Noted, especially after the battering my margin took for most of today. I’d rather build up the 10k, then use the proceeds to spread the love.
I definitely feel it in demo, I’m doing a good job of not thinking of this as play money. The impact is greater when there’s more on the line though. The 1k account felt fine. 10k is another story.
Hmm, that’s an interesting point. I’ve noticed how initially things go against me, then pick up after X hours/days. Resisted the urge to panic close or reduce lot size since it seems to basically realize that aspect of the loss. Never considered increasing in that event: presumably it basically combines and averages out my original entry with the new more favorable one if I do this?
Got you! I must have been too tire to notice, as I was cycling through several sizes and not seeing my loss percentage or profit value change so was like “ok, let’s go IN”.
I swear learning the platforms feels like the biggest obstacle in this game so far (besides remembering how certain values relate to one-another).
I’ve implemented this - all it means is more money.
Because of my trading style (not really fussy about entry) sometimes trades go against me 200 pips, then they hit a clear wall (support or resistance) - its just another opportunity to scale in and cash in.
Sometimes less is more. You should think of your first trade as a little probe trade, just prodding the market and seeing what it does and where it goes.
After quite some time of silence, I am here to say big thanks for your thoughts and that you are on the roll!
Your thread has been educational enough for all of us, or at least for me as I was able to setup an dedicated live account where I implemented your techniques whilst putting my mindset at ease. I have read everything what you have posted thoroughly and then applied it to own trading style.
Here’s some key points which I adhere to at all times:
No more than 4 hours of analyzing weekly
Trend is your friend without any exception - Trade only in the direction of trend on Monthly
Drill down to weekly and find an entry point somewhere
Eat pizza (still trying to stay healthy so there’s only one large pizza a week with sides)
When trade is going against you on daily or weekly, do not hesitate to scale in as it is only side effect noise. Look at things from bigger picture (monthly)
What I’ve got so far:
27 trades done
24 winners and 3 losers (first one and second second one was due to the tight stop loss and as soon as I got kicked out the trade turned in my favour; third one was incorrectly trailing stop set to B.E where swap charges made the trade red) - evidence below
profit factor is 9.89 so far and balance gain is impressive 121.38% as of today.
longest trade over 1 month and week on USDJPY and this is due to my bad entry points (this still needs to be improved) but I am still totally comfortable as the trades are already going in my favour and I erased around 20% equity drawdown to as little as 1%
Conclusion: I have been in forex game over 7 years now on self-educational basis, started on 5 minutes charts to daily charts, but on daily I always got distracted by reversal 4hr candles where I couldn’t stick with the initial plan which led me end the trade in loss.
I have met tens of ‘professional’ traders, attended seminars, read books and watched hundreds hours of videos and webinars. I didn’t make any money. Until I discovered this thread and realised stuff like ‘stop loss manipulation’ and smart money, bigger picture, etc etc…
I started to quite understand why all the ‘educators’ and Forex schools teaches the same techniques which simply do not work and do not make money. It is because there are broker firms standing behind them (or support them on incentive basis) and the goal is simple - to open and close as many trades as possible no matter what the outcome will be. Because it is the commission what makes money for them. I am fine to open just 10 trades per month if it makes me 30% gain on balance rather than 50 trades with 51% success.
Also, I am not dependent on the account performance, I don’t do withdrawals and am not greedy. I do a normal 9-5 work and the goal here is to leave it at some point. That’s why the initial deposit was as little as £500 and if blow it up I wouldn’t mind and will start this again with bigger pot but smaller sizes.
With all this in mind I believe that there is a possibility to get odds in our favour and make money. I am very happy with the results and let me know what you think.
You still will need the feeling of a real account.
Trust me, It will never be the same.
And going from a Demo account to a Real one is just like walking into a swimming pool. You will feel the cold of the water once you glance at it. But when you step and enter slowly, once you are inside the pool fully, the cold will subside and the cold feeling is not as cold as you think before you enter the pool.
I can’t agree more brother @pipopeeler91.
This is a zero sum game and you are a champion.
Also, if you are planning to blow 500 sterlings every month, I would rather save it and start with 6000 pound account at the end of the year, while trading with a demo/micro account through the year before I get to that point. That way you will grow your profits faster, exponentially and have a good head start when you are really at it.
Plus, you owe @The_Baller a pizza too. Maybe a beer. or 12.
Do not give up, your success is just right in the corner.
One question for you about IC Markets, what made you choose them? I presume you have an account with the Auzzie branch and not the EU one? And what type of account are you using? Seems like the majority of my trades are open over a number of days/weeks. I’m wondering whether holding fee’s on their standard accounts outweigh the commission based accounts.
Do you use their trading platform or another?
Thanks again, been very informative - and my pizza consumption is risen rapidly… i wonder why that is!
I’m glad you’ve been able to go live and make some money from the markets. In the UK, whether you’re making an extra £60 a month or £600 - every little helps.
As long as you stick to it, you won’t go wrong.
That’s it. There is money in education and unfortunately a lot of people are suckered in.
Nothing more to add to be honest, you’ve got a plan, you’re sticking to it, and you’re making money. That’s what its all about.
Nobody cares about the guy that can spot patterns or predict reversals - if he’s not making any money. As long as you’re patient, the money always follows.
Very happy for you @TSC_Arrakis - couldn’t have done it better myself.
Nothing special. When leverage limitations came into place in the UK, was just searching around for a broker that offered 500:1 leverage and they popped up.
Reviews looked good - so I went with them and never looked back.
There were some issues with moving certain accounts to their Seychelles jurisdiction but I believe that’s all been resolved and as of now my account is still in the Auzzie jurisdiction.
I didn’t really look into the different account types and what they meant. I believe they’ve changed the name of one of them.
Nothing - just the cTrader platform offered by IC Markets.
No problem. Pizza is very underrated. Wishing you all the best.
The only reason why I have started with GBP 500 is that for a) it was an experiment and b) I need to develop myself when it comes to account gains or equity loss. In the past when I opened larger account (e.g. 5k+ or more) I found it difficult to cope with bigger positions, gains and loses and as a result I let my emotions drive my trading account.
So I am now working my way through from the scratch and learning as my account grow. There are two possible scenarios:
After 6 successful months of this experiment I will top up my account to 10k and increase positions
Continue trading patiently and make it to the 10k whilst learning to maintain bigger positions
The goal here is to master the skills and not to be greedy or looking for quick profits. Once this is done I believe there is a good chance to make living out of trading using this style and finally to get out of the living style of ordinary Joe
