Simply Follow Forex Signal Instructions And Don’t  Modify Trades On Your Own For The Best Results

A lot of people join Forex signals services because they do not feel comfortable making the trading decisions on their own. So, why not follow an already profitable Forex trader and place the same trades they do? 

Sounds like a simple and effective way to take a shortcut to Forex trading profits… and it can be.

But it might surprise you to find out that some of those same users of the Forex signals service sabotage their results by making trading decisions on their own anyway. Instead of trusting the Forex signals and trade management instructions they get from the signals provider, they apply their own trading experience by interfering with the signals.  

Doesn’t really make any sense, but it happens a lot.

Therefore, I want to discuss why you should simply follow the Forex signal instructions for the best results.

Don’t Interfere With Signal Instructions By Filtering Trades

Sometimes a Forex signals subscriber will interfere by filtering trades. When following signals, you are not looking at the same charts, indicators or strategy as the signals provider. Therefore, you do not really know the exact triggers for the trade entry, trade management or closing of the trade.

So, it is possible to get a signal the follower “does not like” based on their trading knowledge and the chart, indicators or strategy they are looking at. They might be tempted to skip trades for this reason, since the signal trigger does not coincide with what they believe.

But this kind of defeats the purpose of using a Forex signal service, right?

The point of using a Forex signals service is to follow the trades of another trader you trust so you can get similar results. Your beliefs, the charts you are looking at or the strategies you know should have nothing to do with the trading.  

If you want the same trading results as the Forex signals service you are following, you need to place ALL the trades.

Trying to improve the results by filtering the trades you take could have undesirable results. Yes, you might filter out a bad trade. But if you filter out a HUGE winning trade, that is going to sabotage your long term trading performance.

Don’t Interfere With Signals By Modifying Trades

OK, so maybe you place all the trades as instructed. You now need to keep from modifying the trades unless instructed. The signals provider is following their rules for trade entry and trade management.  

You should too.

If you are instructed to use a certain stop loss and take profit level, use it. Tightening stops or messing with the risk to reward levels can hurt your overall profitability. The trader you are following is profitable over time for a reason, and stop loss placement and risk to reward levels have a lot to do with it.

Furthermore, stick to the instructed trade management as well.

For example, you might be tempted to move your stop loss to breakeven before being instructed. This makes it possible to get stopped out of the trade when the signal provider remains in the trade. They end up with a winning trade and you end up with a breakeven trade.

The same thing can happen when moving the stop loss to lock in profits. This can lead to dramatically different results than the service reports. Any modification of the trading instructions jeopardizes getting the same results as the service you are following.

I’m assuming you joined the Forex signals service because you liked the performance potential. So, it would only make sense you would want to get similar results.

Don’t Interfere With Trade Signals By Prematurely Closing Trades

Once you are in a live trade with real money on the line, emotions of fear and greed become very powerful enemies. For example, a trade might be going against you and you want to close the trade early to avoid further loss. Or, you are in profit and don’t want to see the money you’ve already accumulated disappear, so you close the trade early.  

Again, this is not the way to get similar results to the service you are following.

Yes, sometimes these decisions can lead to saving money or making more money. Basically, there will be times when your bad trading behavior is rewarded.  

But making the decision to interfere with the trade signal in any way means you are not going to get similar results as the service. This defeats the entire purpose of following a signals service in the first place.

The truth is, a lot of trading strategies are specifically designed to be traded in a certain way. These rules and actions are what lead the strategy to be profitable in the first place. So any interference, any changes, mean you risk making the strategy unprofitable over the long term.  

And you do not want to be responsible for turning profitable Forex signals into unprofitable trading on your account… do you?

In Conclusion

I get it. It is hard to blindly follow instructions. There will be times when you are tempted to deviate from the trading instructions.

You are only human, after all. And there are a lot of emotions putting real money at risk in the live markets. And these emotions can make it very difficult to stick to the plan.

But if you want similar performance results as the Forex signals service you are following, you need to stay the course. Understand from the outset that your role is to follow instructions, and not make trading decisions.

That is why you are using a Forex signals service in the first place.  

So, for the best results, stay the course and strive to perform your role as perfectly as possible. And your role is to simply follow instructions.