What are my odds...

[amd123]

Well i traded stocks for around 7 months and lost due to the fact i traded pennies and you guys know how volatile and risky pennies are . I started with 300 and gained a profit of 800 total and lost ALOT due to reverse splits. I switched over to forex about two months ago and have been practice trading on Oanda using 1day charts with a k.i.s.s. parabolic sar/macd system. I will be using a max of 500 dollars to trade as I still go to high school . Seriously what are my chances of emulating the same results that i've been getting in the demo account? Oh and in the demo account my success ratio is ~71%. I know the major psychological differences between live and demo but due to my past experiences in trading I know how to separate emotions from money. I will be practice trading for 2 and 1/2 months; i forgot to mention before trading stocks i did no paper trading what so ever so i basically rushed in blindly. Now that I have a strict system with more experience are the odds in my favor?

[amd123]

Oh and i forgot to mention I did the babypips forex school education and I still do not understand the concept of margin call lastly what margin leverage rate should i be using with oanda, I know they offer (20:1,30:1,50:1) or should i go with a broker that offers 400:1

[mastergunner99]

400:1 is suicide.

Personally, I stick to 50:1, and only use .001% of my total NAV to calculate the current value of my pip. Like you, I stick to a simple chart of Parabolic and MACD. In under two months, I doubled my demo account.

I recently went live and can only hope to see similar results.

I say the odds are in your favor.

As far as a margin call is concerned, that will occur if you start to suffer losses that would amount to more than what you have sufficiently covered in your account. On Oanda, pay attention to where it says Margin Call. That is the threshold that your account can get to before a margin call is issued.

With proper bankroll management and a solid trading strategy, you should never experience a margin call.

[starboard]

ya, 400:1 is suicide.

50:1 is enough for a small account; personally, i've never leveraged over 20:1.

although for 500 bucks, you might want to leverage a bit more (100:1). It's not even about how much you leverage sometimes, you just need the margin to ride out the spread (not a big deal with ecn's) and short term fluctuations.

[amd123]

Oh I will be trading long term using 1day charts and riding the upward or downward trends. I have been doing this in my oanda demo account using 50:1 leverage and most of the time i gain atleast 200 pips. I hope I can do this with my live account . That would be great for a 15 year old . Lastly, I want to know, should I start my first transaction with all 500? Yes, i know this is risky, is there a better way to gain some capital in the beginning or is risking all your money in the beginning on A GOOD TRADE the best way to do it?

[mastergunner99]

Originally Posted by amd123

That would be great for a 15 year old

There are no age restrictions involved here?

[amd123]

Yes i know you have to be older to open an account. My dad will be opening one for me in his name . I don't see what's wrong with a 15 y/o registering here. Time's have changed since back way when idk the 60s? Well they didn't have internet back then... oh well nevermind Stay on topic, will you?

[muddbuddha]

Originally Posted by amd123

Yes i know you have to be older to open an account. My dad will be opening one for me in his name .

Good for you! You sound like you have a good grasp of trading, especially considering your age.

The biggest difference between demo and real will be your emotional response when you lose or gain profit. That will impact your decision making when entering or exiting trades if you let it.

Let me say this: (1) you have done penny stocks (2) you understand market volatility (3) you done BabyPips school (4) you give the impression of a lot of common sense. I think you'll do very well. You still have a few things to learn and experience, but all in all, I'm very happy for you. Don't destroy any of the confidence you have earned through demo by seeking our approval.

Only you can determine your own success or failure.

[amd123]

Wow thanks for the awesome reply it makes me feel awesome ! What other things do you recommend I learn? I was thinking about buying a book on japanese candlesticks even though I know how to utilize them. Wanna recommend some good books on charting?

[muddbuddha]

Well, this will sound a bit backwards.....but, be careful at the pace you want to learn. If your success rate is @ 71%, then trying to learn too much too fast may be detrimental to your trading. Stay with what you know, are comfortable with, and what works.

Being too eager to become "seasoned" will just frustrate you as you'll feel inclined to incorporate your newly learned skill into your trading. Trust me....I've been there.

I know very little about candles. I know very little about price action. I'm no expert by any means and would never attempt to teach someone my minute amount of knowledge on either subject. I trade a method that has worked for me for a while and I feel comfortable with it.

Journey to Samadhi Journal

But all in all, I do pretty well.

If I were to recommend any book for you, it wouldn't be a methodology book because you already have a method.

My recommendation: Come into my trading room

You can profit just as much with simplicity as you can with any complicated system.