I am a newbie in forex and in fact i have just started demo trading for a month plus. I personally think that i am doing great, not really that good but i can see my improvement every week. Well, at least i try to make sure that i do not lose pips at the end of the day and i have managed to hit my goal.
I came across some expert advisors online few days ago and have been using them since then. I am satisfied with their performances and i was told that they are free…But i am confused. I always believe that success comes with efforts. Are they really free? Is there something so good in the world as to earn money using robots which are free? I am afraid that they are just free in demo but i am not sure.
Is manual trading or using expert advisors better? Should i rely on machines or should i continue my efforts by trading manually? Can you guys please give me some advices?
Again, i am sorry if i have posted this at the wrong place or someone had started a thread before me. After all, I am new to this forum. Thank you so much.
Sorry if there is any grammer mistakes , i am not from an english speaking country^^
Most, if not all, times EA’s will start to fail due to a change in market conditions. An EA will only work for so long before it starts to eat away at its own profits. Unlike personally trading, a script cannot adapt to the changes in the market. So eventually, the EA will not be able to catch up.
I personally do not use EA’s and probably never will. I’d say since you are improving on your trading, why stop now? Keep going until you become even better, and garunteed, you can profit more with your own trading abilities, rather than relying on a robot to do your work.
Regards,
Clark.
Oh, i see, so EA will eventually expire but again, even if i trade manually and have my own set of trading strategy, my trading strategy will also expire one day since market keeps changing right?
Yes, i know, i do not plan to stop learning but i am thinking of using EA when i am away and trade manually when i have time to stay in front of the computer or just pick up some useful EA’s strategies to improve my own. I just thought that it will be easier to use a machine since i would like to trade the whole day but i cannot afford so since i still need to go to school 
Thanks for your fast reply. Are you from Canada?
My advice in this case is that you should continue on learning all there is to learn and if you really want to trade with the EA see if you can tweak it. By this I mean that when it eventually will start failing, you’ll have the possibility to alter it’s settings an adapt it to the new market conditions. To do this you must know which strategy the EA is using of course. Myself, I’ve never been a fan of EAs both because they are machines. The name “machine” is enough to keep my money away from it. Second reason is that I’m trading discretionary strategies most of the time. But again, if you have the ability to tweak it when needed it could be the solution 
May the markets treat you good!
Yes, essentially a mechanically driven system may fail to give you the results you might have had earlier since the rules are fixed. That is also if you follow your rules to a tee and get rid of all your emotions during the trade, just like an EA would.
Yes, I know what you mean. I’m only 17, and still in school as well. Trading from midnight to 3:00am definitely takes its toll… But if I don’t trade during that time period, I will try London Close which is in the morning for me.
And no problem, I check this forum out quite regularly from my phone when I am bored. Yes I am from Canada, as stated on my location. 
Hope that helps you out.
Regards,
Clark.
Edit: And much like Martinius, my trading plan consists of discretionary systems so no EA could ever been written for it… If only… Maybe then I just may try it out. Haha
Martinius:
Thanks for your advice.
I dont trust “machine” too but perhaps a combination of human and machine will be perfect? LOL.
Anyway, thank you very much, i will see what they can do for me and what i can do.
ClarkFX:
Thank you for your helps too. A lot. Ya, i am trying hard to get rid of my emotions and stick to my trading rules too.haha.
Yes, dont worry, i already check you out.^^. You are cool to be able to maintain an high average in school’s exam while still trading. I am trying my best too. And, i can see your location but i just want to make sure again. I am going to further my study in one of the universities in Canada this September, that is why i ask (X2) Thanks a lot!!!
Imagine this Clark:
An EA that trades writes all your trendlines and relevant past support and resistance. Then it does all the Fibonacci pattern work and trades only those with the trend. At the end it says: “Here’s your coffee and newspaper. Ah, and here’s your 200 pips for the day…” Awesome
Guess we’re stuck with our discretionary trading for a long while more huh?
Glad I could help Distorted.
I’m going to UofA next year, where were you planning on applying? If you need any tips on that just give me a shout.
Martinius:
God damnit! I thought you actually had an EA capable of that for a second! Thanks for getting my hopes up and smashing it back down again!
Yeah haha, well I like trading myself, I feel more in control. I’d never trust a robot with my money. But opening a small account running a popular EA would be quite interesting. I wouldn’t really care how well it does.
Regards,
Clark.
Edit: Ah man… 200 pips a day… If only haha. I’m only going for 300 a month. LOL
If there’s one thing EAs should have credit for, it’s the fact that they eliminate all variables caused by human emotion from your trading. As stated by many traders (and I agree) you should always compensate fear and greed to reach a thing in the middle of this two things, thus obtaining a mindset that is not beaten down by losses and that doesen’t get too excited by wins. In brief, trading should be COLD. Fear and greed will make you do mistakes.
Fear usually will result in lack of stop-losses, early profit taking and generally give you a wrong perspective of the markets.
Greed comes into play when you are too excited. It will prevent you from taking profits, it will make you overtrade and put up too big positions. It’s all about compromise and it’s here that true skill comes into play. It’s all already there in your mind.
Sorry man!
Yeah, I’m considering trying out a few EAs on demo just for fun to see how the do and for how long they actually work before changing market conditions wipe them out. Could be interesting. Many people out there use EAs in semi-automatic systems to, by actually tweaking them everyday. Still, discretionary, like you, makes me feel more in control when I trade and the SATISFACTION Clarke. How good doesn’t it feel when those pips pour in and it’s ALL your doing, huh?
WHAT!! MARTINUS!! You don’t have that 300 pip EA??? now my day is ruined! I was really looking for my coffee in the morning. I was actually hoping that it could make me bacon eggs and toast to with a little editing.
Haha, yeah, Martinius really got our hopes up huh?
Taking pips from the market by hand definately gives me quite a confidence boost, I only wished that would happen more often. Haha, was a rough week for me last week… =/
Anyways, I am currently just making K.I.S.S. EA’s with the most basic indicators, a certain EA has turned my demo account of $3000 to $18 000 in a few months already. =P
Regards,
Clark.
BTW, Fihunts, how is your trading going? Are you still on par with your money management goals?
I’m doing alright. lose a few win a few. I’ve got my account to $368 now. Up about 20 bucks or so, but I have been supplementing my account with my paycheck to accelerate through my MM plan. But so far I am right on my 7.5% goal so far.
How are you doing on yours?
Awesome work Chris! I’m glad you are on track. =)
Currently, I’m on my July/Stage 4 goals right now, I took a bit of a drawdown last week, but I’m glad to have caught a trade to help me BE. I’ve been diverting my focus onto London Close trades so I’m demo-ing more than live.
I’ve been a bit busy though so finding time to trade has been difficult.
Regards,
Clark.