Is there hope for me?

[timidave2005]

Hello, i've been on forex demo for over a year and without consistent profits.Make profits this week, and loose all the next week. Is there hope for me at all?

David

[BlackPips]

i was in that situation, but i never blew an account in demo.
i thunk the problem is over trading, try to get a bit jealous with ur demo money, and take a trade only whn u feel (i mean really feel) its worth it.
i just went live today, but before then, my demo improved very well.

tell u what, look for one indicator...(lets say fibs...) just one, use it, study it and enter/exit the market based on it, try to see the market through its eyes and befor u know it, you will be in you way to really understand the market as a whole.

rgds.

[vxdxm]

Originally Posted by timidave2005

Hello, i've been on forex demo for over a year and without consistent profits.Make profits this week, and loose all the next week. Is there hope for me at all?

David

Trade in demo just like you would in real account, and to know what trading in real feels like, open one with minimal funds to experiment. You will see how different it is, every little profit you make you will want to take it and run.

[raging bull]

There is hope if you truly believe the light is at the end of the tunnel. Seems to me your problem is money managment.How much are you risking per trade?How often do you trade? What is your strike rate (how often a winning trade).

Finally you need to learn when to step back and not trade, sometimes the best trade is no trade especially after 5 losing trades

Discipline and money management is key, it will keep you in the game longer...

Here is a link that I use to help me lower my risk exposure

Forex Money Management Calculator

[vxdxm]

Originally Posted by raging bull

There is hope if you truly believe the light is at the end of the tunnel. Seems to me your problem is money managment.How much are you risking per trade?How often do you trade? What is your strike rate (how often a winning trade).

Finally you need to learn when to step back and not trade, sometimes the best trade is no trade especially after 5 losing trades

Discipline and money management is key, it will keep you in the game longer...

Here is a link that I use to help me lower my risk exposure

Forex Money Management Calculator

A very good tool to use, will be using it myself from now on.

[jessa]

I'm sorry you feel that way. If it makes you feel any better, a lot of people trade live for a few months and basically, lose a lot of real money. I'm in the midst of it. So, you're one of the smart ones. Losing money demo trading isn't so bad. It often happens that if you persist and work even harder just when you feel like giving up that you will then start making some real progress.

Do you keep a trading journal? This has helped me in realizing where I tend to make mistakes. I try to record every trade I make in this journal, including my entries, exits, stops, reasons, as well as reviews of the trades.

Another thing that has helped me is slowing down. I took a two week break recently after some tremendous losses. When I thought that I couldn't do it anymore, I pushed myself to make one small trade. Once that was successful, I stepped back so that I could take in what I had done right and what I could have done better.

Give yourself more time in between each trade. If you usually do 10 trades in a day, cut it down to 1 or 2 so that you can have time to assess what is really going on in the market. I know the feeling of being in a rush to start showing profits, but it is necessary to think a trade through.

Someone else suggested looking at weekly charts and only using those until you are able to make a relatively consistent profit. I think focusing on only one strategy and only one currency pair and really testing it out for a few weeks gives you a greater idea of what you are doing wrong.

Looking at the CFTC Commitment of Traders reports has also been very helpful. Do a Google search on the different ways you can use these reports. It's also important to look at the economic calendar so that you don't get trapped in a trade due to a new report.

And if I really feel down, I listen to Steve Croft's Mind of A Trader podcast, which is free on iTunes.

Good luck!

[timidave2005]

Thank you very much for this wealth of advice. I will work on all that has been said. Mayb i need to spend more time watching the charts and see how prices move.

David

[tonymand]

There is some very good advice here suggesting some of the things that may be wrong. I would add that sometimes a mentor (a successful trader who is prepared to teach you) can make a huge difference (its finding one thats difficult). Secondly this may not be for you. It is an important question to ask. It stands to reason that the vast majority for whatever reason (usually psychological) are not cut out for this kind of endeavour

[birdy88]

could someone explain how to use the money management calculator? thanks!

[ozzy007]

Look at it this way: it's only demo money. Just practice and something good should happen