Tag: Moving Averages

The trend is your friend; this is a very common phrase that is used frequently in the trading world. However, some things are easier said than done. Every trader knows the trend is his friend, but which swing trading indicators should one use to take advantage of the trend? When used properly, trading indicators can make entry and exit of trades easy, but the difficult is in knowing which indicator you should use. As technology has advanced over the years, there has been a huge increase in the number and kind of indicators traders have available. To get a head start on your path to trading successfully, one needs to know which indicators are worth your time and which ones should be ignored. Some of the most popular trading indicators are MACD, Stochastics, Moving Averages and trend lines.

Moving averages are very popular in the trading world. One of the reasons for this is that they are possibly the oldest and first kind of indicators used by traders. Thanks to this they have gained a reputation of being the most widely used and trusted kind of indicator. Many professional stock traders around the world use moving averages to determine trend in the markets. There are several kinds of moving averages; simple, exponential, weighted and many more. Despite the kind of moving average, these indicators are frequently used to spot the trend and determine areas of support and resistance. A trader armed with this kind of information can fine tune their entry and exit increasing their returns.

Building upon the power of moving averages, the MACD is another very commonly used and highly valued trading indicator. The MACD is based on two moving averages and has multiple uses. This single indicator can be used to determine the trend of a market, spot areas of divergence and also be used to generate entry and exit signals for trades. There probably isn’t any other indicator that is as versatile and unique as the MACD. The MACD is a momentum indicator and as such is also used to identify areas where markets may be approaching their limit and readying for a pull back. It is no wonder that the MACD is so widely used by professional and corporate traders around the world.

These are just two of the many swing trading indicators that traders have at their dispose. If you are just starting out then it would be advised that you stick to indicators that are well known, trusted and widely used by the trading community and successful traders. Moving averages and the MACD are just two indicators that fall into this category of being proven and reliable. When used properly, moving averages offer any trader the ability to identify the trend and areas of support and resistance at a glance. MACD goes one step further and allows insight into momentum of the market which gives you the advantage of knowing when the market may be running out of steam. These two trading indicators have stood the test of time and should be a trading tool for any new trader.

So you have learned how to trade the markets by mastering a few trading tools like Moving Averages, Channels, Stochastics, MACD, or RSI – that is a great accomplishment achieved by only a few.

However, having the tools and rules to trade markets successfully, year in and year out, is only half of the challenge. The other half is far more daunting and achieved by even fewer investors – I am talking about good old-fashioned discipline. That is, discipline to follow your indicators and rules without fail – every trade entry and every trade exit. This is why it is critical that you learn how to trade. This is the ‘moment of truth’ in the life of every trader or investor.

Here is a test. Are you able to consistently pull the trigger on your sell signal when all the ‘experts’ are screaming, ‘buy’? Do you ever give your stop loss a little more room because you can’t stand to lose, not even one trade, only to have the market gap open the next day against you? Are you always available during the trading day to follow your trades? Do you let your emotions cloud your thinking and cause you to violate your own trading rules in the ‘heat of battle’? If you answered yes to any or all of these questions, you are absolutely normal and that’s the reason why it’s so difficult to trade successfully even with a good methodology. If you fail to learn how to trade , you are your own worst enemy, when it comes to disciplined trading or investing.

Is there a remedy for this problem? Yes! The solution, when you are learning how to trade , is to find a good mechanical trading system that provides superior returns consistently over time and a broker to trade it, verbatim, on your behalf. You will have instantly solved the discipline problem and dramatically increase your potential for success.