“…if I stay it could mean trouble, if I go it could be double” as the line from the song goes.
Basically, I took an interest in forex a couple of weeks ago because of an innocuous-looking banner advert claiming how easy it was to get into forex. (C’mon, we’ve all clicked on those banner ads, at least once!). They offered a really user-friendly interface and a demo account, I thought “Why not?” Since joining them I’ve discovered a ‘real’ traders client platform (MetaTrader) and realised the first software had no chart analysis/indicators. I’ve read through the School of BabyPips, not studied, just read.
My situation is:
I’m not a widower or an orphan, and I need money/job/something to bring income in. I haven’t worked for two years (been travelling to exotic places, but that’s another story) and I’m not looking forward to going back to being told what to do, the stress of I.T. (former career). I am also a little tired of being close the the bottom line. I have little money to invest, but probably enough for a micro account.
Goals: To earn GBP1000-1500 a month as a job/business, doing this part-time (3-4 days a week)
Pluses: Oodles of time to learn
Minuses: No experience, no large pot to invest BUT…
Assets: I am hoping to sell a (spare) property I own, essentially because I’m out of money. I will then have something to put towards a ‘standard’ account
Personality: A little bit impatient sometimes, comfortable with taking (sensible) risks.
So folks, what do you think? Since two weeks ago I’ve read quite a bit about how difficult it really is to be a newcomer to forex. So, I’d appreciate some opinions, PLEASE!!!
OK, just my own humble opinion. It takes most people 2 to 5 years to learn to trade Forex. Find a low stress job and study and practice Forex in a demo in your spare time. Only put money into an account after you have been profitable for three months demo trading in a row. Only quit your job when you have made more in a year from Forex than you made on your job. Just my own opinion.
similar position to you I guess (even down to the IT thing), I am trading a $3000 demo alpari account. I’ve had some really great advice on a thread I started. And basically the line I am taking is to grow my account 1% per day, which sounds daft but after 1 year of 1% a day on a £1000 account the account will be worth over 11k and will allow me to take ~£500 per week from it.
My problem is I tend towards fiddling with things so I’ve found setting ground rules has really helped me (which may grow / change in time)
the trend is your friend!
take your time (no panic buy / sells)
work out the stop loss first!
choose your exit
enter with multiple lots to increase profit (if I use 2 lots I close the first one very early into profit locking that in (as little as 4 pips) and then add the trailing stop loss there to the second so anything else is free. As I trade on small timeframes with larger lot size a move of 10 pips on EUR/USD (which is tiny) are enough for my 1% target.
stop trading when profit is above 1% for the day <-- ie no more trading when you ‘feel lucky’
and my new one…
Trailing stops don’t work if you turn your computer off! (found that out last night!)
Hello, i am a newbie so my best advice would be reread Gravitons post
Second best is to rethink your goals. Think about possible outcomes.
First - you get your money start trading and have your goal 1000/1500 pounds a month. This is steady income. Not +1500 one month -1000 other and so on. Your goal is consistency which is very good. Possibility of this happening are very very small.
Second – you get your money start trading and loose everything in one week. A very possible outcome. I think it has better odds then first one, but still everything is possible so be open minded.
Third – use Gravitons suggestion and find a job, study part time. This without doubt will delay your learning process, but a good side is that possibility of second outcome decreases a lot.
Fourth – use your money for living and study full time. As Viper said 6 months can be enough. Your destination (consistency) will be reached in the shorter amount of time then third option, but do you have enough money?
Fifth – Forex sucks, I will forget everything about it and go to work IT with steady income and probably less stress.
There are without doubt more possibilities but this should be enough considering I am a fellow newbie. I will stick with third and demo, study, demo, study… If I stay possibilities are endless, if I leave (fifth option) not so endless.
I started back in January and I haven’t looked back yet. I was also in IT so being able to retain information is a huge plus in FX. Everything is possible with a little hard work and dedication and I know I’m well on my way.
I was out of work and had all the time in the world to study. Like Grav said, the usual learning curve is 2-5 years. Some get there earlier, some don’t. After 6 months, I had a very firm grasp on FX.
I made the foolish decision. I saw the real potential in forex, found a few consistent methods for profit, and quit my job before I was really “in the money” so to speak. I do, however, have a part time gig that I could make full time if I so desired. The question is do you have a plan B. I would find a part time gig to live off of. Also don’t invest all your funds initially.
There are tons of sucessful individuals who blew up 5k-50k accounts before they became profitable. (I all but did it). Even if your willing to invest the time, I would use play money until you see consistent profitiability. Then go micro until you see consistent profitability. (Consistent = 1-2 months minimum)
Hi, I’ve just started on learning to trade Forex, so what’s the minimum amount of time I should expect to learn to trade something profitable? and how long realistically?
Realistically about 12 -18 months if your good enough to get on a decent graduate training scheme, 3-4 years if your full time and relying on self tuition, and probably double that if your dabbling part time.
In many cases, it’ll take great deal longer, and the majority of people will fail. Definately not the way to make a lot of money quickly.
yeah, it’s good to learn forex as we all know we can gain profit to it but it needs knowledge and experience for a trader to be profitable.
I guess at first, forex trading is really hard to understand, but when you are used to the process, you are just like eating peanuts though it will now be in a short period of time.
The length of time it takes to learn how to trade successfully can take a real long time for some. Many factors are involved, not least the fact that Forex has many garden paths and it seems inevitable that at some point your going to be lead up at least one or more before finding out that the garden shed is somewhere else.
There is no university of Forex, there’s barely consensus on many aspects of it’s enigmatic and seemingly quintessential secretive nature. In the trading world it’s a beast make no mistake, just look at USDJPY yesterday and GBP crosses on nearly any other day to see that surfs up.
If you hone in quickly on the “right stuff” and are very prudent and have your ego on a lead at all times, then you have as good a chance as anyone serious about shaping their future. The market will not discriminate against you …“newbie good, market like newbie”.
I wish you the best of luck in your decision making, here’s a couple of ideas that you might want to hang onto.
Have as an integral part of your trading mind a “protect capital” reflex, and don’t invest large amounts of that capital until you have proven to yourself [B]on paper[/B] that you can do this consistently.
Thx for post. I haven’t given up yet, after all, I’ve only just started! And it looks like the property is about to be sold. Btw, my plan for this little pot 'o gold is stick in an account in a bank (already researched which type of investment and which bank) and draw 18% return on it, which will give me half of my monthly needs. Which is why I realise I need to something else, like forex.
I’m not looking to get mega-rich quick with forex. Just supplement money coming in so that it’s a decent living.
I have a very well-honed “protect capital” reflex. I’ve been doing it for a while in another investment arena (property). Haven’t lost on a property yet (yes, even in this market) and I’m not about to start losing large sums - worked too damn hard for that money in the first place.
Ok that’s fine Harri but keep in mind that with Forex trading your capital is very [B]accessible[/B], it’s just sitting there waiting to be played with
Certainly a large portion of finding yourself on the right path is the study of money management ideas. It is really the element that makes it all work consistently, and is the brake on your forex wagon.
The need to put in place a money management rule book is, in my mind anyway, fundamental to keeping in check certain psychological issues that will undoubtably arrive from time to time… like every day.
thanks for the link to Forex Money Management. It does raise something I wondered about. I’ve been playing around with MetaTrader4 and historical data (2001-2010). The advice from the BabyPips School is to invest no more than 3-5% of account balance, and to use low leverage (1:5-1:10).
The problem I ran into with my back-testing on a micro-account $1000 (trying to simulate the scenario as it will be in real life), with these figures is…sometimes because of the price I dont have enough money to buy 1000 units!
As a newbie to Forex too (had Demo account, now gone live with a Classic Account), one of the things which really helped me was talking to people I knew, who were also trading… I love online forums, but I can assure you, if someone asks me how much I make a year, I’m adding 40k to it, lol!
One of the guys who works for me trades, as does an ex colleague, and both were really helpful and upfront about what they’ve made, what they’ve put in and what they’ve lost… it really gave me a good insight to hear them answer “So Sean, why are you working for me, and not doing this FT?”.
No disrespect to anyone on here, but anyone on here are the ones who (I assume) haven’t lost all their money and closed up shop… so you’re only asking people who have in effect made money, or think they will do.
Some really good advice on here, but just keep in the back of your mind, if you go onto Iloveredheads.com and ask if red heads are great in bed, you already know what answer you’re going to get!
