IMHO you have a habit of raising peripheral issues that are frankly not directly important to your success as a trader. Long term success in trading is not about knowledge or systems but in behaviour modification. We are not wired to be successful in trading and it is why the failure rate is so high. Behavioural change is not a natural process. It requires effort, discipline and a program. For example, it is said an average person will fail to meet the same set goal at least 10 times in a row. It means behavioural change doesn't come just by willingness and mindset.
As I mentioned to you before, you have done about 180 trades in December. Have you identified what you need to change from that outcome? if you can't get your win rate up, you will not succeed in trading. Trading is not easy and "you" is the primary hurdle - not web based system or brokers.
Thanks for the input mate. It's appreciated, as always.
I understand where you are coming from but you make it sound like a bad thing. It would be bad if I was to keep jumping around to non-trading related things but I am not. Especially in this instance. At a basic level, this thread is an attempted move away from Spread-betting, or at the very least, a move away from outlandish spreads which make having a successful trade more difficult (variable spreads essentially move the goalposts and outlandish spreads move it more dramatically). Surely you are not saying this is frivolous?
I understand that behavioural change is paramount to being a successful trader. I understand that behavioural change is difficult to achieve and is likely why the failure rate in trading is so high. But will behavioural modification alone make me a successful trader? That's a rhetorical question because we all know the answer is no, behavioural modification alone will not make one a successful trader.
Another potential diamond that came from this thread involves the other point you raised. You asked me, from the 180 trades placed in December, what did I learn from them. Answer: That I am likely placing far too many trades! This feeds back into this thread, in that, having to pay £1 per pip instead of the 1 cent per pip at my current broker means it takes the demo feel away. Moving to my mini live account with my current broker from a demo account was great because it allowed me to work on my psych. But then after a few months, the mini live account began to feel like a demo again because the money involved was so low. Paying £1 per pip will almost definitely dramatically help cut out the vast majority of those hail Mary trades - AKA trading excessively.
I just want to point out. I am enquiring about IG... I am not ready to move to such an account size just yet. BUT when I am ready to move, I won't have to think about it as much, because I am doing the thinking now. Yes, I'll run over things again when the time comes in case anything has changed or whatever, but most of the leg work will already have been done (I'm doing it now).
