Trading in any market is risky, but trading in the forex market is especially risky. There are no guarantees that you'll make money, and even if you do make some money you'll need to be prepared to lose some too. However, there are some forex trading strategies you can employ to maximize your potential to make money.

The first forex strategy is to never trade with money you cannot afford to lose. This means do not withdraw money from your savings or retirement accounts to fund your forex trading. Trading can be just as addictive as gambling in that you may think that the next trade will be the "one." Unfortunately, if all you do is continue to lose, then you are really harming yourself and others who depend on you. Withdrawing money from a savings or retirement account is not the only place to get money when trading. You can apply for a margin account for forex trading. Using a margin account as a forex trading strategy is not a very good one. In reality, margin trading can open doors for huge profits, but it can also be a door to huge losses. For example, if you borrow $500 to fund a trade and the trade makes $2000, then after you have paid back your $500, you walk away with $1500. However, on the flip side, if you borrow $500 to fund a trade and the currency goes down resulting in a loss of $2000, then you have really lost $2500, because not only did the trade lose $2000, you also have to find $500 to pay back the loan.

Your next forex trading strategy should involve determining whether the forex market is in an up trend or down trend. Furthermore, you should also try to determine the length of the trend and whether the trend is going to continue. Understanding the direction and atmosphere of the forex market will ultimately help you trade. After establishing the mood of the forex market, the next forex trading strategy you should employ involves establishing an entry and exit point. These points are prices at which you wish to enter and exit a trade. There should also be two exit points. The first exit point should be the point at which you wish to exit the trade should the trade go up. The second exit point should be the point at which you wish to exit the trade should the trade go down. The second exit point is almost more critical than the first because you are losing money and there needs to be a point at which you know to leave a trade. The hardest part about setting and following through with this point is that you want to make money, so you may hold out hope that the trade will turn around. One of the best forex trading strategies to utilize actually occurs just before entering a trade and that is listening to your instincts. Your instincts, as with many things in life, can be your best friend. If something is nagging at you to stay out of a trade, then do so. You may regret it if you don't.

Pretending to trade is another forex trading strategy that can prove extremely useful. This allows you to practice your trades without losing any money. You can pretend to trade with paper by yourself, or you can utilize services on the Internet that allow you to do this for a small fee. Regardless of how you practice your trades, you will need to act as if you were actually trading, including picking entry and exit points. This will give you a good idea of how well you are doing at trading in the forex market as well as if you are improving.

Other forex trading strategies include using what other traders use to forecast their trades. Such tools include the 14-day RSI, Fibonacci retracement, MACD, and exponential moving averages (9, 20, 40 day). These are often the best indicators of when to enter into a trade. Keep in mind that while these are the most popular tools used in a forex trading strategy, they are not the only ones. There are many tools as well as many forex trading strategies. You just need to find the ones that work the best for you.