Forex Trading can be incredibly lucrative, but it is always worth checking forex historical data against your trading strategies to ensure that recent profitability isn’t just an historical glitch. The good news is that the forex market is a global concern with an enormous volume of trades done every single day. In fact there is more than 3 Trillion Dollars of turnover every day. So the range of forex historical data that you can choose from is equally as large, but it does mean that you may need to be selective about the data that you use, or there is a risk of getting bogged down with too much information.
And it is also important to use a forex system that actually works (like this one) if the data is going to be of much use to you.
In addition you need to be aware that without a historical context the raw forex data on its own can be quite deceptive. So you need to color any judgements you make based on it with a good degree of common sense. For example, if a hurricane hits the orange crop in Florida badly, then there may not be anything fundamentally wrong with the state of the US Dollar, but it may still fall because market sentiment is clouded with a down-beat feeling. Remember that ultimately trading is a human business, and that whilst it obviously makes sense to tap into a source of forex historical data, that you shouldn’t get carried away into believing that it is a panacea for all your market intelligence. Instead you should use it as a guide, but be sure to add in other determining factors into the mix before you place real money on the line. And, as with all trading systems, ultimately money management and how you control your own trading temperament will play just as big a part in deciding on your financial success.
Here is the forex system I use >>
Backtest With Forex Historical Data
With all that said, a source of historical data can be great to backtest a theory, and to reform certain hypotheses about future forex trading trends. So, before you wade into hundreds of hours of historical forex data mining, it is important to understand some of the figures that will ultimately underlie the data. As otherwise having dozens of columns and millions of rows of data in a spreadsheet to consider, could simply end up giving you a headache and not really aid your trading much; if you don’t approach it correctly.
Here are Three Important Index Factors that you would do well to consider when looking at any Forex Historical Data.
1/ The Consumer Price Index – This figure demonstrates consumer confidence in terms of spending and saving, and is based on data collected from a sample of five thousand US Households. The importance of this data lies in the fact that confidence is a huge factor in deciding about whether consumers will buy more products or not. And the forex rates are intrinsically tied to how much people spend. Closely tied to this is the “Consumer Confidence Index” which also talks about consumer confidence.
2/ The Housing Start Figures – The property sector accounts for 25% of all the US Dollar investments, so is a massive sector. This index shows how many new homes are being built in any given month, so is a big indicator both of confidence and also real time of the movement of money in the United States.
3/ Retails Sales Figures – This covers all the retail sales in the United States from the retail giants right down to mom and pop stores. The reason the Forex market exists is to facilitate trade and this is a massive indicator of future forex movements.
That is only three indicators, and of course there are hundreds. But if you have made a decision to wade through all that mountain of data then you will have to become used to number crunching 
And you may actually be better off to use a proven forex system before you get into this level of detail.
Getting Forex Historical Data
In terms of getting the raw data itself the best first port of call will always be the exchange itself. As their historical data integrity will be second to none, and any free data source that you try to tap into online, will never be guaranteed to be 100% accurate.
In reality, you may be better off to simply tap into a proven forex system. Rather than trying to wade through millions of record of forex historical data.