Trade Smarter & Make More Money

There are many ways to become a better trader, but only the Forex & Options Expo gives investors an excuse to go to Las Vegas. One of many annual MoneyShow events, the Forex & Options Expo is scheduled to take place from September 13 through September 15. "The MoneyShows are great for anybody that is either a casual investor or an active trader because they provide [a venue to meet and greet with] a lot of intelligent, very capable people in the investment field, all of whom cover a wide variety of financial instruments from forex to futures to equities to options," Boris Schlossberg, managing director of FX strategy at BK Asset Management, told Benzinga. "I love going to the audiences because I love [their] interaction. It's always very fun. I find sometimes that my interaction with the audience leads to better trading ideas because sometimes [show attendees] have a view that I may not have thought about that actually helps me in my own trading," he said. This is the first MoneyShow expo for Huzefa Hamid, the founder of TheForexRoom.com, and it is unlikely to be his last. "Every trader faces a tricky balance: sticking to their own system yet still being open to new ideas out there in the trading universe," said Hamid, who also contributes to DailyForex.com. "Expos like this help to navigate this balance." During the Forex & Options Expo, Hamid will discuss a "very specific" candle setup that he uses. "I'll go through the rules for the setup, and show recent trade examples," he said. "It'll be an objective and systematic trade strategy. Anyone, no matter their level of trading experience, will be able to walk out of there with a profitable strategy they can apply immediately." Schlossberg, who also co-founded BKForex.com, will be speaking on technicals and fundamentals. "I think it's going to be interesting because it's always a big battle between technicians and fundamentalists as to what really drives markets," said Schlossberg. "I generally side with the fundamentalists on most of the issues, and I do believe the fundamentals are the primary driver of the market." Regardless, Schlossberg believes that fundamentalists who ignore technicals are doing so, "at their own peril." "They are an incredibly valuable support system to constructing trades," Schlossberg explained. "Very often, sometimes technicals can actually, I don't want to say predict, but they will certainly lead fundamentals. They will certainly clue a carefully well-prepared trader of the potential fundamental developments that are ongoing." Schlossberg added that the crux of his presentation, "is going to be the absolute necessity to be very, very competent in both [technicals and fundamentals]." "I think one of the biggest mistake that retail traders make is that they feel they aren't educated enough to follow up on the [fundamentals]," he said. "They simply base all of their trading decisions on technical factors, and that's why most of them lose, because they are basically playing with one hand tied behind their back. They often make very, very silly mistakes because of their lack of knowledge of fundamentals." Follow me @LouisBedigianBZ