The above may strike you as odd, because ALL traders of course want to make big gains but they simply don't have the mindset to accept them and some explanation will make this clearer...

If you look at a chart of any Forex pair, you will see big trends which can last for many weeks. They always occur and always will and the last few weeks are a case in point, with the fiscal crisis triggering huge trends and profits. We have outlined some great profit opportunities on this blog for profit but we doubt, if many traders locked into the trends we focused on and held them.

Key Reasons Why Most Traders Can't make Money From Big Trends

Because most traders have no understanding of the risk to reward of Forex trading or and simply lack the mindset to hold long term trends which is down to a lack of understanding, of how Forex prices actually move.

If you want to catch and hold big trends, you need to avoid these key errors:

Traders Try to Trade Short Term Volatility

There is a huge industry in selling so called “low risk” scalping systems but there really the highest risk form of trading you can engage in - because you have no chance of winning with them.

The vendors of these systems, sell the message you can trade in a day with tight stops of 10 – 20 pips and scalp small gains consistently and keep risk low but its not true. These vendors are great at making trading profits in hindsight but we can all do that. The reality is you need to trade forward, not knowing the closing price and that's far harder.

Traders think their getting a low risk system - but scalping is the highest risk trading you can engage in. All daily volatility is random and ranges can easily be 100 – 200 pips, so trading this noise is doomed to failure.

Traders Don't Understand the Odds of Trading Long Term

The big trends last a few weeks to a few months and if you lock into them and hold them, you can make big gains. These are the trades that offer you the big rewards and its a fact, the longer the time frame you choose to trade - the better the odds.

Sure, you have to trade with 100 pip plus stops but your gains, can be several thousand pips which will more than over them and make you a lot of money. This is what professional traders do and you need to do too if you want to win. You can see big trends on any chart, all you need to do is lock into them and accept the profits they can give you and this doesn't mean being right on a lot of your trades!

Watch our Leverage and Forget about Trade Accuracy

The BEST Forex traders make money on 30 – 50% of their trades (don't believe ANYONE who tells you, that you can get 90% of your trades right, its rubbish) and if you make money on 50% of your trades, your profits have to be big enough to cover your losses.

If you think a 100 pip stop is big, check your leverage, its probably to high. You need to focus on lower leverage, give a reasonable distance to your stop and when you get in on a trend you need to hold it and NOT bank early.

Getting the Mindset to Hold a Big Trend

Most Forex traders have a problem accepting big gains when they get into a long term trade. The following is a typical scenario – they get a small profit and are  pleased and the bigger it gets, the more tempted they are to “take it now” before it gets away.

Most traders never have the confidence to run a profit and end up banking early – a normal open equity dip occurs, they snatch the profit and then watch, as the trade reverses the way they thought and goes on to make thousands of dollars and their not in it:

They knew the trend would last longer but they simply didn't have the confidence to run it.

I see this happen all the time and if you don't have confidence, you will never have discipline and its discipline you need, to run a long term trend.Traders need to know what their doing and this means getting the right education and if you get the right education, you will understand - scalping is a losers game and trend following is what professional traders do to make money.

Why You Can Win

The reason why you can win is simple – if you understand this article and the concept of trend following, you can adapt your method accordingly and also adopt the right mindset. Trading with discipline is something any trader can do if they want too.

So if you want to win, accept the fact that trend following is the best way to make money, have confidence and discipline and Forex trading success can be yours.