Currency Trading Information

Mechanical or Discretionary Trading - Which is Best?


Discretionary Trading

Pure discretionary trading will rely solely on the traders judgement. For example a discretionary trader may spot a particular pattern developing on a chart and decide to enter a trade on that basis. It would be impossible to systemise their trading because it relies on subjective judgements and 'gut' feel.

Mechanical Trading

Pure mechanical trading involves the development of trading rules that cover every situation, from entry to exit and position sizing. The trader is executing a predefined plan. They must however take every trade that the system gives them which can be difficult if the trader begins to 'think' too much!

Both sets of trader are working hard at different times and at different things. The mechanical trader spends time developing a system and does not need to think whilst trading, merely executing a plan. The discretionary trader has to be thinking all the time that they are trading and can suffer from 'information overload'.

Which is best?

The answer is probably a combination of both approaches. Coming to the market with a proven strategy rather than relying on gut instinct is far less stressful and gives the trader more confidence. However the markets are always changing and one trading strategy will not work forever - i.e. the Turtle Traders. Strategies will always need updating.

Many traders will use a mechanical system to generate buy and sell signals but then use discretion, reading the market, to attempt to gain better fill prices.

All successful traders will use some sort of proven trading strategy to begin with but the level of discretion allowed by it will vary. A trader with no plan at all will fail.

Tim Wreford runs Online Futures Trading, a website that provides information and resources for traders. Tim also provides a free day trading system, the results of which are updated daily on the site.


MORE RESOURCES:

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Forbes, NY - Jul 21, 2008
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Wall Street Journal - Jul 17, 2008
By JENNIFER WATERS The steep drop in the value of the dollar has many individual investors flirting with dipping into foreign currency trading in order to ...


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Forex Hound, NY - 11 hours ago
In our last lesson we looked at what an increase or decrease in the quote for a particular currency pair means to us as traders of the forex market. ...


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Daily FX, NY - Jul 14, 2008
Currency trading markets have seen a major pickup in volatility through the past several days of trading, but relatively limited follow-through makes it ...


Top Currency Trading Ideas for the Week of July 14, 2008
Daily FX, NY - Jul 14, 2008
Our USD bearish stance has been proved correct to this point and we think there is a good deal of weakness going forward. The EURUSD is still the best ...


The Associated Press

Japan stocks drop on overnight US losses
The Associated Press - 16 hours ago
In currency trading, the dollar bought 106.66 yen midafternoon in Tokyo, down from 107.29 yen late Thursday in New York. The euro rose to $1.5720, ...

Currency-Trading - Google News

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