How to Trade Forex with $100

Beginner Questions
178

Falstaff
LOL
ok let me say it like this

  1. is it worthy of CONSIDERATION ?
    yes, anything is worthy of consideration

if i told you i was going to sell you a slice of bread for $1 Million Dollars, this is still worthy of consideration.
now before you go saying
"Martin, but that’s not what i mean"

i know what you mean… all too well
so let’s address thsi

  1. what YOU mean is a relative term because i would consider the above scenario, where as you might say ,
    martin i wouldn’t even consider it, it’s stupid
    and this is the fundamental reason behind how PENNY STOCKS work. hehe

you get a person who is open minded enough and stupid enough and you can sell them penny stocks.
see how that analogy works ?

  1. let’s ask a better question
    "Martin should i as a beginner trade nano account if i want to eventually make serious money"
    ANSWER : without going into the topic of deifning what is SERIOUS MONEY (Again a Relative Term)
    that answer is NO you should not

the reason is… first of all, Trading small accounts means you have small habits and your goals are not big enough

Secondly, Mathematically , it’ll take you forever to achieve any kind of decent result

there are patterns in forex
like this one
if someone trades BINARY OPTIONS they have a gambling mentality, they are unrealistic, they have blinders on to the world. if a person considers binary options a good option, they are destined to lose all their money (and they won’t tell you they lost it all)

people who trade nano accounts DO SO BECAUSE THEY DON’T HAVE MONEY
and the fact they dont’ have money means their habits are out of whack

People who trade with a min lot size of 0.01 (or … anything less than 0.05) are MOST LIKELY going to lose their money (but, it is dependant on what the account starting balance is)

i mean, if you put in $50,000 and you are trading with 0.01 lots and your stop loss is at say… 80 pips.
Your risk is managed very well

but again… it takes a certain person to actually have $50,000
it also takes a certain person to have $5,000 which is not a lot (but people consider it a lot)

i believe everyone should start with $3,000 to be on the safe side and it gives you options to alter your trade during times when things are good and profitable and to minimize it when times are bad or stay out completely
and when the crap hits the fan and a stupid news report comes out and something shoots 200 pips in the wrong direction

SHHH… here’s a secret hehe
if you hold the trade, IT WILL ALMOST ALWAYS (But not always) Eventually return back to the point where it started so you can at the very least break even

but THIS DEPENDS ON THIS
you have to have the capital to hold that trade,
so if you started with $400 You’re stuffed
if you started with $3,000 you’ll be fine (ASSUMING YOU CAN RIDE THE EMOTIONAL ROLLERCOASTER) or ignore it completely

but, that’s a fact
feel free to test it on demo

do this

Pick a Major Currency
and literally flip a coin to choose buy or sell (heads = Buy, Tails we sell)
Regardless of market conditions, Regardless of anything… ok

just go in blind, don’t give two craps and pick one

another experiment is
pick the opposite direction to what you think ON PURPOSE (Aim to lose) see if you can… hehe

now. IF YOU HOLD BOTH TRADES LONG ENOUGH
IT WILL RETURN TO HAVE $0 lost (Even money)

so, if you are smart you’ll use this as a back up plan

now… the brokers know this
so here is what they do to stuff you up

They scare the Shit out of you while it’s going against you
THEIR GOAL IS TO HAVE YOU HIT THAT CLOSE TRADE BUTTON
they play with your emotions and people fall for it all the time

SOLUTION : if you ignore this trick, they are powerless (to that extent anyway)
you won’t lose the money, but… you won’t win either,
which is still a good thing

this is a good trick to have up your sleeve
most people don’t think to do this

CONSIDER THIS ALSO
when was the last time you heard a person give you a sob story about winning… NEVER … RIGHT ?
but what about those horror stories of losing, Plenty

you know why ?
no one ever practices Damage Control
no one practices WHAT WILL I DO IF I GOES 50 pips against me… 100 pips… 500 pips against me

but look at what happened in GREXIT a few years back
i personally went through this

I KID YOU NOT
i’m a beginner at this time
i have a trade down, No Stop Loss (First mistake)

i’m in profit by around $50 starting with a $300 account or there abouts
now LITERALLY IN LIKE 4 SECONDS
THE PRICE goes like 300 pips in the wrong direction… BOOOOOMMM goes the account balance
and i can assure you that the feeling you feel cannot be described in this forum hehe
WTF doesn’t really say it correctly

and you know why this happened
because… i didn’t consider for a second that it would EVER IN A MILLION YEARS go 300 pips out of whack
but it can
the largest i’ve seen is around 450 - 470 pips the wrong way, i have never seen 500 pips the wrong way on a Major Currency pair regardless of the economic climate

sorry though, i digress, but i thought this was worth a mention
but to answer your question
there are very good reasons why nano accounts are not the way to go (unless you are a broker hehe) there… yeah … go for it

Look, here’s a plan for success

  1. Learn to trade and be consistantly profitable, even in small amounts

  2. BE CAREFUL HERE… ok . Use OTHER PEOPLE’S MONEY to fund your account (does this sound malicious ?) or like a scam… maybe… BUT IT’S NOT

  3. what you do is… ensure you can make money for yourself with something like $2,000 and let’s say you can ensure that you make $10 a day

  4. now get yourself 10 people to invest $1000 each into you (you now have a $10,000 Account), it’s likely you’ll find a lot hehe

  5. the deal is… ensure that you don’t stuff them around and ensure that you GUARANTEE THEM their payout.
    because THEY ARE NOT TAKING RISK, THEY ARE THE INVESTORS

now… Because they are doing nothing but funding and sitting on their arse and waiting for money to come in…
they deserve a smaller payout than you. BECAUSE IT’S YOUR WORK AND YOUR EFFORT, it’s not a scam

  1. so let’s say you can pull in $20 a day without a problem
    well, pay them like $2 a day and keep $18 a day for yourself

now let’s do some math
THERE ARE 245 TRADING DAYS IN A YEAR (not 365)

so… an investor would get $2 per day x 245 = $490 in one year
DOES THAT SOUND LIKE A LOT
most people say this “oh what, i want more”

here is what you say in return
"Piss off, you are only sitting on your arse and doing nothing and getting free cash guaranteed" (Well, actually that’s what you are thinking, hehe)

what you say is this…

“the bank will give you approx 2% interest per year on a term deposit, now if you work that out, … on $10,000 that’s $200 at the end of the year hehe”

so… if you give the bank $10,000 and only get $200 back after 245 days
well.
let’s standardize it
you are giving them $490 for a $1,000 investment after a year
so if they gave you $10,000 it would be like getting $4,900 for the year

so it’s a bloody good return
tell them to be quiet

now, what you get is this

PER PERSON
$18 a day x 245 = $4,410 per year

oh wait… hehe
but YOU HAVE 10 INVESTORS… Remember
so $4,410 x 10 payouts = $44,100 for the year (that’s a pretty decent average wage)

those investors will be proud as punch
they will in turn call all their friends

if each one brings 3 friends Your income is mutliplied by 3
but THEIR PAYOUT IS NOT MULTIPLIED,
instead, there are more people you have to pay out, but it doesn’t matter

so… all of a sudden you’re on $132,000 a year

NOW STEP BACK A SECOND… ok
what did it take to get to this point

  1. Learn to consistantly and safely make $20 per day
    THAT’S IT

forget trying to make $900 a day when you are a beginner
if you can even ensure $5 a day consistantly and you can maintain that for 6 months, You have a success strategy .

DOES THAT HELP AT ALL hehe

179

hehe
make sure you manage your risk of killing yourself correctly
if you don’t , you might not do it correctly LOL

HEY DUDE. seriously though
i know it’s a long post
but do you honestly expect me to explain to a beginner in 5 or 6 lines what i’ve learned in 7 years.
no way in the world mate.

bottom line,
if people don’t want to read, they shouldn’t trade, because forex involves reading and learning
you can learn and hopefully be profitable or you can (as you put it) go kill yourself… hehe

or you can lose your money then… go kill yourself hehe (seriously though, don’t do this. Listen to heavy metal… IT DOES HELP when times are tough \m/ \m/

1 Like
180

Seriously bro. You have a problem.

Unfortunately, the world isn’t black and white and the target audience doesn’t have the mentality. Hell, I’ve been at this gig for 5 years and don’t understand, what chance has a newbie.

1 Like
181

What problem do i have ?

first of all, Kudo for dodgy brothers hehe

secondly, mate, i don’t know what you are not understanding.
the comment means
if a person is too lazy to read something, IT THEN PROVES that they will in turn be too lazy to research stuff
hence… they should trade

what’s unclear about this ?

Listen mate, Given your last comment and now this one
Maybe it’s best you don’t talk to me anymore
what do you reckon ?

182

and you’re right about the 5 year thing
if you haven’t got it in 5 years, what chance does a newbie have
little to none

183

I reckon you don’t understand dyslexia. It also means I shouldn’t be able to recognize patterns.

And its also alright to disagree. Especially on a forum that has no value.

184

yes it is alright to disagree
but when you call someone a DIRTY TROLL, You’re not really disagreeing , Are You?
You’re being Rude

and let’s not forget that he’s a 16 year old kid
and i’m 44
so… i don’t need the bullshit that would come from a stupid comment like what you made… GET IT.

Disagreeing is one thing, FEEL FREE TO DISAGREE

but you are just being rude, Plain and simple, and YOU KNOW IT… so why are you playing like you don’t ?

mate i’ve been coming here for years
you are the first guy to have a problem with what i said… EVER
it’s not me, it’s you

185

Falstaff wrote ;

MartinK wrote ; it’s because they know that if you start with $400 it is a MATHEMATICAL CERTAINTY that you will fail

so.... RULE 1 : do not start with anything less than $1,500
if you can't afford it.. FOREX IS NOT FOR YOU

FAlstaff wrote

Are you saying that all the “nano accounts” out there are not worthy of any form of consideration ? or is there some other reason why “It is a mathemetical certainty” ?

New post ;

@anon81929759 , Martin, I thank you for your lengthy reply, some of which I found interesting.

However nowhere did you expand on Why you think it is a “Mathematical certainty” that small accounts will always go bust as you asserted.

And sadly your observeations on nano accounts was less than convincing to me.

The OP asked a question, which you were responding to in theory.

You also stated that trading a $50,000 account at a level of 0.01 lots (Approx 1 cent per pip ?) with a stop loss at 80 pips is “Good” risk management !

In fact, with those proportions, I would say by far the biggest risk in such a situation, would be that the Broker could run off with your money !

To reach the usually quoted 1-2 % of account value for trades, you would need severa lbets running at once - 1% “total risk” would need over 600 such bets running concurrently. A suitably kknowledgeable and experienced manager might be able to manage such an enterprise - but this is more in teh realms of professional Hedge fund management and Hadging principles would need to be understood.

On the other hand, 0.01 lots with a 80 pip stoploss (Risk 80 cents [PLUS SPREADS] on each trade) may be more appropriate for the original poster, with his $100 to squander :slight_smile:

186

im so surprised this thread still exists. or not. dont know.

its repetative, all things said in the last 10 posts have been argued about in posts number 20-30, then again at 70-80 and again between 110 and 120. its the 4th or the 5th time the same thing is beeing debated in the same thread. silly. do people even read the entire thread before they start posting or do they just read title then start posting?

187

Exactly and thus this is the time when the beginners should show their restrain in falling for the alluring offers made by the brokers, but it would be of now use if they just enter the market, without proper research and which makes it very easy for the brokers to gain through the newbies lack of knowledge.

188

Falstaff
The Reason why i stated it’s a mathematical certainty but didn’t go into the math is because

  1. Look how long the post is without the math hehe
  2. it is a certainty, but there is more to it than just calculating money in your account. so i figured i’d skip the math.

My intention was to just state how hopeless it is for a beginner to start with a low amount in their account.
I have no interests in entertain the calculations to that degree,
as far as i’m concerned a person can believe me or not (it doesn’t affect me either way)
at the end of the day i’ve done my hard yards and it’s paid off

this is a beginners section of babypips,
if the Newbies’ don’t want to believe me they don’t have to.

but, MY INTENTIONS ARE SINCERE and My instructions work

let’s take your next comment where you said "good risk management "
which part were you referring to

were you referring to the stop loss placement
of the lot size

either way…
what matters is the combination of the two.
and if you were going to go into the subject of 1:1 risk vs reward or better

it doesn’t always work like that… ok

you can have a set up like this

Take Profit = +150 pips
Stop Loss = - 50 pips

hence you have a 3:1 ratio
the theory is you can lose 2 times, but if the third hits a profit, it’s still ok

then you can have this

Take Profit 10 pips
Stop Loss 100 pips

now. you may argue that this is stupid because if the stop loss hits you lose 10x
and… it’ll take 10 trades to get bakc

well…

  1. Actually if you do the math it takes more than 10 trades hehe if you get my drift

  2. when you do something like this, IN A WAY you are reducing risk, because THE STATISTICAL LIKELIHOOD OF YOUR STOP LOSS HITTING BEFORE YOU TAKE PROFIT IS GREATLY REDUCED

so it now becomes a question also of HOW MANY TIMES WILL YOU PROFIT BEFORE IT HITS THAT STOP LOSS
this is another way to trade

but it does depend on a person’s style

my point is
you can’t blindly say that this is a bad strategy based on the basics of Risk to Reward
because Risk to Reward is more than RISK and REWARD, because the RISK component is more than just STOP LOSS it also incorporates STATISTICAL PROBABILITY OF OUTCOME. anyway …

my point simply was
if you have a larger account balance and a smaller lot size with a reasonably placed Stop Loss, you are relatively safe
as opposed to starting with a $400 account
that’s all i was saying there

189

WestBam
granted i’ve only been here a few days after a few years break from here,
but,
i personally read what a person has posted to me and i read what i have said and what they have said and what’s relevant,

i don’t generally read the entire post
but i do do some background history reading to understand what they are trying to say.

1 Like
190

Whack Attack
Exactly

a Classic Beginner mistake
They assume that there is only form of RISK MANAGEMENT

there are in fact a few forms of Risk Management

i believe the first level of Risk management should be
EDUCATE YOURSELF TO AVOID MORE LOSS LATER ON.

the 2nd level is…
DO NOT PUT DOWN REAL MONEY UNTIL YOU HAVE LEARNED HOW TO PLAY THE GAME TO A POINT WHERE YOU CAN GENERATE SOME SORT OF CONSISTENT PROFIT

all the rest of it, comes after these 2, and that’s before you even place a single trade down

191

You can trade with 100$, it’s a good start. But you won’t be able to make your living with such deposit. You can start with this sum to gain experience and get good profit later.

192

Ok Martin, I just queried why you stated it was a MATHEMATICAL CERTAINTY - If you can’t demonstate why that would be - I’ll move on,

But later in your new post, you start talking about “Statistical Maths” - I’ll not even bother asking you to explain that one :slight_smile:

All the best mate :sunglasses:

193

Falstaff
don’t misunderstand me.

i know you just queried, and that’s fine, it’s not a problem.
i didn’t mean to give you the impression that i was going to enter into complex mathematics and statistics.

i can demonstrate it, but , honestly , it’s takes a very bloody long time , and i’m not prepared to invest the time, i believe it’s enough for me to tell you that it’s a certainty that if you start with an amount like $400 you will lose, now. if you don’t believe me and need proof, feel free to try and disprove me by taking $400 and trying to make a few thousand from it continuously over a period of a few months. but, chances are it won’t happen. as for Statistical maths, i was just saying Stop loss incorporates a statistical likelyhood of whether it will get hit or not depending on it’s placement . but yeah, if you were expecting calculations … hehe, No, thats not what i meant, i’m not going to do that, you can get into it if you like , i’ve been there, it’s boring and tedious. but do understand that you have buckleys chance as a beginner. that aside, yeah… let’s move on

194

Ok Martin, we have a Saying in poker that as long as you have “a chip and a chair” you can win the tournament - It’s not likely - But t IS mathematically possible given a few lucky breaks !

So I was intrigued that it is not mathematically possible to trade a $400 account successfuly and being a “Learnin’ lad” I was hoping for to be edificated :slight_smile:

Apparently that was a bit of an exaggeration.

As for trying to achieve your newly modified challenge to return several thousand percent in a matter of months, I’m sure we all know that is not at all likely as your risk profile would have to be almost suicidal.

For most on here, just having the same account balance after a year of trading as you had going in, is a huge challenge, whatever your account size.

Especially so if you’re a newbie, when just having Anything left in an account after trading it for a year is quite a big success !

195

@Falstaff, don’t encourage perfect traders bro.

1 Like
196

Falsaff

  1. i didn’t say Several thousand Percent, i said Several thousand Dollars

  2. treating trading like poker is not a place to start

  3. we need to define SUCCESSFULLY in order for me to answer that

simply stated though
i’m suprised that this has become a complicated topic

this is simple… if , as a beginner you start with a low balance , it is very very highly likely you will blow your account.
i’m not sure why this is difficult to understand

197

@_bob I think you’re right mate :sunglasses: