Hey all, but day I am a Software tester/SQL Admin/Software Architecht. When the boss isnt looking, I do some day trading (Fannie Mae shares are going to fund my first FOREX account), but I want to get into trading full time in FOREX. I have read through all the information on this site (very n00b friendly) and other sites and have practiced a couple different platforms, and have been quite successful with them so far.
When comfortable enough and we have enough of a contingency cushion saved up I’ll flip my boss the bird and leave my cubicle forever. There’s a few areas where I feel I need to learn more and I hope to get that and more insight from these forums.
BTW, I am 34, Male, live in St. Louis (GO CARDS!!!) and politically, am a moderate democrat.
Thanks…I am not looking to get rich quick, but bonus if it happens. I actually found this forum when googling ‘ivybot forums’ trying to find some less one sided information on ivybot.
being new, I didnt know if it was a scam or the real deal, and this is the only site that trashed it, so I signed up.
What platform do you guys use? Which has the easiest interface/features?
Currently I am using the Forextrader from Forex.com. It’s ok but not as pretty as some other ones I have seen. and using indicators is kinda complicated and not as detailed as others either.
But I have talked to people who manage the accounts at forex.com and they seem friendly, helpful and knowledgeable, so I donno. I’d wanna go with a platform with that kind of service…
as for bots, been there done that, forex killer, forex autopilot, FAPturbo,etc…all JUNK!
when it comes to charting software MT4 is second to none although not all brokers offer this platform, i personally use a demo account with IBFX for their MT4 platform and use oanda to execute my trades as there spreads and execution are excellent and they have no account size or trade limitations you can trade anything from 1 to a million units
as for indicators, i’d discourage you from using them.
stick to simple price action analysis, support and resistance, trendlines, fibo, chart and candlestick patterns
use good money management, start with risking no more than 1% of your account on anyone one trade, once you begin to see consistant positive results you can then increase this to i’d suggest a maximum of 5% per trade
Right, I got that from lurking the other threads here, reviews of these bogus bots are quite a good read.
when it comes to charting software MT4 is second to none although not all brokers offer this platform, i personally use a demo account with IBFX for their MT4 platform and use oanda to execute my trades as there spreads and execution are excellent and they have no account size or trade limitations you can trade anything from 1 to a million units
I appreciate if you can expand on the purpose of these three, specifically what Oanda does
MT4 = real time chart signals/features
IBFX demo = not sure the purpose…
Oanda = trading account with good features
as for indicators, i’d discourage you from using them.
stick to simple price action analysis, support and resistance, trendlines, fibo, chart and candlestick patterns
Gotcha, I’m still learning and right now, learning about indicators…if anything, it will be good to know for the sake of knowing. So you discourage using a leading/lagging indicator strategy ever?
use good money management, start with risking no more than 1% of your account on anyone one trade, once you begin to see consistant positive results you can then increase this to i’d suggest a maximum of 5% per trade
lee
No doubt, I’d be super cautious at first, thanks for the info!
All great advice. I am new to the forums and fairly new to forex trading (I have been trading equities for a few years). However, out of everything probably the single most important thing is proper trade and money management. Knowing when to get out of winning or losing trades is the key to maximizing profit in the long-term
I am disciplined and wont make me first trade until I have a strong strategy I can stick with, identify trends/confirm trends, and know when to pull out at the best time.
I have to agree - Risk Management is crucial to success. It’s one thing that has to remain steady because when one is trading, his judgement can be affected by emotion. I think pride shouldn’t get in the way - if you’re wrong, just admit it and move on! And if you’re wrong, it’s okay - you already knew beforehand how much you were willing to lose. I think this is essential for long term survival.
But it doesn’t prepare you for an important factor of trading. The mental stress on your psyche the minute you start losing your hard earned cash in a live account as opposed of losing monopoly money in a demo account.
A hell of a lot of beginners can’t handle that and all other goals are out the window for various reasons as soon as losses are experienced.
Prepare yourselve for losses mentally otherwise you’ll never know when to pull out of a losing trade. Let alone the best time because there is no best time in praxis.
I will second Cas here - no amount of demoing can adequately prepare you for that first loss, especially if it’s large one. I remember blowing my first investment because of poor money management; let me tell you, the anxiety of losing over a thousand dollars in a week is… absolutely unreal. Prepare yourself mentally to lose and trade scientifically, not with your gut.
What I will advise against is quitting your day job. This is a serious investment; it takes time to become a great trader. Everyone here, even the pro’s, have things to learn. The market is always changing.
The pressure to earn is far greater if forex is your primary income source. Pressure leads to over trading, which is a huge mistake beginner traders often make. Having a stable job and some disposable money, regardless of how little, makes it much easier to trade without the emotionality. Safe yourself the grief and spend a great deal of time trading before you ever consider flipping your boss the bird.
I second THAT! Demoing is to test out a strategy, it will never prepair you for the mental and emotional pain you will go through, unless you learn to understand and control your emotions. If you go into the game with the wrong mental frame work, it will no doubt cause you to make mistakes that will eat your account. I had to learn this lesson the hard way, the 10k lesson that i didnt have to pay for, you can pay as much as you like, 5k, 10k, 20k or if you want it for free, start now before you begin.
Trading in the zone by Mark Douglas is my bible, i am on my 12th time reading it and i don’t know when i will stop reading it. I recomend it to anyone.
Money management is the next one i didnt take serious and was another down fall for me. MM is something that is up to how much risk you want to take and when i first started i was willing to be waaay to risky, so much so that now i am embarrassed of how i could be that risky in an already risky game lol. Yes i doubled and trippled demo accounts at the start and thought i was some god like trader and could do nothing wrong, and this gave me the wrong mentel setup to get in the game with.
When you have control over your emotions and have strong belief in MM then find a strategy that you have demoed enough to know and trust, cause if you don’t have trust in your strategy it will allow hesitation in, and hesitation is an offspring from fear, and fear will help you give your money to the consistently successful traders.
And yes DON’T quite your job, this was another thing i did just before i went live and yes i still feel like a jackass, but hey i was a trading god why did i need a job LOL. Again the wrong mental thinking. But it was soo worth it and a memory i will get to keep for ever. I had a real asshole of a boss n it felt sooooo good telling my boss what i thought of him, and telling him where he can stick the job:D
Trading is easy once you go through 2-3yrs of complicating sh!t LOL! no matter what if you keep going and have a passion to become a fulltime trader you will succeed, just don’t ignore the psychlogical side!!
I wish you the best with your trading and hope you can come out of the other end swinging, cause their was a time when i was so close to throwing in the towel, and i am so glad i didn’t. Find a strong enough why and the how will eventully come.
I appreciate the warnings and advice from you all. There is some very sound info here and I will definately read [U]Trading in the Zone[/U] before making a move.
My wife has a great job, makes as much as me and is poised for another promotion, her income alone can support mortgage, bills, etc but with nothing left to put into savings.
Also I have been trading stocks for 5 years and know about REAL loss. The worst part is explaining to my wife why I need more $$$ :o I learned to overcome that and trade successfully. Trading the market taught me discipline, money control and to be aware of EVERYTHING. A rumor can affect a stock more than a disastrous Q1 report from a company.
I dont know when I will make the move but right now I am not ready. there is a lot of study ahead of me but I am determined to do it right.
That being said…when someone gives a suggestion, the following line is often used:
“Target range LV1 +30 pips and LV2 +60 pips. Set SL -40 pips.”
target level 1 is the first take profit where usually traders will close half their position to lock in profit and let the other half run to take profit 2 hopefully or worse case scenario moves back to your stop in which case you should still be in profit or break even at worst
for example
you sell the usd/jpy at 93.00 for 2 lots
you set your stop at 93.50
your 1st tp is 92.40 and your 2nd tp is 91.5
your 1st take profit is then hit and you close 1 lot for 60 pips profit
so so far you are up 60 pips of 1 lot
you then let your trade run and it turns back and hits your stop for a loss of 50 pips
so the trade didnt go as you hoped and it hit your stop yet you still netted 10 pips
So I dont flood the forums with a new thread every time I have a question, I’ll just continue asking in this thread…unless its ok to start a new thread.
Where do you guys get your COT Report data from and how extensively do you use them?
