These are questions you’ve probably seen and answered hundreds of times over but any advice, guidance or help would be much appreciated.
1- Best trading platforms to use
2- How much cash injection into the first live trading system
3- Best currency pairs for beginners
4- Best time frame for someone in full time employment to trade
5- How many PIPS should a beginner aim to nick on a weekly basis
Greetings Corriston,
First off, before I give you my answers to your queries, allow me to front a question for you to think about… exactly and most precisely, what is your objective? You’ve asked some broad and basic questions. I can help you with some of it.
1.You should experiment with different platforms. Most are supposed to be user friendly. Personally I’ve used nothing but mt4. Choose one that fits your comfort level.
2.Cash is all up to you. Some brokers will insist on $1,000. to $10,000. USD. I’ve started a live trading account with a $100.00 before. Use extreme caution if you choose to trade such a small amount.
3.I would urge someone like you to concentrate on the US MAJORS. The spreads are generally very small and the pairs ‘move’. I would believe that EUR/USD and GBP/USD would be your best bet.
4.time frames are always an interesting issue. Lots of folks like the smaller time frames, some like daily charts as do most of the pros. Again this is based on many things; including how much time you have to devote to trading, news, family, the market you choose to trade, and a parade of other factors.
5.I’ve heard it said one can become wealthy with a mere 10 pips per day. Step number one would be to enroll in Baby Pips School and take the quizzes. I’ve been through all but a couple of the classes because I’m not a fundamental’s based trader. The stuff your gonna learn is awesome. There are a ton of good folks here that can answer your trading questions. In closing, as you may well have guessed, ‘what is your ultimate objective’?
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you.
Reno
Hi Corriston,
Welcome to BP. Below are my answers to your questions.
1 - MT4 is widely regarded as very good, but there are traders out there who use web platforms to platforms developed by the brokers themselves. The best would be to set up a few demo accounts, get familiar with each platform and decide which is best from there!
2 - As much as you are willing to lose. Don’t risk money that you need to live (bills, food money etc)
3 - Stick with the majors (if you aren’t sure what these are, a quick google search will help). They are the most liquid (and therefore have the lowest spreads with brokers, and also have the most opportunities available to put on good trades!
4 - I’m still a beginner myself and I’m working full time as well. I would stick to trading daily charts for now as you will only have to look at them once a day to determine whether you are in the position to put on a trade.
5 - This really depends on your strategy/methods. There are some traders who hold onto positions for a few days and aim to make hundreds of pips by trading with long term trends. Others are more conservative and just bag what they can. Money management is key, so work out what you are doing before you start live trading!
Hope this helps.