With Christmas fast approaching and another New Year almost upon us, it hardly seems possible that 2007 is already reaching a close.

Around this time every year the TV will undoubtedly be showing one of the many versions of "A Christmas Carol" originally written by Charles Dickens in which Scrooge is visited three ghosts - The Ghost of Christmas Past, The Ghost of Christmas Present and The Ghost of Christmas Future.

Many versions of this popular Christmas Classic have been filmed over the years, and even Bill Murray has starred in one of the more humorous versions. My personal favourite is the 1951 version starring Alistair Sim.

In the story, Scrooge - a very mean, money hungry and unkindly man - is shown the error of his ways by the three ghosts. The first ghost shows him where he went wrong in the past. The second, how he is now viewed by his peers and the final ghost shows him what the future holds if he does not change his ways.

So how does your forex trading stack up to the scrutiny of the three forex ghosts this Christmas?

How did you fare in the past year? Was your trading up to the standard that you would wish it to be? Or did your trading leave much to be desired?

Did you exercise caution and patience measured with self discipline? Did you plan the trade and then trade the plan or were you so money hungry that you simply threw caution to the wind and traded every rumour and tip that you heard?

When examined by the ghost of forex present, how did you do? Was 2007 a profitable year or could it have been better? Did you have a plan or trading system and stick to it? Are you able to acknowledge that you are where you are right now as a direct result of your own decisions - good or bad?

As can bee seen from "A Christmas Carol", it is never too late to change your ways!

If your trading has been less profitable and less pleasurable than it might have been, take a leaf out of Scrooges book and mend your ways.

Never trade without a plan or system. Always have the discipline to stick to that plan or system. Understand that trading is about winning and losing and accept both with good grace, but make sure that your plan or system consistently gives you more wins than losses.

Remember that trading takes time and patience. Many traders fail not because they do not have the ability, but because they wrongly believe that they need to be in a live trade for most of the time that they are trading. In truth, successful traders spend more time watching and waiting than actually being in a live trade.

Be generous. If you have made money this year - give some to a worthy cause.

Before we know it, Christmas 2008 will be knocking on the door. Make sure that if the forex ghosts visit you next Christmas, you will have had a year to be joyous about.

And on that note, I would like to wish you a Very Merry Christmas and a Most Prosperous New Year.