Hello, i’ve been on forex demo for over a year and without consistent profits.Make profits this week, and loose all the next week. Is there hope for me at all?
David
i was in that situation, but i never blew an account in demo. 
i thunk the problem is over trading, try to get a bit jealous with ur demo money, and take a trade only whn u feel (i mean really feel) its worth it.
i just went live today, but before then, my demo improved very well.
tell u what, look for one indicator…(lets say fibs…) just one, use it, study it and enter/exit the market based on it, try to see the market through its eyes and befor u know it, you will be in you way to really understand the market as a whole.
rgds.
Trade in demo just like you would in real account, and to know what trading in real feels like, open one with minimal funds to experiment. You will see how different it is, every little profit you make you will want to take it and run.
There is hope if you truly believe the light is at the end of the tunnel. Seems to me your problem is money managment.How much are you risking per trade?How often do you trade? What is your strike rate (how often a winning trade).
Finally you need to learn when to step back and not trade, sometimes the best trade is no trade especially after 5 losing trades
Discipline and money management is key, it will keep you in the game longer…
Here is a link that I use to help me lower my risk exposure
A very good tool to use, will be using it myself from now on.
I’m sorry you feel that way. If it makes you feel any better, a lot of people trade live for a few months and basically, lose a lot of real money. I’m in the midst of it. So, you’re one of the smart ones. Losing money demo trading isn’t so bad. It often happens that if you persist and work even harder just when you feel like giving up that you will then start making some real progress.
Do you keep a trading journal? This has helped me in realizing where I tend to make mistakes. I try to record every trade I make in this journal, including my entries, exits, stops, reasons, as well as reviews of the trades.
Another thing that has helped me is slowing down. I took a two week break recently after some tremendous losses. When I thought that I couldn’t do it anymore, I pushed myself to make one small trade. Once that was successful, I stepped back so that I could take in what I had done right and what I could have done better.
Give yourself more time in between each trade. If you usually do 10 trades in a day, cut it down to 1 or 2 so that you can have time to assess what is really going on in the market. I know the feeling of being in a rush to start showing profits, but it is necessary to think a trade through.
Someone else suggested looking at weekly charts and only using those until you are able to make a relatively consistent profit. I think focusing on only one strategy and only one currency pair and really testing it out for a few weeks gives you a greater idea of what you are doing wrong.
Looking at the CFTC Commitment of Traders reports has also been very helpful. Do a Google search on the different ways you can use these reports. It’s also important to look at the economic calendar so that you don’t get trapped in a trade due to a new report.
And if I really feel down, I listen to Steve Croft’s Mind of A Trader podcast, which is [B]free[/B] on iTunes.
Good luck!
Thank you very much for this wealth of advice. I will work on all that has been said. Mayb i need to spend more time watching the charts and see how prices move.
David
There is some very good advice here suggesting some of the things that may be wrong. I would add that sometimes a mentor (a successful trader who is prepared to teach you) can make a huge difference (its finding one thats difficult). Secondly this may not be for you. It is an important question to ask. It stands to reason that the vast majority for whatever reason (usually psychological) are not cut out for this kind of endeavour
could someone explain how to use the money management calculator? thanks!
Look at it this way: it’s only demo money. Just practice and something good should happen
You would have to post whichever calculator you are using for direct advice. Essentially though they are all similar. You enter your stop, account value, permitted % risk, and trading pair (as there are differences based on your base currency) and it will tell you how many lots you can enter and stay within your permitted risk parameters
Hi , I am very much in the same boat as you and am taking each day trading slowly step by step, I was trading on all the currency pairs and trading lots like alot of people have said do less trades per day, I now have a system set up and follow only 4 trading pairs, EUR/USD, EUR/GBP, USD/CAD & USD/JPY I have found that these 4 pairs are easier to trade for a beginner they still move up & down but are not as volatile as other trading pairs, and I only do between 1 or 2 trades which is easier as you have a better understanding and its good as it teaches you to have more control over trading and not let your emotions take control of you.
A key element Dezney, glad that you have grasped this
Hi Tony
Thank you for your reply and it is a roller coaster of a learning curve but a enjoyable one at the moment, Can I ask how long you have been trading and how did you find your mentor, that is if you had one as when I first started I was looking for a mentor and found I spent more time looking for a mentor rarther than studying the charts and platform. Also with the help of this forum I am now studying more on my own and picking things up a little here a little there and am beginning to think that I dont need a mentor at the moment as there is so much wealth of information on here and if ever I have a enquiry there always seems to be lots of people in the same boat and the answer is here.
I was lucky enough to be introduced to trading by friends locally who were already successful so I escaped much (but not all) of the pain which usually goes with learning this business
Just seen the calculator you were referring to. It contains what I set out. What do you not understand about it?