Did you grow a small account? Share your story!

Everywhere I read I can find examples and advice from already-profitable traders and get to see how many pips / profits they’re making.

However, a lot of forex traders have, or are, starting out from a small account… or should I say micro-account? I.e an account with <$1,000.

Have any of you professional / successful traders grown your account exponentially over the years from a micro-account? If so, share your experience and story… what was the “ah ha!” moment for you that turned you profitable? What style of trading did you do… or still do? How long did it take? And what advice can you give for other traders starting out with micro-accounts?

The reason I ask is because, on a large account, even 10-15 pips is still an ok profit, whereas on a micro-account (obviously trading small lots) that same trade would only be cents, so it will be interesting to see how you grew your micro-account and hearing your story.

I would suggest trading 0.01 lots and being prepared to hold for several days so that you can follow the main trend for 100 pips plus with high r:r ratios.
Once your trade is in profit secure it with a stop and look for the next trade. Don’t open new trades while you are showing a loss.
Be prepared to wait for the trend to turn in your direction, it won’t always happen straight away

GOod morning, Davenz!

I agree with EddieB…

Growth is all relative to size, of course… the smaller the account, the smaller the growth in absolute terms…

My second account was bashed to 10% of its original size, but since Christmas of last year I have doubled it in size…

I am now at a crossroads with regards to the trends that I am trading (NZD short; FTSE100 short; EUR/GBP short)

but the outlook for the year has already been very positive…

I was all ready to give up on the account, with less than 100 Pounds left, but I stuck with it and used very small

exposure, focussing on a very small area of the market: when you check the same charts every day, you get to

know not only how they move within a market’s daily activity but also how they respond to certain levels… Memorising

those levels really helps to speed things up… The more charts you look at during each day, the more levels you would

have to remember, and the less secure your knowledge and memory of those levels becomes… at least, for part-time

traders like me (although from the hours I put into it, you would think I was not) :slight_smile:

So, it was a ‘success’ story for me, but there is no guarantee that it will be the same in the future, so the ‘exponential’

growth of which you speak, Davenz, is not a given, especially in Forex… once again, look at this table, which I posted before:

see how each year those hedge funds’ returns swing in size?

Barclay Hedge Fund Index | BarclayHedge, Ltd.

Sure, SOMEONE will grow exponentially, but, on average, this does not happen… so be prepared to have mini-cycles also

within a trading year: my year, for example, is only eight months in, so until the final four months are over, I cannot call

it a ‘success’ because by my target I want to assess an entire year, January - December… Even if I did end the year with

that 100% profit that I have at the moment, there is no guarantee that this will happen again next year: trading conditions

change, your health may suffer (we all get ill), you may become a parent(!), you may get a job that makes trading impossible

(you are too busy), you fall in love and you just want to spend more and more time with that special someone, etc.

Some changes will happen within you, some outwith you (in the market area that you trade), so nobody knows, truly,

how ‘success’ today will translate into ‘success’ next week, month, or year…

So, the bottom line is, it can be done with a small account, but even a 100% return one year is no guarantee of

similar returns into the future; however, what you can do, is giving yourself a ‘bonus’ at the end of a successful

trading year, say, and pay into your trading account some extra funds, maybe those that you were able to put

aside from your day job, if you can afford to part with that money… That is how I intend to proceed at the end

of this year, if I end my account around that 100% profit that I have now; if not, then I will just continue to trade

what I have in my trading account.

What is your situation, Davenz?

I am not sure what you mean by ‘professional’ traders… I am not, obviously… I am not registered as a trading business

or do not work for any trading firm, nor do I pay my bills/food/living expenses through my trading…

Maybe I should start a group here called the ‘ATC’? (Amateur Traders’ Club) :wink: It may catch on :slight_smile:

PS: if we believed this, we could believe anything (no disrespect to the ‘Emma Coleman’ in the video, if that was indeed her name)

EXPOSED: Single Mom From Sydney Makes $7.650/Month From Home And You Won’t Believe How She Does It!

[QUOTE=“PipMeHappy;717545”]PS: if we believed this, we could believe anything (no disrespect to the ‘Emma Coleman’ in the video, if that was indeed her name) EXPOSED: Single Mom From Sydney Makes $7.650/Month From Home And You Won’t Believe How She Does It![/QUOTE]

The dodgy use of green screen says it all!.

I grew 200usd into $1000 in two weeks. It was a slow progress though. I also lost 1000usd in 2 days. :17: makes me laugh all the time. That was my learning stage.

Hi Forexlight!

You say that’s slow progress… but you grew $200 to $1000 in only two weeks? I’d say that’s pretty good progress lol.

Could you shed some light on what style of strategy you have? Fundamental? Technical? Day trade? Swing trade?

i had an initial deposit of $1,086 but it was brought down to $184. the good part is just within three days of trading, my account is reading $235. that is more than 20% of my remaining balance in three days! i trade with two separate positions of 0.03 lot sizes, and trade major news events and market sentiments. i am hopeful that i can build off of this momentum and claw back up to $300 by the end of next week. taking it one step at a time.

[B]Here’s the real secret of Forex.[/B]

The number one mistake most newbies make when trading Forex is they are trading more than 0.01 lot especially if their balance is under $2000.

You know the old saying. If it sounds to good to be true it is! If I knew myself I could make a fortune in FX I would, fact is I can’t. I do it because I like it, but if I ever am able to say I made my fortunes in FX this would be the first place to announce it! My main problem is my work schedule. I am still trying to work around that. Small accounts or smaller lot percents are a good way to test the waters. When one feels comfortable with going big then adding to the lot size or risk is probably a good bet. At least in a small account with smaller risk per trade say.01 of a dollar you can test your strategies without losing your shirt. Like any business it is money management. If a business net value of 10 billion losses 1 million in a quarter they value it as a loss, same with a business net value of 1 million or 500 dollars, either one when having a loss in any percentage will take it as a loss and try to regain that loss usually in spending, like controlling inventory or labor costs, so with FX it’s the same, it is a business so you got to look at it that way. Especially when your money is on the line, but at least the only shareholder is you, unless you have other traders working under you or for you. If that makes any sense.

I guess it’s because he is more like a gambler with a bad money management who trusts in luck. That’s why he made 500% in two weeks but lost then everything in two days.
In o

Thanks for you reply maxiipriestt! Your story sounds a lot like mine… I started with an initial deposit of $1020 and grew that to $1300 then lost it to $450 then grew it to $600 and now it’s back down to $285… So my struggle at present is turning around the profit and loss ratio so I can at least break even after a losing streak… My initial big loss streak was because of increasing lot sizes after becoming ****y but I’ve since changed that and have reverted to a demo account to redefine my strategy.

I guess the reason for this thread is to know if anyone has grown such a small account or is it better to wait until I have at least $10,000 to put on the line before trading properly again…

Hey Cryptocurrency… if I could rewind time about 3 months ago and you told me that I probably would’ve thought “pffft whatever” but now, after more research and trial & error, I couldn’t agree with you more.

Trading on a demo account furiously and testing lot sizes etc has taught me that it’s actually better to go way smaller than you want to, locking in small profits, rather than increasing your lot size. I found that winning streaks do run out, no matter what strategy you have so if your lot size is too big, your losing streak ends up destroying your account.

I’m now back to using 0.01 and 0.02 lot sizes and also using the scaling in and out method and it’s definitely been beneficial during losing streaks!

Good ideas to put into practice, very good info.

Yes I grow my small account in slow manner. I withdraw some percentage of profit and rest of the amount is to grow my capital . I do not take high risk with my money I have to choose appropriate risk in any trade so that I can easily manage my account. I am contented on low profits too than of loosing a big amount .

I hope someone reply to this forum, I have been on these forums for so long and I have yet to see an actual bank balance or an actual live mt4 balance. Every ones a teacher but no one can drop a bread crumb. back in 2008 I doubled an account from 500 to 1000 in 2 weeks. Then poof! It would be nice to see some proof and hear some stories

i did once in 2011 took 248$ account to 10,700$ just in 60 days with Liteforex and profits withdrawn also.

Don’t hold your breath, because you won’t see it on these types of forums.

The only folks churning out a consistent living operating professionally are either successful industry experienced participants running their own book or well capitalised individuals who have been fortunate enough to interact with, & receive direction from said individuals. Of course there will always be rare exceptions to that rule, but if they do indeed exist on Babypips they would have no problem evidencing it when requested to do so!

In this business if you intend to run your own account, in order to make decent money consistently you need a decent pot to begin with & you’ll certainly have to devote sufficient time to generate that consistency. If indeed those types of individuals happen to have stumbled across Babypips or likeminded sites at some point on their journey, they won’t hang around too long & they certainly won’t waste their valuable time educating, or paying forward to newbies either unless there’s something in it for them.

You would be very well advised to stick to your guns regarding insisting on proof of competency when/if you ever decide to invest time in strategies/systems/educational products or individuals.

If like most on here it’s merely a pastime or hobby, Babypips is a good a place as any to hang out & have fun.

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You won’t see them posting proof on forums.

Most of the successful super traders went underground or at least outside of public forums like this. They are rare. Those who brave themselves to go public were treated inappropriately and some times with harsh remark.

But they do exist… much like the super genius kid from your region’s top university.

Thanks for you input… this is very interesting. I’ve always been skeptical of these systems as my thinking is “if it were that easy then surely everyone would be doing it”…