Wantingn to open a live account

Beginner Questions
1

ok so i have been on demo trading for a good 4 months now and i really am starting to get a better feel about trading. i use price action and macd combined with rsi to enter trades. idk if its considered a system but i do enter when i see certain set ups.(if you want to know what those setups are just ask) i am really starting to crack down on my trading and taking trades that have good potential. i sometimes take trades that suck and loose money which could of been avoided easily if i just followed my system. i want to open a live account with 500 dollars in it but idk what broker to use. i have really gotten used to using fxcm’s trading station 2 but i don’t think fxcm allows micro accounts anymore??? this sucks because i really like that platform compared mt4.

  • does anyone have a micro account with FXCM?
  • i can’t use trading station 2 with a different broker right?
  • also if you guys could let me know which broker you used if you opened a micro account?

another obstacle i have to over come is convincing my parents to allow me to open a account. it would have to be in there name since I’m 17 so i have to talk to them about it. i try to show them stuff on my demo account but its a big blur to them since they don’t understand anything really about trading. it took me like 2 months to convince them let me have a stock trading account, but i think i have more potential to earn real money in currency trading rn.

if anyone has any answers to these questions please respond or if you just wanna say hi thats also cool! :smiley:

2

How long is it until you’re 18?
Couldn’t you spend the time until then saving your deposit and perfecting your trading strategy on demo?

3

I also started trading when I was 17 so I know how you feel. I would recommend demo trading until you can turn a profit on a monthly basis because you are most certainly gonna lose that $500 no matter what if you go in not prepared.

I would say work on your system to make it the best it can be because no matter what the market is always gonna be there so you have all the time in the world to work on your strategy. A good broker is usually just someones opinion. I personally use FXCM and a lot of people don’t like them but I’ve never had trouble with them personally.

People lose money and they need a scape goat and the broker is usually the easiest person to blame. If your using a strong strategy with low risk and right margins then it doesn’t really matter what broker you use but then again thats my opinion. The spread on FXCM is pretty low aswell between 0.1 to 3.0 on major pairs so thats always a bonus but spread doesn’t really bother me because I’m looking for +100 pip trades.

I found that FXCM trading station is really good for beginning but if your are looking more into using EAs or backtesting I would defiantly try to switch to MT4 as soon as possible.

I opened a micro account with FXCM.

My advice wait till you are 18 it might suck now but the more time you can prepare the better. Use this time to critique your strategy. I would love to help out a young trader so if you have any questions you can message me.

Have a great day and happy trading!

4

I will be turning 18 in April. I was thinking maybe j could ask for it for my birthday present and yes I was also thinking tht I could continue practicing untill then. I was trying to get a head start and know what to tell them so when the conversation comes up I know what to tell them.

So you can open a micro account with FXCM?

5

Alright so, I had a very similar situation a few months ago.

I spoke to my parents and they agreed after some talking to let me open an account in their name. Fortunately my dad thought it would be a great way for me to get some first hand insight on risk and what the market really is, which he was very right about.

I may have jumped in a bit too fast to live trading, but I can’t say I regret it. It’s been a great experience so far and I definitely encourage you to seek live trading experience over demo trading, primarily because the psychological aspect is completely different.

Currently, FXCM only accepts new accounts of $2,000, but I was allowed to open an account with $1,000 after consulting Jason Rogers, who is an FXCM employee and an active member here at babypips. You may be allowed to do the same - I understand this is twice as much as you intended to start with, but remember, you can decide to just trade the minimum lots available until you feel confident enough to start trading with a bit more leverage. That’s all up to you - just because you have $1,000 instead of $500 in your account doesn’t mean you have to risk more money on your trades.

If the money is a hurdle, then I suggest you find a broker who will allow you to open an account with $500. Remember, just because your account is with one broker doesn’t mean you can’t use another broker’s software. So if you have an account with Alpari, why shouldn’t you still be able to use FXCM’s trading station 2? It’s not uncommon to use two brokers - one for charting and one for trade execution.

Lastly, seeing as you turn eighteen in April, I think you’ll be well off just sitting tight and waiting for your birthday. Make as much money as you can by then, and with the help of whatever liquid presents you get (lol), I’m sure you’ll have enough to open a live account with FXCM. On another note, if you’re really interested in making decent money trading Forex, I suggest you find a part-time job and save up some money for next year, when you turn 19. If you can save up a few thousand dollars, and you gain enough experience to be consistently profitable, I’m sure you’ll enjoy the extra cash you can make. :slight_smile:

Good luck.

6

I have enough money to open an 1000 dollar account but my parents won’t let me do tht. 500 is a good amount I think. And when you say you can have a different charting package with a different broker is tht mean I can still trade straight from the charts ? Or can I just use the charts to look at?

And waiting till my birthday is probably the best thing for me to do. A little more experience with my strategy is what I need. Also making sure I listen to my rules is another thing I need to do. I lost 70 dollars on a trade due to me not following them. Also I had 4 trades this month tht closed out down 40-50 pips and at a time most of them were up 60-70 pips. I need to figure a good method on managing my stops.

7

Not following your rules is the number 1 reason why traders fail and is the hardest skill a trader needs to learn. You already know that you have trouble doing it. Until you can say for certain 100% you can do it, don’t trade live. Save up that nestegg until you do the markets not going anywhere and having that 500 is better than not having it

8

Using two different brokers means you look at charts with one broker and execute trades with the other broker, so no, you wouldn’t be able to trade directly from the charts.

9

i think I’m getting better at it because i realize its ok not to trade all the time. and i rather miss a winning trade then taking a loosing one.

and ok i feel like thts a pain in the neck to do that. I’m gonna try to make mt4 look and act as much as trading station 2 as i can. but for now I’m gonna use ts2.