{"id":21249,"date":"2023-10-02T07:30:16","date_gmt":"2023-10-02T11:30:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.jeffclarktrader.com\/?p=21249"},"modified":"2023-10-02T07:30:16","modified_gmt":"2023-10-02T11:30:16","slug":"why-good-trading-is-like-a-three-legged-stool-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jeffclarktrader.com\/market-minute\/why-good-trading-is-like-a-three-legged-stool-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Good Trading Is Like a Three-Legged Stool"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>It may seem like I only ever look at price charts. And that I&rsquo;m strictly a technical trader.<\/p>\n<p>But I use fundamental analysis too.<\/p>\n<p>In fact, fundamental analysis has helped me become the successful trader I am today.<\/p>\n<p>And it can help you too&hellip; if you follow this simple process.<\/p>\n<p>Let me explain&hellip;<\/p>\n<p>Like most traders, I started my career with fundamental analysis. Because on the surface, it makes sense.<\/p>\n<p>After all, there should be a clear link between a market&rsquo;s fundamentals and its price. But what appears to be logical, isn&rsquo;t always true.<\/p>\n<p>You see, if markets consistently followed the fundamentals, there&rsquo;d be a lot more successful traders and investors out there.<\/p>\n<p>While fundamentals play an important role in my trading, it&rsquo;s not what you think&hellip;<\/p>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: center\">The Only Way to Trade Markets<\/h2>\n<p>There a few key principles to follow if you want to be a successful trader.<\/p>\n<p>First, understand the distinction between fundamental and technical analysis.<\/p>\n<p>Fundamental analysis will tell you <em>where to look<\/em>, whereas technical analysis will tell you&nbsp;<em>what to do<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>Both methods are complementary to one another.<\/p>\n<p>For example, you may want to trade the currency markets, because there&rsquo;s always something going on. That&rsquo;s why I love trading currencies.<\/p>\n<p>Over the years, I&rsquo;ve gained expertise on broad macroeconomic themes like central bank policies, trade relations, and fiscal policy.<\/p>\n<p>But, you don&rsquo;t have to be an expert on Norway&rsquo;s government spending platforms, or New Zealand&rsquo;s agricultural exports to profit off a move from the Norwegian krone or New Zealand dollar.<\/p>\n<p>All you need to know is whether a big move is on the horizon.<\/p>\n<p>If it is, fundamental analysis can help you know where to get into the market and where to get out.<\/p>\n<p>For instance, if the Reserve Bank of New Zealand (New Zealand&rsquo;s version of the Fed) has a policy statement coming up, you should know it&rsquo;s likely a market-moving event.<\/p>\n<p>But knowing whether the central bank will raise rates, lower rates, or keep them the same won&rsquo;t help you make money.<\/p>\n<p>To make money, you need to know what&nbsp;<em>time<\/em>&nbsp;the policy statement is scheduled for release. This is how fundamental analysis can tell you&nbsp;<em>where to look<\/em>. Knowing this, you can then start to work on what to do about it.<\/p>\n<p>That&rsquo;s where technical analysis comes in. It shows whether you can expect a higher or lower currency move in the aftermath of the news event.<\/p>\n<p>You can analyze the price chart to know where to buy or sell, at which level to set a protective stop loss order, and where to reasonably expect to exit for a nice profit.<\/p>\n<p>So, technical analysis tells me&nbsp;<em>what to do<\/em>.<\/p>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: center\">Finding Your Own Way to Profitability<\/h2>\n<p>Think of good trading as a three-legged stool&hellip;<\/p>\n<p>Fundamental analysis, technical analysis, and the final part, which we haven&rsquo;t mentioned yet &mdash; strong risk management (we&rsquo;ll discuss risk management in more detail in another essay). These are the three legs. If you take any one of those legs away, the stool will fall over.<\/p>\n<p>How you use each of those legs is up to you. The way you do it will be different from me&hellip; and from most other traders.<\/p>\n<p><!--GREY BOX START--><\/p>\n<div class=\"card bg-light mb-4\">\n<div class=\"card-body\">\n<p align=\"center\" style=\"font-size: 18px;\"><strong>Free Trading Resources<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Have you checked out Jeff&#8217;s free trading resources on his website? It contains a selection of special reports, training videos, and a full trading glossary to help kickstart your trading career \u2013 at zero cost to you. Just <a href=\"https:\/\/www.jeffclarktrader.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">click here<\/a> to check it out.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><!--GREY BOX END--><\/p>\n<p>See, no two traders are perfectly alike. Jeff Clark trades a little differently from me, and I trade differently from Jeff.<\/p>\n<p>What&rsquo;s important is to be well-rounded, so you can find&nbsp;<em>your<\/em>&nbsp;way to profitably trade regardless of what the markets are doing.<\/p>\n<p>Before you place your next trade, think to yourself: Are you using the &ldquo;three-legged stool&rdquo; approach?<\/p>\n<p>If not, consider how it could help you increase your profits, reduce your losses, and make trading less stressful overall, thanks to sound risk management.<\/p>\n<p>With the markets moving around as they are right now, this message is more important than ever.<\/p>\n<p>Happy trading,<\/p>\n<p style=\"-ms-text-size-adjust: none; -webkit-text-size-adjust: none; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;font-size:17px; line-height:24px; margin-bottom: 15px;\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Signature\" src=\"https:\/\/files.jeffclarktrader.com\/global\/signatures\/imre-gams-signature.png\" width=\"140\" style=\"max-width:140px; width:100%;\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Imre Gams<br \/> Analyst,&nbsp;<em>Market Minute<\/em><\/p>\n<p><!-- MAILBAG BEGIN --><\/p>\n<div style=\"padding-top:0px; padding-bottom:0px; margin-bottom:20px; margin-top:0px; border-bottom: 1px solid #CCCCCC\">\n<h2 style=\"color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 25px; font-weight: bold; letter-spacing: -1px;text-transform:uppercase;\">READER MAILBAG<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<p>How do you use fundamental and technical analysis in your own trading?<\/p>\n<p>Let us know your thoughts &ndash; and any questions you have &ndash; at <a href=\"mailto:feedback@jeffclarktrader.com\">feedback@jeffclarktrader.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><!-- MAILBAG END --><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It may seem like I only ever look at price charts.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":55,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"ep_exclude_from_search":false,"service":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"publication":[10],"person":[76],"newsletter-type":[],"ticker":[],"class_list":["post-21249","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-market-minute","publication-market-minute","person-imre-gams"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jeffclarktrader.com\/market-minute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21249","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jeffclarktrader.com\/market-minute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jeffclarktrader.com\/market-minute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jeffclarktrader.com\/market-minute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/55"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jeffclarktrader.com\/market-minute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21249"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/jeffclarktrader.com\/market-minute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21249\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jeffclarktrader.com\/market-minute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21249"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jeffclarktrader.com\/market-minute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21249"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jeffclarktrader.com\/market-minute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21249"},{"taxonomy":"publication","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jeffclarktrader.com\/market-minute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/publication?post=21249"},{"taxonomy":"person","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jeffclarktrader.com\/market-minute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/person?post=21249"},{"taxonomy":"newsletter-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jeffclarktrader.com\/market-minute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/newsletter-type?post=21249"},{"taxonomy":"ticker","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jeffclarktrader.com\/market-minute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ticker?post=21249"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}