Which currency pair would you recommend?

I’m looking to trade in forex but I only want to focus and concentrate on one pair, e.g EUR/USD. I want to take it slow and not get bombard with different pairs. would you guys recommend a pair that would be ideal? or does it not matter?! I thought maybe a very volatile pair would help me more as I can understand how much the market can swing.
appreciate all opinions
kindest regards

Hi there,

Just to explain my experience before I answer, I have been trading since late 2008; I just started a thread with a link to a new live account on myfxbook, on babypips - if you want to see my current progress, the link is:

http://forums.babypips.com/candlesticks-chart-patterns-and-price-action/77065-live-price-action-trading.html#post733432

To answer your question: It does not so much matter whether its one currency pair or multiple, very volatile or not; what’s important is a [I]statistically profitable method.[/I] If you trade a very volatile pair like the GBPNZD, or a less volatile pair like the EURGBP, it does not matter, as long as over a large number of trades, what you do is profitable.

From your question, I gather you are relatively new at this. I’ve looked over the babypips school/course here and I think it provides a very solid foundation to start your learning. It will also help you figure out what type of methodology you’re attracted to. I wish I had it when I started.

Having said that if all you want is to know how much each CP swings, this can help:

Forex Market Hours

Good luck!

Instead of recommending a currency pair, I’d recommend reading as many books as you can about trading in general. You need to realize how the game is played, before you try to play it.

Price action is dependent on Sentiment, chart patterns and statistics and is applicable to every currency pair. I would look at all the lessons in the school here then focus on those you best understand. When I started I used Bollinger bands and the stochastic oscillator. You will have to open a real account to get real experience, if you can afford to lose 1000 usd in practice I suggest you do that, use a small volume, say 0.1 and learn the hard way like we all did. There is enough info in the school here, try searching youtube and you will find a few good vids also. Do not take all tips you see here on face value.

Hey Forexunlimited, I would like to hear more about the books that you are talking about. Any recommendations ?

It is understandable to want to focus on one pair, especially when you are learning and everything is overwhelming. But it’s dangerous to do so because then you are limiting yourself to whatever that pair is offering at the given time. I think the salient point is that you want to focus on identifying the right conditions for a trade…and one pair is not always going to offer the right conditions. Can you wait days? Weeks? Without making a trade because the conditions are wrong? Or will you enter a trade out of impatience or lack of experience, for the thrill of it?


To answer your question specifically however, most people would probably recommend you stay away from the more volatile pairs…which basically mean more unpredictable movement, though yes there is lots of money to be made on these moves, there is also lots of money to be lost. A market that swings wildly for no apparent reason is no fun…look for a stepping up or stepping down market pattern. As far as which pairs to trade? The most popular are EURUSD and GBPUSD…so they have the most volume and players. Not volatile per se but still very fluid, tons of money moving in it…

One of the most important aspects in trading is choosing instruments wisely. More instruments to choose from is an advantage. Anyway, the USDCHF performs technically enough to learn from practicing on.

In my opinion a newbie can stick to EUR/USD for a while.
It has been three years since the original post though, how is it going?