adequate capital. It is like going to a fast food restaurant without the proper change to buy a burger. Sooner or later the under capitalized forex trader will probably lose any trading funds they might have in their account. A good automated forex system will alert you to this scenario.

3. Set Reasonable Goals

A good automated forex system will have money management techniques that will allow the forex trader set reasonable forex trading goals. Forex trading is a profitable endeavor but most traders give up when they do not achieve trading profit goals that were unrealistic.

A forex trading robot will allow the forex trader to have reasonable expectancy for their trading dependent on how much capital they have and also the performance of their robot.

4. Predetermine Loses

Many times a forex trader gets paralyzed when trying to exit a losing trade. It is common for the forex trader to exit winners too early but exiting loses is more difficult. Traders hold on to a losing position in the expectation that it will soon turn in their favor. My very first trades consisted of losing trades that were some 100 pips while my wins were in their teens.

A good forex robot will ensure that this does not happen and exit your trades at predetermined levels thus letting you conserve your trading capital. Letting the forex robot determine when you should exit a losing trade is probably one of the most important reasons to use automated forex software.

Good forex traders make it a habit to apply money management techniques especially when they are trading automated forex systems. I have realized that my best performing forex trading robots all have money management techniques built into them. Over time, even a mediocre forex robot becomes very profitable with good money management techniques. - 23309

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