Does anyone really make money off of the Forex?

I know what you mean. Soon im going to move to the Phillippines but only if I can make Forex work. Its the whole reason im doing this. And I know the internet in the Phillippines is rubbish. cut out always. I will need to spend some proper money to set myself up a stable link there lol…

Yep, that’s the million dollar question!

So anecdotally we know that 95% of retail traders are losers. Now of those some chunk are those that quit in the first year. Say 90% of the 95% quit on the first year since most people who get into this game can’t be stupid enough to keep going. (?? :slight_smile: )

What of the remainder? Now they probably split into those that bobble along making enough or breaking even so that they keep trying. And maybe 3-4% start making good money.

So now, who are they getting it from? Surely:
Companies that are compelled to make trade payments or hedge exposures when currencies move adversely;
Banks that hedge their global fx risk (eg, if you earn 20% of shareholder returns in subsidiary A in uzbekhistan then you buy a forward against the expected earnings so that your EUR shareholder doesnt get mad - half the time you lose money on the hedge but that’s not the point for you)

Anyway, so structurally there are retail players doomed to fail and corporate players who know that half the time they will lose (but don’t care about that). Hence if you have a strategy that is unconstrained by the drivers that the ‘losers’ are constrained by, then you can wait until they are compelled to lose and hence you may gain.

Modern mystery - like the name btw - by this reckoning we can’t all trade the same strategy (the losers have their own strategies and can’t change). But also, some of us are destined to lose. All part of the learning process I guess!

Have to also ask the question. How do they come up with 95%. On what basis? Do they take every single acount that has been opened, or only ones who have traded at least once. Or for a period of time…

Things things make a big difference.

It is very very easy to creat a Forex account and put real funds into it. But think of a computer game. Think of WoW… Take a look at the amount of “sign ups” and the amount of Active players and you’ll find the majority of the data used is irrelevant. They played 1 day and didnt like it, they left…

Same with forex. The data used to get 95% has too many variables to be considered worthy.
Do 95% of people actively try to learn Forex and trade for a lenghty peroiod of time and just fail? no. Most decided it wasn’t for them after all.

[B]Just imagin how many people lose there 1st real trade. ALOT. There will be fear and they will stop right then.[/B]

They are likely classed within the 95% losers catagory.

It says it all…

Anyone who came into forex thinking there is easy money to be made and the markets will let u be a millionaire overnight will invariably end up loosing their account and all their money.

Maybe even start a thread saying that its all a scam.

Like everything else in life, there is much to learn.

But there is a method in the markets madness.

Enough said.

You cant say millions over night isnt possible, cause it is… Relativly speaking… Concidering, a human can go to college, for 10 years to be a DOC or whatever we need to make the world run, and alot of them cant find work, or not cut out for it…

FOREX IS SIMPLE,

Yeah, yeah, how can I say such a thing?

You have 2 things you can do, go long, or go short… Thats it…

WE, OURSELVES, Make this harder then it is…

I do, I know that for a fact… But when I first started, I was raking 300 pips daily, SIMPLE…

When I started learning other things, i got caught up…

Like riding a bike, its easy once you know how to balance yourself. You dont need to ride like Tony Hawk to get down the street, nor, do you need to take lessons to do it.

One day traders, Onneee day, you will see what Im all about…

O, and stop aiming for 60% win rate, thats mindless… Do you half way tie your shoes?

Aim for 100%, if you fall a tad short, its way better then 60%… No?

Im Out,

BET

Agreed. The data are I am sure skewed by people closing losing accounts, early drop outs, etc. It must be a total count of all accounts that close at a loss or something of that nature.

Case in point: we are about to shut an account at a loss although two strategies that were productive in that account are going to be rolled out on a new platform.

Agreed. The data are I am sure skewed by people closing losing accounts, early drop outs, etc. It must be a total count of all accounts that close at a loss or something of that nature.

Case in point: we are about to shut an account at a loss although two strategies that were productive in that account are going to be rolled out on a new platform.

I haven’t started trading yet, but I am to the point of starting some practicing. I have been taking my time learning. There is quite a bit to ingest as far as all the different techniques and tools with Forex. I believe the more knowledge and money you have, money in your account the better chance you have of succeeding in Forex. Most brokers will even tell you the higher your account the higher your success rate. But without the knowledge your also losing in your favor. So knowledge and money plus money management will help you succeed. Since I am new myself and haven’t done any trading yet, my plan is to learn as much as I can, start with a mini or micro lot account after practice trading. When I feel I have the hang of it then and only then will i begin to trade real money.

Thanks ken. 4th winning month in a row. 420 trades. 76% wins. 12pips average net of losers. Starting to get a large enough sample to have statistical confidence.

:slight_smile:

“Does anyone really make money off of the Forex?”

Brokers make a lot!

Banks also make money! cuz they’re in business! If not, then non of them here in FX world.
Just my 2 cents

I am a bit confused on this matter myself. A thread was deleted because of this same issue. I think, from what I have heard on this site that, my understanding is Yes, there are people making money. Who, The big banks, and there are 10 major Banks making money off of you and me, the newbies who don’t know jack about trading. Also online Brokers, giving us free software that makes them money, because we keep using the same old trading systems that are outdated and guaranteed to make us lose. And another guy, The people who write the Books and articles saying you can make a living trading Forex and Stocks. Those are the real money makers. So, what can I do, we do. Treat it as a hobby. Because I have not seen one shred of evidence that I can make a living with Forex. Now I have seen evidence of getting rich in the stock market day trading. But for the average Joe, like me, I see nothing, Zip---------No evidence what-so-ever.

People do make money I am one of those people. I created my own setups and then automated it. It is more difficult then people make out. But I make around 20% a month.

Tend to agree, automating your own set-ups is the way to go, not that its easy, far from it.

the more money they have to invest the more they make, if they invest 10,000 they make in the thousands regularly if they know whats going on.

people who only put 50 dollars in only make a few dollars or lose it all unless they have high leverage more than fifty to 1

Yep took me 3 months to develop it. Hard stuff if you want to maintain gains over long terms.

I think I should say, if you can dream it become it! I have read about others who do make it in the stock market. I am not sure about Forex, but there are people making a lot of money in the Markets. I guess you won’t know unless you try it. Personally I don’t see why you can’t!

Trade that for years and tell me you’re still at 20% a month and I will give you every dime I have.

I have hit 20% a month quite often. Heck I have come close to hitting that in one trade risking 2%. However I highly doubt I average 20% monthly. More like 10% at best. It also took a lot longer than 3 months to develop my way of trading. Hell its still in development as I type this and will be for the rest of my career in trading. I also doubt this year will come close to averaging 20% as I made some tweaks from last year to up the R:R and win% but the side effect is way less trades. A sacrifice I am will to make lol

wow that is good. 3 months? Took me years (many many years) before i made enough to buy my first ferrari trading (cash). up to 3 now))) Ferrari(s) that is.