One pair

[Yarcofin]

I typically pick 6 pairs at a time, and just go with whatever trend looks strongest on the indicators, so I guess you don't want my advice.

[edacsac]

Originally Posted by Yarcofin

, so I guess you don't want my advice.

Ahh, but I do! I've also haven't figured out the logic in only working one pair. I know it would be a mistake to have a bunch of open trades on different pairs going at once for a newbie. But otherwise, I haven't figured out why to stick with one. Plus, (from reading a bit on your blog) you do things by the week it seems. I suppose that would add a twist to things.

[IDR]

Originally Posted by edacsac

I haven't figured out why to stick with one.

Imagine yourself learning to throw dart. If you started with only one target, wouldn't it take shorter time to master it than starting with, say, five targets at once? Even if you didn't try to hit all five at once. Of course, this isn't absolute...some people could do with five targets as a starting point. But, the question is, which one are you? If you just an "average joe" like me, starting with one certainly more easier than five.

On the other hand, forex pairs are much like spouses. Each has its own characteristics, its own way. And you would like to know it as much as you could. Again, it's easier to try and understand a would-be spouse rather than five would-be spouses, don't you think?

Nevertheless, some people start with one pair then expand to several. Others start with several pair then focus on one. Still other start with one and stick with it. And yet another start with several and stay with several. In the end, it's all depends on yourself. Your own choice.

[edacsac]

Thanks IDR,

Right now I don't see anything predictable as how a pair acts. I can scroll back as far as I can on a pair in the largest increment chart and not see a thing. So I'm hoping at some point in the future I will understand the characteristics of currency pairs. At the moment, I rarely look back a dozen candlesticks when I decide to do something, although I am changing that, but a dozen candlesticks won't tell me anything but immediate price action.

There is a lot to learn.

[Yarcofin]

Originally Posted by IDR

On the other hand, forex pairs are much like spouses. Each has its own characteristics, its own way. And you would like to know it as much as you could. Again, it's easier to try and understand a would-be spouse rather than five would-be spouses, don't you think?

Haha, if you're comparing forex pairs to marriage then you better call me the forex swinger, because I'm having one-night-stands with every pair available and as soon as one stops being attractive I dump it . I don't care about all of the intimate details, if it looks good then I milk it dry and move on. Forex pimp! Okay way too much metaphor there, but you get the drift. At an absolute basic level, yes it could be good to focus on a single pair for a few weeks when you are starting just to learn in a consistent way.

After that though, splitting your trades into several small trades instead of one big one is a good way of "diversifying". It helps balance out your wins and losses instead of having one giant loss at the end of the week from a single trade gone bad. You can also learn a lot faster since you are going through the process of selecting trades multiple times at once instead of only one at a time. But it also depends on your trading strategy. You do have one, right?

As for only looking at the last dozen candles, that's kind of scary. You gotta look at the big picture, maaan. If you haven't heard yet, "The trend is your friend".

And of course, if you haven't already gone all the way through the Babypips school, that's the best place to start before you even start trading.

(For the record in case you're interested in my "pip life", I've gone through 8 different pairs since Sunday night (Some more than once) and I'm money ahead. Usually 6 per week is enough to do it for me though.)