2013 is coming to a close with only four trading days left in the year. Traders will enjoy a very slow trading session today where little price movements are expected on very low volume which will be followed by another slow trading tomorrow in order to close the final full week for this calendar year.
Next week on Monday is the final full trading day for 2013 which will be followed by a short trading day on Tuesday which will mark the end of trading for 2013. Volume could pick slightly next week as forex traders will close positions in order to realize year-end trading profits as well as exit losing positions they do not wish to carry over into the next year.
The next four trading days will be a great time to take a look at your own forex trading portfolio and evaluate it. There is little price action expected so you have more free time to conduct an in-depth review of your open trades as well as your trading history.
Every successful trader does this; some prefer to do it on a monthly base while others conduct this review on a quarterly base. An annual forex review should be conducted and some year-end house cleaning may be very beneficial as well.
4 Tips for your annual Forex Review:
Start with your open forex trades and take a look at how they are performing. While you should not close positions simply because the year ends you may want to evaluate those trades who have been in your portfolio for the longest time and reconsider your exit positions. Those trades who are your biggest earners should remain in your account, but you could adjust your stop loss orders and secure bigger profits. Take enough time to check the charts and see if there is reason to make adjustments.
Now take a look at your trading history. It is best if you download it from your MetaTrader 4 platform. You can do so by accessing your trading terminal which is by default located at the bottom of your PaxForex MT4 platform. Click on the Account History tab and then right-click anywhere in the data which will open a drop-down menu. Select Custom Period and now select from January 1st to December 31st and click OK. Right-click inside the Account History tab again and select Save as Detailed Report. You will be now able to sort through your forex trading history and at the end of the report you will receive some very important information which you should evaluate carefully and assess if it met your goals or if your need to make adjustments.
Take a look at your average losses and average gains and examine all other stats offered to you. This will give you the best insight of the trading strategy which you followed this year. In case you have tried different strategies, create the above report for each strategy you used and cover the respective period. This allows you to compare the success of each strategy.
Make necessary adjustments if you are not satisfied with the data you are reviewing and make sure you monitor all changes. This is best done on a quarterly base. Don’t be afraid to make adjustments until you are satisfied with your forex trades, but only adjust one part of your strategy at a time and then test it out. You may use our PaxForex Trading Recommendations as a guide and for trade ideas; feel free to apply your own exit strategy to it and make sure you manage your trades. Don’t be afraid to make adjustments and monitor changes over a multi-month time period. Make those trades using smaller lot sizes until you achieve the desired results.
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