Could one truly be successful at trading?

Hi guys,

I want to know your opinions on whether it is truly possible to be successful in trading - analogous to the way one can be successful at - say - learning spelling or numbers etc?

If one makes the effort, can there be a dependable method that can be learned to be consistently successful at doing this ?

Is there enough knowledge in the open domain (rather than in the secret inner circles) that is sufficient to be successful at this ?

Thank you

If you want a short answer to this question then: No, it is not possible.

If you want a long answer to this question then: Yes, it is possible.

In general, trading is surely one of the oldest forms of business under our sun. Right from the earliest records of our history people have traded. And throughout that history some people have succeeded outrageously and others have failed dramatically - and others have made an unspectacular, but regular, living from it. Foreign exchange is a complex market, but why shouldn’t one be able to trade it like any other product?

So what are the key elements of trading? At least some of these are:

  • a thorough knowledge of your product
  • a thorough knowledge of your market
  • a thorough knowledge of your own trading techniques
  • a thorough understanding of realistic expectations
  • a thorough understanding of the risks involved

The world of foreign exchange is as huge and as diverse as the oceans of this world. And the various participants in forex are equally as diverse as those operating upon our oceans - from the captain of a Caribbean cruise liner to a beach surfer.

You have to choose which approach within this market suits your character and your circumstances. You also have to set yourself realistic expectations and ambitions. E.g are you a day trader or a longer term position trader? Are you looking to earn regular income or build capital? Are you purely a technical analyst or an analyser of fundamental factors or a mixture of both? Do you specialise in one currency pair or a selected basket?

Once you know your intended market approach, you need to learn intimately how this particular segment of the market functions, what are its characteristics? What makes it move? How far does it travel? What can it offer? What can go wrong?

You then need to develop your own methodology to match these characteristics. What is going to be your chosen trading strategy and method for participating in your market segment?

You need to fully understand what are the realistic opportunities within this segment and what are the risks involved. Once you know the opportunities and the risks then you can decide your methods for [I]actually securing [/I]the benefits from these opportunities as well as limiting the potential damage from the risks relative the benefits available i.e. your position size, entry and exit criteria, etc.

Once you know all these, then you focus 100% on these and work on them and learn all you can from both external sources and internal analysis of your own trading history. Once you have this under control then you have to remember that nothing remains unchanged for ever. There is always a need to reassess, re-evaluate and adapt to change. Maybe there are times to retract and specialise or maybe times to expand into broader areas.

On one hand, it is wrong to continuously skip from one approach to another, but on the other hand it is important to retain flexibility and anticipate/respond to inevitable changes.

But whatever changes may come, the same factors are always there. Know your product; know your market; know your methods; and identify your opportunities, limitations and risks.

…I guess thats a small start to the journey towards successful trading :smiley:

I feel pretty cheeky adding merely “one little comment”, after Manxx’s outstanding post just above, but … :8:

I think there [I]is[/I], but unfortunately it’s buried among a veritable mass of “other information” and “unhelpful information” and “misinformation”, much of it published with promotional/marketing motivations, and there’s absolutely no clear-cut and reliable way of distinguishing it from all those.

To the aspiring trader, “learning by whom/what to choose to be guided” remains a huge issue.

You are right about this and it really is a growing problem for any newcomer.

Whilst I don’t believe there are “secret inner circles” that are a threat to Newbies (apart from broker tricks like spread manipulation), it is clear that banks and international institutions do have a far better understanding of markets and access to far greater analytical resources than the average street trader.

But that does not necessarily mean that an individual cannot develop sufficient skills to function successfully in a defined trading environment - it just means, as you say, that the learning process and sources are very fragmented, non-verified and haphazard.

Perhaps it is worth remembering as a retail newbie that our trading world in “forex” is nothing like the trading environment of the banks and institutions and, therefore, the tools that are essential for our kind of business are, accordingly, very different.

Awesome Posts Manxx and Lexys…

Something to add, is, You have to realllly Love this business, the grind, the work, the losses and the winners.

Having a strategy, a plan, a goal, will not be good, unless your MINDSET is correct.

Can you take the gut load of risk? Can you lose the attachment to the money?

90%+ lose in this business, can you make the cut? You have to work hard, to surpass the ratio of failure and success. Its either a hobby, or your looking to change your financial situation substantially.

Im wired a tad different, I believe its possible to achieve great wealth in Forex, and for that reason, I grind daily, I eat, sleep, Forex.

Edison said, "Opportunity is missed by most people because its dressed in overalls and looks like hard work"
I know I wont fail from not putting in the hard work, but because I dont work hard enough on MYSELF,… Used to anyways.

Trading is a psychological endeavor in itself. Mastering the charts is 20% of the battle. The rest is up to YOU.

You are absolutely right about that! It is a way of life!

Obviously, it’s possible to rely on Forex! But, if you start your trading with a wrong mindset, like you need to make huge money ASAP, that would be harmful! You need to spend here lots of session for understanding market context! In addition, don’t set any fixed trading target if you are not sure about your trading skill, use your previous trading result as your trading target, that would be safe!

Would you care to say more on this?

Very helpful and motivational thread. I think I’m getting more and more into Forex with each day passing, of course there are ups and downs (as everything in life), however the thing is how you deal with both and how this affects your emotional discipline.

My hubby took nearly 8 years to become an overnight success. Years of frustration, disillusion, doubt and next to no sleep(we trade from Australia in the wee hours). And of course on top of this, the last nail in the coffin, is the myriad of life’s trials and tribulations that we all face…other work commitments, health issues, finances, children, school etc etc.
Trading is a tough and solitary undertaking and it is not for everyone.
Another member in a recent thread said that he got to a place where he felt truly lost and beaten and I think this is a stage most will go through. The ones that dig themselves out of the mire of system hopping, gurus, signals, poor account management, poor psychology, short term thinking, poor advice and so on will be the ones who succeed. And an iron will to boot.
My brother is a flying instructor and one of my nephews is a doctor. What they do comes easily to them but it took years and years , along with financial investment and financial hardship, to get to this point.
Trading should not be viewed any differently. But the learning process isn’t nearly as obvious and defined as it is in other occupations. And many people begin their trading journey with very little frame of reference. As Manxx stated “the learning process and sources are very fragmented, non-verified and haphazard” which adds a huge additional chunk of time to what is an already difficult and somewhat esoteric process.
My own experience in regards to learning to trade was short and stress free, not only because I had my own “live-in trading guru” at my beck and call :slight_smile: but because I’d already “paid my dues” in going through my hubby’s trading journey with him, seeing his charts for so many years, listening to the dialogue in the trading rooms he joined many moons ago, reading through endless threads on babypips and other websites, books, and of course going through the babypips school many times over long before I became serious about actually trading and putting the theory into practice.
Now I am about to “pay it forward” so to speak as I will be teaching my teenage daughter how to trade in the next year or so. Whether she will be up to the task or be suited to trading, as with any individual, well, only time will tell.
We are all unique and FABULOUS with the capacity to achieve amazing things.
Whatever you choose to do, whether it be trading or another pursuit, go at it full force , with a fire in your belly and never give up, never give in, never say never, never say die.
As to the original question…can one truly be successful at trading…come on, people, please…why on earth would I want to take on the unenviable task of teaching a teenager how to trade :o unless I unequivocally KNOW that yes, success IS truly possible.

I agree with Fundamentally Flawed that trading is not for everyone, it is tough. You need to invest time, money, even mental health. But if there is faith, there is success as well. Yes, the learning process might take much longer than expected but if this business was that easy, everyone would have been doing it.

It’s actually rather funny how easy trading is once you’ve cracked it and got the point of positive expectancy. Of course it’s all down to probabilities, being correct all the time will never happen. With that being said, once you do find your path, it’s simply ‘wash, rinse and repeat’

I believe the following simple inverse correlation chart sums up the biggest hindering factor when learning to trade

‘0 being the least’
‘10 being the most’


What a superb phrase! :slight_smile:

I’ve never heard that before - says it all! :smiley: Love it!

Hi All,

Thank you for your replies

@Manxx

If you want a short answer to this question then: No, it is not possible.

If you want a long answer to this question then: Yes, it is possible.

I like you long answer very much :slight_smile:

@lexys

much of it published with promotional/marketing motivations

Just want to understand - what type of information would overlap between technique info and marketing info by forex provider ? I guess you are referring to promotions such as a courses or something that say their technique is great etc etc correct ? Thank you for your replies as always :slight_smile:

@ Money

I know I wont fail from not putting in the hard work, but because I dont work hard enough on MYSELF,… Used to anyways.

Inspiring post :slight_smile:

@ Jezzode

I am getting contradicting signals from each line in the graph :slight_smile:

That’s the idea :slight_smile:

There is a lot about the successful traders that forms them different from the rest. There is a well known figure in the Forex market that says 95% of Forex traders fail. However, there is no real proof that this number is actually correct or its just word of mouth. I believe it’s nearly close to 99% (especially in Forex). So how these 5% of top traders are different is a big question? 1. Successful Forex Traders think differently. 2. They determine themselves that they are profitable 3. They are always in control-one who has always been & will always be. 4. They don’t give up.

I agree with what you say. I’d add: 5. They’re [I]numerate[/I] people, and 6. Many of them are perhaps people who would have been a lot more likely than average to become successful at whatever else they might have done instead of trading.

I instinctively agree, and I think it depends who you include as “traders”. Most are not really “traders”, arguably. This point has just been very eloquently made here, in one of the forum’s very best posts. :cool:

It’s word of mouth. It’s information we all perpetuate, but whether it’s true or not can only be proven by a large-scale survey done by a professional statistics agency. For all we know it could be worse, but it could also be better. One thing is pretty certain, I think, the percentage of people losing money is very large.

I agree with you, but this doesn’t mean people don’t succeed in the market. So many mistakes and improper planning has cost many dearly in forex.

Every business has 2 parts, one is success and another failure. So do your best to be part of success so that you can make something with your hard work. Not every one can win the race, same in for Forex, Not every one can be successful.