Trading quotes can go a long way into inspiring forex traders, more so in periods when they are feeling discouraged or out of touch with the market.
They have the ability to give traders important insights that will come in handy in times when you are feeling powerless, nervous or even scared.
Reading from traders who at one point were in your shoes can be motivational and rejuvenating on different levels.
Below I have compiled a list of trading quotes that I have found interesting in the course of my forex trading career.
Digesting these quotes on trading will give you a better perspective on how you approach the markets.
Here we go:
Jack Schwager
“There is no single market secret to discover, no single correct way to trade the markets. Those seeking the one true answer to the markets haven’t even gotten as far as asking the right question, let alone getting the right answer.”
This is among the trading quotes that I like a lot from those that I have come across in the past.
I like it because it opened the doors for me to start trading profitably.
Initially, I spent a lot of time trying to search for that one strategy that works like magic; something that will give me a 100% win rate.
The moment I came across this quote, I realized that the forex market does not work the way I thought, and I am glad that now I am trading forex profitably.
Martin Schwartz
“A lot of people get so enmeshed in the markets that they lose their perspective. Working longer does not necessarily equate with working smarter. In fact, sometimes is the other way around.”
Don’t aspire to be staring on your screen the whole day when you are forex trading.
Just take some time to analyze the charts, and if there are viable trades, take your position, and forget about it.
Remember, you should always be focusing on the quality of trades and not the quantity.
Is this among the forex trading quotes that you would apply in your trading endeavors?
Jesse Livermore
“Money is made by sitting, not trading.”
By now you might be asking what is Jesse Livermore saying here?
The first time I encountered this quote I was confused too.
How do I make money without trading? You see, you are not alone.
What this trading quote implies is that you make or lose money based on the actions that you take after you have already entered a trade.
If you let your losing trades run for long or close your profits too early, you end up losing money.
You see, being patient can help maximum on your profit potential, but being patient while on the wrong side of a trade can result in costly losses.
This is where you have to cut your losses early in case you see a trade is not going your way so that you can move to the next trade.
Do you agree this is among the trading quotes that would be confusing without the interpretation?
However, if you get to understand it, it would really help in your trading psychology.
William O’Neil
“Letting losses run is the most serious mistake made by most investors.”
You can just refer to the quote above by Jesse Livermore.
The moment you realize a trade is not working for you, just close it and minimize the loses likely to be incurred.
Yvan Byeajee
“Confidence is not “I will profit on this trade.” Confidence is “I will be fine if I don’t profit from this trade”
You will never be right all the time in forex trading.
However, you should always be confident when taking trades aligned with your trading plan regardless of the outcome.
If you have a good trading strategy and favorable money management skills, you will always be in profit in the forex market in the long-run.
I consider this among my favorite inspirational trading quotes.
Why?
It gives you the knowing that you don’t have to beat yourself up in case you get it wrong on a trade. Even the best setups (with several confluence) tend to fail.
Joe Vidich
“Limit your size in any position so that fear does not become the prevailing instinct guiding your judgment.”
This is a trading quote that my mentor liked a lot.
He always told me that when trading, you only risk that amount that you are comfortable losing.
This way, if the trade went against you expected direction, you will not feel anything.
This is among the best trading quotes out there since it will make sure that you do not trade with emotions.
Alexander Elder
“The goal of a successful trader is to make the best trades. Money is secondary.”
There is nothing that can be added to this quote.
Only take the trades that give you the best set-ups according to your trading plan.
Making money in the FX market is about quality of trades over quantity of trades.
“The elements of good trading are: (1) cutting losses, (2) cutting losses, and (3) cutting losses. If you can follow these three rules, you may have a chance.”
By now, you are seeing a certain trend from these trading quotes.
Most are trying to get you into a mentality of how important it is to cut your losses.
Always work towards protecting your trading capital by cutting losses and money will follow you.
Mmmmhhh…… A lot of trading quotes are emphasizing on the need of cutting losses, right?
Alexander Elder
“You can be free. You can live and work anywhere in the world. You can be independent from routine and not answer to anybody.”
Who doesn’t want this?
This is something that forex trading can give you. However, it does not come just like that.
You need to invest your time when starting so that you can have the relevant knowledge.
Then take this trading knowledge a notch higher with sufficient practice on the trading charts. With no time, you will be a good forex trader living your dream life.
But you have to put in the necessary effort and develop positive feelings and emotions towards FX trading.
Warren Buffet
“It Takes 20 Years To Build A Reputation And 5 Minutes To Ruin It. If You Think About That, You’ll Do Things Differently.”
Wow….this is a quote that is applicable to different facets of life, including the forex market.
You can build your forex trading account to substantial figures, but have it wiped out in a matter of hours if not minutes.
You should always avoid being greedy and remain consistent with what you are doing.
Let the confidence that you build over time, to not come back and consume you.
Don’t change your ways of doing things in the currency market if they are working for you.
Marty Schwartz
“When I became a winner, I said, ‘I figured it out, but if I’m wrong, I’m getting the hell out, because I want to save my money and go on to the next trade.”
Another trading quote that puts emphasis on cutting losses the moment it becomes necessary.
Always take the lead when it comes to protecting your money.
You will always know when a trade is going against you, and it isn’t coming back if you know how to read the charts.
Michael Marcus
“Every trader has strengths and weakness. Some are good holders of winners, but may hold their losers a little too long. Others may cut their winners a little short, but are quick to take their losses. As long as you stick to your own style, you get the good and bad in your own approach.”
This quote works to inform you that there is no perfect trader out there.
In case you are struggling with a certain aspect, you should not conclude that you are a bad trader.
Always work on maximizing on your strengths and minimizing the weaknesses, and you will be okay.
Warren Buffett
“Risk comes from not knowing what you’re doing.”
This is a trap that most newbie forex traders find themselves in.
You will find novice traders depositing huge funds with their brokers so that they can start trading with very minimal knowledge, and no practice at all.
This is a very big risk to take. You will probably lose your money since what you will be doing is gambling.
This is why you will hear the phrase “forex trading is gambling” or “forex trading is scam” out there, which is not true.
If you take your time to learn and practice, you reduce the risk factor and increase your probability of profiting from forex trading.
Steve Clark
“Do more of what works and less of what doesn’t.”
Tracking the trades that you have executed for a certain period through a trading journal will help you understand what is working for you, and what is not working.
Most traders neglect the development of a trading journal since they do not know how powerful it can be.
Through the journal, you will be able to know which strategies work for you (and under which conditions they work) and those that do not work.
In the end, you will end up focusing on the trading strategies that work, and abandon the ones that do not work.
Are these trading quotes making sense to you at this point? Continue reading to see what other traders have been saying with regards to the foreign exchange market.
Nicolas Darvas
“I believe in analysis and not forecasting.”
In the forex market, you cannot predict the direction of a currency pair with certainty. However, you can make an educated guess by way of analysis.
This can be done by assessing past chart data with regards to price. The trends tend to repeat themselves; hence, you can use this information to predict the direction that a market will take after reaching a certain level or zone.
This is where technical analysis comes in handy.
Richard Branson
“Business Opportunities (Trades) Are Like Buses, There’s Always Another One Coming”
You might be asking, does this fall under trading quotes? Yes it does.
Why?
There are times you will see a potential trade setup (based on your trading plan), but for some reason, you fail to take it, and it ends up riding in your direction.
You should not chase that trade.
When this happens, most of the times the trade gives you another opportunity to get in through a retracement or pull back.
If this does not happen, just let it go. You will get another opportunity to make money through another trade.
Ed Seykota
“Win or lose, everybody gets what they want out of the market. Some people seem to like to lose, so they win by losing money.”
You get what you want out of the market based on how you approach it.
If you are taking a trade that is not aligning to your trading plan or one that is poorly analyzed, what else are you expecting other than a loss?
You should always have a reason for entering a trade. This is why a trading journal is important since it helps you to ask yourself such questions to make sure that you are not just trading out of emotions.
Jim Rogers
“I just wait until there is money lying in the corner, and all I have to do is go over there and pick it up. I do nothing in the meantime.”
This is among the trading quotes that I had to read several times in my early days in the currency market before I got to understand what it implied.
You should never rush to enter trades or trade just for the sake of it.
You should only trade when there are nice set-ups (they have a high probability of bringing winning trades), which are aligning to your trading plan.
Just stay out of the market when there are no nice set-ups.
Tony Saliba
“I always define my risk, and I don’t have to worry about it”
After trading psychology, I rate risk management closely second among the aspects that you need to be a successful forex trader.
You have to always define your risk. Only risk an amount that you are willing to lose to avoid trading with emotions.
Bill Lipschutz
“If most traders would learn to sit on their hands 50 percent of the time, they would make a lot more money.”
This is for the traders that want to be in the market all the time.
Over-trading can result in significant losses since most of the times, you are trading false signals.
Forex trading requires patience to ensure you are participating in trades that you have a high probability of winning.
Victor Sperandeo
“The key to trading success is emotional discipline. If intelligence were the key, there would be a lot more people making money trading… I know this will sound like a cliché, but the single most important reason that people lose money in the financial markets is that they don’t cut their losses short.”
How many times have you seen a trading quote about cutting losses?
That is because of the weight that it carries for you to make money in the FX market.
Earlier I have reiterated of how much I rank trading psychology for one to become successful trading forex.
It is vital as it helps in enhancing emotional discipline to enable you to do the right thing at the right time.
Marty Schwartz
“My attitude is that I always want to be better prepared than someone I’m competing against. The way I prepare myself is by doing my work each night.”
Do you love doing analysis on your charts?
This includes things like post analysis, backtesting e.t.c.
If your answer is yes, then you are on the right track.
You have to keep practicing for you to become a better trader.
Remember that forex trading is a zero-sum game, other traders’ losses become your gains and vice versa.
Michael Carr
“Don’t worry about what the markets are going to do, worry about what you are going to do in response to the markets.”
This quote is very simple; just do what the market is telling you to do, and not what you think it is going to do.
The moment you go against the market, you are going to lose and maybe even deplete you trading capital at the end.
George Soros
“Markets are constantly in a state of uncertainty and flux and money is made by discounting the obvious and betting on the unexpected.”
If you have been in the currency market, you probably know who George Soros is. There are several powerful trading quotes out there that he has coined over the years.
This is a trader that uses other people’s psychology to make his trades.
He focuses on understanding what other traders think when the price reaches a certain level. This helps him understand what most traders think to be obvious and he is able to trade in a manner that he can make money as he trades against what most traders are not expecting to happen.
Tom Basso
“I think investment psychology is by far the more important element, followed by risk control, with the least important consideration being the question of where you buy and sell.”
Another trading quote that emphasizes on the importance of trading psychology.
Actually I have noted that most traders completely ignore the aspect of trading psychology. This is why the focus is always on where to enter and exit a trade.
Even with most trading books, the psychology section comes among the last chapters of the book.
What most traders do not recognize is that you cannot trade favorably without the ability to keep your emotions balanced.
Yvan Byeajee
“Money is just something you need in case you do not die tomorrow. Let this is a reminder for you not to obsess over profits and losses. In whatever you do, strive for enjoyment, focus, contentment, humility, openness… Paradoxically (and as an unintended consequence) your trading performance will improve significantly.”
There are a lot of trading quotes out there that put an emphasis on not focusing on the profits.
This is something that will help remove emotions out of your trading. As a result, you will start doing things the right way and profits will follow you.
Jaymin Shah
“Don’t blindly follow someone, follow the market and try to hear what it is telling you.”
This quote goes to those traders that are obsessed with copy trading, social trading and mirror trading.
You should not put complete trust in someone if you want to become a better trader.
Learn how to read the market and believe in your abilities to spot the right trades on your own.
Through proper market analysis, you will always find opportunities for profitable trades.
Jesse Livermore
“A loss never bothers me after I take it. I forget it overnight. But being wrong – not taking the loss – that is what does damage to the pocketbook and to the soul.”
Never feel afraid to lose a trade so long as you have adhered to your trading plan.
This gives you a learning opportunity by way of your post analysis.
You will be able to analyze what went wrong or even come up with a new idea that you will integrate into your trading plan.
Paul Tudor Jones
“Risk control is the most important thing in trading. If you have a losing position that is making you uncomfortable, the solution is very simple: Get out, because you can always get back in.”
Being negative on a particular trade for a long time can mess with your emotions hence ruin your ability to enter other viable trades.
Always learn how to cut your losses early the moment you realize a trade is not going to favor you.
Bruce Kovner
“Place your stops at a point that, if reached, will reasonably indicate that the trade is wrong, not at a point determined primarily by the maximum dollar amount you are willing to lose.”
This quote also focuses on cutting your losses early.
Do you see how this aspect is important?
Almost every successful trader is talking about it.
Warren Buffett
“The most important quality for an investor is temperament, not intellect. You need a temperament that neither derives great pleasure from being with the crowd or against the crowd.”
As a forex trader, your character will determine a lot how long you will remain profitable in this endeavor.
Are you the kind to react with emotions? Are you a crowd follower that rarely trusts their analysis?
You need to adopt a favorable disposition any time you are in the market.
Victor Niederhoffer
“When the public is most frightened, only the strong are left, and that’s when the market is in the best possible hands.”
Other traders do not have to agree with your market analysis for you to enter a trade.
Remember that it is only around 5% of forex traders that are consistent with their favorable earnings.
Moreover, it is a zero sum game; you win what other traders lose.
Rob Smith
“Buy things that are going up. Sell things that are going down. And when they stop, get out!”
This is among the trading quotes that I love.
It is the very first lesson that I received when I started to venture into markets.
What this simply means is that you should always try to identify whether the market is in “buyers’ territory” or “sellers’ territory”.
This means that you will not find yourself trying to buy in a sellers’ territory or sell in a buyers’ territory.
The aspect ensures that the probability of getting into a winning trade increases significantly.
During the accumulation periods (when the market is ranging), you should try as much as possible to keep off the market.
Jesse Livermore
“The desire for constant action irrespective of underlying conditions is responsible for many losses in Wall Street even among the professionals, who feel that they must take home some money every day, as though they were working for regular wages.”
I like this quote because it speaks to a lot of newbie forex traders.
There is this notion with beginner traders that the more trades you take, the more money you are likely to make out of forex.
The notion is very misguided as it results to overtrading.
You end up taking a lot of poor trade setups with a low probability of winning.
As a professional trader, you should only trade when nice trading setups (according to your trading plan) come along; and this does not happen often.
Paul Tudor Jones
“I’m always thinking about losing money as opposed to making money. Don’t focus on making money, focus on protecting what you have.”
Most forex traders are only thinking about making money and forget that they can also lose money.
The forex market is not certain, and despite being a good trader, there are times when the market will go against you.
For this reason, you should always protect your money by using an appropriate risk management approach.
In forex, risk management is one thing that will help you trade profitably for a long time.
Despite the impact that money management can have on a forex trader, many traders ignore it altogether, and hence, they end up lacking sustainability in the long-run.
Nial Fuller
“It’s critical for the crocodile to understand its prey and to know where to look for it and remain calm and patient until it arrives. As traders, we have to know what our trading edge looks like and where to look for it and then control ourselves enough to not over-trade before it arrives.”
Nial Fuller is among the forex traders that I like since he does not beat around the bush in his blog.
He tells you as it is regardless of whether it is contrary to popular opinion.
In this trading quote, the emphasis is on making an effort to understand how the forex market works.
You have to study as many trading charts as possible while testing your trading strategy. Employing this approach enables you to know what you are looking for any time you want to enter a trade.
As a result, you will not enter a trade before you see these signals; hence you avoid over-trading.
George Soros
“It’s not whether you’re right or wrong that’s important, it’s how much money you make when you’re right and how much you lose when you’re wrong.”
This George Soros quote demonstrates the importance of risk management in forex trading.
With good money management skills, your win rate in the currency market is not that important.
Favorable money management ensures that you make more money when you are in a winning trade and lose less money when you are in a losing trade.
This is why it is advisable to always go with a risk to reward ratio of at least 1:2. When a trade does not meet this criterion, just leave it and wait for another trading opportunity.
Peter Lynch
“In this business if you’re good, you’re right six times out of ten. You’re never going to be right nine times out of ten.”
Even the best traders don’t get it right all the time.
Having a good money management plan is what will make you profitable in the long run, and not your win rate.
Paul Tudor Jones
“Where you want to be is always in control, never wishing, always trading, and always, first and foremost protecting your butt. After a while size means nothing. It gets back to whether you’re making 100% rate of return on $10,000 or $100 million dollars. It doesn’t make any difference.”
Definitely you do not have enough money to move the forex market in your desired direction.
As a result, you should stop speculating and wishing that the market will go in your desired direction.
Stop guessing where the market will go.
Your work is to go with the market. Let the market tell you the direction it is heading and enter trades aligning to that direction too.
Always follow the trend, and work hard not to go against it to increase the probability of getting winning trades.
Anthony Robbins
“It’s not what we do once in a while that shapes our lives. It’s what we do consistently.”
This is among the shortest and most powerful trading quotes you will get out there.
In forex trading, you should not focus on knowing many trading strategies.
Instead, you should focus on mastering one trading strategy and repeat it over and over.
The moment you become consistent with a trading strategy, the probability of becoming profitable in the forex market increases significantly.
Read: Crushing Forex Trading as a Business
Conclusion on the Best Trading Quotes
This list encompasses several trading quotes that I have encountered in my forex trading journey.
I hope they will motivate you and put you in the right frame of mind as you aspire to become a profitable forex trader.
There are a lot of trading quotes out there, that can be equally inspiring.