DowntownForex

Levelling Out the Forex Playing Field

By Forex District – Retail traders tend to be quite independent souls. We like to make our own decisions, hit the trigger or not hit the trigger; long or short; which pair today; what position size; what strategy; do our own homework. Being in charge of our own coin, having the latitude to make our own decisions on when, where, and how to put our money to work for us is central to how retail traders operate.

Much ado was generated by the recent NFA rule changes on leverage, margin and hedging.  The less than warm reception these changes received seemed to reflect the fact that as adults and independent operators accustomed to making their own decisions, traders tend not to enjoy being patted on the head and told what is good for them. It did naturally enough, raise a question – has it perchance occurred to the CFTC or the NFA that retail traders might have their own wish-list for industry improvements?

Here’s a few personal favourites for the “slice ‘n dice, let’s rearrange it in order of priority” list -

Given that most new business in this industry originates via word of mouth from retail traders sharing the joy around with friends/family/colleagues, and that many retail traders prefer to take their advice from other retail traders, there do seem to be a few sound business reasons for the industry to look at including the client group in their planning, decision making and service delivery.  Harnessing client goodwill to one’s commercial advantage also happens to make a whole lot of common sense.

In the process, developing a business climate that enables trusting relationships between service provider and client (rather than caveat emptor in full-alert defensive mode as is currently the case) and setting the new trader on the path to success rather than defeat (e.g. losing money as a consequence of not having critical information and/or overloading new traders with too much non-information).

No trader enjoys being behind the game or losing money.  Levelling out the playing field first requires equity – genuine equity is achieved by getting retail traders themselves to the table, to enable fair participation both at an industry level and at a trading level.

Many benefits await – new traders brought up to speed quickly, given the tools they need to succeed from the outset instead of stumbling around in the dark for years trying to figure it all out; being able to take on a mentor, educator or trade signal service with some degree of assurance that those people are responsible professionals; traders having their own association for industry consultation, independent advice, accreditation and support purposes; increasing the volume of Forex business transacted; success breeding success.  Supporting traders to win, not lose, is just good horse sense.  Small initiatives to improve the experience of trading Forex, the credibility traction of the industry as a whole and potentially the commercial returns for all involved.

We all want the good oil on trading successfully.

Maybe it’s time the industry itself took some further responsibility for supplying the good oil that keeps the machinery ticking over in good style.

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