I’ve been told when starting out to trade mini or micro lots to minimize risk while learning this stuff but I have never done this. I have perhaps a misconception that trading mini/micro lots will just take along time for your account to grow (1 pip = $1 gain)…or disappear.
I think this is a great topic for discussion specially for people just getting started. (Trading Micro/Mini or Standard)?
What is your experience trading mini/micro lots? Does it really take long to grow your account?
First of all, you have to forget about growing your account in the beginning by leaps and bounds, especially if you are starting off with a micro account (allows you to trade less than 10,000 units, thus having pip values less than 1$). If you are starting with a micro then this naturally implies that you have a minimal balance, say, $1500.
Now, let’s take a numerical example of a hypothetical trade:
Account balance: $1500
Risk per trade: 1% or $15
Stop loss: 40 pips
Profit target: 40 pips
Pip value: say 0.10/pip
How many contracts do you trade? (1500*1%)/(0.10)(40) = 3.75 or 3
Assume you are profitable, how much do you make? 30.1040 = $12
So, you see what i am saying? There is no way you will be able to grow your account very quickly on a small balance and micro account. This is just the way it is and it is very discourageing to many people who beleive they can turn hundreds into millions in no time.
Done properly, trading has to respect certain risk parameters if one is going to survive. Sure, one can try and grow a 1500 account by hundreds of dollars at a time by trading a standard lot, but odds are that you will end up going bust first.
As Babypips.com says, think of your return in percentage terms and not absolute dollar amounts. This will keep the playing field level and consistent for you
I’m gonna tell you what i intend to do and why.
First of all you should find what kind of trdaer are you
day trader
swing trader
Position Trader
I personaly prefer to be a swing trader so i mostly will trade 4h,1D,1W charts.
For this kind of trading i think that 100-150 pips stop loss is need (this don’t mean that on every trade i will put my stop loss on 150 pips but i like when i decide to do that to can aford it).
But for day trader who trade on 1H,4H,1D i think that 30-50 pips is more than enought.
Acording to my money management i don’t wish to put more that 1% per trade i will open a micro acount with 1000 $ trading 0,01 lots and 100 pips on EURUSD are 10 $ wich is just 1 % that i can aford my self.
One more thing wich is my verry personal opinion [B]put in my acount as much money as i’m ready to lose [/B]! I dont like to put 10,000 and trade with 1 % of 10,000$ wich is 100 $ and when i lost 1000 $ this to be my limit and i get out.Wich mean that i blame myself that i play with 1 % of my acount ,and i play with 10 % of my limit.
Better not blame myself.Till i learn my self to win i probably will make more that 10 times in a roll of lose may be 15, 20 , 30 ,50 who know ? No one.But if i’m not ready to lose those 30 % or 40 % or 99% how will i recover ? I won’t.
So i’m ready to lose 100 % of what i put in my acount and that will let me out of big stress.
And if you think that i’m a pesimist … i’m not.I just prefer to be honest with myself.
best regards
Vladimir.
If you’re beginner, the answer to me is simple:
Whether you have the money to trade standard lots, you should start with micro or mini lots.
Don’t worry about making a gazillion dollars right now. Your main goal should be to “survive” first while you learn the ins and outs of forex trading.
[B]Focus on the process, not on the profits. [/B]
Trade with a plan, and concentrate on trading that plan. During your journey, you find out yourself what you’ll have to work on.
I think you got it all wrong. No matter what lot size you are trading it can be substantial. If you can pull 5% compounded weekly gain that micro account will easily grow up to a mini account in a matter of a year. Personally I think that is an substantial step forward. Who cares if I am making 20 cents a pip. Slow but steady is what matters. Not saying I can yet pull a 5% compounded weekly gain, but that is my goal and when I achieve that goal I believe you can make substantial amounts of money even with a micro account!