Why 95% of Investors Fail at Futures and Forex

What does it take to be successful in life? Do we emulate the worst people, or do we emulate the best? When it comes to trading futures and forex, it seems easy to emulate the worst. Those who have heard about futures and forex trading usually hear it from family members or acquaintances who failed at it. While it is good to keep an open mind, the negativity of the unsuccessful can weigh heavily for those starting out or for those who have experience but still lack a grasp of the basics of how the futures and forex markets work.

There are a myriad of reasons why 95% of traders fail, ranging from undercapitalization or overcapitalization to not being familiar with the vocabulary, bringing old stock ideas into trading decisions, and misunderstanding gambling and speculation. The following chapters will shed light on why 95% of investors fail in their transition to trading futures and forex and more importantly how you can become one of the 5% that can take control of their futures and forex trading, leading them to success.

Becoming one of the elite 5% is easier said than done. That is why you must learn to separate your individual trading experience from your overall trading goals. You will sometimes find yourself losing right along with the other 95% of traders. You won’t be able to make heads or tails of the market. What will make the difference is not the loss but how you have prepared for the loss and how you react.

The World of Futures and Forex

While today’s futures and forex markets are the hottest news items, with the weak dollar, increasing oil prices, and gold making headlines every other day, it has not always been this way. Each of these markets was born out of the necessity of their times.

Forward contracts, the precursor to the futures markets, can be dated as far back as Phoenician times. In sixteenth-century Japan, we see a fully operational rice futures exchange that was functional and had a tremendous impact on the local economy. The countries that adopted forward contracts and later futures contracts, all had one thing in common: strong commodity economies that were impacted by time in some form or fashion.

The same occurred in the forex market. While foreign currency trading is a relatively new phenomenon, approximately 30 years in the making, it also came of age out of the need to accurately reflect the value of various burgeoning economies around the world.

So when the world was smaller, particularly after the end of World War II, import and export numbers were negligible and thus free-floating currencies were not as important. The moment that the world began to catch up with the United States in manufacturing and exporting goods, so did the need to accurately use currencies to reflect the strength or weakness of a country and then measure their goods and services accordingly.

List of All Forex Currency Pairs According to Major, Exotic and Precious Metals

This article presents a list of all the Forex currency pairs. The currency pairs are grouped according to major, exotic, precious, and correlated pairs.

Forex currency pairs are the integral instruments being traded in Forex. They are also called securities. In Forex unlike stocks and commodities, the security or trading instruments are paired in a BUY/SELL or SELL/BUY pattern. For example the Forex currency pair EURUSD technically would mean buy the Euro and sell the Dollar or sell the EUR and buy the Dollar. Profits are made when the EUR for example is bought at 1.4500 dollars and later sold at 2.4950 dollars (i.e. buy EURUSD at $1.4500 and later sell when EUR is $2.4950) This is where the slogan “Buy LOW and Sell HIGH” comes in.

A lot of traders often do not know the Forex currency pairs available in Forex. Most traders would have been more successful only if they diversify their strategies to include other currency pairs.

Other details such as swaps, spreads, or currency pip range are not included in the list as they are broker specifics, and they are dynamic in nature.

FOREX CURRENCY PAIRS

1. All Forex Currency Pairs (ordered alphabetically)

S/N FX PAIR

1. AUDCAD – Australian Dollar/Canadian Dollar

2. AUDCHF – Australian Dollar/Swiss Franc

3. AUDJPY – Australian Dollar/Japanese Yen

4. AUDNZD – Australian Dollar/New Zealand Dollar

5. AUDUSD – Australian Dollar/US Dollar

6. CADCHF – Canadian Dollar/Swiss Franc

7. CADJPY – Canadian Dollar/Japanese Yen

8. CHFJPY – Swiss Franc/Japanese Yen

9. EURAUD – Euro/Australian Dollar

10. EURCAD – Euro/Canadian Dollar

11. EURCHF – Euro/Swiss Franc

12. EURDKK – Euro/Danish Krone

13. EURGBP – Euro/Great Britain Pound

14. EURHUF – Euro/Hungarian Forint

15. EURJPY – Euro/Japanese Yen

16. EURNZD – Euro/New Zealand Dollar

17. EURPLN – Euro/Polish Zloty

18. EURUSD – Euro/US Dollar

19. GBPAUD – Great Britain Pound/Australian Dollar

20. GBPCAD – Great Britain Pound/Canadian Dollar

21. GBPCHF – Great Britain Pound/Swiss Franc

22. GBPJPY – Great Britain Pound/Japanese Yen

23. GBPNZD – Great Britain Pound/Australian Dollar

24. GBPUSD – Great Britain Pound/US Dollar

25. NZDCAD – New Zealand Dollar/Canadian Dollar

26. NZDCHF – New Zealand Dollar/Swiss Franc

27. NZDJPY – New Zealand Dollar/Japanese Yen

28. NZDUSD – New Zealand Dollar/US Dollar

29. USDCAD – US Dollar/Canadian Dollar

30. USDCHF – US Dollar/Swiss Franc

31. USDDKK – US Dollar/Danish Kronor

32. USDHKD – US Dollar/Hong Kong Dollar

33. USDHUF – US Dollar/Hungarian Forint

34. USDJPY – US Dollar/Japanese Yen

35. USDNOK – US Dollar/Norwegian Kronor

36. USDPLN – US Dollar/Polish Zloty

37. USDRON – US Dollar/Romanian Lei

38. USDSEK – US Dollar/Swedish Kronor

39. USDSGD – US Dollar/Singapore Dollar

40. USDTRY – US Dollar/Turkish Lira

41. USDZAR – US Dollar/South Africa Rand

42. ZARJPY – South African Rand/Japanese Yen

2. Forex Currency – Major Pairs

These are the major pairs predominantly traded in Forex. In an economic view, these pairs dominate the financial world due to their political, and financial might. An undesirable economic shock on either of these pairs can send ripple effects that would affect the world economy. These pairs are also known for their high volatility.

S/N FX PAIR

1. EURUSD – Euro/US Dollar

2. USDJPY – US Dollar/Japanese Yen

3. GBPUSD – Great Britain Pound/US Dollar

4. GBPJPY – Great Britain Pound/Japanese Yen

5. EURGBP – Euro/Great Britain Pound

6. EURJPY – Euro/Japanese Yen

7. USDCHF – US Dollar/Swiss France

3. Forex Currency Exotic Pairs

These are rarely traded pairs with low volumes, market depth, and very high bid/ask spread rate. They are expensive pairs to trade with due to their high spread rates.

S/N FX PAIR

1. USDDKK – US Dollar/Danish Kronor

2. USDHKD – US Dollar/Hong Kong Dollar

3. USDHUF – US Dollar/Hungarian Forint

4. USDJPY – US Dollar/Japanese Yen

5. USDNOK – US Dollar/Norwegian Kronor

6. USDPLN – US Dollar/Polish Zloty

7. USDRON – US Dollar/Romanian Lei

8. USDSEK – US Dollar/Swedish Kronor

9. USDSGD – US Dollar/Singapore Dollar

10. USDTRY – US Dollar/Turkish Lira

11. USDZAR – US Dollar/South Africa Rand

12. EURDKK – Euro/Danish Krone

13. EURHUF – Euro/Hungarian Forint

14. EURPLN – Euro/Polish Zloty

15. EURNZD – Euro/New Zealand Dollar

16. ZARJPY – South African Rand/Japanese Yen

4. Forex Currency – Correlated Pairs

Correlated pairs are currency pairs that have similar price patterns, movement, reactions, and price action. Therefore it is not wise to trade some of these pairs at the same time because it would multiply the risk in your account when the market goes against you. Also it would be disastrous to trade some of these pairs at the same time because they move against themselves. For example if there is a sell signal on the EURUSD, then it is 95% likely that the same signal would appear on the GBPUSD but not likely with the same intensity.

S/N FX PAIR

1. EURUSD – Euro/US Dollar

2. EURGBP – Euro/Great Britain Pound

3. USDCHF – US Dollar/Swiss Franc

4. USDJPY – US Dollar/Japanese Yen

5. AUDNZD – Australian Dollar/New Zealand Dollar

6. AUDUSD – Australian Dollar/US Dollar

7. GBPJPY – Great Britain Pound/Japanese Yen

8. GBPUSD – Great Britain Pound/US Dollar

9. EURJPY – Euro/Japanese Yen

10. AUDJPY – Australian Dollar/Japanese Yen

11. NZDJPY – New Zealand Dollar/Japanese Yen

5. Forex Metals

These are assets in form of gold and silver. Their unique nature makes them an appetite for investment through stocks or commodity market. These precious metals are also used as currency tender and materials for producing high quality jewelries. Some country’s monetary power is backed up by the amount of gold in their reserve.

S/N FX PAIR

1. XAUEUR – Gold/Euro Spot

2. XAUUSD – Gold Spot

3. XAGEUR – Silver/Euro Spot

4. XAGUSD – Silver Spot