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Most successful forex traders to learn from in 2024

One way to reach your goal of becoming a successful forex trader is by learning by example from the best. You can take advantage of the experiences they share and their personal trading strategies to develop the discipline and risk control required to become a successful forex trader.

 

We share insight into some of the best forex traders the world has known and how they became successful. You can learn a lot about forex trading by studying how these forex trading giants approached the markets and their philosophy on trading.

 

In this in-depth guide you’ll learn:

  • Most Successful Forex Traders
  • What is copy trading?
  • What is social trading?
  • What is mirror trading?
  • How to choose the best trader to copy

 

And lots more…

 

Let’s dive right in…

 

Choose your quick section of our Most Successful Forex Traders below.

 

Our 8 Best Handpicked Most Successful Forex Traders in 2024 Revealed:

 

👉 Below is a list of successful forex traders that have risen to international stardom. They’re revered in the forex market; not only because they’ve delivered impressive results over long careers but also because they have led my example, shown immense courage and tenacity. They also have been generous in offering guidance to hundreds of thousands of forex traders at the start of their careers.

 

George Soros

👉 Born in 1930, George Soros joined Singer and Friedlander in London after escaping Nazi-occupied Hungary during World War II. Soros founded his own hedge fund company in 1973 called Soros Fund Management. It evolved to become the well-known and respected Quantum Fund.

 

👉 Soros rose to international fame in 1992 as the trader who “broke the Bank of England”. He netted a profit of $1 billion after short-selling a reported $10 billion in British Pound Sterling. That day became known as Black Wednesday in the forex market and cemented his reputation as one of the most successful forex traders of all time.

 

👉 The trading method that Soros followed is called the Global Macro Strategy. It’s one of the most successful strategies to trade forex and bonds, and even some equities. It involves taking a top-down view across different asset classes and the economy. A global macro investor will actively look for different patterns in fundamental economic data, macroeconomics, geopolitical events and news releases; and profit from their impact on the broad market.

 

👉 Soros maintains that “he is only rich because he was able to see when he was wrong”. He has always displayed an eagerness to end trades which have no chances of profiting and shown a great degree of discipline and restraint. These are common traits shared among the most successful forex traders in the world.

 

Stanley Druckenmiller

👉 Stanley Druckenmiller successfully managed investments for George Soros for 11 years and refers to Soros as his mentor. Druckenmiller also worked with Soros on the notorious forex trade that broke the Bank of England and gained international stardom as a result.

 

👉 After working with Soros, Druckenmiller developed an esteemed reputation for himself; handling billions of dollars for Duquesne Capital which is the hedge fund he started. After surviving the economic collapse of 2008, Druckenmiller closed his hedge fund.

 

👉 Druckenmiller’s trading strategy for developing long-term profits is based on the discipline of preserving capital. He also aggressively pursued profits during times when his trades were working well. He says the trick is to maximise opportunities when you are right and minimise damage when you are wrong. He’s most famous for saying, “ There are a lot of shoes on the shelf; wear only the ones that fit”.

 

Ed Seykota

👉 Ed Seykota is one of the best Trend Followers in the history of forex trading. In a 12-year period, he turned $5 000 into $15 million and joined the elite club of forex trading celebrities. In 1970, he pioneered Systems trading by using early punched card computers to test ideas on trading the markets.

 

👉 Seykota also set up the Trading Tribe Process (TTP) which originated as a group of traders who would gather regularly to discuss their emotions (because emotions often overrule logic). Over the years, the TTP expanded to include tribes all over the world and Seykota developed methods to support personal growth in forex trading.

 

👉 Seykota’s trading philosophy is, “Every trader has strengths and weaknesses; as long as you stick to your own style, you get the good and bad in your own approach”. Technical analysis was Seykota’s forte and he thrives on three basic components in his trading style: the long-term trend, current chart pattern and identifying the right spots to buy and sell.

 

👉 Seykota also believes that keeping the bets small will always help to keep emotions in control. He advises speculating with less than 10% of the total liquid net worth of a trader and puts an emphasis on placing protective stops the minute he enters the trade.

 

👉 ,You can read more about the different trading strategies of the experts in his trading tribes, in the book he authored called The Trading Tribe.

 

Andy Krieger

👉 Krieger graduated from the Wharton School of Business and joined the Bankers Trust in 1986 after working at Salomon Brothers. Krieger is considered to be one of the most aggressive traders in the world and one of the most successful forex traders in history. He made a name for himself during the crash of 1987 that became known as Black Monday.

 

👉 Krieger identified the New Zealand dollar to be highly overvalued. He went short on the currency at a leverage of 400:1; within a few hours the currency moved 5% against the US dollar and Krieger made $300 million for his company. He left the company to go work for George Soros with a reported $3 million in his pocket from that one trade.

 

👉 Krieger’s techniques and strategies directly contributed to some of the biggest forex trading profits in human history. They are now available for you to study via Andy Krieger Trading. The company also sends you actionable trading recommendations to practice and refine your forex trading skills.

 

Bill Lipschutz

👉 Bill Lipschutz started at the bottom of the trading floor while attending Cornell University in the late 1970s. Having made $250 000, he lost his entire stake after one poor trading decision. It was a bitter pill to swallow and risk control became one of his driving tactics for the rest of his trading career.

 

👉 His career pretty much exploded at the same time forex markets were exploding in popularity. He was earning about $300 million per year for his company by 1985 and became known as the Sultan of Currencies.

 

👉 Lipschutz describes forex as a highly psychological game and believes that market perceptions influence price action as much as pure fundamentals do. He also agrees with Druckenmiller that success does not depend on being right. Rather, Lipschutz stresses you need to work out how to make money when you are only right about forex 20 to 30 percent of the time and you need to manage risk. He stresses your trading size should be chose to avoid being forced out of your position if your timing is not exact.

 

Bruce Kovner

👉 Born in 1945, Bruce Kovner is an example of “it’s never too late to start forex trading”. He made his first trade in 1977 when he was 32 years old and went on to become one of the most successful traders in the investment world.

 

👉 Kovner formed Caxton Associates in 1983 and was its CEO for 28 years. He retired in 2011 in order to concentrate on trading the financial and commodity markets, based on his views of macro-economic conditions. Today, Caxton is one of the world’s largest and most successful macro hedge funds, with $12 billion in assets and with an average net annual return of over 21%.

 

👉 Kovner famously attributed his success to “stupid governments”, implying that the policy mistakes of central banks and governments causes disequilibria in financial markets that can be exploited.

 

Michael Marcus

👉 Michael Marcus joins the ranks of this elite group as one of the most successful forex traders in the world. He was trained by the notorious Ed Seykota and founded the Commodities Corporation Company. Over a ten-year period, Marcus multiplied his company account by an incredible 2 500-fold.

 

Marcus maintains the best forex trades are “the ones in which you have all three things going for you; fundamentals, technical and market tone.”

➡️️​ First, the fundamentals should suggest that there is an imbalance of supply and demand, which could result in a major move

➡️️​ Second, the chart must show that the market is moving in the direction that the fundamentals suggest

➡️️​ Third, when news comes out, the market should act in a way that reflects the right psychological tone

 

👉 Marcus also stresses you need to have the courage to hold the position and take the risk when you are trading forex.

 

Paul Tudor Jones II

👉 Paul Tudor Jones is one of the best forex traders in the world and also one of the richest day traders still alive today. As of 2018, his net worth was $4.5 billion. Not bad for someone who started his forex trading career as a clerk on the trading floor.

 

👉 In 1980, Jones founded his own firm, Tudor Investment Corporation. In October 1987 when the markets were spiraling downwards, Jones successfully earned 62% profits by entering short positions. That same year, he generated $100 million for his firm. Eight years later, he founded Robin Hood Foundation which focuses on poverty reduction.

 

👉 Jones’ simple forex trading philosophy is, “Don’t be a hero. Don’t have an ego. Always question yourself and your ability. Don’t every feel you are very good. The second you do, you are dead”. Jones stresses that, “If you can’t see your own mistakes and learn from them, you’re never going to be a (successful) trader for a long time”.

 

What is copy trading?

👉 Copy trading allows you to automatically or manually copy positions that are opened and managed by selected individuals directly into your trading platform. It’s a branch of social trading, which relies on social interaction and social trading systems.

 

👉 The forex market is highly liquid and is open 24-hours a day, 5-days a week. It needs constant monitoring which beginner and intermediate forex traders don’t usually have the time or expertise for. Forex copy trading means you can simply copy another trader’s positions rather than scanning the fast-moving forex markets yourself. It’s also ideal for beginners who don’t have the expertise to analyse technical and fundamental data.

 

What is social trading?

👉 Social trading is when one trader opens a position, he or she broadcasts this information to other traders on the network. They can decide whether they want to open the same position. Otherwise, their automated trading systems can do it for them.

 

What is mirror trading?

👉 Mirror trading allows you to evaluate and follow specific trading strategies and signals from other traders. You can build a strategy based upon back-tested strategies and can opt to implement the trades of multiple traders simultaneously if they are in keeping with your overall forex trading strategy.

 

Why copy trading is popular

👉 Different studies have been conducted to measure the success rate of people who use copy trading. Results show that if you carefully choose which traders to copy based purely on statistics and portfolio, you could be up to 10 percent more successful than someone who trades manually or chooses their traders based on personal preferences.

 

 The most successful traders are part of an elite group. They all have the following characteristics in common:

➡️️​ discipline

➡️️​ risk control

➡️️​ courage

➡️️​ astuteness

 

👉 While you won’t initially master all four characteristics; in the long term, they are important trading traits to develop.

 

How to choose the best trader to copy

👉 Anyone can trade currency pairs on the forex market, even those who have very little knowledge and experience. The way to do it is by copy trading. Basically, you can earn money on autopilot with this trading strategy.

 

👉 The trick is to choose the best traders to copy; unless of course you’re using a copy trading platform like ZuluTrade or DupliTrade that does it for you.

 

Here are 6 proven criteria for choosing the right expert trader to copy:            

  1. Has a proven track record
  2. Shows consistent rather than sporadic returns
  3. Trades with a real account and risks his or her own money
  4. Has a lot of genuine followers
  5. Is disciplined about risk; stop levels set on each trade opened and at a responsible distance
  6. Check historical drawdown which is the difference between the account and equity balance; check how much of a trader’s account has been in the negative over a period of time

 

Forex Trading Africa disclaimer

👉 Trading forex carries a high level of risk of  losing money and may not be suitable for all investors. Before deciding to trade forex, you should carefully consider your investment objectives, level of experience and appetite for risk. The possibility exists that you could sustain a loss of some or all of your initial investment and therefore you should not invest money in forex trading that you cannot afford to lose.

 

Forex Trading Africa will not accept liability for any loss or damage, including without limitation to, any loss of profit, which may arise directly or indirectly from use of or reliance on such information. Any opinions, news, research, analyses, prices or other information contained on Forex Trading Africa’s website is provided as general market commentary and does not constitute investment advice.

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