Is Forex Trading Gambling

 
  • Are you Trading with no stop loss?
  • Do you move your stop loss to avoid a losing trade?
  • Are you Trading a position above 1-3% risk – i.e. a position that leads to a 3-100% loss?
  • Do you understand your trading methods/systems expectancy?
  • Do you prioritise market knowledge/technical analysis over your discipline and risk management?
  • Does Trading makes you anxious, angry or depressed?
  • Do you get euphoria when you win and dark moods when you lose?
  • Are you trading with borrowed money or money you cannot afford to lose?
  • Do you hide losses from friends, family and fellow ‘traders’ and only crow about your wins?
  • Have you lost disproportionately large amounts of money trading?
  • Are you Chasing losses? Do you refuse to accept a loss Do you revenge trade each time you lose?
  • Are you socially isolated? Trading is socially isolating, are you shutting yourself away completely from the outside world? Are you talking and seeing friends and family? Are you venturing outside, socialising and exercising?

This is actually one of the reasons that commentators use to say that forex is a form gambling. Many of the platforms that enables trading on the markets (for the record, we recommend eToro) with leverages at levels like 500:1. The greater the leverage, the greater the risk, therefore makes forex trading no different to gambling. If gambling can mean taking risky actions with the hope of a certain outcome, forex can be considered gambling, depending on who is doing the trading. Also, no matter how good you are at trading forex, there is a lot of risks involved; the markets are highly volatile, and most traders utilize leverage which can be dangerous. Forex trading is the ultimate form of gambling. We get to review past price actionbefore putting on a trade. Can you imagine getting to see the dealer’s hand before making a decision at the casino? That’s exactly what we can do in Forex. If you try to trade Forex with no discernible plan and with no defined strategy, then the answer would have to be: no, trading Forex is basically no different than gambling. You can get lucky for a while, but long-term it’s an absolute certainty that you will lose your money. Forex trading IS gambling every time the trader doesn’t study and prepare them self to identify the market behavior and recognize the current trends and possible confounding factors or market noises. When a trader invests more money than they can afford to lose.

If you answered yes to one, some or all, chances are high that you are gambling when you are sat at the trading terminal.
You need to understand trading profitably only comes after 5-10 years on average and those that do get to trading profitably consistently, still blow up their accounts 10, 15, 25 years down the line.
You need to accept trading Forex, Commodities, Crypto, Equities or Fixed Income in any of the bad ways above IS gambling.
There are an army of people ready to tell you trading Forex isn’t gambling but at retail level it is a seriously fine line between gambling and ‘trading’.
Those same people ready to tell you ‘trading isn’t gambling’ are closet gamblers, happy to quote professional trading firms, investment houses and hedge funds as a counter to this argument.
They will be quick to quote how a casino operates and how trading is nothing like gambling!!!
The truth is, over 99% of people retail trading spot Forex are in fact gambling.
Even worse – most people ‘trading’ spot Forex at retail level are either problem gamblers or pathological gamblers – I know this hurts people but that is the truth – you won’t hear that in wannabe trader circles.
Trading is an evocative pursuit, with hopes and dreams of riches, the reality is it is a road littered with the bodies of failed traders. 99.9% of retail traders lose – not 95%, not 78% quoted by your broker – it is 99.9%.
The dollar/pound signs in their eyes, chomping at the bit to place trades, scouring forums and social media for every tidbit of information or the search for the elusive holy grail indicator, only leads to more gambling and more disappointment.
This is of course totally delusional stuff. They are going round and round in circles in the belief they will hit is big or find that magic sequence or magic indicator that will make them seriously rich.
They plough on regardless plumbing new depths, revenge trading, chasing price round the screen and never coming up for air. They are in financial, physical and psychological pain.
These people are not traders – they never were, these people are gambling addicts and its about time the Forex community and wider trading community called it out for what it is.
If you have a negative return each month or suffer from any of the above traits I will happily tell you the actual reality of trading Forex for a living and will likely tell you to quit or do something else such as starting a business or furthering your career.
Anyone that tells you different is either a liar or wants your money.
You can reach me below if you need to talk.


A common question currency traders face is, “How is trading Forex any different than gambling?” After all, the premise is the same. You’re risking money on an unknown outcome with the hope of winning more money back.

What is gambling?

It’s a fair question, but first of all people have to define what they mean by gambling; if we assume that gambling is risking something in order to gain a reward, then people gamble everyday of their lives. If you eat at a restaurant on somebody else’s recommendation, you’re risking money on an unknown outcome based on what somebody else has told you. Every time you take the car out for a drive, you’re accepting that the benefit of the trip outweighs the risk of a car crash.

People obviously tend to have a much more simplistic view, and what they really mean when they talk about gambling is the person who bets on horses or football matches and generally, consistently loses money. From here on we will use this fairly narrow definition of gambling.

Is Forex any different?

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If you try to trade Forex with no discernible plan and with no defined strategy, then the answer would have to be: no, trading Forex is basically no different than gambling. You can get lucky for a while, but long-term it’s an absolute certainty that you will lose your money. The kinds of people that trade Forex that way aren’t treating it like a business, and it’s incredibly naive to think that you can make a living that way.

Trading Forex as a business

A professional trader can actually make money as consistently as somebody who earns a salary if they know what they’re doing, but there are a few requirements that a lot of wannabe traders haven’t yet undertaken in order to get to that stage of success.

You absolutely have to approach your trading as a professional business, work hard, put time in and be dedicated to it. You must keep detailed records of your trades at all times, you must be up and ready to start as if you had a boss to report too, and you must make sure you have a thoroughly tested trading strategy to follow in order to make your trading decisions.

Is Forex Trading Gambling

Developing a trading plan

A detailed trading plan is generally the difference between failure and consistent success for a trader. Your plan must include everything, from your strategy, to what time you start and finish each day. Every single move you make in the market should be planned beforehand and based on research and study, so you know every move you make is a logical one with a positive expectation.

The biggest barrier to long-term Forex trading success is the psychology of greed and fear that affects every single trader at some point. If you trade without a plan, you will without doubt end up making decisions based on emotion rather than logic, and there’s no way you can succeed that way. If you have a trading method to follow, then fighting the demons of fear and greed becomes infinitely easier and aids your trading journey immeasurably.

ForexIs Forex Trading Gambling

Is Forex Trading Gambling

Conclusion

Is Forex Trading Gambling In Christianity

Is trading Forex the same as gambling? It can be, but the choice is yours. If you’re willing to treat it like a business and put the work in, you can take the risks away and make money just as consistently as anyone else. It’s all up to you.