I'm doing Great! - HELP!

Hey guys,

I am not trying to boast or brag or make myself look like a fool - I really would like some real experienced people to check out what I am doing and give me their input. I have experimented with the Forex scene for a few months and feel that I am onto something, but I have nobody to compare it with to know what or “how” I am doing. As far as I know, I’m doing well.

I’m relatively new to the Forex scene, learning how to use bollingerbands, MACD, etc… - I’ve played with the simulators for a few months and have had, what I would consider a substantial success with a particular currency pair and style.

From what I understand, what I am doing is technically considered, “Scalping” - however, from what I am doing, I am able to be successful at the majority of my trades. I win most - and I lose few - but so far, my gains outweigh the losses. I am realistic in that respect ( can’t win every time)

For example, I started a Micro or Mini account, had $175 in the account- fooled around and now have around $1000 from my trades in 30 days, applying my newfound approach. Most of my trades don’t last for more than 2 minutes - some last seconds or even in the 5-10 minute range, but it moves very fast. For example, out of 30 trades, 7 will be minor losses while the rest will be positive, or “in the green”

I end up doing anywhere from 1 trade to 12 trades a day ( only if the condition is right for me, otherwise I don’t get greedy and trade) and will clear anywhere from 10 to 200+ pips per day. It just depends - I am in no rush and stick to my method.

Since I am still learning and testing what seems to work for me, at this point I only trade small lot amounts - like .2, .4, .8 - sometimes, .15, 20 or 30 if I feel confident in its movement. I understand that I am not trading what you more experienced traders are doing.

On these small ammounts I will usually make anywhere from $8, $19, $28, $38 and so on… some of the trades that I do on the smaller lots will bring in under $5 - However, I am doing the small ammounts. I have figured that I am growing my money from 48% - 63% per week consistantly.

I fooled around with my approach and on a few “larger” trades and brought in $150 - $300 per trade which is encouraging and fun - however what I am doing is still considered scalping I think, since the trades are quick, 30 seconds to a couple of minutes at best.

[B]Here are my problems/ Questions:[/B]

  1. My broker/company that I am using doesn’t allow “scalping” - they say that if the trade is under 2-3 minutes, it is considered “scalping” - however I have been doing this successfully over a month now without any notice from them telling me to stop. Are they waiting for me to make alot of $$ and then not let me have it? I have heard of that happening before.

  2. I would like to continute my approach with larger ammount which will result in larger more consistant profits -I need to find a broker that has Tick chart for the exotic currency pairs [B]and[/B] will not penalize me for making a trade in under 3 minutes. Anyone know of a broker that will allow this??

I really appreciate someone that actually has experience to give me their input. I have read alot of posts on other forums where people say things like "oh scalping is bad - you make no money, blah blah " well, my concept is that if I apply my approach with a “regular” ammount, I will not be making the $20 here - $40 there, I will be clearing over $200 each trade - so I am not sure if this changes things or not.

I appreciate the input guys!!!

Thank you in advanced!!

7

I scalp 5min IB’s and also watch ticks…

Use Ninja Trader, I use forex.com/GAIN feed as I don’t have an ECN bank feed.

Change your broker to an ECN if a MM that allows scalping, Oanda and FXCM are MM’s and do allow scalping but you will run into slippage and manip

Hello,

Well: it certainly does not sound like you’re having PROBLEMS i.e. you’re making money so where’s the problem??? Well done. Whatever you’re doing is obviously working FOR YOU and that’s great.

To answer your QUESTIONS though:

(Let me first say that I do not ‘scalp’ although I HAVE on occasion tried it with disastrous results)!!!

I DO know that at one of my brokers: I have instant execution up to a certain lot size / amount. After that: the trade has to go through the dealing desk and sometimes those orders can take quite some time to fill. Now this is not a problem for me i.e. a couple of points (pips) here or there don’t worry me at all (requotes) but in order to ‘scalp’ successfully I think you need ‘every last pip’ and if your orders are not instantly executed especially when you’re ‘shooting’ for a small amount of gain in points (pips) this could spell disaster. Maybe it’s only when you start trading with sizeable lots that you’re going to find out that your current broker doesn’t allow ‘scalping’ and I don’t even know how you’d be able to verify this without actually trading a sizeable amount to find out i.e. they’re probably not going to tell you and, of course, a demo account will ALWAYS work.

Regarding the ‘exotics’: I don’t know of a broker that offers tick charts for the ‘exotics’ so I cannot help you out there. One thing you need to be aware of though: ‘exotics’ normally have VERY big spreads (GBP/ZAR for instance is normally in the region of +500 pips). Now I trade pairs like this but again: I’m ‘in it’ for a longer period so it makes little difference to me. How one would ‘scalp’ a pair with a spread of +500 pips I do not know (but then I assume that, because you’re asking about the ‘exotics’, you already know the spreads).

But hey: I have no idea how long you’ve been trading (and you only have one post here so far) but if you can manage to CONSISTENTLY make the gains that you are making AND HOLD ON TO THEM then WELL DONE!!!

Regards,

Dale. (forexbrokersonline.net).

Dale - Thank you very much for your opinion and input!!! I value anything ya’ll tell me about this and appreciate your thoughts!!

Well, I’ve been trading for about 6 months now and have had no success with the major pairs, like the EUR/USD, USD/JPY and so forth…great money when you have a good trade, but no luck (or skill) for me.

It seems everyone wants to deal in those major pairs (and for good reason I admit) but when I do, I just get flat killed. I try to apply MACD, Bollinger bands, etc…and its usually a failure most of the time.

In the past 2 months I have applied my “system” and discipline (- I hate that term “system”…sounds cheesy and sales-like, but that is really what it has become) The discipline of it is hard since I get anxious over my repetitive success and the tendency to get greedy is there - but if I stick to it, like clockwork, it works out with great success and [B]I have the reports to show for it.[/B]
I guess you would say that I am scalping the “tick” chart - that is the only thing I seem to be good at at this point.

This word, “Scalping” seems to be so negative - I don’t understand what the problem is with jumping in and out of a trade to make money - if I make $290 in 8 seconds or 8 minutes or 2 hours - what is the real problem??? Is the nature of this Forex game to make several thousands of dollars on the 15 minute chart??? I don’t get it. What is considered to be a “normal” or “good” trade - I have nothing to compare it too other than reading bad feedback on “scalping” ( bear in mind im still learning )

What is a “normal” trade? what is an average if any??

I guess MY problem is that my broker is going to tell me that “technically” since my trades are under 2 minutes, they can penalize me. - eventhough I made them and myself some money in the process. It would seem like a good thing to me if I were the broker.

If I were using larger ammount of money, I guess i’d be “scalping” $200+ every trade - but I am really, really afraid that when i go to withdraw the money, they are going to say, “sorry - you are scalping! No soup for you!”

For me right now, it seems super-difficult to [B]find a opportunity [/B]in a currency pair [B]that requires [/B]several hours or many minutes to ride out - till the trade results to frutition - thus, closing the position on profit. I seem to be good to find a opportunity that only lasts a few seconds to minutes at best. Crapola!

I found a broker that has a 15 pip spread instead of the 30 pip spread that I am dealing with now [B]but[/B] they use the MT4 trader software - my hangup is that they don’t have tick by tick charts… I really, really need that in order to keep up what Im doing. The broker is called Tadawulfx…looks good but I need that tick. :frowning:

I think it was Oanda that has the USD/TRY & USD/ZAR spread but only let’s you trade it under certian hours -

Balto - do you know of an ECN that I can use for this???

Anyother brokers or ECN services?? It would seem that with so many different people, styles and opinions on Forex, there would be a strong segment of scalping traders than it is.

You don’t need to use the charting software that the broker gives you to trade with your broker… I’m not sure about the crazy pairs though but I chart E/U on forex.com feed and trade it on FXCM & Oanda

As far as ECN’s go it all depends on how much capital you have, I reccomend searching but a few I can name off my head are

EFX/MBT
IB
FXDD
ADM
Dukascopy

not sure if they carry your pair though, make sure you are opening an account though at the professional/institutional level with some and make sure the platform you are using with them is a verified ecn/institutional feed

Ok guys - I did it again… Except I traded ALOT more than usual - I did 40,000 from my mini-account.

I [B]shorted[/B] the trade, set my stops and limits, set my alerts for the move. It lasted for 7 minutes and 37 seconds based strictly on the tick chart:

Open: 1.5678 @ 10:30:52pm

Close: 1.5639 @ 10:37:15pm

Lot P/L 39

Profit from trade $99.75

  • Does this look “OK” or normal to you guys??? Am I getting screwed? ( I would like to get a better spread instead of the 30 pip spread they are giving me)

After a month of doing the same thing over and over, I’ve got the courage to use larger ammounts to trade with eventhough I have a mini-account.

When you are scalping on the tick chart you will notice that different pairs have similar PA but they also are very different, they have their own attitudes. But I’m sorry that I can’t help here I have no idea how your pair behaves, its bad enough trying to watch how one pair behaves lol.

Balto, thank you very much for your opinion! (I don’t mean to be ignorant but what does PA stand for?)

What pair was that if you don’t mind me asking?

Regards,

Dale. (forexbrokersonline.net).

Dale - I am sorry, it is for USD/TRY.

Alot of people don’t seem to really be interested in that pair from what I read in the forums and such…not sure why.

No problem.

I think there are two reasons why people are not interested in the ‘exotics’:

The first reason if because most ‘schools of thought’ say to only trade the majors because of their liquidity.

The second reason, as I mentioned before, are the spreads (but again: that’s of no concern to me and evidently not to you either).

Now I’ve done some work on this before and what few people realise is that pairs like USD/TRY, USD/RON, USD/RUB, USD/ZAR, GBP/ZAR, EUR/ZAR and EUR/RON spend far LESS time trading in a range and consolidating.

The one big DRAWBACK is that if the trade goes against you on any of these pairs you’re looking at far bigger losses than you’d incur on the major pairs given the same lot size.

Anyway: from what you’re telling us you’re ‘doing good’ so keep it up and good trading.

Regards,

Dale. (forexbrokersonline.net).

I see what you mean by the losses compaired to the lot size - that is a good point.

What I think I will do it continue to learn and study a major pair while I am doing this.

Would you have any suggestions on a major pair?? I notice some favor different pairs for different reasons.

GBP/JPY is a ‘good bang for buck’ and (I’m guessing here) because of its volatility could very well suit what it sounds like you’re doing.

Just remember one thing: if whatever you’re doing is working for YOU then it’s ‘right’ i.e. there is no ‘right way and wrong way’ to do things. Sure: there are a few ‘common basics’ but no single person has all the answers I don’t (or should I say I no longer) believe (there was a time when I thought that I had all the answers and oddly enough: THAT was when I STARTED trading and knew NOTHING)!!! The most important test of ANY method or system is to be able to hold on to gains consistently over a period. If someone can accomplish that while sitting upside down with one hand behind their back and both eyes closed and singing ‘God Save The Queen’ through there ‘a*se’ while placing orders with the other foot: then that person has a method or system that works FOR THEM and that’s all that should count FOR THEM.

Regards,

Dale. (forexbrokersonline.net).

7, what broker are you using right now?

It’s a nice bunch of guys in Cyprus called ForexYard. (not regulated)

I hope I am not making a mistake by posting this. :slight_smile:

If anything goes wrong with me withdrawing some money, I will be switching to another broker/ecm tomorrow - I have a call in the morning from another company.

Its short for price action, sorry about the late reply

Hello! I just joined this forum. I�m a beginner here, you�ve some advices about a particular currency to trade by this week?
Jess :slight_smile:

Well that’s a great way to kill the life expectency of my subject post… kinda like walking up to a crowd of people in the middle of a conversation and changing the subject.

Man i tell ya! ( in good humor folks…)

Well, I downloaded Ninja Trader, connected to AMPfutures - for some reason I cannot get the tick charts to work. I can see the line chart, but it doesnt move with the market.

I contacted MB Trading and having got it connected yet…

any opinions fellas?

BY the way, i put in a request for a withdraw, we shall see.

7

Does it work with increments other than tick? second, min, hour?

I don’t have an account with them so I cannot connect my NT to their feed. Make sure you have the correct account login info and that it is with the correct type live/demo.

OK, cool!!

I found another company to use for my trading, I’m going to be using them for now.

Thanks for all the help fellas, I really appreciate it.

I hope to annoy ya’ll with further information and questions!!