Being a "part-time" trader

Often we find stories from successful traders who come from the forex market, either from within the country or from abroad. And not infrequently we meet the traders; Which may be one of your friends, do not stop monitoring the forex market at any time, especially with the outbreak of forex based smartphone platform smartphone. When eating, they see the price; While driving on the road, they take the time to stop to check the signals they just received; And even before bedtime they still could monitor their positions.

However, such a way of trading has several disadvantages, including:

You share your focus. Especially when you have a steady job, this can have a negative impact on some individuals;
Your mind will be filled with a variety of news / analysis of your own about the current price movement, causing stress for yourself.
When you are in a stressful state, it will affect your trading performance; Especially when you're doing the analysis, and it gets even worse if you lose a streak.
So, for those of you who feel:

You do not have time for having a steady job;
You feel you can not update current news / price movements;
Or you do not want your performance in work is reduced.
You can do the "part-time" trading type.

Trading "Part-Time"

This type of trading is actually similar to the type of intra-day trading, where you limit yourself in terms of opening positions. The limit may be 1 time a day, or 2 times a day. That way, you can save your energy and stay fit when analyzing and opening positions every day. Then, what are the things that need attention?

Look for the right pair before opening position


Although the forex market runs 24/7, it would be better to trade in primetime times, when the volume or volatility of the market is high. Whatever type of analysis you use, you can more easily apply it when the market volume is high, and not when the market is quiet that moves> 30pip. Assuming you have a regular job with working hours from 8 am to 5 pm, then you can open your position in the morning, or at night. And then you can look for which pair has a high volume period that corresponds to the hours left / go to your work.


The level of market volatility correlates with the central bank's opening hours in each country. If you choose to trade in the morning before leaving for work, then you can use charts of AUD pair (Australian Dollar) or JPY (Japanese Yen) in it; Because in the morning, the Australian central bank's working hours in Sydney and Tokyo have just begun. But for those of you who want to trade after work, you can use the chart that there are GBP / EUR / USD pair in it, because when you get home from work are the times where the central banks of London and New York are active.

Experts who have experts often advise to use USD as opposed to pair of pair you choose. For example: AUD / USD, USD / JPY, GBP / USD, EUR / USD. Because the pair has a large enough movement that can generate opportunities for you to open positions every day, at least 1 position.

Choosing the right trading techniques



Why ? Because each person has its own characteristics, in other words, unique. It could be that you are a trader who has an economic background and is critical of the latest economic news, so you should use a fundamental analysis method. And you may be reluctant to update the latest economic news, then you should use technical analysis method. Or maybe you are in the middle of the above explanation, you can combine between technical and fundamental analysis, as discussed in this article.

The goal is to minimize the time you spend doing the analysis. The more suited you are with a kind of analysis, the less your mind will burden it from doing the analysis; Because you do the analysis naturally.

In addition, it's a good idea to put your position (and install stop-loss and take-profit of course) to your full analysis by not re-dealing with your position; And then forget it. That way, you will not feel burdened with the desire to check price movements while you're at work, which can disrupt your work performance. You can check your position, regardless of the outcome, when you return from work if you put up a position before leaving for work; And when you will go to work if you install the position after work.

Implement risk management with Discipline



There is no difference for full-time and part-time traders about the risks they bear when opening positions. Even price trends can turn around 180 degrees quickly which is influenced by other factors beyond your analysis, so there is no guarantee for each position to end in profit. There is only the possibility of profit. So you have to do risk management with discipline.


If you start trading part time with minimal experience, it's good to use a small trading account, whether it's mini-account or cent-account. That way you can gain knowledge and minimize the losses you bear if your analysis is wrong and led to margin call.

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