Hi! I’d like to know from everyone here who are into FOREX trading, (other than FOREX) what do you guys do for a living? And how does it affect your work? or how do you balance trading with work?
I’m currently a medical student and I have always been interested in FOREX trading but I’m not sure if I can balance it with school work. I’d like to hear from everyone’s perspective before I use actual money in trading.
Thanks! :5:
Well I am graduate in Economics and undergraduate in Organizational sciences (Management) and since the unemployment rate in my country officially is 21% (unofficially around 30-33%) I’m learning trading in Forex and will also in Options and Futures 
So there you have it
But definitely you need a lot and I mean a lot of time invested in learning to trade just like everything else academic…
Hello Acelle,
welcome to the forums…
I must say, Forex volatility at the moment is at historic lows, and although there are plenty of trading opportunities
it is still a fact that it is maybe not as profitable as it may have been a while ago.
The situation is similar in stocks, but they are still a cut higher than forex, so if you want to earn more, try stocks,
as long as you learn how to trade properly and do not take too many losses early on…
In the end, currency movements are regulated by central banks at present, so the sort of volatility that would
be good in stocks could actually destroy a currency and its nation, e.g. by affecting export potential or
the citizens’ purchasing power…
So you may want to think how much return you are expecting from Forex… and then how much work
you are willing to put into it, compared to the returns, which CAN be meagre!
Cheers
Hi Acelle,
I happen to be an undergraduate student in Media & Communications, & just like Miliardo, my countries unemployment rate is slightly high at 25,20%… So I’ve decided to study & work part time for the family business but hope to be an independent trader as soon as I’m fully comfortable with my trading strategy.
Best part about forex is you get to choose the timeframe you wish to trade, so I use multiple timeframe analysis to scout good entry opportunities with pairs that present mid-long terms trades that I can manage properly despite my workload.
All the best in your studies & learning your way through the forex market, the demo should be perfect in helping you develop your trading strategy & learn from mistakes that could cost you when real money is at risk.
Good luck!
Pipme pretty much nailed it.
The advantage comes with a bigger capital base because you can swing larger trades and really harness that leverage power. It’s like buying a 400k house on a 20% deposit and selling it 1 month later for 500k like we do in London 
Like the housing market now from then you just can’t do that anymore so a longer time frame is a much better approach but even I occasionally get pushed to the hourly chart as sometimes daily charts as Anna Coulling would put it “It’s like watching paint dry sometimes”. I wouldn’t get to carried away with those short term trades. That said, you can balance trading with work but if you can afford to stare at a chart I would recommend it because your instincts are so much better.
I have always maintained trading is a business and sooner or later you will have to choose but it does help to get your feet wet and if it feels right you may want to go for a swim.
PS: this is what I do:
http://forums.babypips.com/q-corner/63702-pipmehappy-full-time-music-teacher.html
Emeraldorc, you speak with wisdom… Surely, the housing market is not what it used to be (crazy leverage for people who could barely afford the repayments)… Perhaps this is for the best…
Indeed, the leverage factor is not available on stocks as in Forex, so that is indeed the advantage… I loved the line from emeraldorc: “It does help to get your feet wet and if it feels right you may want to go for a swim”!!!
Indeed, Coulling has it right about the day charts… Long term is the way to go, although as emeraldorc said, there may be shorter-term opportunities… After all, the VIX signals that we have hit historic lows in Forex volatility AND in expected volatility further down the line, so it follows that shorter-term opportunities (e.g. playing smaller ranges) may be a good bet… However, if we were indeed on the cusp of risk aversion across all asset classes, as some suggest, then we may see fear gripping those exposed positions and the S&P500 would go on a toboggan slide… THEN the volatility would come out of dormancy and we may have more opportunities across all time-frames.
Cheers.
Thanks for your reply, guys! These are really valuable information especially for someone new to forex like me.
The reason why I chose forex over stocks (though I’m equally interested in both) is that I have a close friend who’s a forex broker with whom I can comfortably get first hand information from. So, I guess I felt like I can “leverage” on that opportunity at the moment. Also, I believe the fact that the forex market is open 24h/day would play well with my “erratic” schedule.
I also think that long-term trading would suit best for me. At the moment, I’m really geared towards learning A LOT of things about forex while gaining passive income while I’m still in school. That when I have more control of my time in the future, I’d have better trading knowledge, and then as JJ6479 states “become an independent trader.”
Another question, how much time should do you (or should one) spend in forex trading? in Part-time trading?
Pretty sure you can balance it if you set your mind to it. The great thing about forex trading is that it’s a 24-hour market so you can be able to trade even after your school hours. Of course I’m sure you might be feeling exhausted afterwards so you might wanna look into a trading method that doesn’t require you to be in front of your trading platform for long hours. There are a few folks here who trade forex on the side while maintaining a full-time job!
@Acelle09
You’re welcome… Seems we got similar interest in regards to expanding our knowledge in both the forex & stock markets, anyways luckily you have someone close that you can consult about forex along with the help of the members in the forum.
So far from my experience I’ve learned the hard way that complicating things is not the best way to go in the Forex market, through trial & error I learnt to implement the knowledge I gained from my mistakes, advice from professional traders, blogs & the ebooks I’ve read to stay disciplined when implementing my strategy & to keep my charts simple - it proved to be far more effective than I thought.
I can only hope that you have some fun when you try out the demo & learn from your mistakes as you find the strategy that’ll suit your trading style along with how to manage trades. In regards to your question, I’d say a daily analysis on the NY close should be sufficient along with doing technical analysis on weekends through the use of multiple timeframes (4hr, daily, weekly or even monthly)… but as @PipDiddy mentioned, you could always balance it out especially since you’re not looking into short term trades that’ll require time on the screen & lot of concentration.
️
J
Right off the bat, being a med student, you are going to be burning the midnight candle…well, forex trading is somewhat similar to that, from the odd hours to the stress. That said, I don’t think you can do both, since both are time intensive and require research and hard work. As for my profession, I am a trader…I used to be a programmer but now, it’s only trading…
Barista here!
If you’re a part-time trader and you don’t see your schedule changing anytime soon, then I suggest making the most of what’s available to you. You can focus on one trading session and take advantage of currencies that are usually volatile around that time.
This chart might help!
Best Days of the Week to Trade | When Can You Trade Forex? | Preschool
Full time trader.
I am a budget analyst for a defense contractor who prepares overhead statements and financial reviews for Department of Defense auditors. Corporate finance is obviously a different animal than personal finance, but I’ve found some things I’ve learned in my job that have transferred in a positive way to trading, particularly applying my Excel skills to trade journaling.
Sales/ Consultant for Medical Product Industries along with Laboratory Equipment to help businesses ( established and new) to comply with regulatory requirements in order to market their product globally
well iam part time trader, and as now i am not planing to go for a full time trading.
I’m in field service and travel a lot. I used to feel as if I couldn’t leave the screen when I had a trade open. Once I learned how to properly assess risk and set proper stop/loss and profit points, I was able to go about the rest of my life without having to spend every second watching every pip made or loss. Of course I’m still learning and still trying to get better.
Forget forex, fokus at your school work , the same energy and work you need to be a doctor you need to become a forex trader , and you have much much smaller to make success in forex.
Go to every forex forum and ask if someone can show a trading statement of salary over 5 years periode who is higher then a mcDonalds worker .
Only person who can give you that is Jason he work for FXCM and his work is the boy who attract new dreamers to trade in fxcm.
Ask him how many retail traders who have make a average 100 K over a 5 years periode … trust me he will never answer you …
is easier to win in lottery
I work in finance which prevents me from trading stocks (conflicts of interest), so that is why I started trading FOREX.
Hours at my job are pretty hectic, so that’s the great thing about trading forex because it’s always open