Hi everyone, I am completely new to this with trading. I first noticed this forum in june this year. Having gained an interest in day trading I bought a book called "Daytrading the currency marked". I have tried to put it to use, but so far I have lost more on the demo accounts than I have gained. I have only traded in two demo accounts, namely fxdd and fxcm. And I first tried fxdd in the middle of august. So its soon three months since I started to try to get the hang of it. I know it takes some time to get the hang of, I have read everything from 2 months to 2 years on these forums. I have printed out the eur/usd chart, the open-high-low-close numbers(5 minutes), so I could write them down by hand in a graph. Having read that that was one way you could learn to read price-action(I know this one might be a bit old fashioned). And of course I have been testing out what I have read in the book, I have also looked on these forums for tips. Now, I am wondering if I am doing anything wrong. I am starting to look for signs that I am picking up on anything, in my results or otherwise. But so far the only thing I have managed is to lose 8k$ on the fxdd demo account and 2k$ on the fxcm one. So please, I'll be greatful for any advice ..
What are you trading? - Why are you trading? What are your entry and exit criteria? Have you ever traded stocks, options, or anything before? What is your time frame? (15 minutes, 1 hour, the day) What about day trading appeals to you as opposed to swing trading? And why Forex and not futures? Answer those and you should get some good feedback... and not just from myself. PS if you can post some sample trades that would give us a better look at what you are doing...
demo account on Forex - I'm trying to learn to get profitable on it, so I could possibly use it as a side income in the future I buy when it is going in the direction of the trend i see from the daily charts on the 15 minutes. I don't use specific entry points as for example fibonacci where you might buy at the 0.68 fall back. I know that might be a huge weakness in trying to trade, but I was hoping with some experience I would learn to use ones eventually, as I would pick up on them while trading. I have done sample trades on stock but very little, and not with much luck. (Another simulated account). I usually try to trade within the 5-minute or 15 minute time frame. Day trading appeals to me the same way swing trading would, except I have results all the way. Money in, or money out. Plus forex can have shorter time frames, meaning you can sit some hours in front of your computer and be in and out. While in swing trading I would pick a position and have it for a few days at least, to have it go the way I expected(Haven't tried it yet though). So idea wise I like both, but since both should be profitable, if you know what you are doing, I have tried to learn forex first. Because of the smaller timeframe. I have concentrated more on forex before trying to learn other ways of trading, so I haven't read-up on futures yet(As opposed to swing trading I haven't actually considered futures, yet). usd/cad sold 100k 1.01416 bought 1.01386 26.59 usd/cad sold 100k 1.01345 bought 1.01386 -40.44 eur/usd sold 100k 1.38250 bought 1.38300 -50.00 I am trying to use stops and limits, but I am not using it properly yet, because I still get bad results. Only I tend not to lose as fast with proper stops. And I am trying to learn entry points properly.
Hmmm, alot of that sounds framilliar. You have to have specific entries. Something motivates you to get in the trade. It may be subcontious fibs, elliots, gut or a combo of all. I don;t believe for a second that anyone can get into a trade with no plan. That is like skydiving without a parachute. You have something going cause you are loosing less when you use stops. never enter a trade without stops in place. if you still loose too much then you need to bring them closer to target and cut the losses more. Not loosing is just as important. If you get stopped out too quickly your stops are (a) too close (or) (b) you are gettin in without a plan or at the time of the trend shift. If you watch a chart long enough live you can get a nice feel for how it moves. 8/10 times... easy up ten ticks, stall, retract between 30-50%, stall, repeat.
Thanks for your answer. I'll try to learn some specific entries that will work for me. Maybe incorporate them into a trade-plan, since It starts to be about time I get one down. I'll post again when my trading is going better, or I have any other questions.
The odds of you making consistent profits - or any profits for that matter - as a retail short term trader in Forex are between none and less than none. With less than none being the more likely. Either move to a much longer timeframe or a different market.
i hate having stops in place. i use charts for my stops instead of an arbitrary number. much more comfortable with that.
You might want to consider the interest that you earn or must pay while holding a position. Sometimes the interest is significant.
That sounds dangerous... What if the power goes out and you are really close to your stop point and can't get in to cxl the order? -Assuming you are trading online of course but still, even if you call it in - what do you do when the line is busy or you have to hold? PS the arbitrary number comes from the chart, no?