Choosing right amount and right pairs to trade

I’m quite new in forex. Currently I’m studying Ichimoku system. I chose it because I used to be sports gambler and it gives me strict discipline when to trade. One of the problems for me is the amount of currency pairs I’m watching. I have almost 30 charts of different pairs and even if the smallest time frame I’m checking is 4h, still I’m usually out of time. I know it is too many but I don’t know to which ones I should stick to. How many pairs you would recommend and which ones are better for Ichimoku?
Thanks in advance.

I would recommend watching the 28 significant pairs. But break it down into the 8 currencies not 28 pair charts.

For example, right now AUD and NZD are both very bullish. These two economies are brother and sister anyway so it can be argued there is no point taking parallel positions in both currencies. Likewise, although there are 6 AUD pairs that are not matched with NZD, there is little argument for taking 6 parallel trades in the same direction across these 6 AUD pairs.

By the same token, beware of a chart signal that tells you to be short NZD when all the AUD charts say buy AUD.

EUR and CHF can also be treated much of the time as related, as can CHF and JPY. Under many market conditions, GBP and EUR are closely related also.

Of course, trading at shorter and shorter time-frames progressively removes these advantages…

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Just run through the 28 pairs on the daily window. This is a top down approach. If a trading opportunity is there, move down to the 4 hr chart to use as a confirming Ichimoku signal, then the 1hr chart ro make your trade, providing this chart is also in line with the 2 higher charts above. 3 ducks in a row give an excellent prospect of a winning trade - but if any chart is out of synch - no trade…

It takes me 30 minutes to complete this exercise.

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Tommor, CAD & AUD are competitors because their economies rely on mining. One useful pair to trade when fundamental economic strengthens or weakens on either are noted in media reports.

As for AUD/NZD it’s a devil to trade as many retractments occur, often out of the blue…

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As you are a new trader, I won’t recommend trading more than 2 pairs at a time. If you think that you will be able to trade all of them properly, go ahead and start trading more pairs.

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I started this week with 4 pairs. First good sign is that my account stopped bleeding. I feel some emotional relief because I’m in time to check all pairs and all time frames and that led to being more in control of the situation.

It does sound good. I myself had started trading in 5 currency pairs with low spreads and small investments but currently I’m not into making money. I’m rather looking forward to learning and analyzing the markets and I feel this size gives me ample time to study and to put things I learnt into practice. I’m hoping to have few but quality opportunities each month after having put my new trade strategy into action.

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Yeah you’re following the right approach here. I happen to find AUD/JPY, NZD/JPY, and GBP/JPY interesting. Just the way they move in the market has caught my attention. Not that they perform well all the time, but they do tend to offer 1-2 setups each month. I think that’s sufficient for me as of now. Want to strengthen my hold on the currency trade a bit more I guess. Not being greedy here J

Slow and steady is indeed good then. I have been reading a lot about exotic currency pairs but have hardly seen anyone trade much in them. Wonder why.

Not that traders don’t trade exotic currencies from what I have seen. From my understanding it’s just that many hesitate because these are currencies from emerging markets and aren’t as liquid with wider spreads. One of the currency pairs that comes to my mind straightaway is USD/SGD. In case you’re interested and wanna give these a try, I’d suggest speaking with your broker. There are many brokers like oanda, roboforex, fxview, fp markets, who do offer exotic currency pairs to trade on platforms. In case you go for these, do share your experience. It would definitely add to my learning.

Hello and I’d suggest you to trade 5-10 currency pairs currently since you’re a beginner. It’ll be easy for you to spend time reading the charts without it becoming overwhelming. Also, go for JPY pairs since Ichimoku works best with Japanese currency.

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