My Beginner Questions and Introduction

Hello all!

I am a new almost-graduate from the School of Pipsology, and I come bearing questions! (and a lot of information about my background, plans, etc.) I did not know if it would be better to split introduction and the questions to two threads; I can move or change everything if this was wrong.

So beginning with my background: I have very mildly dabbled in Forex before. I knew when and what to click in MT4 but that was it. Now that I have almost finished the School, I have my plans and ideas and, more importantly, questions.

Current plans: I think my work schedule and character is most suited to Swing trading. I have set up a demo account with eToro (I feel weirdly comfortable with that), and setup MT4. I will wait to go live until I have at least 1000 in savings, and at least 6 months in demo has passed. My plan for a typical week is:

Weekends: check daily and longer charts to educate myself on any existing big trends.
Weekdays: After work (or gym), come home and dedicate 1.30 hours into chart analysis, checking my open positions, and checking calendars for big news coming out in the following days.

This week is the final “preparation” week before starting trading on demo. In this week, I will decide on all the details and set up everything (technical, like downloading apps opening accounts etc.). Now, here is the part I need help with! A.k.a.: question time.

  1. I got an account on meetpips.com after I read about it on “Keeping a Journal” lessons. But I have no idea how to use this! I have a seperate google sheet of my own to use; but I read I can see other people’s journals here. It would be great to find some swing traders and see how are they trading :slight_smile: Any tutorial out there or pointers you can give me?

  2. Kind of related to 1. Is there a video/book/website that you can direct me to for learning more about swing trading? I learn best by seeing what people do; so although I get the differences and the main philosophy behind swing trading, I would love to see someone actually going through the decisions like “I opened this position 3 days ago, but due to these these reasons I close it today.” Would help me a lot in understanding the time frames and investigations of swing trading better.

  3. MT4 is not supported by eToro, and that is a compromise I am willing to make (again, I am weirdly very comfortable there even though MT is not supported). Is it possible to do the technical analysis on MT4 and just use eToro for actually putting down orders? Is it efficient enough, or do I lose too much time?

Thank you anyone who takes time to read and maybe reply to this. This is an awesome website that I am so glad I found! I am looking forward to any help and guidance you will surely give :slight_smile:

Once again, thank you.

Have a nice day!

If you manage to follow your plan you’d be steps ahead of most traders. Unfortunately, many abandon such plans soon after starting to trade.

You can find really cool books on Forex trading (many aspects of it, I recommend familiarizing with most of them) from Wiley Publishing. IMO they have the best books on the subject.

It is possible to make analysis on MT4 and then trade on another platform, I did the same thing when I started trading.

Good luck!

Hello Redleader, this is Goldleader :wink: (Star Wars fans unite!)

First of all, welcome and congrats with finishing the school. You seem to have a very open and great attitude, which will help you a lot when it comes to trading. Being articulate in your questions also is a big plus.

First off, great idea to do demo for 6 months, most people rush in with real money too quickly too soon with the idea of making money right off the bat and then feel defeated when they seem to loose trade after trade. Its great you have foresight and what seems like a clear and balanced temperament.

Keeping a journal:

There is no official way to keep a journal. You need not have to have special spreadsheets or sophisticated software. For me, I have two journals, one is for my personal trading thoughts, ie, feeling emotional, insights, ah-ha moments, etc. The other is a simple spreadsheet of my own creation showing date, buy/sell, currency pair, stop loss, pips gained/loss and risk/reward ratio and a space for some notes. The basic thing is that a journal helps exposes patterns in your thinking and trading, your successes and losses.

Swing trading:

Scalping, day trading, swing trading are terms simply describing time frames people trade in. What is more important for you, is the strategy you are using. The market is essentially a fractal that repeats itself infinitely smaller and larger, what you need is to figure out the strategy you are using, proper entry techniques, trade management and proper exit. As far as educational materials go, there is a lot out there, I can’t think of anything right off the top of my head, perhaps some one else can recommend something.

MT4:

Seeing as how you are new and have yet to invest much time in your practice, I suggest you might want to also consider other platforms before you sink too much time into one. eToro is more of a social trading site and the platform does not give you all the tools you need. It is simple to use, but in the long run, you might find that after a few months down the road you will come up short and then have to re-learn a new platform. Have you tried using FXCM? It is a powerful platform and very very intuitive to use. I like it because I can trade right off the charts. It has a short learning curve and has everything you need. FXCM also has a dedicated representative here, Jason Rogers, who can help you with any questions you have on the platform. Have a look at it. It also has a lot of videos and tutorials on Dailyfx (FXCM’s support and news site). Something to consider.

So my friend, all the best in your trading and keep us up to date on what’s happening for you!

Good luck!

In the initial stages of my trading i was not actually following any trading plan as i was a newbie trader so i made much losses in the trades and then i realized the importance of doing my trades with a set trading plan.

If my trading plan is based on sound Fundamentals and i am able to use that then the possibility of doing some mistakes will be rules out and a trade will always follow a plan and will have control in it.

This is how a trader needs to make his progress :slight_smile:

Thank you all for the replies!

Forex Verified, I have checked the Wiley books and they do seem very helpful, especially the beginner ones. Finally time to pull the trigger on that Kindle purchase, I think :slight_smile:

Godspeed (or Goldleader, wohoo), thank you for all the suggestions, especially regarding the platform. I really like Dailyfx but was not that sure about FXCM. I will give that a shot as well in the “demo account” period, along with another platform I am still unsire about.

Archie, I really appreciate the warning :slight_smile: I just have to make sure I can distinguish between a bad trading plan and me not following a plan. I expect myself to open more question threads in the future!

I am opening and closing some orders currently, like a warm-up before the practice session begins. Low leverage, low amounts, familiarizing myself with the actual trade opening and closing procedures. And getting excited for next week!

Sip bro, you can continue to try hard, and please could seek free capital. Then trading and make profits.

Hi Redleader,

As FXCM’s representative here on BabyPips, I would be happy to answer any questions you have about us. Please feel to reach out to me in the Broker Aid Station.

Welcome to the forum! :slight_smile:

Jason

Hello Mr.Rogers!

Thank you for your interest and your offer of help. My main concern with choosing a broker is basically ease of deposit. Unfortunately, my debit card is not supported form what I have seen (Maestro) and currently I don’t plan to get a credit card. However I have opened a demo account and will test FXCM nevertheless, maybe I will be converted? :slight_smile:

Hi Redleader,

FXCM allows you to deposit funds into your trading account using a debit card with either the Visa or MasterCard logo on it. Depending on where you live, there are other deposit options that are also available to you. What is your country of residence?

Also, what trading platform are you using with your demo account? Trading Station, MT4, Mirror Trader, etc.