hey guys i'm an australian university student majoring in economics and accounting; i graduate at the end of next year. i'd really like to land some kind of junior research/analyst role in equities or commodities once i finish, and eventually become a fund manager/trader down the track. thing is i love the market and would really like to get some trading experience now, trading my own account. it's money ive saved up (around 8k AUD) and can afford to lose as a learning process, of course. question is, which would be a good market to start in? I always thought forex would be best, because it's claimed that it's the biggest, most liquid market, is the most perfect market as it is purely shaped by supply/demand, etc etc. but then i begin to read about the bucket shop brokers (the bucket shops in reminiscents of a stock operator come to mind), how they trade against you, run stops etc etc. Of course theres ECNs, but then i hear about how really the only people who make money in that market are the massive institutional traders who have all the info and know all the cards, so to speak, and that its not such a perfect market after all. should i stick with something more established, like commodity futures, or stocks? this is assuming all the usual jazz, trading with an edge, tight money management, etc (ive still yet to start building a strategy and paper trade). i am in no way implying that i'm gonna be making alpha, i just want to put up with as little of the crap ive been reading about forex as possible basically i want to know which is your favourite market, and why?
Go to forex.com and open up one of their free $50k practice accounts. Then see how well you do before you use your own money.
Excellent advice. Don't spend a cent until you've opened demo accounts and have proven to yourself that you can make money in ANY market. And be aware that Forex, for even highly experienced retail traders, is a very tough market to master without significant drawdowns. You're always at the mercy of global events and currents that are far beyond your ability to control or perceive. In trading your own account as a new trader, you're much better off forgetting that the Forex market exists at all. If you feel you must trade something, start with demo accounts on index futures, and begin by investing in a good backtesting platform.
You can get a demo account with NinjaTrader and Mirus futures, Amp futures, or a few other brokers. It costs nothing and you can try it out to see what market suits you best.
Get a demo account -- Mirus and Amp have been mentioned -- and start with NQ. Take a look at where you stand 90 days later. If you are not in the black start again on a second 90 day period. And, if you are in the black start again for 45 or 60 days. Put two winning periods back to back and then fund an account with a few thousand and trade ONE contract. If you are winning stop taking advice from the rest of us ... lol.
sry for double post, i didnt realise there was a short waiting period before your forum account was enabled, so i made 2 accounts and 2 threads, thinking something was wrong i was definately planning on demo trading for quite a while. so NQ index futures is the general consensus then? what about CFDs for individual shares?
maybe you should learn to walk before you run. Forex and futures are no place for wet behind the ear book learned college kids.
Telling someone they are a "wet behind the ear book learned college kid" is not an effective way to communicate with anyone. Try thinking before typing.
What are you a self appointed cyber cop? He could have phrased it a little nicer, but who the fuck are you?