Don’t confuse knowledge with arrogance, or luck. The reason that most people trade is because they’re looking for something and think that trading will give it to them or get them closer to whatever it is they want. The reason more traders fail than reach success whatever the percent, is the simply the traders approach to trading. Success or failure in most cases simply depends on the decisions you make; based on the facts you gathered; the options you have; and which obe of the least of the evils you picked.
Everything in life is gambling including the 5% winners and 95% loser number everyone likes to throw around. Smoking diets, investing, driving walking etc. from your first breath to your last it’s all some type of gambling. All you can do is try to give yourself a better chance at the outcome you’re looking for, where there is no guarantee of the outcome.
Just because a trader, goes through babypip school, participates in the forums, follows the advice of first: crawling, then walking, then running, then racing by making a trading plan that operates with good money management and is executed with patience and discipline doesn’t mean that trader will be successful: and on the other side, just because a trader skips through babypips, opens a live account for $100 takes the biggest leverage and trades maximum lots with the plan of doubling until bankroll reaches $50,000 doesn’t guarantee failure.
What you want to do is decide which trading strategy do think will be more profitable in the long run one or two. While you could shoot from the hip and make your pick based on what someone you know now says, or facts and figures that are not easily proven, the weather, the clouds, etc. but a successful trader would make their decision based on the relevant facts, available options and then pick the least of the evils as the decision relates to them.
And yes you can learn successful trading from others both Traders and Non Traders. Most successful people want to give back to the community where their success came from. You see people who were born and raised in a ghetto, go back to try and help make life better for those are where he/she once was. Doctors who go and work somewhere for free, when they could practice anywhere. You may think the world is made up of selfish arrogant people but they are the minority not majority they may be just louder. As well one big reason that successful anything are cautious about giving back is they know that at the end of the day, the true killer is wasted time. Wasted time is one of the only things you can’t get back and you must guard against it.
You are right about finding your own edge. In most cases to be successful that’s true. What you need to make sure when you do that, that you are addressing it the right way.
First you need to have a very strong foundation of forex knowledge. Then you need to practice, practice practice, and tweak as you go building your edge, based on your ingpersonality, financial what you want to achieve and living situations. There’s nothing wrong with you accepting a fish from someone, as long as you take the time and effort to learn how to fish for yourself. Anyway good luck
Gp
True, there are 2 ways actually of trading forex, and all other instruments also, not just forex:
The hard long work with low risk and low but steady rewards
The quick money with high risk but a 1 shot plan of making cash at all costs
This one is the classical way, learn the basics, the BP school pretty much covers them all, and then open a demo and figure out yourself nice trading situations probably on PRICE ACTION, trend lines , divergences, breakouts, trend following systems mixed with fundamentals and news trading, all this classical stuff.
Trading this style will 100% give you profit, but not that much as you might seek, this is a long term investment, like 10-15%/month which i certainly find too little, but its safe atleast.Warren Bufett and the other big guys did this, they started with 1000$ or probably more and watched it grow into billions.But it certainly took him his entire lifetime to reach his wealth.
This way is not that classical and its high risk so its not recommended for beginners.I certainly like this way more than the previous.This one consists of statistically modeling the market, like i do, and trying to find an edge, you know that +50% wherever i can and make more like a gambling system on it
This is what i do, i program an EA which calculated certain probabilities of certain trading situations and only takes high probability trades.But since i do this for like 1 year now, it still couldnt find any edge in the market, you know why, because of the spread.The spread always unbalances my perfect mathematical models of trading, so that means that even if i find the ultimate most holy grail system of this type, it will inevitably fail at some point, which is ok, i mean nothing lasts forever, now the goal is to make that failing factor less than 0.0001% so that i would not live to see my system fail. I dont know how many trades an individial takes in his entire lifetime but i guess with 0.00001% risk even if he fails, by withdrawing 75% of your cash at the end of each month will certainly save your from that desaster.
You maybe think that im a fool by using this system but its just my style, im too impatient to trade the classical way but i`m good at statistical math and because the numbers never lie, i find this method more suitable for me
[B]Btw. Both strategies can make you bilionairre, so its just a difference of taste![/B]
Great post :60: and a perfect example of making a decision.(Ill make it quick)To use a ea or not
Fact
1.has the knowledge required to make a program for EA,
2.impatient
3.good at statical math
Options:
1.trade with mechanical system
2.trade using an ea
3.have someone else do my trading
4. quit trading
Evils
use mechanical
design an ea
quit trading
let someone else do my trading
Based on what we know, I think the decision that would put the balance of probablities on his side is to design and use an ea. Test and tweak for x time period and see if he made a good decision or not
True, but i would like to point out that i use my own programmed EA’s not prebuild commercial ones with who knows what code lurking inside of them.Not that i say that commercial ones are not good, some of them are probably good, but the thing is that so many scammers are out there, its just hard to trust them.And like paying 1000$ for one is just not my style.
What i do is i build my own EA, if you are not a programmer then you hire one, and let them make your EA, but the emphasis is not really on the EA, its on the system/strategy.The EA’s advantage is only 1000x quicker execution of orders and maximal discipline by not hesitating, no greed ,fear, SL widening,etc like humans do.It executes its preprogrammed algorithms as it is.But if its not programmed on a good system then it will suck, no matter how precise is.So the emphasis should be first to find a good system, and then you automate it, before that dont even dream about leaning back on your chair and let the bot get the money for you, its a lot of hard work till then.
So here is how i view a lifetime of a succesful trader from novice to success:
[ol]
[li]Find FOREX
[/li][li]Learn the basics
[/li][li]Join a forex community
[/li][li]See how and what other peoples do, ask some tips from them
[/li][li]Open a demo account
[/li][li]Start trading demo by using your basic knowledge, and if you fail, find why you did and correct yourself
[/li][li]When you already tasted the marked and learned its behaviours learn a few advanced tehniques too
[/li][li]With all your current knowledge its time to build up a system
[/li][li]Test the system for atleast 3-4 months
[/li][li]Fix the problems with the system, if any
[/li][li]If the system is consistently bringing good profit, then you test it again with other pairs too
[/li][li]Open a real account
[/li][li]Since a real account experience will be different you must learn this last ingredient of trading too: “discipline”
[/li][li]Now that you made good money with your system for quite a while , time to automate it
[/li][li]Automate the system, either you program it or hire some1 to do it
[/li][li]Carefully backtest and forward test your system on demo with several brokers because of spread problems
[/li][li]Forward test it again just to be sure
[/li][li]Put the EA on real account and let it run, but monitorize carefully it since you might never know…
[/li][li]And thats it total succes, you now probably have a billion dollars
[/li][/ol]
Im currently at step 10 even after 1 year of trading, but ive skipped a few steps and also in the progress of already building EA’s
Sorry to intervene, but I have a dilemma about how you test an EA based on the strategy you figured out. In fact it’s about how do you know that THAT strategy is good enough ?
By the time you’ll be sure it is good, you will possess so many skills and competences that you will beat any other EA in the world month by month.
Either you program every strategy in an EA and do huge backtests,like i do.Or backtest it manually, there is a guy on youtube that has a great tutorial how to manually backtest strategies.Either way you must find a strategy first, thats the first step, and then you can do anything with it.If you choose to stay manual forever fine, for high timeframes its acceptable, but for [B]intraday[/B] trading it think an EA is way better in every aspect of trading than a human.
Ok, but dont expect 999999999999$ in 1 day, even if you have the quickest and best system available it will still take you 1-2 years atleast (in total including the learning phase) to get a proper income.
Hey Call, you are young, I’m, like the French say, of a certain age, if trading is your goal then good, but I’m sure you know that this business is full of a ‘certain type’, a type that are very willing and able to take your money from you.
Pity you missed Ilovepizza, he was legend and some are hoping he will do a Arnold Schwarzenegger, though he can be like the mist that covers the meadows of Ireland, suddenly it disappears.
Now if you want to learn how to really trade then this thread - look out for banker’s posts: (I know he’s banned but maybe because he tells it like he sees it)
Then look out for some of the other old timers here, they are becoming a diminishing few, but some spring to mind, Simon Templar, Clint, Master Tang, R.Carter, Petefader, aha, my memory is now not as good as it was.
I’m just a regular guy, I failed school, I failed life, I failed everything. It all started when I broke my foot when I was younger, it became a problem to me later in life, I couldn’t presist as good as other in the same job criteria so they fired me, because they wanted someone who could presist better than me. I’m sorry for writing this to you I know most likely you dont care as we all have our own problems to take care of ;(
No one does, I’m just a poor loner, My friends left me after my pockets were empty, True friends aye? I have struggled I want to help my father hes getting old, he cant work on forever to support my family, I try and I Cry everytime I sleep I just want to help, I see him in the eyes, he dosent want to show me he has a hardtime, he smiles at me, I look at him, I just cant hold it in, I go back into my room and just sit down and cry, I have thought about suicide but what will that help? It will only make them suffer more, it breaks my heart everytime my mother looks in the mail and see this new dress she wants, but cant afford because she has to put food on the table, I would do anything to recive your help, you can take what you want from what I make each month in %, I just want to help them, I just want to give them a smile, be able to buy them gifts, be able to help them. Everyone dies at the end, its all about the moments. That later in life will make you cry in happiness, So I go down on my knees, and beg you to open the doors for me, I will never forget your help, Never in my life. I’m in tears right now writing this you probablly wont belive me, I dont say you must either, but if you feel somewhere in your heart, that you can help this guy, please do so, and sorry for writing this long text, thank you for reading, and sorry about my english, I try to improve everyday.
As much as I would like to believed you’re story, I have so many doubt about what you are saying…
A frugal woman ( mother) knows that a new dress is just a dress. Sure she would like to have a new and brand names one but she knows she can get those dresses on a sale rack ( exp. Goodwill or Salvation Army? Marshall’s- maybe?)
A true life survival warrior does’nt cry like the way you put into words like this. Only if people asked them to or they want to relate with someone who have the same situation at they are. They are out there putting their A game, work hard, and won’t let other people put them down. They are full of motivation and encouragement behind them because they don’t want to be broke for the rest of their lives and any pain, life struggle that they have had experience are using it as a tool to work harder than before. A true warrior doesn’t care what other people think of him/ her even if he/ she knows that some people are judgmental about life status or what not. He/ she thinks that those people who are judgmental are the one who have problems not him/her…that’s why it doesn’t affect him at all so therefore he keeps going and do the best as he can…Learn, study how trading works day and night while still holding a full time job and still have a life with family and friends…
So, are you a warrior or a whiner? Asked that question to your own self…
The internet is full of wonderful characters, many of whom “like to write, love to read, and have an active imagination, and a wry sense of humor”
See, the good thing is that some of us that are of a certain age are also good with computers, 2 seconds and we can figure out an answer, then we let on we are kinda dozy - like grandpa Simpson.
So too my avatar, it is called Binnian, it is a castle from where a king reigned, he could see the past, look into the future and feel the present.
He wasn’t easily fooled, but he invited all who wanted to see what he could see to come to his mountain, recently I stood on his threshold … in search of …
Well it’s good to have a “variety of characters” around. Could be boring if we don’t have anything in the mixed but as long as keeping it balance though…