Very basic question

[inmardi]

Hello all,

I’m new to forex and are trying to learn as much I can. I have seen in many post that people talk about take profit at certain procent and let the rest go. I can’t figure out how to do this… I have read the help of different platform and look overall in the forums but can’t find the answer. Could someone clarify it for me?

Thank you so much in advance.

[rhodytrader]

I guess that depends on the context, but I would assume 100% to mean you are in profit by the same amount you risked.

No. Generally speaking when someone is talking about exiting at a target, whatever % they mention is the fraction of their position they close out, leaving the remainder open.

[phil838]

Hello all,

I’m new to forex and are trying to learn as much I can. I have seen in many post that people talk about take profit at certain procent and let the rest go. I can’t figure out how to do this… I have read the help of different platform and look overall in the forums but can’t find the answer. Could someone clarify it for me?

Thank you so much in advance.

How you do this depends on your trading platform. Who is your broker and what software are you using?

[phil838]

Surely that is exiting a % of position, rather than exiting at a % of profit?

If I said ‘close half at 50% profit’ surely that would mean exiting half your position at 0.5R?

Where as ‘close 50% at 0.5R’, although meaning the same thing, is phrased differently.

The problem is that most people don’t automatically associate 1R with being 100% profit… I know I don’t.

If you said “close half at 50% profit” without first saying what the profit target was then I think 9 out of 10 people (including me) wouldn’t understand what you meant.

Heck, 90% of retail traders probably don’t even know what “R” means.

[inmardi]

How you do this depends on your trading platform. Who is your broker and what software are you using?

Thanks for answering.

My broker is FXcast and I’m using their software, FXcast Pro. I’m on demo. What I don’t understand is how can I take profit without closing the position.

[MattW2009]

Having re-read all that it seems maybe I am labouring under the misapprenhension that 1R is 100% profit, 2R is 200% profit etc.

I stand corrected

[phil838]

I’ve never dealt with that broker either, in fact I’ve never heard of them.

I can’t tell you how to close part of a postion, but I can warn you that FXcast looks like a bad broker.

I wouldn’t trust my money to a broker based in Antigua, much less one with a website full of grammar mistakes.

It takes millions of dollars to open a legitimate forex broker, so the fact that they couldn’t hire a proofreader for a couple hundred bucks is a big tipoff that it’s a scam broker.

[inmardi]

I’ve not had experience with that broker, but for those that I have used there are two ways to do it.

First, to close part of a position it is sometimes possible to open a position in the opposite direction which will cause part of your existing open position to be closed instead. For example, if you are long 2 lots and open a short with 1 lot, this causes your broker to close one of your long lots, leaving you net long 1 lot.

The second alternative is, if you know the specific exit points and lots, then it is possible to open 2 positions simultaneously with differing limit orders. For example, open 2 positions with 1 lot, the first position has a limit at 50 pips, the second order has no limit (letting it run).

Lastly, I have seen a broker that lets you select an open position and choose to partially close it - but that is very broker specific.

Then again I’ve just proved that I’m not the most knowledgable person here so Phil should be able to shed a better light on the subject!

Thank you very much for the clarification:) it was just what I want to know.

[inmardi]

I’ve never dealt with that broker either, in fact I’ve never heard of them.

I can’t tell you how to close part of a postion, but I can warn you that FXcast looks like a bad broker.

I wouldn’t trust my money to a broker based in Antigua, much less one with a website full of grammar mistakes.

It takes millions of dollars to open a legitimate forex broker, so the fact that they couldn’t hire a proofreader for a couple hundred bucks is a big tipoff that it’s a scam broker.

Thanks again Phil, you are right, I picked them out just because the micro account. As I said before I’m new and I just wanted to see how those accounts works. I want to trade in practice mode with the same ammount I plan to use with real money when I decide to get me into it . It will take a long time before I’m ready to do that!:rolleyes:

If you could recommend a trustful broke who offer micro accounts it will be very appreciated. What do you think about FXCM?

Thanks again:)

[phil838]

Thanks again Phil, you are right, I picked them out just because the micro account. As I said before I’m new and I just wanted to see how those accounts works. I want to trade in practice mode with the same ammount I plan to use with real money when I decide to get me into it . It will take a long time before I’m ready to do that!:rolleyes:

If you could recommend a trustful broke who offer micro accounts it will be very appreciated. What do you think about FXCM?

Thanks again:)

I’ve never personally used FXCM but a lot of Senior Members around here do, so they can’t be too bad.

I have used both Oanda and InterbankFX. They both offer micro accounts and I’ve never had a problem with either one of them.

[inmardi]

I’ve never personally used FXCM but a lot of Senior Members around here do, so they can’t be too bad.

I have used both Oanda and InterbankFX. They both offer micro accounts and I’ve never had a problem with either one of them.

Thanks, I just open an InterbankFX account and I feel safer now.