How to start learning forex trading

[ben dog]

Dear Mike, thanks for your suggestions

“Focus on developing a strategy, only bet £1 per point on demo, you are ultimately trying to bag a steady amount of pips - keep your losses to a minimum.”

… AH that would account for it then lol. Looking at statements, Trading Price around 509 and bought 1000 stocks, bought and sold +commission in demo kid you not! That’s like buying 50,000ish each trade isnt it and I did at least 30 trades that night. *ha how I laugh at myself*. Thanks for pointing that out to me. This is good advice for readers >Use the demo account as if you where trading from it for real!. How much would you actually pay for a stock ect?; how much liability could you handle?; and check to see your demo account doesn’t go below that point - even when you’ve bought stocks.

3 ducks stratergy by Captain Currency (forum search)… Interesting thanks. I should have gone there first, but did the lengthy persuit of reading long pdf files. Cool im starting to see things a bit now thanks.

Money Management
Would you guys offer an oppinion on money management please as an example? Starting bank of £1000 what do you suggest would be a good money stratergy (conservative, small profits over long term)? … I want to avoid a kick in the nads if I do this, or that sinking feeling … these principles could then apply to any amount of starting bank.

£1000 bank
1. How many pips would I set stop loss at generally?
2. How much should the price range of the stock be for mini account?
3. What stocks do suggest would be a good to trade? or 5 examples if you are not allowed to be specific here.
4. Can you explain 1:50 1:200 1:500 leverage ranges, and what it entails?
5. How much am I aiming to gain per day in pips (5days), per month, per yr?
6.… is there anything else ive missed or advice about money management that we should know?

Good Stock - How to Spot
Seems to me that Forex Eur/Usd has a lot of liquidity, so this seems to be a good place to start learning demo and getting to know how things work. But google searches on “Highest liquidity stocks, forex, commodities” turns up a few interesting ones. Ive then looked at their volume and sentiment to judge if they are supported or not.

So to be specific…
1. How do you go about judging what makes a good stock to trade in?
2. What do you look at please, what kind of data, and what does it mean?
3. What tools or websites do you use?

Daily Routine
1. Im interested in what your daily routine is?, if don’t mind me asking please.

…Is it something like: Each day study the breaking news, study the market technical analysis, study the volume and sentiment suggestions. Make a plan depending on what the trend line is doing. What shape it is dictates what plan off attack you’ll have for the day. Set stop loss, call, put, money management. Set your goals for the day. That way you’ll find out if the trend line is winning against you or going in your favour. Stop once you’ve earned your pips for the day, don’t trade on. Never chase loses. Make a cuppa.

“I was given lots of valuable advice by members on here when i started”

Yes totally aggree with you Mike --- youve all been amazing thank you

I was saying to Timsk in a pm “Its great your all helping people get an idea of whats involved. Im sure you and your fellow members have spared many people from getting burned from this industry, that must feel good... Good karma points. ” ... Im sure as i progress and get more confident, ill be paying back by helping others

 

[pboyles]

Hello Pboyles

Thanks for your considered warnings. I’ve had a nice reality check from Timsk as well. I’m taking board what you both say, but my instincts are to stick with it for now.

Id like to reply to your post.

“Please stop and forget about this, you are subjecting yourself to years of work for zero return.” … Do you mean stop thinking about trading forex currency pairs in particular - or stop thinking about becoming a home trader altogether? Ive been watching 1 particular commodity, so may swap over to that instead.

“I mean do you really think there is a secret network you can join to get news before everyone else?” … Erm perhaps not, just wanted to ask lol… was secretly hoping that there was a dark hidden enclave of master traders to join!… There are RSS News feeds you can subscribe to. Also websites like these with suggested Sentiment. Unless that’s a scam too. (suggest to do this, WE’LL back the other side muhahahaa)

examples not endorsements:
http://www.econoday.com
http://www.forexfactory.com/calendar.php

“google FXCM fined“… ok ill check it out and see, thank you.

“Why do you think nobody can tell you the 'correct' settings for indicators?” … interesting question. And timsk’s reply. hmm… I think what im doing at the moment is learning how to trade from the trend line, what each Candle stick shapes means, and whats causing that to happen, and what the other traders are thinking.

Today ive learned about spotting M W X patterns Elliott Wave, how to trade with Fibonacci Retracements, and Sideways Trading… all of these have not used indicators, and if they repaint anyway, they come in late as people say. I suggest to readers please look these topics up.

I think the indicators I like at the moment are Macd and Sto … but I trade by using the lines ive created on top of them and creating my own patterns. Hope that’s the way to go. Today ive made £1123 (500,000 demo bank)

Also if EA's use indicators, surely they are behind the market too

All the best

You can be a home trader if you like, just forget about making a living doing it. Even the people that say they make money trading (and little proof is ever shown) state that it took years to get to that point and they had a lot of losses to begin with. Some of them are probably gambling addicts that can't give it up.

Trading is not a way to replace dwindling savings in retirement. Like I said its much more likely to wipe out your savings. What's wrong with just getting a part time job instead of this grt rich quick £1200 a day nonsense?

 

[Traderallen]

You can be a home trader if you like, just forget about making a living doing it. Even the people that say they make money trading (and little proof is ever shown) state that it took years to get to that point and they had a lot of losses to begin with. Some of them are probably gambling addicts that can't give it up.

Trading is not a way to replace dwindling savings in retirement. Like I said its much more likely to wipe out your savings. What's wrong with just getting a part time job instead of this grt rich quick £1200 a day nonsense?

Dare I say the market must have taken you for quite a ride. End your pain and embarrassment of being a loser and move on. Just because you cant make money trading does not mean others cant. your post are not relevant to the conversation like I little child trying to butt in to and adult conversation.

Note to mods. why cant we delete irrelevant post to the threads we start? there just disruptive.

 

[Steve]

Dare I say the market must have taken you for quite a ride. End your pain and embarrassment of being a loser and move on. Just because you cant make money trading does not mean others cant. your post are not relevant to the conversation like I little child trying to butt in to and adult conversation.

Note to mods. why cant we delete irrelevant post to the threads we start? there just disruptive.

We can delete irrelevant posts but the replies from PBoyles don't qualify. As long as people post within the rules I'm happy to let them do so. There's much of what people say that I don't agree with but they still have a right to their opinion. I can choose to take notice of it or ignore it.

 

[Traderallen]

We can delete irrelevant posts but the replies from PBoyles don't qualify. As long as people post within the rules I'm happy to let them do so. There's much of what people say that I don't agree with but they still have a right to their opinion. I can choose to take notice of it or ignore it.

I see your point. I guess since I trade real money and sometimes lots of it I don't like to screw around or have to deal with what I would consider people just trying to stir the pot, I don't care for distractions. And the fact that I've seen many public forms ruined by people making such posts. Those that want to learn and those willing to share their knowledge eventually give up and go somewhere else.

 

[ben dog]

Thanks pboyles

“You can be a home trader if you like, just forget about making a living doing it. - it took years to get to that point and they had a lot of losses to begin with”

… hmm ok im starting to see your point. Im looking at this as something I can do with a starting point of limited funds - but this doesnt take into account all the money id may (high probility) lose in the learning phase.

Timsk’s pointed out a plan which I may follow. Rougly its: Job, learn trades demo, save some money, trade when ready on 24hrs, but don’t give up job.

I realy do want to learn this stuff. If youre not into forex, what markets do you suggest? Surely all trading skills can apply to any market you trade in?

All the best

 

[ben dog]

Dear experienced members, ... if its ok, can i ask for replys to some questions ive raised. Its back a bit from this one about Money Management, Good Stock - How to Spot, Daily Routine

Realy appreciate your time, as im learning a lot from this, as im sure other readers are also. Many thanks.

 

[ben dog]

Buying stocks with your own money vs spread "Betting" sites. Trying to stay on topic, this effects how you trade, heres some scenarios.

Mike points out to use demo account as if you are actually trading from it, what stocks would you buy at what price, how many ect. We’ll if I go the full trading route. I pick a trading platform. I have to buy stocks at anything from £50 to £200 per item (the current sale price). The brokers give you some leverage. Make a trade, sell it, minus brokers commision = some profit if your good. I can however trade anything I choose if I spot a good one.

If I go spread betting, which is betting on the market will rise or fall ect. Then I don’t have the complication of buying the stock, and theres platforms out there that allow you to trade as if you had bought the stock itself. Thus allowing you to apply all your trading skills learnt. Plus its tax free. Disadvantage you can only trade the items the website lists and not ones you spot are good.

Are all spread betting websites just a scam as well - like binary shares “betting” has been pointed out?

Thanks, please correct me if im wrong.

 

[Steve]

I see your point. I guess since I trade real money and sometimes lots of it I don't like to screw around or have to deal with what I would consider people just trying to stir the pot, I don't care for distractions. And the fact that I've seen many public forms ruined by people making such posts. Those that want to learn and those willing to share their knowledge eventually give up and go somewhere else.

I absolutely agree with that, we had it here for a while and it took me a long time to get rid of it. Please be assured that I keep a very close eye on these things and always make a judgement call. Some members who can seem very harsh in their views also make excellent contributions in other areas so it's important to look at the whole picture.

Thanks for the feedback and I hope you stick around.

 

[mike.]

Buying stocks with your own money vs spread "Betting" sites. Trying to stay on topic, this effects how you trade, heres some scenarios.

Mike points out to use demo account as if you are actually trading from it, what stocks would you buy at what price, how many ect. We’ll if I go the full trading route. I pick a trading platform. I have to buy stocks at anything from £50 to £200 per item (the current sale price). The brokers give you some leverage. Make a trade, sell it, minus brokers commision = some profit if your good. I can however trade anything I choose if I spot a good one.

If I go spread betting, which is betting on the market will rise or fall ect. Then I don’t have the complication of buying the stock, and theres platforms out there that allow you to trade as if you had bought the stock itself. Thus allowing you to apply all your trading skills learnt. Plus its tax free. Disadvantage you can only trade the items the website lists and not ones you spot are good.

Are all spread betting websites just a scam as well - like binary shares “betting” has been pointed out?

Thanks, please correct me if im wrong.

No, lots of people spreadbet as an introduction to the market, as you mention it has its advantages like tax free it also has disadvantages, have a look on YouTube at some of the tutorials, they often point out what you can trade, I think most of the ftse 100 companies you can spreadbet on. I suggest you start your own thread , you will get more input.

 

[PenchantForPips]

I agree with most of what has been said by TraderAllen. You really want to focus on learning Forex trading (or any Market for that matter) on your own. I don't think all Binary Options brokers are scams but options of any kind are for advanced traders who know what they are doing. I would not buy any "learn Forex" system as there is not a shortage of quality information on starting out as a Forex trader available. Most of these just re-state the same information using different words and charge for it. That is not to say that there aren't quality products (software, and services) that can help you become more profitable but that is after you already know how to trade (and profit) from the markets.
Start by picking a pair to study. A market you can follow from the open is best. Therefore, if you are in the US and work full time you may want to pick an Asian market as they open late enough in the day for you to follow in real-time. Once you get a good feel for how the markets work and understand price action, set up a demo account and begin to paper trade. After you have developed a winning %age of 70 or above, you are ready to trade with real money. Start a small account and reinvest your profits till you can trade on a larger scale. Remember, systems succeed where people fail.

 

[lee.belisar]

Let's assume for a minute that you find yourself with a little extra cash and decide you want to start trading Forex. You could start by going to the web searching Forex trading where you'll find a wide variety of information some of the good most of it crap. Or you could try reading a book there are hundreds of them most of which I read in there again you have the same problem there some good information but most of his crap. Maybe decide to join trading room where you'll soon find just like the webs and books most are just crap. So maybe you'll just download MT4 and by a robot to do the trading for you received on your account will be wiped out because all robots free or being sold on the web are crap.
So how does our want to be Forex trader learn how to trade profitably? You could learn basic information about trading from baby pips for free that's better information than most books. You could buy some of the myriad of books on indicator-based trading however keep in mind you'll be getting into the trades way too late to make any profit. Same with pattern-based trading. Elliott wave forget it far too complex and subjective to really be of any use. So back to our question. How does our new Forex trader learn how to be profitable? First open an account with a good Forex broker. That's the first problem as most are scams and trade against you what our software is set up to make it virtually impossible for you to make a profit. However once you find that broker where you can get good fills screen time is the only way to learn. Pick one currency probably the Eurodollar for most and spend as much time as possible watching and learning the movements. Currencies are no different from stocks or futures they are people making trading decisions you need to watch the screen until you become familiar with those trading decisions learn where the buyers will be and where the sellers will be jumping ahead of the buyers or short ahead of the sellers. If you have a level II screen that's a plus learn to watch the order flow notice how when prices hit a certain level order flow picks up and prices reverse. For example. Watch for prices to pullback to a fib level don't just jump in at that level watch the order flow and see if the fibers are there. If they are and you will see them jump in and ride the wave up and get out where you know they're going to exit because you watch them many times. Or you may be watching for the big players where you'll notice when price reaches a certain level order flow kicks in and the price reverses usually but not always around round numbers, there's no magic it just easier for most people to think in round numbers. These two examples are more of scalping methods but the work the same on the daily chart. So my advice is to our new traders watch and learn watch and learn study the chart think where are the buyers where are the sellers that's what you need to know.
Of course that's just the tip of the Forex iceberg. Learning proper money management and how to manage a trade is a whole other rant. This is an excerpt from my blog WallStreet2easyStreet

I'm a newbie trader and I'm researching about Forex trading to boost up what I know about this subject matter. Thanks for sharing this one. Looking forward to her more from you.

 

[NVP]

not much for me to add to this interesting thread .........

PB is correct in many ways and he is indeed saving the person a lot of time and effort if they become one of the 95%+ who fail at trading ......

Others are just trying to provide a little help and guidance to the questions asked

all I would say is that success in Trading is no different to trying to reach the Elite levels in any profession or sport or vocation that one decides to undertake

It will take forever to master .....you are always the eternal student
the path will be fraught with disasters and setbacks ...
It will require Intelligence , guts, determination , application, focus , dedication , sacrifice, costs ....etc etc
there are no guarantees of success and the odds are always stacked against you
there are no shortcuts

aside from that I recommend specialisation as early as possible in the process, and always be looking for ways to improve your system and execution of it .....then just keep grinding out the screenhours and plenty of hard work......and use money management to stay solvent until you get there !

N

 

[lee.belisar]

not much for me to add to this interesting thread .........

PB is correct in many ways and he is indeed saving the person a lot of time and effort if they become one of the 95%+ who fail at trading ......

Others are just trying to provide a little help and guidance to the questions asked

all I would say is that success in Trading is no different to trying to reach the Elite levels in any profession or sport or vocation that one decides to undertake

It will take forever to master .....you are always the eternal student
the path will be fraught with disasters and setbacks ...
It will require Intelligence , guts, determination , application, focus , dedication , sacrifice, costs ....etc etc
there are no guarantees of success and the odds are always stacked against you
there are no shortcuts

aside from that I recommend specialisation as early as possible in the process, and always be looking for ways to improve your system and execution of it .....then just keep grinding out the screenhours and plenty of hard work......and use money management to stay solvent until you get there !

N

What is this Forex Strengthmeter? I'm interested to learn more about this? Can you tell me more? Thanks.

 

[NVP]

What is this Forex Strengthmeter? I'm interested to learn more about this? Can you tell me more? Thanks.

hey dude

look me up around the forex forums .......myself and other excellent trader/programmers like Jedster are around most days :smart:


N

 

[lee.belisar]

hey dude

look me up around the forex forums .......myself and other excellent trader/programmers like Jedster are around most days :smart:


N

Thanks a lot..I'll do that.

 

[George A]

I'm a newbie trader and I'm researching about Forex trading to boost up what I know about this subject matter. Thanks for sharing this one. Looking forward to her more from you.

Lee,,
If there is ONLY 1 advise i can give being a new trader it will be this ,,,
Build yourself THE right foundation first before accumulating any trading knowledge ( strategies and systems ).
Please learn ur swing drawing correctly and FULLY as it is THE MOST important part of ur trading business , and i notice with many traders , it is the most under estimated and least focused on point .
Everything in trading is based on swings , whether it is a 1 bar swing or 10 bar swing ,, they ALL count .
You may NOT appreciate the power of this knowledge in the beginning ,, BUT later you will find that it is the very foundation of your success , and everything starts with swing , every trading system or strategy is built on swings .
Hope this helps u .
Cheers
George
P.S
I am NOT sure if there are any videos on youtube about drawing swings correctly , BUT if u do NOT have success , please do NOT hesitate to send me a message and i would be more than happy to run u couple of hours on it . it is very easy and simple once u understand the rules to drawing swings .

 

[lee.belisar]

Lee,,
If there is ONLY 1 advise i can give being a new trader it will be this ,,,
Build yourself THE right foundation first before accumulating any trading knowledge ( strategies and systems ).
Please learn ur swing drawing correctly and FULLY as it is THE MOST important part of ur trading business , and i notice with many traders , it is the most under estimated and least focused on point .
Everything in trading is based on swings , whether it is a 1 bar swing or 10 bar swing ,, they ALL count .
You may NOT appreciate the power of this knowledge in the beginning ,, BUT later you will find that it is the very foundation of your success , and everything starts with swing , every trading system or strategy is built on swings .
Hope this helps u .
Cheers
George
P.S
I am NOT sure if there are any videos on youtube about drawing swings correctly , BUT if u do NOT have success , please do NOT hesitate to send me a message and i would be more than happy to run u couple of hours on it . it is very easy and simple once u understand the rules to drawing swings .

How is this swing applied to Forex trading? How to build it? And what are the rules? Thanks.

 

[timsk]

P.S
I am NOT sure if there are any videos on youtube about drawing swings correctly , BUT if u do NOT have success , please do NOT hesitate to send me a message and i would be more than happy to run u couple of hours on it . it is very easy and simple once u understand the rules to drawing swings .

Hi George,
It's fine to instruct members to do something 'correctly' - so long as you define in clear and simple terms what you believe 'correctly' means. Otherwise, it's not helpful as no one will have a clue whether or not the YouTube videos they're watching or books / threads they're reading etc. are explaining how to draw swings 'correctly'.

To be honest, I'm not even sure what you mean by 'draw swings'. If you're referring to a method for identifying swings that enable a trader to enter new positions or exit existing ones - then there are any number of different ways of doing that. There's the Gann method and Rivalland's revised version of same. Then there's the classic Dow method - i.e. a head and shoulders pattern. Point & Figure traders use a breach of a double top or bottom etc. Which of these is the 'correct' way in your view (and why) and which are incorrect (and why)?

One thing is for sure, inviting members to PM you for more information is not the way to go as it is a classic tactic used by the ne'er-do-wells intent on lining their own pockets at the expense of members. So, if you have ideas that you believe will help members - then post them for public consumption. If you're not willing to share them with one and all - that's absolutely fine - but don't tease people into thinking you know something they don't and will only share it privately. That's not acceptable.

Thank you for your co-operation!
Tim.

 

[George A]

Hi George,
It's fine to instruct members to do something 'correctly' - so long as you define in clear and simple terms what you believe 'correctly' means. Otherwise, it's not helpful as no one will have a clue whether or not the YouTube videos they're watching or books / threads they're reading etc. are explaining how to draw swings 'correctly'.

To be honest, I'm not even sure what you mean by 'draw swings'. If you're referring to a method for identifying swings that enable a trader to enter new positions or exit existing ones - then there are any number of different ways of doing that. There's the Gann method and Rivalland's revised version of same. Then there's the classic Dow method - i.e. a head and shoulders pattern. Point & Figure traders use a breach of a double top or bottom etc. Which of these is the 'correct' way in your view (and why) and which are incorrect (and why)?

One thing is for sure, inviting members to PM you for more information is not the way to go as it is a classic tactic used by the ne'er-do-wells intent on lining their own pockets at the expense of members. So, if you have ideas that you believe will help members - then post them for public consumption. If you're not willing to share them with one and all - that's absolutely fine - but don't tease people into thinking you know something they don't and will only share it privately. That's not acceptable.

Thank you for your co-operation!
Tim.

One thing is for sure, inviting members to PM you for more information is not the way to go as it is a classic tactic used by the ne'er-do-wells intent on lining their own pockets at the expense of members. So, if you have ideas that you believe will help members - then post them for public consumption. If you're not willing to share them with one and all - that's absolutely fine - but don't tease people into thinking you know something they don't and will only share it privately. That's not acceptable


Tim SON ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
Please ready my SIGNATURE on the bottom of this post !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
You maybe able to learn some of life's realities and basis to very few .
Accusations are sings of weakness in ones inner self , as it obvious in your words.
Lack of attention if life in general , and in what we do at one time in particular , leads us to NO where ,,, and sets NO foundation to our existence , as the outcome will be the same of that of our beginnings , and again ,, it is obvious in your words .
Dishing out poison the way you do ,, in the way of assuming , accusing , and judging without PROOF will ONLY effect YOU , as you do NOT live in peace and harmony with yourself , and again ,, it is obvious in your words .
My reply MAY sound a LITTLE harsh ,, BUT the truth is never soothing for the ignorant if life( i am NOT using that word in the bad term ) .
Many posts and many years under out belts in this business ,, does NOT qualify us to be better than anyone NOR give us the right to knock anyone , BUT most importantly ACCUSE anyone FALSLEY !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Cheers,
George