real "miracle" stories of growing a "micro/mini" FX account...you have one? Has anyone really taken a $250, $300 or $500 "micro/mini" Forex account to even $1,000 or $2,000 or even $5,000?...just want to see if this is even a possibility for the "Joe the Forex Trader" out there...or do most people just use the "micro/mini" account to "practice" trades on...please share you insight etc. What was your account balance you started with? what number of lots did you trade most? what cross rate? how long did it take you to get to $1k, $2k, $3-5K?
It's no miracle I took an account from $1000 to $4000 , opened in 06, never did anything much but flatline in 06-07, for me FX was dead, no money to be made so I mostly stayed away or traded tiny . That was until 08, 250% + trading small positions 3, 5 K most of the time yup. Now I am back to 10 K lots ! Back in 03 -04 I more than doubled another 1K account gaming FXCM. Spent the money on a Bahamas trip. Also made some money on globex (EUR) but what I did stopped working and I went back to spot. I wish I had traded much bigger obviously, FX is only one part of my trading and provides good diversification particularly considering I made some disastrous trades in equities during the crash.
They a great for single bet, one direction trades. Always nice to plonk down 2-3k, write it off and then proceed to a single trade. Thank you EUR/USD for your parabolic ways
I can't tell you that I ever did what you ask, but I can tell you how I would go about trying to grow a little bit into a whole lot more. I would trade currency futures on globex. I myself have never found a way consistently to beat the forex dealer on the spread. By trading futures, I am trading on an exchange, I am often filled with no slippage, and I pay a mere $7 all-in round turn. Here's how I would do it: 1) Open and fund an account with a Futures broker who a) provides a simulated live platform identical to the live platform. b) will let me day trade 1 6E contract with a $2500 account 2) I would focusing all of my attention on the Euro futures contract (6E). 3) I would practice on the simulated live platform until I could consistaetly make a 30 tick/day profit (even when the Euro was moving a mere 70 ticks per day it was not too difficult to grab 30 ticks as a daytrader). a) I would limit my losses to an average of no more than 15 ticks/trade. b) If I hit three losing trades in a row for my max loss limit on any given day I would shut down and stop trading until the next trading day, i.e. if I found myself down by 45 ticks, or if I could sustain another loss without exceeding 45 ticks total loss, I would be done for that day. 4) Once I could make a consistent 30 ticks/day on demo, I would go live, and try to replicate that success, with a weekly goal of 100 ticks. 5) Repeat daily. That requires not a miracle, but hard work, study, and the cultivation of an extreme degree of emotional discipline. But it is well worth the effort. Best Wishes, ddaytrader
6E is way too big for a $2500 account - if 1 contract moves 20 pips against you, you are down 10% (12.50 x 20) already. Anything under $20K is overleveraged for FX futures intraday trading in my opinion, and that's on the very low side.
this to me is a very, very, very unrealistic statment...probably 95% of people would be waiting forever to get this kinda cash to trade anything...very unrealistic
no he is right. Leverage will kill you slowly mostly by clouding your decision process, that is unless you are a real gunslinger but then watch for the blowup coming at you. You'd better have your daytrading tactics down to perfection before attempting to daytrade FX futures with a small account, especially in this market, otherwise you will be carried on your shield soon .
There is no doubt in my mind that I make better decisions when I'm not over leveraged. I agree that $2,500 is way too low per contract in order to make sound trades
If a 6E daytrade ever made an adverse move 20 ticks from my entry, I'd have already been out. I understand what you are saying. And I do agree with you to this extent: A great trader once told me that "You cannot save a million dollars, you have to make it in chunks." He started out trading futures with $700 holding positions overnight in the days when there was no 24 hour Globex to get him out. He will readily admit that he was overleveraged when starting out. Weren't we all? He now risks a mere 1/2 of 1% per trade, but his trading account is considerably higher than $700. However, an awareness of the risk of ruin to an under capitalized trader should always be at the forefront of your mind. I have posted a few times here on ET that George Lane always insisted to his students that $5,000 is the most anyone should ever give to his broker. And he was talking about day trading the S &P back when it was $500/point and you had to pick up the phone to place your order. Absolutely true ... which is why, if I were trying to trade my very last $2500, I would practice in a simulated live account until I could consistently, say eight out of every ten days, finish with a 30 tick profit. I would also always have a hard stop of 15 ticks in the market. Always. That hardstop would be set to go into the market as soon as I was filled on my entry stop. By the way, the leverage in day trading FX futures is far less than the leverage trading with some bucket shop forex dealer where every trade already throws you 3-5 ticks in the hole on the way in and 3-5 ticks on the way out. If you are going to use leverage, at least give yourself a chance to succeed. Do not fall for the stupid "no commissions" sales pitch. You are getting clipped for 3-5 pips in and another 3-5 pips out, which means in addition to your profit, the market must move an additional 6-10 pips, which on a standard sized spot retail forex lot is 60-100 dollars/round turn. I'll gladly pay my $7 round turn trade after trade. If I make just one tick I have covered my cost and actually made a small profit. The same trade with a forex dealer the market would have to move 1 pip + 2 times the spread to "breakeven." Best Wishes, ddaytrader