Because sometimes I just can't help myself. I see something that I think is funny and I blurt it out.
I tried but he responded with this gem "I can read a chart. I look for head and shoulder patterns, triple bottoms, and etc. I just use indicators to figure out EXACTLY where to enter." and don't call me a dickhead unless you are willing to 1. give me a reach around 2. plan on blowing me nitzy
Good point... I'm new to Forex too. I've been trading it for about six months. I'll give the OP my observations/lessons (in no particular order, aside from the first one): #1: You have to live/eat/sleep/shit trading to get good at it. Once you get the hang of it you can relax a little and it becomes natural, but, until then, you and the Forex are one. #1.1: TRASH THOSE INDICATORS! - Read this entire thread: http://www.forexfactory.com/showthread.php?t=57639 Yes, it's 700+ pages long and still going, but read it until you at least have a FIRM grasp of what he's saying. - Don't trade for a goal amount per day. Start off just doing what you can do. I only trade part-time, but it took me two months to trade Forex for break-even and two more months to trade for consistant profit. I also have prior trading experience. - Stops are evil. You'll see why in that thread. Especially stops as close as 5 pips. Good luck not getting stopped out on every trade. Feel the market. Were you right or wrong? If you were right, hang on and let it go against you. Re-evaluate, were you right or wrong? How does the next time frame up look? Are you still right? If so, keep holding, it'll come back. Rinse and repeat until the market either comes back to you or shows you that you're wrong. If you're wrong, start the damage control, don't just dump it at a maximum loss. Be smart about it. If you use this approach, you need MAXIMUM discipline. There is a fine line between objectively re-evaluating and just trading on hopes and wishes. One will make you money, the other will blow out your account with the quickness. - Stick to only 1-2 pairs to start, USD based if that's your home currency. Watch them until your eyes bleed (and they might if your charts aren't dark). - Longer time frames = better. You'll hear this from nearly everyone you talk to. Go find the quadrillion polls on the topic, they all agree that longer is better. Yes, some people trade short time frames well, there are exceptions to every rule. IMO (and a lot of other peoples' as well), stick to nothing shorter than 15 min charts. Anything below that is noise and lots of fake-outs. I became profitable when I stopped chasing the noise and started playing 1 hour charts, while using 15 min charts to help tune the entry/exits. Ok, my duty is done. That's enough to get him started.
"Anything below that is noise" There are a lot of people who say things like that. I'll take any bet that if i posted 20 randomly chosen candle-charts without axxis-labels with 1,5,15,60 minute and daily timeframes, none of these people would be able to identify the timeframe of said charts with any kind of accuracy.
Oooh a competition, I like competitions......go on then, let's give it a shot, just a few will do though!
That's true, they're all fractals. But being unable to identify the differences and being able to trade them are two different things. Yes, of course it's doable. IMO it's just more work for less gain.
Yea, I suppose that one is subjective. It was that way for me. I can't imagine that, given the failure rate, trading comes easy to many people. You really have to love it to stick with it until you get it. I guess that's what I was really getting it.
Ok, if its not the 'noise', why are you not able to trade the shorter timeframes then? Of course, in the shorter timeframes the impact of the spread and/or commissions is larger. Other than that, i fail to see the difference (within reason, its easy to tell apart a 5-second chart from a 5 minute chart).