I don't believe in superstars, Organic food and foreign cars. I don't believe the price of gold; The certainty of growing old. That right is right and left is wrong, That north and south can't get along. That east is east and west is west. And being first is always best. But I believe in love. I believe in babies. I believe in Mom and Dad. And I believe in FOREX.
Trading is the same. All you are doing is buying an asset (either real like a commodity/stock/bond or something created like a CDS or option) that has a price. The price will go up and down over time due to supply and demand. Sell it for more than you bought it for - made money. Sell it for less - lose money. It doesn't really matter what game you play - FX, Equities, Bonds, etc. In the end it all comes down to consistency, money management and risk/loss management.
Trading is not scam. But there is a whole industry around it that has all the hallmarks of scam and in some cases people in this industry are plain scam operators. Forex trading did no have a very good reputation in the past among retail traders. Things have changed quite a bit, but I think that there are still many shady characters in this business who pray on the uneducated and the suckers. I think futures trading is better in this respect.
That's the issue right there: There's such a low barrier to entry with FX (minimal start-up capital needed given the leverage so you want them to start up with 100,000$ ?
No. I don't want anyone to start with any given arbitrary number. That's something they need to work out for themselves based on what amount is appropriate for their personal finances in the context of risk capital. My post had nothing to do with the starting amount as a fixed number minimum. My post's point was, by allowing a lower barrier to entry (say accounts starting at $50,) you are casting a wider net into many more minnows. And thus, we get a higher frequency of people popping up all over the net expressing their struggles toward trading profitably. Plus, you could argue that being unrealistic with a small account and high leverage (like expecting to turn a few hundred into millions over time) creates a trading environment (psychologically speaking) that generates a higher ratio of failed traders as compared to other markets. Put another way, there's far more people out there that are willing to toss away $50 trying out forex than ones who will deposit $25,000 to be PDT compliant in a US equities account to try out active stock trading from home. Combine that with the leverage difference between the two markets (4:1 on stocks, vs 50:1 in FX) and the FX side will have traders dropping like flies...most of which will not be around long enough to lean what it takes. This leverage factor killing accounts increases if you go outside the US, where 500:1, or 1000:1 leverage can be found.. so that's like just tossing your small account out the window in a single trade.
Absolutely. Not only do I believe in it, it fits my personality and approach perfectly. Spreads need to tighten just a little more for it to be a great venue for the retail trader, but if you do decent volume, the good brokers will give you a decent feed.