Hello,
I am in college and am interested in trading forex, but I want to have a good background of analysing and want to be good at it. I am just wondering what degrees would help me out, just economics? If just economics which one, global economics, International economics, Wealth economics?
Thanks.
A degree would be HUGE waste of time. Why? No one can predict where the market is going. If they say they can they are either full of BS or delusional.
All the talking heads on the news channels are wrong most of the times and make a big deal of it when they are right so as to make people overlook the times they were wrong…which is most of time.
With enough lip flapping and throwing out lots of predictions anyone can be right once in while and make it look like they are an oracle.
This is why ACTUAL traders, who make money at it, develop edges with a good win/loss ratio, risk/reward ratio based on what they see on the charts. (not some ahead of price prediction) Because no one can predict, so you have to count on losing some of the time and learn to deal with it.
IMO, go for a degree you can get a backup job with and study forex and trading in your spare time. Knowing global economics isn’t going to make you able to predict the markets and thus trade without losing.
You don’t need a degree or to buy an expensive courses.
Go through babypips school, then pick a few free methods and work on them in demo, it will teach you more than any class could.
TIP: You need an edge. A method with a good win/loss risk/reward ratio, that is strictly done when x &Y conditions exisist and is proven repeatable over a sample size of 20-100 trades.
TIPL Learn money managment and risk control. (what is the lot size for this trade? How much should I risk per trade? When I’m in winning trade when do I take profit? Where and why do I cut losers short? When you have an edge and good money managment, you are on your way.
Experience and not giving up is what sets the failures apart from the retail traders making money in forex. You can’t get experience from a book or classroom or even babypips school. So, once you think you know something get out their and trade in demo, and then with very small account.
IMO, go live as soon as you think you have an edge or two. Live teaches you a LOT. Lose some money, suck it up and get over it then keep going. Trading live will help you master the most critical thing for a trader, mastering himself and how he/she reacts to trading emotionally & logically…psychology.
Hey Thanks for the reply. But, if getting a degree or anything of that sort doesnt help, what does. How do the millionaire forex traders really do it. what is so different from them to us?
an edge and good money managment
That’s it. Sounds easy, its not complicated just harder than you think to put into practice. Many of the freely taught and discussed strats here on BP will give you the edge you are looking for. The rest is personal discipline and perseverance.
Just told you. Most failures don’t even know that much and treat it like BAD gambling, from the computer AND overleverage AND are undercaptilized AND can’t master themselves.
Don’t believe me if you like, but if you take some colledge course you won’t be better off than any other trader.
Totally agreed with ThePhoenix opinion…
I’m a college student myself, majoring in Finance. Your college courses will teach/improve focus, concentration, and personal determination. But besides that, really nothing you learn is going to benefit your trading. While courses in International Trade/Finance or Macroeconomics will give you a better understanding of what drives markets, it won’t improve your ability to predict where currencies are headed. ThePhoenix is right, even a month of demoing a system, learning money management, and controlling emotions while trading will go further than any college course/degree. Trade in your spare time, fall back on your degree, that’s how I see it.
From my limited understanding of the market, these majors seem appropriate:
Psychology: Can give you limited knowledge on typical human behavior that ultimately drive prices (Reinforcement, conditioning, a bit of the neuroscience behind fear)
Physics: Problem Solving. Not just useful for Forex, but pretty much everything in life.
As was noted before, studying economics and finance will help you understand market structures and driving factors. They won’t help very much with day-to-day trading. Psychology is good to understand the rational/irrational side of the markets. Statistics and math are both good for being able to understand and analyze systems and performance figures. A little bit of accounting probably wouldn’t hurt either, and not just for trading purposes.
I’m one of those with a Bsc in Finance, and believe me, it’s not that of an advantage, not for the day to day trading, but for a start in theory and concepts is good.
I’ve met some traders with a background in Tv Poduction, graphic design, etc, that got the idea faster and easier than me.
As suggested before maybe some sort of psychology studies won’t hurt, since self control and discipline is the hardest thing to master in this business.
I also recommend you to read the core material for IFTA and MTA designations, not to full your charts with indicators, but this will give you a huge edge and a great understanding of what the market is telling you.
BabyPips and ForexFactory are the places to get all the directions and the buzz of what’s going on. So believe me, you already are in the right place. Just focus and learn, take your time, this will be time well invested. 
Having a degree in economics will definitely have an edge in forex and stock trading. You will know what factors will affect the currency of each country. But you may practise now with a demo account and learn the ropes of forex trading by reading the school of pipsology here.
I agree with flashmoney, a degree in economics would be beneficial I am suprised so many of the replies to your question were against the idea. Economics is a driving force in any market not least the forex market, having a good understanding of the factors involved can only be an asset.
I wish I had a degree in economics so many times I read economic reports and analysis and do not understand what they mean, only to find out later how the very factors I read about without understanding their implications, had a direct effect on the respective currencies that day.
IMO a college/university degree in finance or markets with the ONLY ambition to become a full-time forex trader is a waste. Many before touched on it before but in the same way, a lot of forex trading is discipline and defining goals. At the most, a degree helps train the mind for perseverance and motivation to succeed. Many beginner forex trader find themselves leaving the forex market because a string of losses leaves them in a bad way. But that’s just how the markets work. You win some you lose some.
In my situation, I’m a student in IT Security which is in a completely different ballpark. Forex is just a nice change and gives me something to do on the side with a hope of one day going full time, while having a degree to back me up incase I need it.
Let me suggest you study logic. Take every logic class your school offers. You’ll find it under Philosophy. No matter what you find yourself doing, logic will always be helpful.