A Newbie Question

Beginner Questions
1

Hi All,
First of I would to say that I am very grateful for finding this website. I am a newbie, and just starting to learn Forex trading. I already have a demo account with velocity trader 4. My question actually is for the expert traders on this website, and it is:

What should I do or rather how should I begin to learn Forex trading, how did you (the experts) start and what websites or books should I look into? I have already started reading the articles under the School of Pipsology, but what else should I do? I am not stepping in to Forex to make money (I am only 18). I actually want to LEARN it. Should I attend seminars, or classes? What did you do to be as advanced and expert as you are today? Thank-You very much for your time.

2

First, I’m not really one of those experts you’re asking for. But I felt I had something to say, so:

Since you’re young, have you considered going for a financial university degree?

3

Hi Mazda,
That’s great you’ve decided to combine both education with demo testing the Forex environment, excellent start!:slight_smile:
About education, the BabyPips school is a great tool for newbies and experienced as well (I myself am using it constantly for refreshing my knowledge).
To utilize to the fullest your knowledge is by implementing and testing it in the real world.

[U]Some more useful links can be seen on the threads: [/U]

  1. [B]‘where do I begin’[/B].
  2. [B]Looking for audiobooks/lessons for when im at work[/B].

There are two major doctrines about how to trade in Forex:
The first is [B]manual trading[/B], which is in majority the MT4 application, but I suggest waiting until accumulating enough experience.
And the second is the [B]auto trading[/B], which divides into two:

  1. Auto trading- automated trading platforms.
  2. Mirror trading- a new technology marked as the successor of auto trading (powered by Tradency).
4

Please don’t be fooled by the auto trading industry. It simply does not work. If it did, do you think they would sell their robots instead of just using them themselves?

Mirror trading? WTF!

Take it from me, save yourself time and disappointment. Robots do not work. Period.

5

Sorry, but using the same logic, it is as saying the material you’re being taught, and let’s use your example, in a financial university degree, simply isn’t right. If it was, do you think they would sell their knowledge instead of just using it themselves?

However, any knowledge, one’s experience or one’s opinion is worthwhile to spend some time investigating it.

As for mirror trading, it has been extensively reviewed on DailyForex on AvaFX’s Avatrader software, so you both are more than welcome to read and comment.

Always check one’s sources, and choose what suitable for [B]you[/B].

6

There’s no need to discuss this.

Serious traders don’t use robots or mirrors (other than to fix the hair…).

Look around this forum and other forums and you’ll see that the successful traders stay far away from robots.

Mazda - this is a good lesson: these kind of autotrader people will chase you all over the internet. My advice: tell them to take a hike.

7

I have done a lot of research on the Expert Advisor aspect of Forex, and my conclusion is that God has given us a working brain (most of us atleast) then why not use it? Right? In addition, as I stated earlier I am not stepping in Forex at this point to make money and I actually want to learn the trends of different curriences around the globe.

I am sorry I didn’t exactly mean that this thread is strictly for experts only, my defination of expert I guess was anyone who has been in Forex for longer then I. I would greatly appreciate any tips or suggestions of how you started out, when you were as inexperienced and new as me? How many hours did you dedicate to Forex everyday? Did you attend any seminars or classes or simply learned everything you know from this website? Thank-you once again for your great comments :slight_smile:

8

Perhaps I didn’t explain my position clearly, maybe misleading you to think I’m from this kind of [B]people[/B] or another:
As opposed to the term auto-trading, which of course consists of the word automatic, one’s doctrine shouldn’t be [B]automatically[/B] chosen to be this.

Decision is to be calculated as a complex of: priorities, available trading time, experience, forecast etc.
While auto trading and mirror trading are relatively more user friendly, need less experience and knowledge and simple to start with than manual trading, it is a great option for the beginner Forex-er.

However, the conversation has deviated from it’s original initiative, which is providing [B]KNOWLEDGE[/B].
[B]o990l6mh[/B] - you’re very welcome to share from your own resources.

Cheers:)

9

I’ll try to summarize as best I can.

I got interested in trading after, like many others probably, reading all the stories of people making huge amounts of money in the stock markets.

If they could do that, then so could I right?

Since I didn’t have enough money to start trading stocks for serious money, plus the pain in the ass Swedish tax rules (not so much the actual paying taxes, more the incredible administration every time you buy or sell) I started looking at other instruments than stocks.

That’s how I ended up with Forex.

I was extremely lucky to find Babypips (BP) early on, which was like finding a kind guide when you’re lost in the jungle.

I went through the BP school and started demo trading on MT4 broker demos. Thought I knew it all.
At the same time I read Alexander Elder’s books and also found Tymens candlesticks thread.
Now the phase of system jumping began, testing and discarding one system after another. Always looking for a better indicator and so on. I even looked into robots and the like but quickly realized they simply didn’t work.
In the mean time I read Economics for Dummies, Technical Analysis for Dummies, Candlestick Charting for Dummies and Currency Trading for Dummies, plus Bill Williams Chaos Trading and hundreds of threads.

I began realizing that indicators (for me at least) didn’t do the trick. That they were just mathematical manipulations of the price movements. At best they have a self fulfilling quality, but even that is highly doubtful considering the vast number of indicators and settings that exist.

I began focusing on support and resistance and I read a book called Beat the Forex Dealer.

During this time I had the opportunity of watching how new systems would pop up on BP, attract a big following, become more and more cult-like, and then crash and burn. I had the opportunity to watch and learn how scammers operate and what their tell tale signs are. I’ve gained a lot of wisdom here on BP.

Then came what at least for me was [I]the[/I] book: The Undeclared Secrets That Drive the Stock Market by Tom Williams
Reading that book was my aha experience. You don’t have to trade exactly like the book, but the authors explanation of how and why the markets move and behave the way they do was the piece in the puzzle I had needed.
At the same time it then became completely clear to me that psychology and not indicators drive the market. Needless to say any remaining indicators went out the door.

For the first time since I started my trading journey about one year ago, I feel confidence in my abilities as a forex trader. The time ahead will prove whether that confidence is justified or not.

To get here I’ve spent about 3-4 hours every day in front of the computer since september 2008.

I would advice you to skip all of the unneccesary excursions that I’ve made, but I think it’s more or less unavoidable to take the winding road, and you do learn many important things while on that journey.
Just remember to be vigilant and always use critical thinking and common sense and I’m sure you’ll be fine.

10

Thank-you very much for your detailed reply. Would you suggest that I read all the books you have stated in your post, and if not, which ones would you definitly recommend? Thank-you once again for your time. :wink:

11

The dummies books aren’t bad at all and they give a basic picture. Good place to start when absolutely new.

After that I’d recommend Alexander Elder. He makes it clear how important discipline is.

Steve Nison with his original candlesticks book is worth reading.

For me, Bill Williams didn’t give that much.

Tom Williams of course. A must read IMO.

Other than that, my advice is: Read everything. Even in a mediocre book you can often learn something.

If you search around here I know there’s one or a few threads on favorite trading books, might get some ideas and tips there.

12

Interesting path [B]o990l6mh[/B].
Thank you for sharing.

13

[B]Sorry I am late to this thread.[/B] :o

[B]To Mazda :[/B]

[U]I am a retired school teacher[/U] and I very strongly recommend that you take every word of advice given by [B]o990l6mh [/B]to heart.

He is telling it like it is - very accurate, and I totally second every word he says here!! :slight_smile:

Keep away from robots, mirror trading and the rest of the rubbish!! :frowning:

And yes, educate yourself first - [B]do that university degree!! [/B] :wink:
To have a chance at a decent life, and the prospect of marriage, you need to have a stable income.

You can always play around with forex later.

14

hey mazda

like yourself i am only 18 and have been a very active participant in the forex market over recent years

i started studying forex at 16, then at 17 i approached someone who had a significant income and was always looking for new investment opportunities, after putting across my proposal we struck a deal that i would trade his funds and take a percentage of the profit, late last year i turned 18 and opened my own acount with oanda and would consider myself reasonably successful with my own trading so i would not deem your age as a barrier of any sort when trading forex, i see no reason why you cant start your trading career and begin making some money during the learning process as long as you get on the right path from day one and dont be decieved by these so called, auto trading bots, EA’s and holy grail trading systems that simply do not work!

my personal advice to you would be to open an account with a broker that allows you to trade very small units ( look into oanda ) and begin trading with a very small amount that you can afford to lose ie �/$10 account trading a few pennies a pip, do this for several months until you feel confident enough to trade with a larger amount, a majority of people may suggest a demo account but i would highly discourage it as it doenst train you for the psychological aspect of trading which has a huge effect on your success.

also dont let a lack of capital discourage you as compounding can significantly grow your account over a period of time but make sure you enforce good money management from the start

before trading educate yourself on what makes the market move, how leverage and margin works

as for the actual trading itself i would suggest you avoid wasting your time with the countless lagging technical indicators and focus on learning how to trade raw price action using tools such as candlesticks, chart patterns, support and resistance, trendlines, channels and fibonacci

hope this helps and if theres anything else you would like to know or need help with just shoot me a message on here and i’ll get back to you

lee

15

Wow Thank-you so much for your time and kind replies. Tymen I am actually working on “that university degree” right now at University of Toronto :D. As I mentioned before I am simply stepping in to Forex to learn and to educate myself. Honestly, I havent thought too much about the $$$ aspect yet.

Lee its good to see someone as young as me succeeding in Forex. That actually encourages and motivates me to step forward and learn more. I currently have a demo account with Velocity. So far I have come to understand the basic functions of the software i.e drawing a Fibonacci, entering and exiting a trade, setting the S/L and T/P points. I have also been reading information posted on this website, and I must say that it has been extremely helpful in exposing me to the basics of Forex trading. I checked out Oanda and the spreads definitely look lower then of those offered on Velocity. I will soon open a live account with them.

In addition, Lee I was wondering what motivated you to start trading at such a young age? How did you personally start off? And how long would you say it took you to understand or rather be successful in Forex?

And it kinda makes sense to me that indicators or “confirmations” do not really move the market, they are just a way for us to predict and anticipate what is going to happen. I guess my question is how can you REALLY learn what moves the market. I mean I am not saying indicators do not work but I know there is something more to it then simply that. And I think o990l6mh mentioned that in his post.

Thank-you once again o990l6mh, I am going to run down to the library today and check-out those books. Thank-you everyone else include Lee and Tymen for contributing to this thread. It actually really means a lot to me.:slight_smile:

16

well in school i was always pretty intelligent and good with numbers (A* in maths) but from a young age i kinda decided full time employment wasnt really for me and started looking into other routes and came across forex, now at that age i wasnt as naive as most and knew it would be a long road but promised myself i would stick with it and follow through, i studied it lightly when i first left school and began college studying double a level maths and btec national in performing arts but after 8 months of being in college my girlfriend fell pregnant and i decided to leave college for employment and thats when i really began to focus alot of my free time on trading, at the time i was 17 so as i mentioned earlier i couldnt open my own account so began a business partnership with someone alot older in the agreement i would trade his funds for a percentage of the profit. the day i turned 18 (last year late november) i opened an account with etoro and had a couple months of profit and loss which ultimately left me breaking even, then february my son was born (my avatar) and thats where the determination really came from, i really excelled in my trading ,i was making top 10 almost every week in etoros trading competition, after a while i realised i could boost my profits even further by switching broker as etoro charged 3 - 5 pips on majors, so i finally ended up with oanda and i’ve never looked back since, i trade semi - full time as i work 2 -3 nights a week in a club just as a back - up but most of my income comes from trading at the moment

being brutally honest this really is one of the HARDEST ways to make an EASY living but its well worth the time and effort in the long run, those who are searching for quick easy profits rarely last long but if you have a long term plan and vision you can definately succeed

i wish you the best of luck and successful trading

if you want to know anything else just shoot me a message

lee