How sexy is a desk with multiple monitors? Nothing excites many of us more than sitting down at our desks with charts whirring and price jumping, reaching for that elusive Trading Platform. We’re like captains on a space mission, destination – planet money.
But, how many trading screens do you really need to maximize the chances of your success as a trader? And can you trade with one forex trading screen? Let’s find out.
How Many Monitors Do You Really Need for Day Trading?
A wise man once said, “Unless you have at least 6 monitors, you’re a loser”. That wise man was broke 3 months later.
Surely the more markets you can watch at once, the more likely you are to get a better market observation, detect trading opportunities, and the more money you stand to make! Right? After all, you can assume that you have more screen space to view lots of charts and use technical analysis tools.
Not really…
You only have 2 eyes and unless you’re a circus freak, you can only look at one thing at a time. If you’re looking at multiple monitors it generally means you’re splitting your focus on different computer screens and markets, and not absorbing all the information needed to make logical decisions.
Research has shown there’s no such thing as multitasking. Instead, your brain toggles rapidly between each task giving it undivided attention, but only for a moment before toggling back to the previous task. How many times have you been looking into a pair or different asset classes, only to see a little movement in your peripheral? Is that a trade setting up? No… where was I? Ok, focus.
More monitors are guaranteed to do one thing – make you feel more successful than you are.
So, Can You Day Trade with One Forex Trading Screen?
One single forex trading screen is plenty. Gluing your eyes to a single chart on a single computer screen – makes it easier to block out distractions coming from unnecessary charts. If a trade looks to be setting up, check other timeframes and correlated pairs, run through your trading plan and decide on a course of action. If necessary, shift to financial reports, economic data and breaking news. It should only take 30 seconds to confirm, and any trade that takes less than 30 seconds to analyse isn’t trading at all. It’s a punt.
And punting’s for gamblers, not traders.
“Sure Andrew, but if that’s the case, why do you have so many monitors? Hypocrite!”
Whoa, relax.
I have 4 monitors and a news service running on my desktop, but it’s taken me time to understand my limitations and deliberately narrow my focus. I have the ability to block out peripherals until a trading decision is made, only then will I allow distractions to come into view.
I also use my other monitors to join in the conversation within our trading room or read up on the latest analysis from my advisory services. Interestingly when I travel I happily (and successfully) trade currency pairs from my laptop without issue with just one monitor. It’s nice to take a break and reduce eye fatigue from the barrage of information and data on my full trading station once in a while and view the market through a different lens. As long as the forex trading screen resolution is high enough for you, then yes, you’ll be able to trade the markets effectively and get access to various charts and features. In fact, many traders trade the forex markets and stocks with one high-resolution monitor.
If you’re already trading with multiple monitors I encourage you to pay attention to your focus. How often are your eyes darting between each chart and monitor? Take your time, understand what you’re looking at before moving on and try to figure out if trading with several monitors actually improves your trading experience.
In my experience, multiple screens normally make traders less efficient and more prone to over-trading. By using multiple connectivity options, some traders tend to lose focus in the markets, and somehow increase the risk. So, it is crucial to choose one of the best monitors out there in the market (preferably ergonomic monitors), set it up so you have more room for as many charts as you need, and take advantage of trading 1-3 financial instruments at the same time.
What do you trade on? Please feel free to share pictures inside our forum. There are some impressive PCs out there I must say!
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