Long enough myself I tended to think that trading involves lots of market analysis, you must be constantly inventing new strategies, looking for the market vulnerabilitues, working on EAs, etc.
The longer I trade, the more I understand that there are a few simple things that really work on the market and there is no point trying to invent a bicycle here. Levels of support and resistance, false breakouts, true breakouts - that’s basically it.
All the new approaches, especially the onces that assume trying to get some bonuses from the brokers via some extra-aggressive trading methods - that’s the first step to lose it all on the market.
I know its funny to say this here, as I’ve completed the AAFX bonus requirement myself. Nevertheless, if you have a choice of trading in a calm environment and get no bonus or trade with multiplied risks that you can’t really afford - the choice should be obvious. Trade safe.
PS. Even shorting the US indices can be safe enough given there are favorable market conditions. Last week there was a nice false brakeout on snp500 that gave a chance to short it with a decent risk/reward ratio. The fundamental logic that you’ve used to short snp was ok. The only thing - it was necessary to wait for additional technical proof on the chart (like a false breakout upwards on upper timeframes) + apply a firm stop loss order.
These are the few interesting things that you tell here.
So you don’t use indicators at all?
I wish I could say I don’t. But I keep testing those from time to time and every time I regret it. Perhaps there are some MT custom advisors that might be helpful, or certain combos of indicators…but all the standard ones like MACDs and moving averages are all the waste of time and effort as they are all delayed. Price action is the best approach to markets.
Gotcha, thanks for sharing your experience!
I can’t agree 100% with what you’ve said here, bun in general I can confirm, it’s true that every decent strategy has got some very simple logic as the fundamental hypothesis that the whole trading system lies on.
Yet, there are two other factors to consider here:
- details
- trading fees
The more I work on automated strategies, the bigger is my cofidence in the fact that details matter. Yeah, the fundamentals can be simple, even primitive, as you’ve noticed above. At the same time the more details you polish the strategy with, the better and smoother can your equity curve get. Filtering trades, adding more specific conditions, varying the assets you trade - everything matters and from time to time you will notice, that a minor in its essence detail can change the equity curve dramatically.
The second thing to consider is how much you pay as trading fees. It also depend on a strategy that you have on your mind. I.e when I was focused on overnight strategies, long-onlies, it was crucially important for me to minimize swaps (that’s actually why I swithced to AAFX, they don’t charge swaps). Short term trading will also be sensitive to commissions, so will be the arbitrage strategies. Getting better trading fees (changing a broker) can actually turn the unfavorable trading strateguy into a favorable one.
True! Getting better trading fees (changing a broker) can actually turn the unfavorable trading strategy into a favorable one. Young/inexperienced traders often underestimate the power of trading fees
Guys, how long did it take yall to start being profitable on the market? I’m running the live account for nearly three months now and I’m kinda losing patience here. Feels like being a hamster in the whel :-/
Personally, I got interested in trading in 2012. It took couple years to overcome greed and start developing some systematic approach. Another year it took to find out that trading fees matter and also the broker’s service matters as slippages and trading fees can ruin the upslope of your equity curve easily enough.
To tell the truth, you can’t even be sure you’ve learnt enough and learn how to trade finally.
So far with AAFX I’ve got around 250% average yearly returns, but this does not mean I am profitable every single month. Some months were a failure, some doubled my capital.
I suggesst you don’t stick to someone else’s experience and find you rown way to learn trading. Patiently and persistently.
every one says that ))
thnx for sharing your experience though. Couple years - that’s a whole lot of time!!
Hahah, yeah, it seems a long way to walk, but you see, the problem is that you can’t evaluate your progress objectively when you are in the middle of a process. Sure enough, after 6 months of trading a demo back in 2012 I was absolutely sure I was a genious trader. It took time and money to find out I was not LOL
My only advice in this regard can be to obey the rule number 1 of every new trader that comes to the market.
PROTECT YOUR CAPITAL
don’t blow up your depo for no reason. Sometimes the potential reward makes the risk worth it, but in most of the cases you simply need to be patient and risk no more than 3-5% of the capital in every trade (if you are daytrading in particular)
Hi, guys! I totally changed my approach to trading and it feels like it’s getting better, although I’m still unable to go on a par with you, gurus, of course. Nevertheless, I feel more confident.
Well, since my last post, I kept losing until saw no penny on my depo. Sure, it frustrated me a lot, but I managed to take control of myself. I deposited $100 and got down to scalping. I increased my depot to $115, working with 0,01 lots and 1:500. Perhaps, it’s not so impressive, but at least, I still have my depo at hand, even a bit bigger one and that’s great.
I hope it’s not a sort of euphoria. A trader should tame his emotions, even positive ones. How do you approach trading?
I just learned channels. I mean resistance and support ones. So, I simply catch this stuff each time it rebounds from the upper or lower one. I know little about technical indicators. Maybe I will try some of them. Of course, I strictly control my risks. As for the downside of my approach is that it’s extremely exhausting. However, I have an opportunity to watch charts from morning till night.
Now, there’s a problem. I have enough losing trades, but with these lots, they aren’t so painful. I’m struggling to go ahead to increase my profits. Perhaps, I should try something different.
Increasing your lots - that’s the way out I see. Sooner or later, you are bound to do this.
Yes, you will have to do this. I have no idea how on earth a man can earn with 0,01 lots. That’s totally insane. I tried it long ago - a worthless thing for real money making, but very useful for learning.
In fact I can increase the trading size now even without depositing more on account. That’s the benefit of a large leverage that AAFX provides. However, I doubt I need to increase my lots immediately.
Don’t do it radically, since you are still learning. You may try increasing them from 0,01 to 0,04-0,05. Later, you can shift to 0,1. Keep learning. It’s a good opportunity to learn without losing a lot but at the same time adapting to real life trading with some real losses and profits.
I increased my lots to 0,05. I’m still practicing channel trading and it works. As I see, with these lots, it’s much easier to earn more.
Sure it is! The bigger is the volume of your trades, the bigger is the risk and the profit consequently. Come on, share your achievements her? No pressure! just being curious…