The best forex trading strategies and tips

A forex trading strategy defines how you trade by using technical indicators to identify key price levels. Here we have compiled a list of the ten most used strategies.

Top 10 forex trading strategies

Forex traders and market analysts are constantly creating new strategies to find the best time and point at which to enter or exit a position. Here are ten of the most popular strategies for trading currency pairs.

Bollinger bands strategy

The Bollinger Bands strategy is used to determine potential support and resistance levels that may be found in the market.

The Bollinger tool is made up of three bands: the center line is a simple moving average (SMA) set to a 20-day period, and the high and low lines measure market volatility. If the forex market is very volatile, the bands widen. Conversely, if the market is more stable, the bands move closer together. When price reaches the outer bands, it often serves as a bounce trigger towards the central 20-period moving average.

Forex traders can identify potential support and resistance points when prices break out of Bollinger bands. When this happens, either the market will break out of its range or the change will be temporary and prices will eventually return to their original direction. Bands help forex traders set entry and exit points for their trades as well as guide them to place stops and limits.

Momentum indicator strategy

The momentum indicator uses the most recent close price and compares it to the previous close price. It is then indicated by a line, usually on a separate chart below the main price chart.

The indicator swings to and from a central line of 100. The distance from the indicator to the line above or below 100 indicates how quickly the price changes. For example, a reading of 102 would indicate that the market is moving faster higher than a reading of 101. Conversely, a reading of 98 would indicate that the market is in a stronger downtrend than a reading of 99.

Momentum indicators can be a useful tool for providing overbought and oversold signals. Forex traders can use it to identify the strength of market movement and whether prices are moving up or down.

It is important to make sure that the market has followed the momentum indicator on previous occasions and to find the exact conditions that seem to work.

Fibonacci strategy

MACD stands for Moving Average Convergence/Divergence. The main objective of a forex strategy that uses the MACD is to identify the end of a trend and discover a new one.

Just like the momentum indicator, the MACD appears at the bottom of the main price chart. It consists of three parts: the MACD line, the signal line and the histogram.

The MACD is a momentum indicator that shows the difference between two trend following indicators or between two moving averages. When the two moving averages converge and diverge, the lines can be used by forex traders to identify buy and sell signals for currencies as well as other markets such as commodities and stocks.

When the MACD line crosses the signal line, it is a buy signal, and when the signal line crosses the MACD line, it corresponds to a sell signal. In the chart below, the MACD line is blue and the signal line is red.

Keltner band strategy

The Keltner Band is a volatility-based trading indicator. Forex traders can use the Keltner Bands strategy to determine which currency pair has moved too far from the moving average.

Like Bollinger Bands, Keltner Bands use two boundary bands consisting of two ten-day moving averages, on either side of an exponential moving average. Traders can use the bands to determine if a currency is oversold or overbought by comparing the relationship the prices have with each side of the bands.

The theory goes that by placing the bands some distance from the average market price, a trader can confirm significant market movement. If prices cross the boundary bands, they will certainly continue their trend in the same direction.

Fractal indicator strategy

The term fractal corresponds to a pattern that repeats itself within larger price variations. The fractal indicator identifies market reversal points around key support and resistance points. Forex traders can use the fractal strategy to get an idea of the direction the trend will take by placing an order when a fractal indicator appears at these key levels. Fractal indicators occur very frequently. They are therefore commonly used as part of a larger forex strategy made up of other indicators.

The Fractal Pattern is made up of five candlesticks and it indicates where a price has struggled to rise or fall. A fractal indicator should have a center bar with a higher high or lower low than the two bars on either side.

In a bullish fractal, we must be interested in the highest bar, and in a bearish fractal, we must be interested in the lowest bar. A forex strategy based on the fractal indicator is applicable if the market moves beyond the high or low of the fractal signal.

RSI indicator strategy

The relative strength index (RSI) is a very popular tool in technical analysis and is used in many trading strategies. The RSI allows traders to identify momentum and overbought or oversold conditions.

The RSI indicator appears on a separate chart from the price chart of an asset. It is represented by a line and two automatically defined levels.

The vertical axis of the RSI is between 0 and 100 and indicates the current price compared to its previous values. If prices rise to 100, this is an extremely strong uptrend because most analysts believe that an RSI above 70 means an asset is overbought. If the prices fall to 0, then it is a very strong continuous downtrend because an RSI below 30 means that an asset is oversold.

This forex strategy involves taking advantage of market retracements between these price levels. However, it is important to use this indicator as part of a larger strategy to confirm entry and exit points. Indeed, the RSI can give false signals when the price variations are important.

Breakup strategy

Breakout trading involves taking a position during the initial phase of a trend. A breakout (or breakout) occurs when prices break a consolidation or a range: this usually occurs when the support or resistance level has been reached or exceeded.

Breakout trading is an important strategy, especially in forex because the change represents the start of a period of volatility. While waiting for a key level to break, forex traders can enter the market as soon as price breaks, and hold their position until volatility returns to normal. Typically, breakouts occur at the historical level of support or resistance, but this can vary depending on market strength or weakness. Your stop-loss should be placed at the breakout point of the market.

Using the breakout strategy relies on being able to spot the trading volume that is occurring in the market. However, it is impossible to know the volume of orders placed in the forex market because it is decentralized. It is therefore imperative to put in place a good risk management strategy.