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Trading strategies—learn and employ

Learn what trading strategies are, which popular and effective strategies to choose from, and how to create one yourself.

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What are trading strategies?

Trading strategies are systematic approaches traders employ to make informed decisions in buying and selling financial instruments, such as stocks, Forex, commodities, and cryptocurrencies.

Each strategy is a specific plan for opening and closing profitable orders based on market analysis, technical indicators, and risk management to achieve specific financial goals. Traders choose strategies based on their objectives, risk tolerance, and preferred trading style.

To increase your investment profits, it’s essential to be aware of the current trends in trading. Keep on top of things with the latest strategies and trading ideas right in our OctaTrader platform.

Building your own trading strategy

While there's already a great variety of strategies to choose from, creating a personalised trading strategy can be a rewarding endeavour. It can provide a systematic approach tailored to your risk tolerance, financial goals, and trading style.

Here's a step-by-step guide to help you build your trading strategy.

    • Scalping

      making numerous small trades throughout the day, aiming to profit from tiny price movements.

    • Day trading

      frequent short-term trades, often within the same day.

    • Swing trading

      holding positions open for several days or even weeks.

    • Position trading

      long-term approach, holding positions open for months or even years.

  2. Determine your position size based on your risk tolerance and the capacity of your trading account.
    Implement stop-loss orders to limit potential losses and take-profit orders to secure profits.
  3. Stick to your predefined rules and avoid impulsive decisions driven by fear or greed. Remember that losses are a natural part of trading, and no trading strategy is foolproof. It's essential to continuously learn, refine, and adapt your strategy over time.

    Additionally, consider seeking advice from financial professionals and staying informed about market developments to enhance your trading skills and decision-making capabilities. A great way to do that is to join our educational webinars hosted by successful traders and experienced mentors: they will help you better understand trading fundamentals and advanced techniques, explore market analysis, hone skills, and evolve as a trader.

    Building a successful trading strategy is an ongoing process. With dedication and discipline, you can successfully employ and constantly improve your strategy with positive outcomes.
  4. Define clear rules for entering and exiting trades. For example, you might use technical indicators like moving averages or RSI (Relative Strength Index) to trigger entries and exits.
  5. Use historical data to test your strategy's performance over time. Doing so helps identify its strengths and weaknesses. Adjust your strategy as needed based on the results of your backtesting. Consider testing and backtesting your strategy using your Octa demo trading account with 5,000 USD worth of simulated funds for you to experiment with.
  6. The choice of indicators depends on your trading style and goals. Here are some common indicators to consider:
    • Moving Averages—to identify trends and potential trend reversals
    • Relative Strength Index (RSI)—to indicate overbought and oversold conditions
    • Stochastic Oscillator—to measure momentum
    • Bollinger Bands—to help identify volatility and potential breakout points
    • MACD (Moving Average Convergence Divergence)—to show trend strength and potential crossovers.

    Avoid overloading your strategy with too many indicators, as this can lead to conflicting signals and confusion.

Explore popular trading strategies

Building your own strategy may be exciting but also complicated and time-consuming. The good news is you can also succeed in trading without a self-made strategy. There are already dozens of strategies that have proved themselves useful to thousands of traders, and you can safely employ any of them after some research.

If you found this section useful, consider reading a short and comprehensive guide to the different types of trading strategies.

Once you understand the variety of trading strategies and their purposes, check out the following materials and choose the strategies that suit your needs and trading style the best.