My trading day hardly varies and follows the following format - make sure you have a routine and stick to it - it doesn't have to be the same as mine but the importance is a regular routine - here is mine as an example of my normal trading routine. 

Evening

I have started with the evening first, as this is the time I do my analysis of the markets and generate trading signals from my trading strategy. Overall at anyone time, I am looking at around 15 currency pairs which consist of all the majors and some of the heavily traded crosses. I tend to focus on currencies which are trending strongly and will change the main currencies I focus on depending on how strongly there trending.

I tend to view the closing price as the most important of the day and by closing price, I mean of the US Markets and its at this time, I will transact the bulk of my trading signals, adjust stops and set open orders. The close is a great time to look back on how the price action has settled and your not disturbed by news reports and don't see the noise of the market.

Having a simple system which is just trend lines and a few momentum indicators to look at all the currency pairs I follow, do analysis of the charts and do all my orders takes no more than an hour and sometimes a lot less so its easy to fit in with my full time profession as a writer and marketing consultant.

Morning

After getting up breakfast wash and shower, I will sit down and look at the London open of business and normally this I consider the best time to look at prices after the US close – there both periods of heavy volume as well and in the London session I might see the action continue from the Us Session in terms of the direction of currencies or a trend change. Generally, I make no trades in this period although stops maybe hit or open orders filled. Its really a time just to have a cup of coffee and just scan the markets for later and this normally takes me about 30 minutes and no more.

Afternoon

I don't tend to look at prices in the afternoon and being a long term trader, I pay no attention to news reports such as Non Farm Payroll, Meetings of Central banks or other news events. As far as I am concerned trading breaking news is one of the biggest mistakes a trader can make as volatility in the markets can be high and it's easy to get stopped out within the noise so I prefer to wait for the end of the day, when the dust has settled to enter trading signals, adjust stop losses and open orders.

Weekends

I do some work at the weekend which normally takes around 2 hours I do it any time at the weekend Saturday or Sunday and this is actually the longest time I spend on my trading plan. Not only do I look at levels of daily currency charts, I also at the weekly and monthly charts and see where the big long term trends are going and see if there are any key levels that line up on the monthly and weekly as well as the daily charts. These levels I consider to be the most important in terms of my personal trading strategy and I will note these levels on any currency pairs I see for the next week of trading.

Trading Breaks

I take breaks from trading every few months where I will literally close all open positions in the market and put my account into cash. Am I worried about missing any trends, not really, there are always big trends in Forex markets so missing the odd week or two makes no difference and also by taking a break, it helps maintain mental sharpness. If you do the same thing all the time it gets repetitive and your mind can wander and miss opportunities so its best to have a break and come back sharp and refreshed.

I will also pack up trading for at least a week if I suddenly make a lot of money on my open position and the figure I have set is 20% - if this level is hit, all trading signals are closed and I have a week off. I don't care how good the trades look I take them and reward myself with a break.

Ongoing Education

In terms of Forex education, my trading strategy has been the same for a quarter of a century and its avery simple trading system, I understand and can apply with disicpline and it makes profits so I see no reason to change it. I don't listen to all the rubbish on the net about some way to beat the market or the trader who says he has found the secret of trading success, I have heard it all before and all professional Forex traders know that success comes from within the trader and not from outside. I do however like to read some classic books on trading and these are normally, for motivation more than anything else although, I do pick up the odd currency trading tip which I might incorporate into my trading plan.

In Conclusion

So there you have a quick summary of a typical day in the life of a professional Forex trader from home and as you can see, it takes around 7 – 8 hours a week to do everything in connection with my currency trading business. The way I trade is designed to keep it simple, focus on the important price action, avoid distractions from intra day moves and to trade as stress free as possible. I don't find tradi9ng stressful at all and have total confidence in my plan and the discipline to follow it through which all professional traders will tell you is the way to become a long term profitable currency trader.

The great think about trading currency markets is anyone can learn currency trading and even if you have a full time career, you can make a great second income from home and in my view, there is no better business than trading global currency markets for profit.

Demo Account Trading v Real Time Trading the Difference

You have researched a currency trading strategy your happy with and have traded in a demo account and made money so now its time to open your trading account and turn your practice trades which have made money into cold hard cash. Before you do this though, you need to be aware that it's far easier to make money money in a demo account than in real time tr