Forex trading is often considered a matter of the head and not of the heart. Experienced traders commonly advise novices that success in this field requires being as cold and calculating as the market itself. This being the case, it might come as a surprise that there is a trading strategy where understanding feelings and emotions is actually beneficial. This strategy is known as sentiment analysis.
Sentiment analysis in Forex trading involves understanding the collective emotions of traders towards the market, specific currencies, or currency pairs. This strategy focuses on the overall mood of market participants, using it as a predictor of future market movements and providing an advantage in navigating the market.
You might wonder: How does this work, and why is it effective, considering traders are often advised to keep emotions out of their decisions? While it’s true that individual trading decisions should theoretically be devoid of emotion, the reality is that all human behaviour—including in the financial market—is heavily influenced by emotions and perceptions. In fact, the market can largely be said to reflect the combined thoughts, feelings, and opinions of all its participants.
Using sentiment analysis, we aim to leverage on this, analysing how traders collectively feel about the financial landscape at any given time and capitalising on the likely behaviour that will follow.
If this approach intrigues you, here’s how you can start implementing sentiment analysis in your own trades:
Because of its unconventional nature, diving into sentiment analysis might be overwhelming if you’re utilising it for the first time. As such, let’s begin by learning where to get the information you will need to make this method work.
In order to analyse the prevailing sentiment in any market, the first step is to acquire data that will help you do so. Far from being an obscure resource, such data is usually far more readily available than you might think: Sources such as social media platforms, financial news outlets, and economic indicators already offer a wealth of information on market sentiment. Yes, even a quick scroll through your Facebook or X feeds could provide you with a general idea of how the market is shaping up, especially if you are already following prominent traders and respected trading analysts whose opinions are likely to have an outsized impact on the markets.
If you’re interested in delving deeper into sentiment analysis, you can then proceed to explore more specialised tools, such as the Commitments of Traders (COT) report, which offers insights into market positions and categorises them based on different types of traders. These reports can be highly reliable as they can indicate a broader market sentiment beyond the confines of your social media bubble.
While these are fairly good starting points for traders of any level, you can also take a more in-depth approach by exploring other online options that cater to various levels of trading expertise, whether they are free platforms or subscription-based ones with more customisable features.
Great, you’ve acquired all the data you need. Now what?
This is where the fun begins! Sentiment analysis appeals to many because it offers the opportunity to experience that “gotcha” moment, where individuals feel like they’ve outsmarted the rest of the trading world. That’s because, for sentiment analysis to succeed, you indeed need to outsmart and outlast the market.
Having already gained information about how the market is feeling, the next step is to figure out how to respond to these conditions in order to maximise your profits. To do so, it is imperative that you learn the basics of interpreting sentiment indicators. For instance, while traditional analysis might suggest that a bullish market indicates a likely rise in a currency’s value, sentiment analysis might lead you to take a contrarian approach and go in the opposite direction, anticipating an impending market correction. This is how you achieve those “gotcha” moments – by discerning when and where you believe the market’s emotions are likely to backfire and anticipating them before they occur.
Of course, to utilise these tactics to their fullest potential, you should understand the fundamentals of how sentiment levels interact with the technical and fundamental analysis we’re more used to. There may be instances where sentiment analysis might tell you to go long, but technical indicators suggest that the market is overbought. In any case, always make sure to exercise caution and think about how other forms of analysis factor into what the market’s sentiments suggest.
As with any trading strategy, it’s important to remember that sentiment analysis is just one tool in the larger picture of forex trading, where a more balanced approach is often necessary. That being said, it can be both a fun and powerful tool to add to your arsenal, allowing you to go beyond the confines of strict technical or fundamental analysis. Through sentiment analysis, you can approach the market from a variety of angles, consequently finding new and unique ways to take on the complexities of the market.
Ready to put your newfound knowledge to the test? Open your live account with VT Markets and start trading right away.
