What is a Forex trading signal?
A forex trading signal is a useful tool that could help you decide when to enter or exit a currency trade. It acts as a type of alert that tells you that the moment might be right to proceed. After all, this is a fast-moving market with high liquidity, this tool is popular among traders to make trading more manageable. Take a look at everything you need to know about using trading signals for forex trading.
Types of forex signal
This is something that can be triggered in different ways when the conditions are met, which contrasts with the traditional approach of looking for information to base any decisions on. Since many diverse factors affect the forex market, the analysis work can be time-consuming if you don’t use signals.
While all the forex trading signal services you’ll come across carry out a similar function, they don’t all work in the same way. We can divide the types of forex signal into the following categories.
Manual or automated forex trading signals
Here, a human operator generates the signal. An experienced trader with the knowledge typically does this. The other kind is created when the right conditions are met to trigger a piece of automated software to produce the signal. This sort of tool uses an algorithm to calculate when to let users know that they should act.Entry or exit forex signals
You also need to check whether you select an entry or exit signal. As the names suggest, these are options that tell you that the time might be right to either enter or exit a currency pairs position. Others will give you the alert needed to both enter and exit the trade at what they believe are the perfect moments to do so.Free and paid signals
Not every type of forex trading signal costs the same. This service is sometimes offered for free, although this may just be on a trial basis or for a certain time. In other cases, you’ll be offered a free, basic service or a premium package that you need to pay for. Regardless of the amount it costs, you need to subscribe to the service and may be given access to free tools, news or other benefits at the same time.
If you use a trading platform like MetaTrader 4 or 5, you can find a range of Forex trading signal providers offering their services on it. They all have different approaches and costs, so you need to look for one that appears to suit your style.
Benefits of using forex signals
There are various reasons why forex trading signals are popular among forex traders. The following are some of the key advantages for you to remember.
- They’re easy to use.
- You can get started simply by choosing a signal service that you like the look of. There’s no need to get a lot of training before you use it, as it’s just about following the suggestions that they send you. Make sure that you choose the right forex signal provider.
- Save time on your trading.
- Not every forex trader has the time, or the experience needed to carry out the analysis work needed to make good decisions every time. Using forex signals makes it easier for them to trade in a way that fits their lifestyle. You should still research the forex signal to see if it's compatible with your trading plan.
- React quickly.
- The fast-moving nature of the forex market means that any delay could see opportunities disappear. By using signals, it’s possible to carry out timely forex transactions before the situation changes.
- Risk management.
- This is a method of managing the risk of entering or exiting a currency pair trade at the wrong time. Yet, it would be wrong to think that this is a fool-proof method of trading currencies.
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How forex trading signals work: getting started
You can start by looking at the forex signal providers listed on the MetaTrader website and in the tab marked as Signals in their platforms. There are thousands of providers and the summary of each one tells you vital information, such as their recent growth rate, reliability rating and the cost of joining them. Enter to find out further details about the strategies they use and their trading history.
Click on the subscribe button to receive their trading signals right away. You can do this if you’re using a demo account or trading with real money. The next stage is to look out for their alerts coming through and see how they perform. This is generally set up as a form of automatic copy trading, so you don’t need to do anything.
Next steps
If you want to start forex trading, choosing a signal provider to help you make the big decisions is worth considering. This is helpful for newcomers to currency trading, but anyone can subscribe to receive forex trading signals.
- Since this strategy works on the MT4 platform, you might like to start with our guide to using the MT4 platform for forex trading.
- This helpful guide looks at covers the forex trading strategies you need to know about before making your first moves.
- This beginner’s guide to forex copy trading can help you understand the key terms and how the currency pairs market works.
- Finally, our list of forex trading tips gives you several interesting ways of trading in this market in the most effective way possible.
Not investment advice.