Introduction: Why Our Tutorial Is Vital for Passing the Challenge

What is this Tutorial about?

Every trading decision—or rather, the series of decisions a trader makes—eventually forms what should be called a trading strategy. This strategy is the cornerstone for anyone seriously considering entering the market. Think of it as drafting a blueprint. Just like writing instructions for building a complex project, creating a trading strategy involves deciding what components to use, and in what order they’re most effective. At first glance, it can feel like trying to solve a puzzle that's far beyond your understanding.

But, like any puzzle, especially in the markets, it becomes far less daunting once you understand what the final picture should look like. With time, experience, and the right guidance, you can deconstruct even the most complex market behaviour into manageable, logical pieces.

A solid educational foundation in trading aims to simplify complexity. Markets may look overwhelming—much more than many beginners expect when they first begin trading. Learning about prices, trends, support and resistance, or classic chart patterns like "head and shoulders" may sound tedious or even unnecessary—until you suffer your first major loss.

Many novice traders, even after completing a few successful trades on a demo or live account, fall into the trap of believing that profits will come easily, without a structured approach. However, a structured strategy is key to avoiding common mistakes and gradually improving your performance. Even your losses become fewer and smaller once you adopt this approach.

This is where education and training become critical. Very few people intuitively know how to build a profitable strategy from scratch. It’s not immediately obvious what tools, techniques, or criteria should be used, how to test them, or how to make the system reliable over time.

Markets are not as complicated as they first appear—especially not in the way they might seem to newcomers, who may be caught off-guard by sudden, sharp price movements after a few initial wins. These dramatic swings in currencies, stocks, gold, or crypto often seem random. They appear to come out of nowhere—without clear news or technical signals on the charts.

However, what may appear to be “random” is often the result of underlying market themes. A price can break through seemingly unbreakable levels and keep moving for days or even weeks. It might even react to “positive” news with a sharp drop. Why? Because seasoned traders understand that the news wasn’t strong enough to shift the broader trend—or that it was only “positive” from a beginner’s perspective, lacking context.

This guide—and the broader SpiceProp learning library—aims to help you navigate such confusing situations. Whenever it’s possible to take a safer trading path, you’ll learn how to do so. Where it’s time to maximise profit, you’ll find tools to identify the best entry points, and how to manage profits once trades go in your favour.

Most importantly, this guide helps you understand why your trading strategy needs structure—and how that structure helps you survive and thrive in uncertain market conditions. You don’t need to learn everything the hard way. And you certainly don’t have to pay for every lesson with your own money.

One of the most crucial insights for new traders is this: market logic is not mechanical. The market is not an algorithm that reacts the same way every time a certain news event occurs or a particular chart pattern appears. There’s no guarantee that an asset will rise just because a breakout occurs, or that it will fall simply due to a negative report.

These are basic principles, and while sometimes they do work, blindly following them without considering broader context leads to misjudgements, bad trades, and losses. Relying on surface-level patterns without a deeper understanding often leads to disappointment.

The real solution lies in building a structured, logical approach—a decision-making system composed of interconnected “puzzle pieces.” These are the signals and factors you evaluate before placing a trade. Even a basic, well-organised system can protect you from rookie mistakes and reduce your losses.

A useful rule is: always analyse the impact of each key factor before entering a trade.

There aren’t too many core elements to monitor. But analysing them consistently helps you understand whether the current tug-of-war in the market is balanced—or if one side (bulls or bears) is beginning to dominate.

If you determine that the market is balanced, you generally have two options:

Trade short-term (intraday), assuming the price will stay within a range;

Stay out of the market until a clear directional bias emerges—when it becomes obvious that either buyers or sellers are in control.

Traders can make money in almost any market condition—whether prices rise, fall, or stay flat. But the goal isn't to chase every move. A skilled trader learns to filter opportunities, seeking only the safest, most promising trades.

Helping you develop this filter, and install these criteria into your personal trading decision system, is exactly what SpiceProp and this guide are designed to do.

world and the retaliatory measures executed by the most powerful U.S. trading partners. Such opportunities for short trades offered gains ranging from dozens to hundreds of percent.

Such major developments create a lot of volatility as they scare investors and create economic risks globally. For trading purposes there is a reasonable way to make money, not lose it, during such downturns: opening short trades in indices, while also utilising 1–2 currency pairs with the U.S. Dollar, the Euro, Yen, British pound, and sometimes other currencies. For instance, Swiss Franc is a reliable well-known safe haven asset, offering strong returns during such an onset, while the Australian Dollar initially fell sharply against the U.S Dollar on trade fears, but later recovered strongly. Even gold incorrectly considered as an ultimate safe haven during market turmoil fell for two consecutive days at the dawn of a trade war.

At such moments, the right asset should be selected to protect your funds and even make profit. These choices could be based on patterns and technical analysis signals. This is why technical (graphical) analysis is often easier for beginners than trying to understand news-driven fundamentals.

After a Storm Comes a Calm…

The role of central bank decisions—such as those made by the U.S. Federal Reserve, the European Central Bank, or the Bank of England—has recently become more muted in global financial markets. While central banks may regain their influence in the future, in recent years they have been seen to conduct increasingly coordinated policies. This coordination results in similar movements in interest rates, bond yields, and other major financial assets across different countries.

This synchronization has significantly reduced the impact of central banks on currency movements. When all central banks are essentially moving in the same direction, currencies tend to stay relatively stable in relation to each other. Although exceptions always exist, this global trend has largely held true.

Consequently, national economic performance has become more influential in driving exchange rates. Traditional economic indicators—such as GDP growth, unemployment figures, inflation data, and business sentiment—now have greater weight. More importantly, capital flows triggered by trade disputes and geopolitical tensions have come to play a major role in shaping currency values.

In 2025 at least, monitoring trade negotiations has arguably become more important than analysing macroeconomic metrics or even central bank policy statements. This may change in the future, but at the moment, it reflects a new reality in global finance.

Some export-oriented economies deliberately devalue their currencies during trade conflicts to maintain their competitive edge. Japan—and to a lesser extent, China—have followed such policies for years. A weaker currency allows these countries to sell their goods and services at more attractive prices abroad. In this context, currency depreciation becomes a strategic tool to respond to foreign economic pressures, helping to support domestic exporters and improve the trade balance, sometimes even turning it into a surplus.

However, this strategy is not universal. Not every nation is structured around exports. The United States, for instance, attracts global capital and maintains its status as the world’s premier safe-haven economy—a kind of financial aircraft carrier that remains afloat even in times of global turbulence. This position is incompatible with a weak national currency.

As a result, the U.S. has traditionally championed a strong dollar policy, even if informally, largely because of its enormous debt obligations. A strong dollar helps preserve international confidence and keeps funding costs lower. Many of the recent U.S. efforts to introduce new tariffs are deeply rooted in concerns over the growing trade deficit with its major partners. These measures are also designed to encourage domestic production, protect local industries, create jobs, and reduce reliance on foreign goods—reinforcing control over domestic pricing and supply chains.

First Steps in Technical Analysis

Patterns tend to be remarkably stable. When price breaks out beyond key levels within a well-defined pattern, the resulting signal is often powerful. In contrast, macroeconomic news typically has a more limited effect—it may accelerate price movements, but often still within the same or only slightly expanded channel boundaries.

While such news does influence the market, it rarely disrupts or fundamentally alters the existing global structure. That structure is framed by price zones—a set of boundaries that define the current market setup. Traders must learn to construct this framework on charts, which will be explained in more detail below.

Still, dismissing fundamental factors entirely would be a mistake. These influences matter when determining whether a support or resistance zone is likely to hold and cause a reversal, or whether it’s vulnerable and might soon be breached due to broader market conditions.

Without understanding the "direction of the wind"—the flow of money and fundamental drivers—it becomes harder to build a trading system that works in today’s environment. That said, there’s still tremendous value in using technical analysis as the foundation of a strategy.

The Timeless Nature of Markets

Markets behave in timeless ways. As Jesse Livermore, the legendary trader from a century ago, once observed, markets are driven by human nature—and human nature doesn’t change. What evolves are the reasons we use to justify price movements. The motivations behind decisions remain consistent: crowds act together, pushing prices in one direction based on shared hopes, fears, or expectations.

Whether it’s strong economic growth in the U.S. or China, interest rate changes in Europe or Australia, earnings reports from major companies, central bank statements, geopolitical tensions, or global conflicts—all of these events influence day-to-day market movements. They shape sentiment, driving assets either higher or lower.

More often than not, though, markets inch upward or downward in anticipation of routine news releases. The exact nature of the news—whether it meets expectations or not—matters less than being aligned with the collective anticipation of millions of traders. It’s not just the news that shapes markets, but how people interpret it, from Bloomberg TV and Reuters headlines to social media posts by influential figures like Elon Musk.

This shared anticipation leaves visible traces on price charts. That’s why charts—more than news—serve as the most accessible and effective tool for gauging market sentiment. The chart reveals when a critical mass of expectations has formed.

That’s your signal. As an investor, your role is not to analyze every piece of news in isolation, but to sense the collective mood and trade in sync with it.

Whether you acted on a clear chart signal or an interpretation of the news that matched the sentiment, your decision resulted in profit. And in trading, no one questions success.

The Trader’s Mindset

At the core, nearly every trader—whether managing a billion-dollar fund or a modest personal account—is driven by the same goal: to make money, ideally fast. Even so-called long-term investors often seek to enter at an ideal moment, guided by the precision of a short-term speculator.

As the saying goes, “Investments are failed speculations.” Most who buy a currency, stock, commodity, or cryptocurrency with long-term goals secretly wish for immediate profits. This is why timing remains essential even for medium- or long-term strategies.

Traders analyze charts and follow the news not because they expect to predict the future with perfect accuracy, but because they aim to find the right moment: “I’ll take my profit and step away,” or “I’ll hold part of the position and see if

I can multiply my gains.” This decision-making process has not changed over time.

It always comes down to the same set of questions: buy or not? Add more or reduce? Buy or sell?

In all market phases—whether trending, consolidating, or transitioning—traders are driven by the same basic hope: to profit. They swing between overconfidence, thinking they’ve outsmarted the market, and deep self-doubt, fearing they’re being misled by illusion.

This is why impulsive trading often leads to random, unpredictable outcomes. Only by developing a consistent, rule-based system can a trader hope to achieve stable profits over time. While the market may not make you rich overnight, it can reliably grow your wealth with the right approach.

A System Grounded in Technical Reality

There’s no single perfect strategy, and other methods can work too. But the approach described here has stood the test of time. It works because it blends the desire for quick gains with an understanding of how large institutional players—hedge funds, central banks, and major investors—move markets.

Everyone else needs to pay attention to these players. If you can anticipate their direction—or even just recognize when they’re signaling their intentions—you can align your trades accordingly. While they sometimes attempt to mislead, they often leave clear signs. After all, convincing the crowd to follow is part of their playbook.

The best moments to trade are when the crowd begins to move as one. Those strong movements become visible on charts. During times of indecision, it’s wiser to either stay out of the market or trade with reduced size.

The “market crowd” follows its “shepherds.” Align yourself with those leaders and the direction they’re taking. That’s where opportunity lies.

The Technical Foundation

A complete trading system still begins with the basics: price zones. These are clear areas on the chart that indicate key levels—support and resistance—where market reactions are most likely. These zones form the core of any reliable technical strategy. They’re the same levels large institutions use to place and manage their trades.

Beyond zones, the second critical tool is the set of confirmation signals. These help answer the trader’s main questions: Should I enter now? Is the setup strong enough? Which asset has the clearest opportunity? What size should I trade?

These signals also help traders determine whether price is more likely to bounce or break out, continue or reverse. Should you trust a trendline or rely on a broader support level? That’s where the edge lies.

Why do some traders consistently outperform others using the same charting tools? Timing. Some enter early, catching the full wave. Others come in later but still profit. And some, unfortunately, enter too late and lose.

Combining News and Charts

Skilled traders don’t ignore news—they integrate it. For example, observing how the price reacted to yesterday’s news can reveal the underlying strength or weakness of current sentiment. That insight can guide today’s decisions.

More advanced traders don’t rely on “just drawing a few lines.” They recognize that if price bounced from a level multiple times, it might do so again—but they also consider whether today’s environment supports that assumption.

Often, it’s not that hard to spot the signs—if you’re paying attention. This awareness grows with regular monitoring and experience. Over time, you’ll start to recognize which news and events matter most to the current sentiment and which ones are just noise.