When it comes to investing on the Forex, there are two basic paths you can choose: Fundamental or Technical. Fundamental investors look at changing interest rates, GDP figures, and other economic indicators to help them anticipate fluctuations in the exchange rates of currency pairs. Technical traders, on the other hand, look for trends in the market to help them identify currency pairs and the best enter and exit points on a position.

Fundamental investors rely upon news releases and their overall impression of the economic outlook of nations in a currency pair. Technical traders, however, use charts and the application of analysis to help guide their investment decisions. Fundamental investors tend to be short-term investors while technical traders try to look at the bigger picture and be more focused upon the long-term pricing outlook.

In truth, most technical retail traders on the Forex market do not have the time to compile charts from scratch. While many retail investors do import information into programs like Excel in order to interpret the information, they still tend to rely on an outside source for the raw data. To do this, the technical retail trader relies upon Forex chart providers like the following:

• FxTrek
• ESignal
• FX-Charts

So who is the top Forex chart provider? The answer to this question depends upon the individual investor but you do want to look for a provider that produces charts that are easy-to-read and relevant to the particular strategy you employ. Now there are chart providers that are going to insist upon offering up a ton of “insider secrets” to the market in addition to their charts. In fact, all providers will provide some degree of insight but this is no criteria to choose a chart by—this information will only confuse you and cause you to doubt your investment strategy.

If there is one common problem to most investors new to the Forex it is a tendency to over trade and ignore the stops they put into place when acquiring a position. Fear is a common human emotion and it guides more investments than people think but it also causes people to exit positions prematurely and over trade. While the opinions of investment experts may sound perfectly logical and a lot more involved than your own strategy—they are just opinions. The market is always right—no investing expert can claim likewise.

Once you acquire a position, place your stops and keep them in place. Losses will happen but you need to perfect your own investing strategy using continual back testing and chart analysis—not listening to the opinion of others once you are already in the game. What you need most of all from an FX chart provider is accurate and easy-to-read charts. While the advice may be helpful when learning the market and prior to acquiring a position, it tends to breed fear and cause doubt once you already are in the game. Thus, choose your chart provider based upon their charts—not the advice they produce each and every month!