An essential part of any trader’s forex trading education is learning to spot trends. The famous saying ‘the trend is your friend’ is at the heart of this technique. Provided you can spot the difference between an emerging trend and a trifling fluctuation. There are many different ways of identifying a trend using either technical analysis (charts and indicators) or market data (fundamental criteria). Drawing trend lines on a candlestick chart is perhaps the most straightforward strategy. You can identify triangle patterns that may foretell a breakout in one direction or the other, and check these against other indicators such as the MACD crossover. It’s also wise to check your pattern on charts for different periods, e.g. Check hourly against daily charts and so on.

There is no have to know all the different methods for noticing a trend. Perfect one or two reliable methods and you have all that you need to make money. Remember that all techniques have their successes and their failures, and it’s the overall profit or loss over the long term that counts. Do not be put off by one failure, and control your risk so that two losses in a row will not have a giant effect on your funds or on your confidence.