Hello traders! It came to pass that, after fifteen months of demo trading, I decided that I should place two (very small) market orders on the live account which I opened five months ago: having initially planned to wait until July of next year for placing my first real money trades, I actually looked at my demo trades again and realised that I would be unnecessarily cautious with a very small, and well managed amount of risk. Thus, with a certain degree of trepidation, and trusting in my own analysis and risk management safeguards, I bit the bullet today, in order to see what those pips would mean in a live account, in my currency (Pounds, rather than the US Dollars of the demo), and, most of all to test my own psychology with real money at stake. I am very happy that I have waited this long, however, because for the pairs that I have traded today I needed to wait a certain period for the right signals to confirm my long-term bias (bearish for EUR/USD and EUR/GBP). May I take this opportunity to wish all traders who celebrate Christmas a very festive Yuletide and/or a relaxing time off work. I will keep you posted on the outcome of my trades, possibly in a separate thread. This is a very special day and, hopefully, I will nurture this account to slowly grow by an above-BoE interest in twelve months. Happy trading and Merry Christmas!
Good Luck
Gp
thread reminds me of a girl talking about her first time (at the age 28)
this is such a special trade, you made me curious … can u reveal it for me please ? at least the lotsize ?
merry christmas =)
Hello Johnnycash! It certainly is a special trade… Well, hopefully your friend’s first time felt as good as mine! All right, now to your question: I placed two 1k trades (one per pair), with a 500 Pound account. My R/R ratio is 1:1, with a Net Limit and a Stop Loss (dynamic/trailing) of 100 points. . .
Congratulations on your first trade. All I would say is that I’m sure someone is going to say that you should be gunning for 2:1 reward risk. However if you have developed a system that has worked on a 1:1 basis then keep your head and only look to adapt your strategy should, after empirical testing, it is proven worthwhile for you.
All the best and merry christmas
Hello dafttrader, thank you! Yes, I tried the 1:2 R/R ratio before and it worked for the system that I was using (straddle trading with entry orders for both buying and selling); now I am aiming for longer term trades, with trailing stops and scaling in of positions, so that, given a trend, the R/R would not be over the first trade but the sum of each overlapping trade in the same direction. It is a new approach but I will try it and see how it performs over time… Happy trading and Merry Christmas!
Not than I’m an expert, but don’t be so strict trying to go 2:1 risk reward or what not.
Sometimes people hold onto trades too long (even when they are up) trying to chase the 2:1 ratio and all of a sudden it goes south for them…
All the best and Merry XMas
Your 1st position in the market is better. So, try to improve it.
Agree ivanic. Merry X Mas to you as well
What made you decide to go with FXCM? Im demoing their Trading Station II platform. Is that what you are using?
Yes, I have been with FXCM all along: I like the platform, the customer care, the tools, and their spreads. Alsi, their research branch (DailyFX) have had people like Kathy Lien and their materials are a constant source of education and learning for me. I would recommend that you try their Marketscope 2.0 (as a download onto your desktop) as a complement and alternative to the web-based Trading Station II, in order to unlock certain functions. How are you finding FXCM demo tradung thus far?
Yeah I use their Marketscope 2.0 as part of their desktop version of Trading Station II. I haven’t used their web based platform yet actually.
I like it so far. There are a few things that take more steps to complete than I had anticipated, or perhaps I am not doing it right.
For example, I wish I could just click on the chart when entering the stop loss and limit order portion of an order. Instead I have to look at the exact pip I want the stop/limit to be before entering the dialog box for creating an order, and I wish I could be in the dialog box, and click on the chart where I want the stop/limit to be.
Does that make sense?
Hi guys,
Sorry to be off topic here, but I wanted to ask a quick question on FXCM.
Do you know if their MT4 platform uses the same charts as their Trading Station?
Hello Ivanic, I do not have the answer to this but maybe you could open/search a thread about this on the FXCM forum on Babypips - I am sure Jason Rogers will be able to assist. Are you interested in EA/automated trading?
Hello Gibs! I see what you are saying, but then what I would do is this: enter a wide enough stop value (pip or price) in the dialogue box, then ok it and go back to the chart to physically drag the little circle on the stop line up/down to your desired level: a box will pop up to check and confirm the changed level. Would this suit you better?
Hi all, i’ve been using Oanda and find them very good. Although web based platform not great, you do have the option of downloading MT4 (a pain in the ass if your a Mac user - i’ve over come this problem now with a virtual machine installed).
Have you guys tried Oanda previously? What is your thoughts on the two Oanda vs FXCM?
Thanks.
Gibs: if you go live you will notice an improvement on the mobile app front, because in the demo mobile app you have to go into the Orders tab to change your Stops/Limits, whereas in the live version these are displayed within your Open Position window. Do you check your demo account and/or trade it mostly from a mobile station (e.g. Smartphone or tablet) or a pc/mac/desktop station?
Hello KaanMustafa! I will let others respond to your query, as I have only ever used FXCM. I think that the more experienced and successful you are, the better you understand what you need from a broker in your day-to-day practice. For me, it is too early to say what else I need other than a reliable service and a good trading platform: FXCM offer all of these, so even if glitches will occur (it is inevitable) I see no reason to jump ship… How is Oanda, overall?
Hello PipMeHappy,
Oanda has been great in terms of service so far. I can’t complain. Like yourself, i also ain’t experienced enough to know EXACTLY what I need but so far so good (although using Demo for another month or two). So, likewise, no reason to jump ship just yet. I wonder if the more experienced traders have any comments on the two brokers?
Not automated trading - I just like the MT4 platform better.
I’ve been told that it’s New York close charts on MT4, but when I look at Pepperstone (who also claim to be New York close), they look slightly different…