Forex day trading requires a system that is profitable, enough capital to ride the inevitable runs of bad luck, and a trader who comes to work mentally ready and able to trade. There are many technical approaches that have the prospect of making money, provided the trader is disciplined and has enough capital to stay on course. A trader who comes to work when he is ill or otherwise trading-impaired is likely to damage his trading account.
The way to determine whether a forex day trading system is profitable is to test it. Testing results need to account for commissions or pip spreads and still show reliable, long term profits. The trader should be concerned with his largest loss, and the more consecutive “largest losses” the trader’s account can withstand, the higher his chances of success. If the trader has not actually traded his system, he should find a brokerage where he can paper-trade for a few months while he gains the market knowledge and awareness of how the speed or slowness of trading affect him or his approach.
Time of day has an impact on forex day trading. Japanese Yen usually trade vigorously against the US Dollar when the Tokyo or New York market is open, but may trade slowly at other times. The Euro trades most of its volume when both the London and the New York markets are open. A forex day trader has to decide how many hours each day he is capable of trading, and which currency pairs he wants to trade. Then he should look at historic data to find the time of day those markets trade in a way that works with his approach.
The demands of forex day trading are such that the trader needs to have all the patience, concentration, and fortitude he can muster any day that he chooses to trade. If he loses patience, he may enter the market at the wrong time and incur a large loss, or he may exit a trade too soon and turn a possible large win into a small one. A trader who loses concentration is likely to miss an important change in market tempo or fail to see a meaningful price formation, resulting in a missed opportunity or fall victim to the illusion of an opportunity. A good bit of fortitude is required to go to work every day when each day can take money out of your bank account more easily than it can be put in. Forex day trading requires a high risk and stress tolerance, and those who can withstand the pressure and trade successfully reap substantial rewards.