Can you believe we’re halfway through 2024?!
As the first half of the year comes to a close, it’s time to take a look at the trading goals you set at the beginning of the year and see if you need to make changes to your goals, trading processes, or strategies.
Here are some tips to help you get started:
1. Review your trading performance.
You’ll need information before you can make any changes, so pull out that trading journal you’ve been carefully keeping all year. What, no journal? Shame on you, but there’s no better time than now to start a trading journal. Our community!
If you are a good trader and have a specific trading goal, review your trading goals for 2024. Based on your statistics, do you think you are on track to achieve them? What processes can you improve?
Are you doing your best to consistently implement the entire trading process (market analysis, strategy and risk management practices, review and adjustment processes, etc.)? What trading psychology issues have prevented you from achieving your goals?
Give yourself some credit if you don’t find any of the five common beginner mistakes on your list.
2. Identify the factors that influenced your trading.
Once you have identified the factors you can improve, identify the factors that affected your trades but has not been Under your control.
Take a look at the economic themes that emerged in the first half of the year and how they are interpreted in the market.
How long do you think each of these themes will continue to drive price action? Do you think they will remain important in the second half of 2024? Has volatility increased or decreased, and what is the outlook for volatility in the second half?
Ask questions like these and others to figure out how to adapt in the future.
3. Make realistic adjustments for the second half of the year.
Based on what you’ve learned about yourself from your trading journal and what you know about how the market is pricing in this year’s economic themes, you can now make adjustments to your trading goals, strategies, and risk management/trading practices for the rest of the year.
Ask yourself if you need to adjust your current goals and trading management techniques.
Do you need to look at different statistics this time? What about a completely different strategy if market behavior changes?
If you are considering changing your trading system, make sure it has a good chance of working well in the different economic scenarios that may emerge in the coming months.
Sticking to your trading decisions is always a challenge after January. But remember, you made those decisions for a reason.
With a little reminder and some adjustments, you will be back on track towards your goal of becoming a consistently profitable currency trader or investor.
