Trading Expectations vs Reality | Forex Factory

Options

Go to
Permalinks
Print Thread

Similar Threads

Trading using Virtual Reality Device 0 replies

Reality of trading system and daily 100 pips 2 replies

4X Reality Show 46 replies

The XXX Alure Of The Trading Reality 30 replies

Reality Check......... 6 replies

Attachments: Trading Expectations vs Reality
Exit Attachments

Trading Expectations vs Reality

  • #1
  • First Post: Apr 6, 2018 10:09pm Apr 6, 2018 10:09pm
As the title suggests what were your expectations when you got into trading ? and what turned out to be a reality ?

PS: I went to through few threads in the rookie section, another bunch lost their mini accounts over few weeks they thought they could make a living somehow out of a 100$ or even 500$ account. So I figured it'd be interesting to hear from others veteran and new, consistent and not so consistent traders what was their experience like if it could save even a single person from going through the gambling phase or losing an account that's all the better.
...
  • #2
  • Apr 6, 2018 11:49pm Apr 6, 2018 11:49pm
Quoting Piquant
As the title suggests what were your expectations when you got into trading ? and what turned out to be a reality ? PS: I went to through few threads in the rookie section, another bunch lost their mini accounts over few weeks they thought they could make a living somehow out of a 100$ or even 500$ account. So I figured it'd be interesting to hear from others veteran and new, consistent and not so consistent traders what was their experience like if it could save even a single person from going through the gambling phase or losing an account that's...
Frankly, now I know my trading ability very well; that’s way I don’t expect to make any unrealistic profit! I have set my trading targets based on my previous trading performances!
  • #3
  • Apr 7, 2018 12:13am Apr 7, 2018 12:13am
Quoting LuizGuilher
{quote} Frankly, now I know my trading ability very well; that’s way I don’t expect to make any unrealistic profit! I have set my trading targets based on my previous trading performances!
That's a good one !
Because most of us when we're just starting out tend to set unrealistic target for our account and our ability, couple that with a leverage a recipe for disaster.
...
  • #4
  • Apr 7, 2018 6:34am Apr 7, 2018 6:34am
Quoting Piquant
As the title suggests what were your expectations when you got into trading ? and what turned out to be a reality ? PS: I went to through few threads in the rookie section, another bunch lost their mini accounts over few weeks they thought they could make a living somehow out of a 100$ or even 500$ account. So I figured it'd be interesting to hear from others veteran and new, consistent and not so consistent traders what was their experience like if it could save even a single person from going through the gambling phase or losing an account that's...
Well when i first entered the trading arena of forex,stock markets it looked like wow i saw prices go up and down and all i needed to do is predict the markets to make money and i thought its so simple.But soon i figured out that what i was trying to do was something which even the top professional traders,hedge funds,banking institutions have been struggling to do.Than i suddenly realised how hard the game was,but since i had beginners luck i was able to use that time to research the markets in my own way and after 3 years i found my edge and since than there is no looking back.
No one ever Discovered anything new by colouring inside the lines.
  • #5
  • Apr 7, 2018 6:41am Apr 7, 2018 6:41am
Quoting Piquant
As the title suggests what were your expectations when you got into trading ? and what turned out to be a reality ? .
//----

hey piquant..... speaking in terms of forex trading, my original expectations were way too high...... as were my losses..... even so, it appeared to be something within my abilities.....

i did not give up..... it has paid off....

but it was a long tough row to hoe......h
to trade and code, keep both simple... no call to impress....h
  • #6
  • Apr 8, 2018 12:31am Apr 8, 2018 12:31am
Quoting hayseed
{quote} //---- hey piquant..... speaking in terms of forex trading, my original expectations were way too high...... as were my losses..... even so, it appeared to be something within my abilities..... i did not give up..... it has paid off.... but it was a long tough row to hoe......h
somehow I also felt like I could do it - not that I have done it but I believe I'm on that route.
you're only a failure if you quit.

great motivation for those who are struggling still.
...
  • #7
  • Apr 8, 2018 12:36am Apr 8, 2018 12:36am
Quoting Hdhorda4
{quote} Well when i first entered the trading arena of forex,stock markets it looked like wow i saw prices go up and down and all i needed to do is predict the markets to make money and i thought its so simple.But soon i figured out that what i was trying to do was something which even the top professional traders,hedge funds,banking institutions have been struggling to do.Than i suddenly realised how hard the game was,but since i had beginners luck i was able to use that time to research the markets in my own way and after 3 years i found my edge...
it's not as simple probably the hardest profession to master.
but once you get it of course you're not going to look back, because you'll no longer have to look for a job and be worried that you're going to be made redundant.
...
  • #8
  • Apr 8, 2018 1:17am Apr 8, 2018 1:17am
Quoting Piquant
{quote} it's not as simple probably the hardest profession to master. but once you get it of course you're not going to look back, because you'll no longer have to look for a job and be worried that you're going to be made redundant.
Yes its extremely difficult to master even harder than chess because in chess there are certain rules and moves you could follow and become a grandmaster where as in this there are no specific rules but instead there are some unwritten and unknown rules which needs to be followed appropriately and but as you said once its been mastered than this is the best thing which can ever happen to anyone.
No one ever Discovered anything new by colouring inside the lines.
  • #9
  • Apr 8, 2018 1:32am Apr 8, 2018 1:32am
back 9 yrs ago, first time with forex, my expectation was flat out 2-3% a day gain.
aggressive gambling, but had some good run with nearly pure martingale.

fast forward, starting to put more serious money in, my expectation was to beat bank interest by approx 3-5x ( with currently still around 1-1.5% yer year, that is 3-7% per year)

my reality sweetspot seem to stand somewhere between these "expectation numbers", maybe around 3-5% a month on average.
that 'lowly' return is enough however to enable me to be a full time trader and live on the income. ( of course not like a king, but neither my job provided that, nor i need to)
there is always, always another trade!!
  • #10
  • Apr 8, 2018 9:06pm Apr 8, 2018 9:06pm
Quoting Hdhorda4
{quote} there are some unwritten and unknown rules which needs to be followed appropriately and but as you said once its been mastered than this is the best thing which can ever happen to anyone .


spot on !
...
  • #11
  • Apr 9, 2018 5:20am Apr 9, 2018 5:20am
Forex is all about expectations and reality.
Expectations: easy time, easy money.
Reality: hours in front of monitor and charts, tons of analysis, economic and politics information should be processed. Nervous tension just like before the first kiss every day. Hard work on yourself to achieve more stability.
Forex is a hard job and very harmful activity. Forex can make you rich. Forex is able to give you a chance but forex want you to change yourself.
I spent 4 years to find my strategy and profit. 5 years ago, I supposed forex is a hobby for a several months.
Dont hurry in three situations: marriage, sex, trade.
  • #12
  • Apr 9, 2018 6:42am Apr 9, 2018 6:42am
It totally depends on your style of trading to be perfectly honest. This is true for me, and maybe others, but certainly I know people who this isn't true for.

The way I put it when I tell people about MY realistic expectations is: You can make money, but you can't do it in such large quantities safely. In other words, I probably couldn't buy anything with Forex money that I couldn't afford to buy beforehand - unless I had an amazing year (If I want a 20k car, probably I need an 80-100k account anyway - so I could have bought the car before funding the account).
  • #13
  • Nov 23, 2018 5:02pm Nov 23, 2018 5:02pm
hey guys, what do you think about an 20 year old, who has 1 year trading experience and give signals on instagram?

scam?
  • #14
  • Nov 23, 2018 6:00pm Nov 23, 2018 6:00pm
Howdy Guys ,,,
From my personal experience ,,,,,
STUDY ,, STUDY ,,, and more STUDY ! ! ! ! !
Until one can come up with an approach / theory / system that can deliver over 95% consistency traded on a demo ,,,,, one should NOT trade live money .
And yes it can take years to get to that level especially if u r self taught and no one to show u .
Why do i say that ????
Because ,,
Once one can achieve that ,, making money does NOT take a long time with the right money compounding plan .
Cheers
LOVE YOUR GAME WITH A PASSION ,,,,, WORK WITH A VISION ! ! ! ! !
  • #15
  • Edited Nov 24, 2018 3:05pm Nov 23, 2018 9:15pm | Edited Nov 24, 2018 3:05pm
Quoting Piquant
what were your expectations when you got into trading ? and what turned out to be a reality ?
In 2011 I started trading with high expectations and expecting to replace my salary which was high at the time.
This was an unrealistic goal and impossible to do with my little experience and my small trading account.
I changed my trading style many times and I have gone from wanting to only swing trade to realizing that my strengths seem to lie in intra-day scalps
but I didn't have the patience to sit in front of the PC for hours waiting for the good opportunities to come along.

Trading can be very lonely so naturally we seek company and I joined some friends on skype.
I followed them in their journey to Forex freedom and leaned heaps from this experience but I also got in trouble a few times.

Lesson 1 learned:
I had to go my own way.
I had my own ideas and I knew where my strengths were so I switched to automated trading.with the expectation of 20% gains per month.
My expectation was realistic, my demo account was going well for over a year so I decided to trade this strategy live .
All was going well for a long while but then I realized that the bankers didn't want me to take their money,
They drove my traded pairs the wrong way for much longer that I had anticipated and I got in trouble with it.
I managed to get out in profit but it took some time.

Lesson No 2 learned:
20% monthly gain was too high for my strategy so I settled for the realistic gains of 8-10% per month (doubling of the account in 8-12 months).
It doesn't matter what % growth we want, if the strategy can't deliver it safely then we have to settle for lower returns
OR we have to look for an alternative strategy.

I did both, I settled for the 10% per month and I also switched to a different strategy which reduces my risk.
I don't trade manually anymore and I don't believe that I have the patience to sit in-front of the PC for hours waiting for setups.
IMHO there are more interesting things in life than bars moving on a chart.

MY Conclusion:
Becoming successful in trading will take time and the how long it takes doesn't depend on our IQ
It depends more on our character and on our psychology and on how determined, patient and systematic we are in our approach.
Have a nice day
  • #16
  • Nov 23, 2018 11:07pm Nov 23, 2018 11:07pm
Quoting George AUS
Howdy Guys ,,, From my personal experience ,,,,, STUDY ,, STUDY ,,, and more STUDY ! ! ! ! ! Until one can come up with an approach / theory / system that can deliver over 95% consistency traded on a demo ,,,,, one should NOT trade live money . And yes it can take years to get to that level especially if u r self taught and no one to show u . Why do i say that ???? Because ,, Once one can achieve that ,, making money does NOT take a long time with the right money compounding plan . Cheers
hi george , what you said is what i did the differance was i traded one pair for years aud/usa on demo became aware of how it moved i was winning a lot of trades and with minimal losses before i moved to live account, i then moved to doing more pairs i do love the exotics trades , good luck with your trading
people leave, but this thread will go on for ever
  • #17
  • Edited 4:19am Nov 24, 2018 3:28am | Edited 4:19am
Quoting Piquant
As the title suggests what were your expectations when you got into trading ? and what turned out to be a reality ? PS: I went to through few threads in the rookie section, another bunch lost their mini accounts over few weeks they thought they could make a living somehow out of a 100$ or even 500$ account. So I figured it'd be interesting to hear from others veteran and new, consistent and not so consistent traders what was their experience like if it could save even a single person from going through the gambling phase or losing an account that's...
Nice idea for a thread.

I've been trading professionally and personally for over 30 years, and the last decade trading full time for a living from my own account. And to be truthful, I wouldn't encourage most people to try that.

Trading is a tough game, not because there is anything technically so inherently difficult about it, but because the psychological and emotional demands are so high and massively understimated by most. And if you then add the pressure of making a living from it, that is hard indeed. Then, when you've wiped the account, lost most of your money and without a job, you can be in a big mess.

Let's have some truths:

  1. You can't make a decent living from a tiny account
  2. You can't read a couple of books, watch a video or two and hope to be consistently profitable
  3. It is much, much, much harder than you ever thought when you first had the idea
  4. It is not an easy escape route from your job that you hate
  5. Profitable traders are not sitting on the beach and sipping cocktails whilst casually placing winning trades

It's a proper profession if you want to do it properly for a living, and like all professions it requires lots of hard work, study, experience, practice & ongoing learning to become and stay proficient at it.

I'm not saying it is impossible, far from it, but I am saying it is hard graft, just like it is progressing and achieving excellence in any other profession. The problem with trading is that there are practically zero barriers to entry so way too many people who really shouldn't be there are - with inevitable futility - trying their luck.

Either resist the urge to try, or treat it as a limited exposure fun hobby for pleasure and pocket money only, or get properly serious just as if you wanted to be, say, a doctor.

  • #18
  • Nov 24, 2018 5:12am Nov 24, 2018 5:12am
i don't have any expectations ... i just accept what market give to me.... that way much easier... sometimes market give good return and you double account.. other times not give anything . i decided not thinking in withdraw my money for next years... i just invest my money ... it's enough what i lost all last years because i was running behind unrealistic expectation ... if i was started with small account few years ago and accepted small return i was being rich now ... but time not so late ... the important thing is i will not run behind unrealistic expectations again... and just let my account grow and accept what market give to me ......
  • #19
  • Nov 24, 2018 8:26am Nov 24, 2018 8:26am
Quoting JsCave
i don't have any expectations ... i just accept what market give to me.... that way much easier... sometimes market give good return and you double account.. other times not give anything . i decided not thinking in withdraw my money for next years... i just invest my money ... it's enough what i lost all last years because i was running behind unrealistic expectation ... if i was started with small account few years ago and accepted small return i was being rich now ... but time not so late ... the important thing is i will not run behind unrealistic...
One year but no withdrawal? That’s really interesting mate; then how to you maintain your daily cost?
  • #20
  • Nov 24, 2018 11:37am Nov 24, 2018 11:37am
I discovered trading in 2008, in my freshman year at college, through an ad for a metatrader 4 EA. The site's landing page caught my eye and I bought the program, having no idea what I was doing. My expectation was an ATM money printing machine, HA!

Looking back now, the site was obviously a scam...but in my defense I was 19 at the time
Attached Image (click to enlarge)
Click to Enlarge Name: Screenshot2.png Size: 1,021 KB
0 traders viewing now