Forex signals are best described as detailed trading recommendations or ideas. The best sources of forex signals are usually experienced traders. Scores of online entities provide forex trading signals, for a fee, or even for free.

Due to the fact that forex signals are essentially bundles of text-based information, one can send them through a variety of different channels. Forex signal providers will deliver their “product” via live messaging, email, Skype and various specialized applications. There are also signal Telegram channels out there.

The trading signal ecosystem has created a trading environment that has characteristics, also specific. Signal-based trading solutions allow signal providers to use interactive charts, to stream videos and to monetize their activities.

Profitable trading is the Holy Grail of many. For most traders, the easiest path to this profit leads through forex signals.

Introduction to Forex Signals

Forex signal systems are among the most important tools in a profitable trader’s arsenal. Beginners as well as more advanced and experienced traders use it.

In fact some industries are built around trading signals and various trading recommendations.

As with most things, quality should always come before quantity in regards to your forex signals.

A quality forex signal doesn’t just tell you when to jump into a particular trade and the direction of that trade. They also include detailed information on configuring your Stop Losses and Take Profits.

The best way to ensure that you are dealing with quality trading signals is to go for free options, on a Demo account. This way, you won’t lose any real money if it turns out your signal is subpar.

Time Frame

You should also pay attention to the time frame. As a result of their nature, trading signals do not work well for strategies such as scalping. By the time you receive the signal, the scalping opportunity has come and gone.

That said, there are smart people out there who still use signal services.

Each FX signal system is a reflection of the methods and preferences of the signal provider. Therefore, each such system is different.

However, there are two broad categories that all fit into:

  • Based on technical analysis
  • The focus of fundamental analysis.

TA-based forex signal systems generate their trading ideas from past price movements with various mathematical artifacts.

Signal providers analyze current events and derive their trading opportunities from the possible impact of those events on asset prices, being in the second category.

Finding the Best Forex Signals

The quality of your forex trading signals will make or break your profits. Since there is not much skill involved in applying these signals, the only variable in the equation is the choice of forex signal service.

You should always go through this checklist before you make your move in this regard.

  • Time Zone – Before you start, look at the provider’s time zone. You want your trading signals to flow while you are awake. They are not used much otherwise. If there is no other way to learn this important bit of information, sign up for a free account.
  • Free Trial – Sign up for a taster period / free trial. This will give you an indication of the quality of the service, without requiring you to pay a “tuition” in the form of losses incurred on bad signals.
  • Compare – Don’t get stuck with the first service you like. Continue to find and compare the FX signal services that you think suit your trading style. Finally, choose the best.
  • Track Record – Take a look at the track record of your forex signal provider. This should tell you all you need to know about performance wise setups. Only track records verified by a 3rd party should be considered. A verification service like MyFxBook.com.
  • Full Analysis – Go to total package. Low-energy signal providers, such as those that only give you the entry price and SL / TP, should be ignored. You need to know why your signal is supposed to work. For that purpose, you need your FX signal provider to provide you with proper market charts and analysis as well.
  • Focus on You – Make sure the signal style suits your trading needs. Apart from the two basic types mentioned, Forex signals run in various styles. There are short-term and long-term signals, signals focused on intraday screams, etc. Profit should always be your priority. You will however find it easier and more fun to use gestures that suit your personal style.
  • Extras – If possible, choose a signal provider that offers extra services. These services can be educational or social commerce oriented. Provided you are dealing with quality trading signals, such benefits can add a lot of value to the setup.

Finding forex MT4 signals is a different story. In the Terminal window, there is a Signals tab. This section features scores of trading signal providers with useful graphs of their trading performance also available.

 

Comparing Signal Providers

Comparing forex signal providers can be a bit labor intensive. It will pay decent dividends though, as every bit of value you discover through this process will add to your profits.

Run a search on forex signal positions. There are several websites out there that compare signal services. Choose a few from the top and take a closer look at them.

Read reviews of forex signals provided by such comparison sites.

Sign up for a trial they offer and use the checklist above to determine how well it stacks up. Take into account the communication channels used by the supplier. Do they send their “product” via Skype, email, SMS or Telegram? Do they use a specific platform?

Go for the one that blows the most ticks on your list.

  • Forexsignals.com – Live streaming and promo cashback, forexsignals.com offers signals and education in equal measure.

How to Use Signals

Opening positions based on forex trading signals is a simple exercise. Once you learn to “read” these cues, it will be a walk in the park to use them.

  1. – Your first step is to log into the channel of the signal provider. This can be a web page, a Telegram channel, a Skype conversation and so on.
  2. – Get the data sent by the signal provider and copy it to your account.
  3. – Wait for the trade to close and take the result.

What’s Included in the Best Signals?

More precisely, the signal should tell you the following:

  • The instrument / currency pair you will trade (EUR / USD, BTC / USD, gold, silver etc.)
  • Your trading direction. Next to the actual asset price, a BUY or SELL action is shown.
  • Your signal status. Regarding status, forex signals can be Active, Get Ready and Closed.
  • Active signals can be used immediately because of them. Get Ready signals aren’t active yet, but they might be soon. They may also disappear. Keep your eyes on them, but don’t act on them unless they become Active.
  • The closed signal has expired.
  • The Admission Price is self-explanatory. It is the price level at which the supplier recommends that you jump into the trade.
  • Stop Loss is where your trade will be closed automatically, if the market turns against you. This is a damage control feature and therefore, it is very important for long-term profitability. Make sure you don’t forget to set it, as recommended by your FX signal.
  • Take Profit is the price level at which your trade is automatically closed, if it goes your way. Taking your profit at the right time is just as important as protecting yourself through Stop Loss.
  • Comments, charts and explanations on recommended trade setups.

You need to be aware that trades can be closed in three different ways. In addition to the automatic shutdown triggered by SL or TP, providers can manually shutdown as well.

When it is deemed appropriate, the provider will propose a trade close. In such cases, an explanation is provided in the comments section, along with the closing price.

Under certain circumstances, the signal provider may recommend an extension of the TP, to increase the profit margin.

How to Use Different Types of Trading Signals

Interestingly, sometimes, in order to maximize the potential of your trading signals, you must not follow them. Or vice versa: you need to change some variables that make it.

Moving profit taking is an obvious way to expand profit potential. Most forex signal services use a fixed amount of pips when setting take profit and stop loss levels. They rarely jump in to correct these variables as the trade unfolds.

 

Take Profit And Stop Losing

If you think the trade potential is better than what the profits allow, don’t pass it up. In some cases, completely eliminating profit taking is in order. Just remember not to hold the signal service responsible if you dare to make a move.

Moving your stop loss may in some cases save the trade instead. Like profits, stop losses are set to a fixed number of pip. Furthermore, it is sometimes below the moving average or resistance level. In such cases, moving it above the critical level might be a good idea.

The price of admission is not set in miles either. In this regard too, signaling services prefer to err on the safe side. As prices grow, better entry prices can also grow.

Stepping into a manual trade may be the right course of action when asset prices are hit by sudden real-world events. There is no way for signal providers to predict such events. If anything happens, the stakes are clear.

Trade Size

Tinkering with lot size is another channel of signal optimization. Some FX signals provided by the service clearly have higher odds than others.

As you record experience, you will be able to tell which trades are which. Increasing your traded lot size on high probability signals makes sense. The same goes for lowering your trade volume on low probability signals.

Correlation

Observing correlated FX pairs often makes sense. If you get a signal for AUD/USD for example, the same signal can probably be used for the NZD/USD pair as well. Often times, trades “earned” through this method will be more profitable than the original ones suggested by the signal.

Traders sometimes forget to take the spread when setting a stop loss and take profit. Don’t make this mistake. Adjust your automatic close point accordingly. Keep in mind that the spread varies from one FX pair to another.

Free Forex Signals

Signal service providers generally use free forex signals for promotional purposes. They make themselves available to sell some kind of service or product further down the line.

As a promotional vehicle, free forex signals cannot really afford to be of low quality. Sometimes, that’s what happens.

Premium

Premium signaling services need to be delivered from the very beginning. Since those premium forex signals represent the bread and butter of the service provider’s offerings, they are usually of high quality.

Let’s not lose sight of the fact but no signal provider will guarantee a winner. No one is going to win the winner alone.

 

Live / Daily Signals

Live / daily trading signals are basically forex forex signals delivered with higher frequency. So such signals are more suitable for intra-day trading.

Copy Trading and Social Trading

Social trading or copy trading is all about using trading signals provided by more successful traders.
As mentioned, MT4 offers a Signals section, where it displays the trades and statistics of those who decide to share this information with the community.

The system rewards those traders for their “signaling services”, through fees paid by their customers.

The Signals page displays the most successful forex signal providers at the top. In this way, more or less takes care of the selection of signaling services for users.

There are several similar (and better) copy trading services out there. eToro is a good example of this.

Forex Signals for Technical Analysis Traders

For trader-focused technical analysis, the use of forex signals paves the way to a more complete trading experience. The most suitable forex signals also take into account fundamental factors. By using such signals, TA traders will expose their trade to the fundamentals as well.

TA is usually suitable for short-term trading, price changes caused by inefficiency / supply / demand. Fundamentals on the other hand lend themselves much better to long-term, long-term trading.

 

Price Action

Forex signal providers generate most of their tips/ideas based on price patterns. These patterns mostly consist of support and resistance levels. Technical indicators and other price structures / patterns can also be used.

This is actually the definition of TA-based signal generation.

Forex Signals for Scalping

While long-term trading signals aim for hundreds or even thousands of gains in profit, there are some FX signal providers that will settle a few pips at a time. These providers offer short-term forex trading signals, which lend well.

What are some of the main applications of signal-based scalping?

In times of uncertainty, when long-term trading signals just don’t seem to cut it, it offers an alternative approach. Sometimes traders can’t figure out the market. Falling back on scalping is a strong reason in that case.

If you want to use these signals, you need to spend a lot of time in front of your computer screen.

Some forex markets are simply large, displaying long periods of consolidation. Although the market moved during that period, it was very slow. Those who can’t wait any longer can return to scalping based on forex signals. This way, they will invest in minute intra-day price changes.

Highly volatile markets are not very friendly to long-term trading either. Under such circumstances, scalping is another voice option.

Despite their short-term nature, scalping signals are not based on technical analysis alone. They definitely incorporate a fair share of basics as well. In this way, they combine indicators such as trend lines, support and resistance levels and stochastic oscillators with economic news, data releases and announcements.

 

Fraud

The pseudo science behind the forex signal industry is inaccurate. Therefore, it is conducive to cheating.

The bent operator has a lot of room to move in this vertical. Although we have filtered out suspicious services, you should be able to spot forex signal scams yourself.

  • A service with an unrealistic (and unverified) track record is almost guaranteed to be a scam.
  • Fx signal providers who offer to trade with you, with your money, are the most obvious scams as well. Such a setup is no longer a signal-based trade, but an automated trade on a hijacked account.
  • If the supplier uses a variety of prominent and assertive promotional methods, it also raises suspicions.

If you feel something doesn’t add up to your signal provider, just forget it and move on to the next one.

Bottom line

We have covered everything you need to know about how to choose and how to use forex trading signals.

A good signal service will have a significant and immediate impact on your profits.