Trade Forex Like a Sniper…Not a Machine Gunner
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Today’s
Forex Lesson is “Awesome”. In fact, It’s probably one of my best
trading lessons I have ever written. It took me at least 2 days of brain
power and probably 20 coffees. Please pay it forward, share it with
others. Enjoy.A sniper in the military has an edge over his or her enemy; their edge is unwavering patience, mastery of their weapon, and the ability to remain consciously in control of their mind and body for long periods of time in high-stress situations. We can apply these same concepts to Forex trading…
Forex trading is very similar…you need a trading edge (weapon), you have to master this edge, you need to develop and maintain rigid self-discipline and control, and you have to execute your edge flawlessly in the face of constant temptation to over-trade and over-leverage. Now, trading is nowhere near as stressful as war, but it still requires conscious control of mind and body.
Those traders who learn to pick and choose their trades wisely, trading like a Forex “sniper”, are typically the ones who succeed long-term, whereas those traders who act like machine-gun traders by shooting at everything they see (trading too much), tend to run out of ammo (money) very quickly and fail to accomplish their goals in the market. Let’s discuss how you can learn to trade like a sniper instead of shooting at everything (taking every trade) that comes your way…
• Accept that less is more in Forex trading
One of the things that we traders can learn from a sniper in the military is that in certain situations less is indeed more. Forex trading is definitely a “situation” where less is more. However, it is very common for beginning traders to feel that more is better; more Forex indicators, more trades, more analyzing, more money on useless trading robots, etc.
What is the result of such misinformed beliefs? The result is almost always over-trading; indeed, most beginning Forex traders are like machine-gunners; spraying bullets (money) at everything they deem to be a trade and likely causing more damage to their trading accounts than good. The first step that you need to make if you want to trade more like a sniper and less like a machine-gunner, is to truly accept that less is more in Forex trading.
Just like a sniper waits patiently for his or her pre-determined target to come into view; you need to learn how to wait patiently for your pre-defined trading edge to show itself in the market. As price action traders we have a very effective trading edge that allows us great opportunity to trade the market with sniper-like precision, and the daily charts provide the best “battleground” for us to execute our edge on.
• Higher time frames
As I mentioned previously, the daily chart should be your “battleground” for developing your ability to become a Forex sniper. Why, you ask? Because it is the daily chart that gives us the “highest value” or highest-probability targets when compared to any time frame below it. Weekly charts are also accurate, but they don’t give us enough targets each month and they are less practical to trade than the daily chart.
These targets are price action setups, and you should think of them as higher-value on the higher time frames, because in reality the higher the time frame the higher-probability the setup becomes. This is the primary reason that trading higher time frames drastically increases trading success. Think about it this way; a sniper is on a pre-planned mission to take out high-value targets that can change the course of a war, and in Forex trading you should be looking for the highest-probability trade setups that can have the greatest positive impact on your track record.
Machine-gun trading the lower time frames is not going to do anything but cause you to lose all your ammo or money a lot faster than you think. There is really no sense in ever trading any time frame below the 1hr chart since the value or probability of the targets or setups decreases dramatically as you move lower in time frame. You want to stick to the high-value or high-probability setups of the daily chart as much as possible, and especially while you are still learning to trade.
• Patience
If
there is one thing that a sniper in the military definitely IS, it’s
patient. Patience is like the “magic” ingredient that makes everything
work for a sniper in the military, and it is also the “magic” ingredient
that you will need to use if you want to become a Forex sniper. Most
beginning traders lose money in the markets, and most beginning traders
are also anything BUT patient. See the connection here?There is a tendency for traders to want to “force” the issue of trading by manifesting signals that aren’t really there or by jumping into a signal that has not closed out yet. When it comes to money it is human nature to be impatient, this is otherwise known as greed, but if you don’t learn to become a patient Forex trader, you will never forge the type of overall self-control that it takes to succeed as a Forex trader and become a Forex sniper.
• Mastery of strategy
A sniper will train for years to sharpen and perfect his or her shooting skills, and a sniper knows exactly what their target looks like and pulls the trigger without hesitation. Similarly, you will need to “train” with the particular Forex trading strategy you choose to employ in the markets so that you know EXACTLY what you are looking for every time you open your charts. However, you will need to do more than that; you will need to truly MASTER the Forex trading strategy that you choose, because if you don’t master it, you will never achieve your full potential as a Forex sniper.
Mastering a trading strategy begins with education. If you choose to employ high-probability price action trading strategies, I can provide you with the Forex trading training you will need. However, you must put in the time and effort to learn and master it; I cannot do this for you. You need to be realistic about this, it will take time; it takes time to become a master at anything, and Forex trading is no different. But, if you put in the necessary time and take advantage of the insights discussed in this article, you will begin trading like a sniper sooner than you might think.
• Developing a sniper-like Forex trading mindset
Sniper-like Forex trading breeds confidence and discipline. The more you strive to trade like a sniper and less like a machine-gunner, the more your Forex trading confidence and discipline will improve. This is because you will be rewarded for patience, and as you start to see your patience pay off over time, you will want to maintain it.
It is the initial stages of developing a sniper-like Forex trading mindset that most traders fail at, usually because they do not understand the power of patience and discipline. It tends to feel better to be a machine-gun trader because you feel powerful and “in control”. The problem with this mindset is that you can never control the market, in fact, the more you try to control the Forex market the more it will actually control you. The only thing you CAN control is yourself by learning to trade like a sniper, and if you do this you will significantly increase your chances of success as a Forex trader.
Trading Like A Sniper is part of my ‘core trading philosophy’ that I teach my students. If you want to learn more about becoming a disciplined price action Forex “sniper”, check out my forex trading course and traders community here.
Note: Trading Course Special: Until September 30th, Save 40% Off Nial Fuller's Professional Trading Course, Daily Trade Setups Newsletter, Live Trading Forum & Email Coaching - Click Here.
Roy
Thanks so much Nail, informative and mind building stuff.
Thank you.
I think this is one difficult task to master.. patience. But if it will change my trading to right direction I am willing to do it. I just start trading this January 2017. Thank you for this article so I can start right..
Tess
Machine gunner ! yes.
Patient ! no.
Day trader ! I am now.
Knowledge is the key. Your course will give me a new trade. Now it is up to me to put the time in and learn this new trade.
Finally, a straight up, concise no BS site that will enhance my life style over time.
Time to rock.
Thanks for sharing your knowledge.
I wonder to consistently make profits in the market.,especially to being a sniper, should we also consider of the fundamental such as news.
Cause as we know, market moves so fast up down. How do we suppose to imply the connections between fundamental and the use of TF(Time Frames) accurately.
For instance,once we enter market with higher TF Daily(D1) which indicates the pair to drop,it likely market moves against our expectations. What and how exactly the right way to read the TF..How long it takes for the TF D1 to hit our Target?
Oh! You are always right and I totally agree with you but “partience, partiance and partience again” – I hate it (sorry!)! How to become a patience – “that is the question” (Hello from Shakespear!)!
I never was a sniper but as a fisherman I am ready to subscribe to your every word from this article. Trading likes fishing too. You never know – catch fish or fish eat the bait often with tackle. I know only one way to be a patience – LOVE! If you love fishing (trading in mind) – you will be a patient, careful, prudent and so on. But to became successful trader all this is not enough. Shoud be a greate secret right on the table but if you did not want to see it yet or if you’re not ready to take it … It seems that you found it and trying to show it to all of us – WITH A BIG PATIENCE!
Thank you once more – with deep reverence and gratitude,
Vic
Very helpful article and has changed my overall view of how i should be trading…..hmmm just like a snipper ;)
Thanks alot.
Thank you so much for coming up with analogies like these overall, they wield incredible explanatory power
OKA’DIGBO
NIGERIA
We have a 3 trade a week limit each and we split the trading shifts so that we don’t work at the same time.
My view is that once each or one of us has hit our 3 trade a week limit, that person should stop trading even if it is say Wednesday and there is still Thursday and Friday to go. My trading partner’s view is that that person should still show up for their shifts regardless of the fact that her 3 trades are done, and if there is a perfect set up by our rules she will take it. For me that defeats the purpose! The way I see it is that if one of us has used up our trades early in the week, and the other person still has 3 trades left, the other person should continue trading but the person out of trades should stop! She says that if all her 3 trades have been good, why should she not be allowed to at least show up to the market to see what is available. We have a mindset of showing up to the market everyday, but not necessarily trading everyday, so for her, the idea of then skipping sessions because she has had her 3 trades, doesn’t sit well. And I agree to the extent that we shouldn’t just skip trading sessions especially is the other person still have 3 trades left to take.
What would your opinion be please?!
excellent , patience is a wisdom…Thks for Your Great Lessons.
From Now I will Trade better. Like a Snipper.
bye
Thank you for your great educational articles like this
Thanks again!
i will try this technique, and I’m sure it will work !!
French proverb : It’s easier to say than to do it
Cheers et thank you again for your website… one of the best
another excelent article – machi-gunner it was me. Thanks for lesson.
I don’t reply much to your articles although I read all of them.
This one was particularly good for me. Wont go into the reason but very nicely done and I will read it again. Basically, patience is the key for me.
By the way, I think it is cool that you ask members to leave a comment but sometimes it seems you are looking for attention. Your articles are great and if somebody is going to comment they will, weather you ask or not.
Cheers
Doug
very good advise for nb like me…
Nothing other a Sniper is better. You said it all. Thank you
Right on TARGET! Keep the caffein and suggestions a comin’.
This ol’ 18 wheeler used to drink 18 cups of that black stuff a day. Nice vice! Thanks again for your thoughtfulness and expertise! Larry
Peace to your spirit,soul and body as you continue to release these creative ideas and hindsights freely to the trading community.Thanks.
That was another brilliant lesson from you, and after having a couple of hard weeks trading (to many 4hr trades and not enough patience) I’m definitely concentrating on the daily charts. PATIENCE & PRACTICE.
Many thanks
Steve
You are a Pro and, I think, a great Men.
Trading like a sniper makes complete sense and let’s me do my day job (at least until I’m a better trader :-) )
Cheers
Jim
superd lessons & yes patience is also the best strategy.keep going with the good lessons
Keep these great lessons coming.
He describes an experiment where they took 2 & 3 Star generals to wall street and after the close did a sumulation of the markets because the marine generals compared it to a war room.
They then got traders to participate in war games.
The result was that both performed well and to the resurchers surprise at the coctail party afterward the traders and generals were mingling together and relating well.
It is a great read.
Thanks for a fantastic article Nial
your articles is simply the best and easy to understand by newbies like myself and thanks for all the great advice
Great..we are in war now, have a good weapon
and highly shooting skill.
Aaia…Yes Sir Kapitan.
Cheers
You’ve written another great article. I like the analogy….sniper vs machine gunner. Mastering trading is just like mastering accurate shooting – it takes patience and practice. Thanks again.
You have a gift of using words that really gets the point across and in a way that gets right to the meat.
Thanks for all you do. Great article.
slide
Another great lesson, I took your advice a while ago on trading the daily charts so early every morning my snipers scope is scanning the daily charts[before i go to work]like the last couple of weeks nothing seemed to be happening until I spotted a bullish pin bar but it was against the trend so I thought better be safe than sorry and left the trade which came off anyway!Then yesterday an inside bar/pin bar formed,my finger on the trigger i watched the retrace and had a peek at a lower timeframe trying to fine tune my entry,I pulled the trigger and bingo bullseye! the dharts wer of to the races!On another note you say you are nearly at 4000 members,as I am one of them I would love to know how many have reached the stage that they can give up work as that is my goal and Im sure this would give encouragement to others?
and seen the similarities. My trading is improving because of you.
Thanks
Carl
thanks for your best article.
it is about 6 months that I have become your member.
I have started with USD 2000.00 and up to now my gross profit is USD 1829.00 and my gross loss USD 1572.00, so my net profit became USD 257.00.I observe about 30% of your rules.
My net profit could be much more than USD 1000.00, but because I did not observe the rules that you taught me,I have lost a lot.
I didn’t had patient, but I had greed.
After closing any order by TP or SL, again I start another order to increase my profit or compensate my lost order, and most of the time I was losing again.
From now I decide to obey all your rules and be a forex SNIPER.
I wish you all the best.
Thanks Nial, for being a great coach, who reminds us of the basic skills we need to be successful traders.
Another great article as usual.Truly, patience and discipline
with good knowledge of price action is key to profitable forex trading.You are a great mentor to me.Many thanks to you.
I have been trading for about 2 years now on a demo. Tried everything and yes i was shooting at everything i thought was a target. Since looking at the way your method works and starting to apply it, my trading has evolved. I’m a very impatient individual but after reading and reading and looking at your videos over and over again i saw that patience was really what i was lacking in a big way. After about 3 weeks since i found your site, i have started to turn my demo account into a profit. Your method really works. It’s really awesome. Thanks man.
Hope you are well. Another fantastic article, thank you so much.
Thank you for all your help
Thanks and Regards
Gurpal
Goodday to you and i pray God blessings and favours…in all ur ways.You have been a great and priceless
mentor to me personnally and much more to others ( i beiieve)
too-all at no cost!!! I seriuosly dont know how to reward
but to pray for you..my trade plan is working and i am too busy to take out time to learn more about your price action
but i hope to do so along the line..but i find 4hrs more reliable than daily chart or what do you think?..thanks anyways and God,s blessings once again…
I usually save these articles to be read and re-read. I think they are absolutely wonderful.
Thanks for the great articles.
I like your analogy of comparing forex trading to being a military sniper. By associating forex trading to a sniper, it will constantly remind myself to be patient and wait for the perfect setup to appear!
Cheers!
You have hit the nail on the head with this one as I have tried (as many new wannabe traders have) to try to make easy money on the shorter timeframes. The only thing I got was sore eyes from constantly looking at the computer and a decreasing bankroll.
Since I have signed on to your site one month ago I have learned a great deal and as I continue to study the course materials and review the rest of the information on the site I am gradually getting the hang of this market.
Thanks and regards
Terry
worth the wait. Plus, my trading account looks better when I
wait on the right trades. ANOTHER PLATINUM HIT, NIAL!!
Very informative and well written; good job!
It’s becoming more and more logical to trade the higher timeframes and taking a sniper approach sure help me aim better and become less stressed. Many thanks to your coaching and mentoring.
A question on the daily entry, do we wait for the next day bar to complete before the entry? Is it at the opening of the daily bar ?
Please advise
Cheers
Thanks for investing the time into helping others.
Very good article!!! As always!!
on trading. Thanks a lot for giving such a lucid
explanation.
Wonderfull Explanation about the market phsycology !!
You are always great !! All the best for the Traders !!
Your method is definitely working, I realised my biggest mistake. I could reduce it to not more than 25 per months thanks to your advices, and making profit now.
Pavel, Czech Republic.
Thanks Nial
This is an awesome article.
Now I always check the daily charts at the end of the day (5pm EST), the weekly, at end of the week, and monthly..yes at the end ofthe month. For me it’s the best way and your patience will be rewarded. Less is More in Forex and Gold!!
Happy Trading Campers!!
I totally agree with this article. Patience and mastery of the few trading techniques is enough to achieve success in trading. Very nice lesson.
regards
ds
Thanks for being a good coach
Price action is the best you can get !!!
I have been following your posts & lessons and I strongly believe the concept “less is more” in trading. The drawdown on my account has been decreased drastically ever since I started trade using price action.
It has also made me a more patient trader and only invest in high probability trades. Thanks again for your time and effort in making this website available to all of us who are keen to success in forex!
get the best results doing less but effectively reaps
huge results. Excellent yet simple as always Nial.
btw how is the sleep after that Caffeine bomb?! lol
Always grateful
Eric C
Seriously though .. ever since taking Nial’s course I am understanding what patience and no hesitation really mean. Its these values that LTTTM members have instilled in me. When I get over excited about seeing a PA signal I refer back to the Legends of LTTTM Forum and realise I was running through a rose bush with my my pants down hoping not to get spiked.
Congratualtions Nial on reaching 4000 members, I am sure others will agree your time and patience with us is
IMMEASURABLE!!
Filopastry
Thanks seriously, Great article
Regards
Peter
This is an awesome lesson. You have blessed me today so the two days of writing and the 20 coffees were worth it. Keep writing. You are the best Forex Article Man on the internet.