I have already posted on this thread but I will post again…
The question was…“Is it possible to make a living from forex”
My answer is…Yes. I do already!! 
Hi man, before start trading with real money you have to be sure that you are prepared for this. Be sure you have read enough literature for forex trading - at least the materials from Babypips school section. I can recommend you also a book named Cooking in the Forex - pretty good for beginners. As you have read a lot open a demo account and start trading and learning. Trade on your demo account at least 3 months. My advice is to choose a couple of brokers with different platforms and try their platforms and execution. You should try MT4 and compare with other platforms to see which one is better for you. For example I personally like Delta Trading platform of my broker Deltastock because it has both level 2 and fixed spreads which is perfect for my trading style.
Actually there’s a lot of things to read and learn before start trading with real money if you don’t want to lose them in a blink.
Wish you success in reading and practicing 
I think it is possible as long as you have discipline and wait for good opportunities. Fx can be a vital component for all trading strategies.
Do you literally stare at a wall for 20 minutes? It is blank? What color is the wall? Is there music in the backround? Do you use a timer?
Or do you mean something else?
Thanks.
-Prop
I’d like to rephrase the question.
My perspective is that trading is a branch of investing. Investing is a branch of money management. Money management is the key.
As we used to say here on babypips, trading is a business. Successful businesses have business plans. And I’d like to approach the question from a business plan point of view, as much precise as possible.
First the assumptions, then the questions.
Assumptions:
-you mastered your money management skills: you know exactly how much money you have and your cash flow dynamics in/out
-you are fully aware of your trading personality: you know how many trades you like to make daily/weekly/monthly
-you know exactly your target: on a daily/weekly/monthly basis, achieve a profit to cover your fixed expense, to afford a night out wine and dine, to buy a new yatch, you name it (broker’s costs included)
-you already re-designed your lifestyle to trade keeping your funny daily job
Bottom line, you know that you are going to invest a percentage p of your investing capital P in order to gain in a time frame of X days/weeks/months a total profit of T with t trades per day/weeks/months.
Now, whathever the numbers are, is it reasonable to plan how many pips per trade you must look for?
And, to the experienced ones, is a number like 300 pips per trading session feasable or a regular basis?
I hope I was clear.
Cheers
Tiger
No, it is not reasonable to plan the number of pips per trade to look for. The market determines how many pips you get out of a trade, not some arbitrary number you pick out of the air.
I can’t answer the second question, because it depends on how you’re trading. If you’re trading daily charts you’ll never come close to 300 pips per day, but if you’re scalping 5M charts all day long you could get over 300 pips.
Why does it matter anyway? A pip is meaningless when it comes to goals or success in the forex market. A pip has no set value, it’s just a distance on a chart. 300 pips could be less than a dollar, or more than a million. And a guy that makes 20 pips per day can be making way more money than a guy that makes 300 pips.
It’s like asking how many hours per week you need to work to make a living. 40 hours per week at McDonald’s will get you a few hundred dollars, but 5 hours doing brain surgery will get you thousands.
All hours are not created equal, and it’s the same with pips.
Exactly. If I got it correct from the Babypips school, the value of a pip is made out the type of account, your margins, the size of your trade.
My point was, once you’ve set all these variables, then you can know how much a pip is worthy (I’m thinking ‘Margin Calls: Example of a Forex Currency Trading Margin Call’).
One of the first obstacle pointed out in this thread was the undercapitalization. So when you start I guess you better know if you are undercapitalized and how much.
What I’m saying is: when you know how much you can invest, spend, trade on each positions, you know how much you want to gain (in amount of pips) to call it a day.
I guess risk/reward ratio is necessary to set your target. What I’m attempting is to define beforehand how your target is towards your planned goal. At least to decide your next step.
To keep your metaphor, you want to prevent as much as you can, you want to know if trading for 5 hours and imaging different scenario it is like doing brain surgey or waiting tables.
Consider that I never trade before. Only now I’m playing around with some backtesting and I would like to find the most profitable approach to enter the trading game steady. I also like to break down everything in numbers if possible. So I just try, for the fun of discussion, to flip around some point of views. Is it possible to make a living? What is, in number, ‘to make a living’?
Cheers
Tiger
Tiger Livermore…mhmmm…I like that “nick” of yours
It implies aspirations IMHO
Perhaps you should get your feet wet and see what the Market Gods have in store for you…
A demo account would be a point to start IMHO.
Trading with a demo account will show you very quickly if that approach of yours is workable and sustainable.
Yes, I do.
Full lotus position.
My eyes half closed…one arm length distance from the wall, my back straight and my head not tilted.
It is a white wall, no music and I do use a timer.
I do it before going to bed and immediately after I get out of bed.
I have been doing this for many years now. If I don’t do it I feel ill.
Tiger
I see Phil838 is in here, so I’ll tread lightly. Hi Phil, we havn’t crossed swords recently. :D:D:D
300 pips a day is way over the top! A pro trader would consider 100 pips in any day a [B]VERY GOOD DAY[/B]!
I would suggest you dont set a target at all. Much better to focus on entering good probability set ups and see where they take you. Even consistant small gains will build an account.
Can you make a living trading FX? Sure can! But I would suggest investing around a month snooping around all the threads on this forum. There are some outstanding contributions on all aspects of FX trading on this site, sprinkled with a few poor ones.
Unless you have a very large initial investment. The only way to make a ‘living’ is by compounding up an account. It takes dedication to build say a $1k into big figures, but it can be done.
Well you see, Some one can tell me that I can’t build the pyramids but guess what, they exist. The didn’t fall from the sky, other people built them.
I can build a PC but the guy next door can’t and if I were to give him the right education and tools he would be able to at the end.
I’m a newbie myself in the forex world and with the right education and tools a was able the turn $100.00 into $1500.00 in about 4 months scalping 5 trades a day. Didn’t do any high risk trades and of cause I didn’t win every trade.
At the moment I’m making a 15 point range a day which makes me $50. I have 20 trading days a month and I’m living from that at the moment.
It is not as easy as it sounds but hey, I rather be glued to my PC and make my own money than to be glued to my bosses ass all day for the rest of my life.
For those that said “NO” you all are just a bunch of failures that want to be spoon fed and don’t want to work hard for yourselves and that’s why your boss LOVES you.
One last thing… When you are starting your own business you don’t earn the first day you started. I the beginning, you have to be the first to arrive and the last to leave. In the beginning, things don’t just flow easily. The richest people in the world took them years to get themselves to where they are today.
Do research, practice everyday (I recommend), and remember, don’t think that you are going to get a signal every second trade after trade
And remember, Your teacher can’t teach you everything…
I have a ? about signal services. First of all what is the advantage of doing this yourself vs a signal service. After all are not the signal services smarter becasue your relying on someone who has been doing this forever and that person is a professional. And if so, can someone make a living using a service only provided they can find a good on. I guess the signal service would take the fun out of the business. Thanks for any answers.
Good One! You took the words right out of my lips!!!
K right Mr. Professional… Mr Many Years…
There was a time I was questioning myself based on a religious aspect. Alot of people had alot to say to but at the end I made a decision that today I don’t regret at all. I didn’t make it because because the blue team won. I made that decision because of the signs. I was looking for something and I found “Him”.
“Can you make a living from trading” That was a question I once asked and as usual “the blue team” had alot to say. At the end I made a choice. I worked really hard and I must say I deserve it. I make the best out of my trades and you can say it’s some sort of signal service or what ever. It’s my trades, my analysis, my what ever else comes after wards. I’m working towards sharing my techniques with others who were once or who are like me.
You are a Professional right? Why don’t you share atleast something with the newbies. It will mean alot to them just like it did to me. It really helps to put a smile and hope to someone else’s face…
I don’t think you understood his question…
He was asking if it was better to use a signal service, because they are professionals.
Personally, I don’t think signal services do anyone much good other than themselves.
They look at one chart, you’re looking at another.
They look at one time frame, you’re looking at another.
I watch the calls by some pros. I have yet to see one that is reliable. They hit some right here and there, but it’s at best a mixed bag. I’ll study by charts, and take my own lumps, it’s easier to look in the mirror for someone to blame;)
You are right, I misunderstood his question… My bad. I don’t know of any signal services that professionals use. (if that answers the question) I do some drawings of my own on the chart. I know some currencies that move the same direction and opposite so what ever move I make, it will be for those others too. My advice, stay away from oscillators. In my experience they don’t work. Unless someone knows how to modify them to the core.
I wish all you traders out there the best of the best. And to the newbies, always keep your head up…
You are right, I misunderstood his question… My bad. I don’t know of any signal services that professionals use. (if that answers the question) I do some drawings of my own on the chart. I know some currencies that move the same direction and opposite so what ever move I make, it will be for those others too. My advice, stay away from oscillators. In my experience they don’t work. Unless someone knows how to modify them to the core if that will help.
I wish all you traders out there the best of the best. And to the newbies, always keep your head up…
Sorry if anyone misunderstood my ?. I am still in the newbie phase. I guess the best way to ask is to use an example. My grandfather, god rest his soul, was very wealthy he made most of his money in stocks and he had a broker handle his account. He always told me it was better to have a professional handle your account, becasue that’s what they go to school for…if your sick you go to a dr…ect ect…that is why i asked the ?. thanks guys D
As in all trading, you could have 2 traders put on exactly the same trade, signal service or trading room it doesn’t matter where the info comes from, one trader could profit and the other lose. It’s all down to trading psychology and if you can stick to your plan. I hope you do plan your trades.
Did he get riches YES, was he perhaps the best trader ever? In my opinion no, he was a gambler, how else can you explain being worth 3million, loosing it all then getting to a stagering 100million only to loose it all again?