Tom: first of all I want to commend you for wanting to do something like this at your age. But, you need to listen to the advise of the people here in order to be successful. i am a real newbie when it comes to trading but I know that the way you are going about this is not even gambling its just taking a shot in the dark and hoping for the best. even the worst gamblers have a system. Furthermore its not necessary for you to lose money to learn to be a successful trader. since being here the most important thing I have learned is that trading is not emotional but logical. and for that you need to develop your own method and plan. Go to baby pips school then demo trade first after is all free.
I would like to than Tonymand for supporting me.
Tonymand is a professional, and his counsel should be respected greatly.
I believe you have a maturity problem, not a learning problem and you should wait.
My last post regarding this matter.
I think in many ways you may be right, but i don’t think it’s necesarily fair to call the guy immature.
Surely tom’s perspective is all wrong and he most definitely should stop trading with real money before he gets destroyed financially and psychologically, but what he is doing does not imply immaturity.
He is in the process of making mistakes that all of us make in some shape or form in our forex careers. It just so happens that he seems to be letting a serious dose of greed guide his decisions. Didn’t we all fall victim to fear or greed at some point? I sure did.
Tom, don’t give up. I don’t think anyone has a right to dictate what you are cut out for. You might not be cut out for this, but i don’t think the mistakes you are making now proves that point at all. At least not yet. You are just getting in your own way right now and you need to stop trading, pick up a book or two, read through this site, listen to the advice of some seniors here and stop trying to think this can make you rich overnight on a small account balance.
Get your head right, learn all you can, and take this as a business one step at a time in methodical fashion.
Ask youself this from the start though: Are you capable of being patient? Because that is what success in this business takes…patience to learn, patience to experience your learning curve, patience to wait for the right trading opportunities, patience to test your chosen startegies, patience to put in the work to learn and prepare for this craft.
If you find you cannot be bothered to even consider these things, then i agree with tymen 100% that you are not cut out for this. But if you can stop just for a second and take a look at yourself and say yes, i think i might be able to, then you just might be cut out for this.
But, PLEASE STOP TRADING WITH REAL MONEY NOW. We are not all going crazy here. And i did not take 20 minutes of my coffeee break to write this to you because i’m crazy. There are many of us here who have experienced the growing pains that are coming your way 100 fold if you persist down this road. If you can stop and LISTEN, then i think you are mature enough.
i like your attitude, really.
open minded…takes feed back… and keeps this discussion going.
i think, sometimes formal education can draw one back, so, u don’t necessarily have to read or know a lot to make it here.
just common sense; buy in a bull market, sell in a bear.
since you made money in your first week, maybe you can make it again…
…[I]maybe, but not very likely, i tell ya. 
[/I]
if i was a broker i would love you as a client tyneetom.
I think the discussion goes on because most of everyone is appalled by what he has said about his trading strategy. I’m by no means a forex expert, but i have been trading equities for a while. I like his attitude also, never give up, but I think its important to understand why you have failed and correct yourself when you have done so, not just throw more cash at the problem and think you’ll win eventually. I trade as a pessimistic optimist, always weary of what could happen, but hopeful of what might happen. Anyways thats my two bits, ill shutup now
i am tempted to think that some people are lying in here :rolleyes:
…i mean, i have read thread where people claim to have lost 20k before coming to their senses.
he just lost 5k and he is seen as a dumbo.
well, at his age, its not really encouraging to lose such amount, but believe me, he is not alone…there are others.
a friend of mine lost a bank loan on this merciless market. :eek:
However, i appreciate (and hope he listens) to the advise of the members of the forum.
actually, that’t y i like it here.
I’m still trading, but trading the smallest lot possible now. the .10 ones
My friend says…trade small, lose small…
But It feels more like trade small win small… 
I’m being extra extra extra suppperrrr careful now.
I guess before, I had a problem where I always FELT like I needed an open position.(and I always mostly guessed wrong!)
Is that also a newbie mistake?
But in all honesty, I did look at the charts. I saw USD drop, surely it must go back up…so i bought. bought low.
but usd kept dropping…and dropping…and dropping.
…my technical analysis hurt me : (
Hey, at least you’ve listened to the advice given and you’re following it. Recognizing your mistakes is the first step in the right direction.
The wins may be small now, but you’ll be able to improve your trading so that when you make bigger trades, you’ll have bigger wins.
And, yes, feeling that you always have to be in the market is a newbie mistake, one that’s hard to overcome even with experience.
I hope the USD situation has taught you that you can never tell how low things will go. Just because it LOOKS like the bottom, doesn’t mean it is.
Keep reading and learning. You’re doing fine.
Terry
Good for you on trading small. The fact that you opened your ears and mind and listened to some advice here is a sign of maturity and your ability to eventually succeed the way you envision.
But don’t worry about what you stand to gain right now. Focus on making the right decisions, following the correct process and preserving your capital. That is the only way you can survive your learning curve long enough to succeed.
Trading is one big game of probabilities. You started off like the gambler in the casino but you are one step closer to becoming the casino. Casinos don’t always win. But they stick to the rules and in time capitlize on the small edge they possess. That is the idea
This has been really interesting to read…so here’s my 2 cents.
At the end of the day we have ALL f***ed up on FOREX…the fact you did it with $5000 in such a short length of time just means you did it royally.
Fine.
Move On.
You need to step back and look at things realistically.
- You don’t have an effective system.
- You don’t have the right mindset.
- You are not gonna get that $5000 back.
You need to let that sink in…
Frankly i would close all trades on your live account and not touch it at all until you have rectified the first two points.
Only when you have fully rectifed the first two points should you even consider loading up your Live account with cash again.
How will you know when you have done this?..simple…you will be making money, consistanly, in a controlled and planned manor on your demo account.
Learning Forex is difficult, be under no illusions.
However, the principles behind it that will make you a success are simple.
Use an effective system with the correct mindset…that’s it.
Good luck to you.
Oh, how I love to gamble. I love this post. I lived it. I am a video crack (electronic trading) junkie. I am a card and dice hard core degenerate. I start,I dont stop till its gone, then I seek more and throw it back in. I might as well thrown my money into a black hole.
Thats how I used to roll. BUT I found something along the way that MAY make sense.
When I was 19 years old (32 now) i lost lots of money in casinos. I lived a few minutes from Atlantic city and would go very often. Lost my paychecks there. Now those were the days.
Never quite got it. Never got the idea - that the house had a percentage favor over me always. People told me, but it never stuck. I thought i knew better - I was going to be a pro.
Then, in my early twenties, I lost some money in the markets. Never got that either.
What are we seeking when we gamble? Money. Fame. Fortune. Should add EASY to all of those answers. Whats easier then clicking buy and sitting back, watching a price tick? Whats easier then putting a chip on green felt in front of a blackjack dealer? Not much. dont have to work for it much.
Well, Gambling and losing money bummed me out. Badly. It caused many problems for me - and yes, it did lead to long term consequences which I do not wish to discuss.
The holy grail. The zone. This is what i was seeking. And, unfortunately, I found the answer. Why unfortunate to find the answer? Because the answer requires lots of work.
Here let me explain:
Everyone has a / is selling a ‘system’. Heres a simple system: I have a coin, it comes up heads, i give you a penny. It comes up tails, you give me a dollar.
Would you use that system? Well, if you did, lets meet - i need the money. Since, the chances of a coin coming up either way is 50 50, I would end up ahead always. Its simple math.
Casinos? Cant beat them. My heads give me a penny, their tails get a dollar. They have the edge. Always (counting cards flips that factor a little, but thats ALOT of work).
You could introduce a double sided coin and cheat to make alot of pennies, but someone will catch on.
What does this have to do with trading?? This is what its all about. This is how traders make money. They define an edge - something in the market that happens frequently, they evaluate all of those happenings (like a sequence of coin flips) and find out if their call each time was a positive outcome or negative. It must be defined clearly (ok, every time i see this pair move up after it moved down, buy - do that with 1000 scenarios - did that make money over time?).
What i just outlined opens up so many doors. What will make money consistanly? How much to buy when it happens (example: coin flip - you and I both have 100 dollars. Before we flip first coin, you decide to bet me 100 dollars your heads vs. my tails. I agree. It comes up tails I win. You are blown up).
That is one approach. Quantify what it is that looks like a buy or a sell next time - and watch that 1000 times - whats the end result? Are you in this for the long haul or just for that one trade?
Check out Dr Van Tharp books. This guy knows how to explain it better then i. In any case, I dont gamble anymore. I look at repeated instances, eval them, decide if it works or not. Thats it. Done.
Good of you to share that. Worth a thousand dry descriptions in textbooks. I agree that is the Journey and also second your comments on Van Tharp. Glad you found your way
To jonthan1138 :
I said I would not reply again here, but your post really interests me.
Good that you are no longer gambling…you are wise.
Yes, casinos have a house edge against you…10% against for the slot machines (the highest) whereas the roulette wheel has -2.7% for single zero and -5.26% for the American 2 zero wheels.
Still, a pity you never discovered this site :
AdvantagePlayer.com: Roulette - Hosted by Laurence Scott
Laurance Scott is a world authority on visual tracking with playing a roulette wheel. I purchased his methods in year 2000 and subjected it to scientific analysis and derived the formulas for predicting the motion of a ball on a roulette wheel. His method comes with DVD’s demonstrating the method and how to use it. The can be purchased today.
His method is totally scientific and I studied and learnt his method for 2 years.
It sets up an edge against the casino (in your favour) of at least 10% ranging to 40% depending on the weather at the time. Laurance’s own money take is in the millions.
I corresponded with him to improve my approach and adapt it to Australian conditions.
I predicted only one number on the wheel using his method. That number would be hit! I predicted again and…yes, again the number was hit!
2 years of successful predicting, I could have made a fortune, but I am [U]against [/U]gambling - I persued it out of scientific interest. (yes, its true, do you believe me?)
Now Laurance runs a forum - all the world professionals using his system subscribe to it. There was one guy who was eventually discovered to be a “spy” from one of the world’s umpteen casinos. He got banned.
Now where did this spy come from…of all places…Perth, Western Australia…our very own one casino - but I never met him.
Laurance Scott’s work on visual tracking is the most real, interesting and scientific work on casino gambling I have ever found together with that of Edward Thorp and the book - “The Eudaemonic Pie” by Thomas Bass.
It actually works.
wow this is such an interesting post… giving honest advice to TyneeTom is like giving advice to the wall… everything seems to bounce right off and no matter what you tell him he still does not GET it and its not only him there is quite a number of people on this forum and the funny thing is that they dont stick around too long…
I dont know about you guys but there is something about people who ask for advice but dont bother to listen that irritates me.
I know this post is quite old but it will be helpful to the new people…
trading is a business and should not be considered as anything else(some people trade to get away from the real world… the market provides great entertainment value and if you look at it that way and loose hmmm 5k, I personally would not care at all for someone like that because they PAID for that “entertainment” that they craved)
your money is your inventory… you dump the bad “products” and you buy what everyone(the market) wants and you try to get rid of it before the “trend” gets old.
when ever you work for someone else they grade your performance and there is a reason for it… there should be no reason for not grading your own preformace each week or month. The pilots have the FAA, gang members have “re-enforcers”, and you have yourself.
btw guys its true that 80-90% of people loose money in forex(and any other market) and its mostly because of people like TyneeTom who fail to learn from their mistakes… its perfectly ok to make a mistake but to repeat it now thats a different story.
Wow what a crazy thread, people dont like hearing other people in my expericence. In my opinion the best thing is a well thought out plan on paper. If a plan is on paper its harder for your head to veer from the plan. Would someone open a restaurant without a plan. How are u going to know how much food to order, how much staff and what not. Doing all that by the seat of your pants with end in failure. And your loan is shot. Why would someone trade with a mortgage? Thats a whole new level of insane. Trading is a bussiness, and if you look at it as any different u have to take a step back. Forex is a great way to help your finances especially when U.s. is in trouble. Whose making a living in stocks, the pros maybe, what novice trader would sell a stock short? Forex is great but its like and Fast motorcycle. If you dont know how to ride ur not going to be weaving traffic at 160 at rush hour. So u need to learn how to drive forex well to get winning thrill of financial freedom. Learn to trade to trade well! nobodies perfect tim i wish i started as a teenager. All these forex topics work in every market, IRA’s&such