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ForexBob
Blog

Learn to trade with a plan

Practical articles from our team on risk, position sizing and how the forex market works.

A trading monitor at night showing a candlestick chart with an entry, stop and target, beside a code panel and a gold desk lamp.
Automated trading8 min read

What is an Expert Advisor (EA) and how does it work?

An Expert Advisor is a program that trades for you in MetaTrader from rules you set. How it works, what it can and can't do, and how to judge one.

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A notebook with handwritten trading rules and a sketched chart, linked by a gold dotted arrow to a monitor showing code.
Automated trading8 min read

How to turn your trading strategy into an EA

Turn a trading idea into exact EA rules, test it properly and hire a developer with confidence: the specification, the testing and the red flags.

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An aisle of server racks with green status lights leading to a warm gold light at the far end.
Automated trading8 min read

Forex VPS for EAs: do you need one, and how to set it up

A forex VPS keeps your Expert Advisor running when your own computer is off. When you need one, how much power it needs and how to set it up.

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A monitor replaying a candlestick chart with future bars hidden behind a gold playhead, and playback controls in front.
Analysis8 min read

Best backtesting and replay tools for forex traders (FX Replay, TradingView, MT5)

Manual replay and automated testing answer different questions. How FX Replay, TradingView and MT5 compare, so you can test an idea without fooling yourself.

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A glowing gold equity curve that falls into a drawdown and climbs back to a new high, beside a cup of coffee.
Trading psychology8 min read

How to recover from a trading drawdown without making it worse

A drawdown feels urgent, but recovery is a slow process. How to pause, cut your size and rebuild with clear rules.

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Market sessions8 min read

Best time to trade gold (XAU/USD): session by session

Gold moves differently in Asia, London and New York. How each session compares, so you can pick the hours that fit your strategy.

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A row of gold dominoes on a dark reflective floor, with the first three falling into the rest.
Risk management7 min read

Risk of ruin in trading: how likely is it you'll blow your account?

Risk of ruin is the chance that a run of losses wipes out your account before your edge can play out. Smaller risk per trade and a hard drawdown stop cut it sharply.

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A monitor at an angle showing candlesticks with two moving averages and an oscillator panel, with a shallow depth of field.
Analysis8 min read

Best indicators for crypto and forex technical analysis (and how to use them)

The best indicators answer one clear question each, about trend, momentum or volatility. How to use them without cluttering your chart.

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A leaning tower of gold blocks, each block bigger than the one below, balanced on a small block over a dark reflective floor.
Automated trading8 min read

Grid and martingale EAs: how they work and why they can blow up

Grid and martingale EAs can look smooth for months, then take a large loss in one move. How exposure grows, what margin calls mean and how to read a backtest honestly.

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An older square monitor with a simple bar chart next to a slim widescreen monitor with candlesticks and market depth.
Automated trading6 min read

MT4 vs MT5: which MetaTrader should you use?

MT4 and MT5 look similar, but they differ on hedging, timeframes, order types and backtesting. A comparison to help you pick the platform that fits how you trade.

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Five gold dice tumbling across a dark reflective floor.
Risk management4 min read

How many losing trades in a row is normal?

The odds of 5, 8 or 10 losing trades in a row at win rates from 30% to 70%, the longest streak to expect, and how to size trades so a streak can't sink you.

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Five charting app windows fanned out like playing cards, the front one outlined in gold.
Analysis4 min read

TradingView alternatives for crypto and forex traders

The best TradingView alternatives for crypto and forex: broker platforms, order-flow tools, multi-exchange crypto terminals and free options, and when each one makes sense.

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Three monitors in a curved row, each showing a different candlestick chart.
Analysis7 min read

Best crypto charting software for technical analysis

The best crypto charting software for technical analysis compared: TradingView, MetaTrader 5, cTrader and exchange charts, including free tools and their limits.

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Three gold blocks in a row on a reflective floor: a large one, a medium one and a small one.
Forex basics3 min read

Standard, mini and micro lots explained

What a lot is, how much each size is worth per pip, and why the right lot size changes on every trade.

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A gold plank balanced on a fulcrum, where a small weight on the long end lifts a large gold block on the short end.
Risk management4 min read

Leverage and margin explained, without the jargon

How leverage works, what margin and a margin call are, and why leverage doesn't decide your risk. Your position size does.

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A row of blocks that steps down into a valley of dark blocks and climbs back up in gold.
Risk management3 min read

Drawdowns and losing streaks: what's normal and how to survive them

Even a good strategy hits long losing streaks. The odds of 5, 8 or 10 losses in a row, and the rules that stop a drawdown becoming a disaster.

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A gold balance scale tipped to the right, with one dark block on the left pan and two gold blocks on the right pan.
Risk management3 min read

Risk-reward ratio vs win rate: why one number never tells you enough

A 75% win rate can lose money and a 35% win rate can make it. How to work out the win rate you need for any risk-reward ratio.

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A smartphone showing a trade idea card with a small chart and entry, stop and target rows, in front of a blurred chart monitor.
Forex basics4 min read

How to read a forex signal (and what to do when price has already moved)

Entry, stop loss and three targets: what each part of a signal means, how to size it for your account and when to skip a trade.

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A gold magnifying glass held over a performance report with an equity curve and rows of green and red results.
Forex basics3 min read

How to check a forex signal provider before you pay (including us)

Screenshots prove nothing. What verified track records look like, the red flags that matter, and the questions to ask any signal service.

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A staircase of gold blocks rising from left to right, with a small gold flag on the top step.
Forex basics4 min read

Forex trading for beginners: a realistic first 90 days

What to learn first, how long to stay on demo, and how to make your first live trades small enough that mistakes stay cheap.

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A chart monitor crowded with dozens of overlapping buy and sell markers and order lines, under a red-tinged light.
Trading psychology3 min read

Revenge trading and overtrading: why traders break their own rules

The two habits behind most blown accounts, the warning signs to watch for, and simple rules that stop a bad day from becoming a bad month.

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A single large gold bar on a dark reflective floor in front of a glowing rising price line.
Analysis3 min read

Trading gold (XAU/USD): what moves it and how to size it

Why gold moves differently from currency pairs, the drivers to watch, the best hours to trade it and how to size positions when $1 is $100 per lot.

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Large glowing candlesticks with a gold entry marker and a red dashed stop line placed just below the last swing low.
Risk management3 min read

Where to place a stop loss (and where not to)

Stops belong where your trade idea is proven wrong, not at a round number of pips. Structure, volatility and the spread, with examples.

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A clipboard with a checklist where four boxes are ticked in gold and two are still open, beside a gold pen.
Automated trading4 min read

How to judge an Expert Advisor before you run it on real money

What we look for when we test an EA: backtest quality, out-of-sample results, equity drawdown, grid and martingale warning signs and a live record.

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A chart monitor where quiet candles end in one huge spike candle, with a gold lightning bolt above it.
Market sessions3 min read

Trading around news releases: NFP, CPI and central bank decisions

Why spreads widen and stops slip around big data releases, which events matter most, and three sensible ways to handle them.

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A ranging candlestick chart framed by seven horizontal levels, with the central pivot level glowing gold.
Analysis2 min read

Pivot points explained: the levels day traders watch

How daily pivot points are calculated from yesterday's high, low and close, a worked example, and how to use them for bias, stops and targets.

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A candlestick swing with horizontal retracement levels and a glowing golden spiral drawn over it.
Analysis3 min read

Fibonacci retracements: how to draw them and how to actually use them

Which swing to measure, what the 38.2%, 50% and 61.8% levels mean, and why Fibonacci works best as a map for stops and targets rather than a signal.

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A gold hourglass with falling sand in front of a faint candlestick chart.
Automated trading4 min read

How to backtest a trading idea without fooling yourself

Look-ahead bias, curve fitting, missing costs and the control test most traders skip. The mistakes that make bad strategies look good.

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An open trading journal with handwritten notes on one page and a sketched chart with trade boxes on the other, with a gold bookmark ribbon.
Trading psychology3 min read

How to keep a trading journal you'll actually use

The ten things to record on every trade, how to measure results in R, and a weekly review that turns your own trades into your best teacher.

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A dark globe lit gold on one side, with four glowing market centres linked by dotted arcs and a gold ring around it.
Market sessions2 min read

The four forex trading sessions, and when the market moves

Sydney, Tokyo, London and New York: when each session trades, which pairs are most active, and why the overlaps matter.

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A gold caliper measuring the small gap between two highlighted price levels on a chart screen.
Forex basics2 min read

What is a pip, and what is it worth?

Pips, lots and pip value explained with simple examples, including pairs quoted in yen and accounts in a different currency.

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A large gold coin on a dark reflective floor with one thin slice lifted out of it, glowing.
Risk management3 min read

How much should you risk per trade?

Why a small, fixed risk per trade keeps you in the game, and how to turn it into the right lot size for every stop loss.

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