trading forex

[winty]

I am a complete rookie,just started in the last few days.
I can't find the information on some questions i have.
first one is.can somebody explain to me how you lose money trading?i have practiced on a game and have bought some currency,yes i see that it can go into the minus,but surely i can just wait untill it goes back into profit??and then sell again.am i missing something?is it day time limits on trades?i know this is probably a silly question but can someone tell me how you lose on forex trading
thanks

 

[tomorton]

Your are right in theory, but wrong in practice. OK, yes, to lose money from a position you have to crystallise the loss by closing the position. And if you never close the position, you haven't lost anything.

But there are two main reasons for being forced to close a loser -
1. you entered at a price that is not repeated within a reasonable time, could be yearsm, couild be hours: either way, you need the money now, either to pay living costs or to move it into a better opportunity: e.g. you bought Dollar:Yen in February 2002: it could take another 8 years to get back to 134, but if you can afford to have an investment lying around for 16 years earning nil interest, you don't even need to be a trader

2. you bought on leverage and your broker requests more margin payments than you can afford

 

[winty]

i'm happy to hear this is how it is.
also would i be unprepared for anything in live trading?or is the game,an exact experience?
thanks again

 

[tomorton]

The game changes completely when you put real money in. The technical analysis and fundamentals for your decisions might be identical, but your personal input remains an unknown factor until the position is built with real money, money you had to work to earn, and paid taxes on, and which it will not be easy to replace.

Start very small, become consistent, so that profits coming in every week are boring: you can't know for sure what the market will do, but make sure you know what you will do under every possible circumstance. Then slowly increase your positions. Good luck.

 

[a.j80]

The reason of my losses is the fear... I'm scared that loose to much (in fact the curve goes the needed direction) and when I close my order with loses I loose money.
In fact, I wish I would risk a little more. I'd earn much more then.

 

[JRP2891]

i'm happy to hear this is how it is.
also would i be unprepared for anything in live trading?or is the game,an exact experience?
thanks again

The fact you asked that first question opening this thread, means you are a long way off the point where you need to be to trade with real money.

 

[winty]

Ok thanks for the responses.I won't be live trading for a long time yet,as I always like to do my homework first,to fully understand something.But I have a lot of free time to practice at it and the trading hours for GBP are good for me as where I live I am 6 hours ahead..