I'm looking at one of those mini-accounts that you can open for $300. I'm not looking to get rich on FX, but I'm wondering if any stock traders out there trade FX at night for entertainment value? The only thing that is stopping me right now is the $50 a month e-Signal data fees to support a hobby that will likely make me just $50 a month -if- I trade it properly. That's right -- just a hobby, kind of like poker. I don't need to become an FX guru. Any broker recommendations? Advice against? Will trading FX screw up my brain for when I'm trading during the day?
Open a demo account at Oanda or FXSOL and use their charts for free. The good thing about the Oanda demo is it never expires. There now you make $50 bucks a month and after my 60% advice commission you still make out OK.
Make regular withdraws and split up your money between a number of brokers when/if you make enough. Your money might not be secure and do not trust your FX broker at all. Good free charts: http://www.dailyfx.com/FinanceChart.html?symbol=EUR/USD http://www.dailyfx.com/FinanceChart.html?symbol=GBP/USD http://www.dailyfx.com/FinanceChart.html?symbol=USD/CAD
Free Esignal Advanced Get Charts at GAIN Capital / FOREX.com with $1000 Account. http://www.forex.com/forex_charting_advancedget.html You can save the $50 fee.
Any recommendations on platforms? All the software packages I've tried look 100x uglier and less usable than most of the stock trading platforms I've tried.
If you plan on scalping, your best bet is probably Oanda due to their spreads which are the tightest I have seen.
If you're scalping FX, what do you consider to be an acceptable average loss? What is the time frame of your typical FX "scalp"? I guess I better start reading the FX forums more often too. There doesn't seem to be any market depth information for FX, so I'm guessing scalpers are mostly use technical trading systems, or support and resistance?
FX Trading Station 2.0 is very good, set up a demo with FXCM and download it. Very easy to use and most retail FX brokers use it. But do not trust your FX broker, have your withdraw form ready to fax at all times. Read up on some of the RefcoFX threads.