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Complete Newbie to Forex

  • #1
  • First Post: Oct 23, 2005 3:52pm Oct 23, 2005 3:52pm
Hi Guys its a pleasure to join this forum . Im new to forex, and im willing to devote time , and money to learn , and get serious about it.

If its not asking much i would like some guidelines , where to start ?

Books, Where to open account , etc ,etc.

Anyway some words about me , im a 24y old from Portugal, work as a computer technician , and earn some extra bucks playing poker, my main reason to learn about forex , its make money , and the mental challenge.

Once again its a pleasure to join this wonderfull group

Gustavo
  • #2
  • Oct 23, 2005 4:56pm Oct 23, 2005 4:56pm
Welcome!

You sure made a right start by joining this great forum. There are a lot of pros on here that will guide all of us in the right direction. Start out by browsing through the forums and discussions. Go to www.fxcm.com and read their education portion. Open up a demo account and practice, practice, practice.

This site has a list of preffered brokers, where you can open up a demo account.

Good luck on your journey!
~If you fail to plan, you plan to fail~
  • #3
  • Oct 23, 2005 4:59pm Oct 23, 2005 4:59pm
Welcome to the Factory,
The best place to start is right here. Read the posts, there are plenty that pertain to "newbies"(I think we should change that term to "interested in trading Forex"). Here's a link for a great list of books, look for bargain prices on Ebay and Amazon. http://www.forexfactory.com/index.php?page=contest

Get yourself a demo account, that's the one of the best teachers you'll find. Whatever you do, don't fall for any of the SUPER AMAZING FOREX SECRETS CRAP, you can get the same and better info for free right here at Forex Factory. Charts, psychology, money management, it's all right here. Welcome again,
Mark
Because helping each other is a good thing.
  • #4
  • Oct 23, 2005 9:55pm Oct 23, 2005 9:55pm
If you're interested, PM or email me and I'll send you a bunch of free Forex e-books which will get you started off on the right foot. If you really want to learn Forex trading, you better committ yourself to READING as much as you can for the next two weeks. Forex is very similar to poker. If you like poker, you'll like Forex! You'll make more imoney in Forex "sit-n-gos". Haha.
"Do or do not. There is no try" ~Yoda
  • #5
  • Dec 15, 2005 3:44am Dec 15, 2005 3:44am
Quoting MegaLuck
Hi Guys its a pleasure to join this forum . Im new to forex, and im willing to devote time , and money to learn , and get serious about it.

If its not asking much i would like some guidelines , where to start ?

Books, Where to open account , etc ,etc.

Anyway some words about me , im a 24y old from Portugal, work as a computer technician , and earn some extra bucks playing poker, my main reason to learn about forex , its make money , and the mental challenge.

Once again its a pleasure to join this wonderfull group

Gustavo
For a broker, choose one who offers 1K lots ($1,000). They are sometimes referred to as micro lots. (A mini lot = $10,000 and a standard lot = $100,000).

There are some deep technical reasons for wanting a micro lot account which you'll learn about later. Just take it on faith for now that that is what you want. I recommend FX Solutions www.fxsol.com, who is my broker, or you might choose Oanda who is very popular and lets you trade position sizes even smaller than a micro lot.

For your first three books, I'd recommend, "Trading in the Zone" by Mark Douglas for psychology, "Trade Your Way to Financial Freedom" by Van Tharp for money management, and "High Probability Trading" by Marcel Link for trading methodologies. These three books will get you started on the three parts of trading you must have to be successful, namely

MIND (psychology and discipline)
MONEY (money management)
METHOD (the mechanics of trading)

Think of these three M's as the legs on a three legged stool. If you are missing any one of the three, the stool will fall over, and you will fail.

Open a demo account with your broker of choice. Do not open a live account with money yet. Choose one of the systems listed in the Trading Systems thread of this, the Beginners Forum. Trade that system on demo until you are consistently profitable. Trade the demo exactly like you will trade live. The habits you develop in the demo will subconciously carry over into your live trading. So don't be sloppy with your demo or you be sloppy with live and you'll lose all your money.



Dial
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  • #6
  • Dec 15, 2005 4:57am Dec 15, 2005 4:57am
What book would be good for understanding fibonacci? I've heard bad reviews about Fibonacci Applications and Strategies for Traders by Robert Fischer. Any suggestions?
  • #7
  • Dec 15, 2005 5:39am Dec 15, 2005 5:39am
Quoting diallist
For a broker, choose one who offers 1K lots ($1,000). They are sometimes referred to as micro lots. (A mini lot = $10,000 and a standard lot = $100,000).

There are some deep technical reasons for wanting a micro lot account which you'll learn about later. Just take it on faith for now that that is what you want. I recommend FX Solutions www.fxsol.com, who is my broker, or you might choose Oanda who is very popular and lets you trade position sizes even smaller than a micro lot.

For your first three books, I'd recommend, "Trading in the Zone" by Mark Douglas for psychology, "Trade Your Way to Financial Freedom" by Van Tharp for money management, and "High Probability Trading" by Marcel Link for trading methodologies. These three books will get you started on the three parts of trading you must have to be successful, namely

MIND (psychology and discipline)
MONEY (money management)
METHOD (the mechanics of trading)

Think of these three M's as the legs on a three legged stool. If you are missing any one of the three, the stool will fall over, and you will fail.

Open a demo account with your broker of choice. Do not open a live account with money yet. Choose one of the systems listed in the Trading Systems thread of this, the Beginners Forum. Trade that system on demo until you are consistently profitable. Trade the demo exactly like you will trade live. The habits you develop in the demo will subconciously carry over into your live trading. So don't be sloppy with your demo or you be sloppy with live and you'll lose all your money.


Dial
Thanks for the above guidelines dial.. I think the guide you gave above will greatly help a beginner.. Too bad I wasn't able to receive such guide earlier, but anyway, no harm done..

I for one was very lost as to how to go about forex.. Until I came upon FF and receive much guidance from guys here..

I think you could add the above guide to the beginners forum..
  • #8
  • Edited 4:39pm Dec 15, 2005 4:31pm | Edited 4:39pm
Quoting eastmaels
Thanks for the above guidelines dial.. I think the guide you gave above will greatly help a beginner.. Too bad I wasn't able to receive such guide earlier, but anyway, no harm done..

I for one was very lost as to how to go about forex.. Until I came upon FF and receive much guidance from guys here..

I think you could add the above guide to the beginners forum..
Thanks. I'll add it to the Frequently Asked Questions thread.

Dial
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  • #9
  • Dec 20, 2005 9:32am Dec 20, 2005 9:32am
To Tomnext:

I have split this thread. You now have a new thread all your very own over in the Forex Discussion forum. It is called "Tomnext: talkin' bout Jess!"

Please post your comments about Jess and your trades in your new thread please.

Thanks

Dial
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  • #10
  • Dec 28, 2005 2:54pm Dec 28, 2005 2:54pm
I highly, highly recommend Kathy Lien's book "Day Trading the Currency Market". it's fantastic.

Rob
  • #11
  • Dec 29, 2005 4:32am Dec 29, 2005 4:32am
Yeah, same here. I'm waiting for that book.
  • #12
  • Dec 29, 2005 4:31pm Dec 29, 2005 4:31pm
Quoting diallist
MIND (psychology and discipline)
MONEY (money management)
METHOD (the mechanics of trading)

Think of these three M's as the legs on a three legged stool. If you are missing any one of the three, the stool will fall over, and you will fail.

Dial
Hey diallist, I used to milk cows as a kid for years with nothing but a one legged stool and it worked just fine.
Not that I would try any thing like that with real money in Forex or anything. Great post btw.
Nolite dormiens pungere ursum. -- Latan Proverb.
  • #13
  • Dec 29, 2005 4:40pm Dec 29, 2005 4:40pm
Quoting MrWhipple
Hey diallist, I used to milk cows as a kid for years with nothing but a one legged stool and it worked just fine.
Not that I would try any thing like that with real money in Forex or anything. Great post btw.
Was it also a one teat cow?
sxaxlxvxaxtxixoxnxbxyxgxrxaxcxexdxoxtxoxrxgx
  • #14
  • Dec 29, 2005 4:51pm Dec 29, 2005 4:51pm
Quoting diallist
Was it also a one teat cow?
LOL
No it had the usual four. Let me tell you there are few things as great growing up as a thirteen year old on a farm as snuggling up to a warm cow at five a.m. and sleep milking. (it's not a sexual thing, really, {mj})
Nolite dormiens pungere ursum. -- Latan Proverb.
  • #15
  • Sep 8, 2018 4:31pm Sep 8, 2018 4:31pm
Quoting Pip Daddy
If you're interested, PM or email me and I'll send you a bunch of free Forex e-books which will get you started off on the right foot. If you really want to learn Forex trading, you better committ yourself to READING as much as you can for the next two weeks. Forex is very similar to poker. If you like poker, you'll like Forex! You'll make more imoney in Forex "sit-n-gos". Haha.
hello pipdaddy, if you dont mind, i will also like the books and would also love you to be my mentor here on FF. i really want to learn Forex. please help
  • #16
  • Sep 9, 2018 11:31am Sep 9, 2018 11:31am
The best advice I can give is as follows:

1) Don’t overestimate how much use something like Forexfactory is. There are plenty of clueless idiots here who post a LOT.

Successful traders (such as my humble self) have nothing to prove, and rarely, if ever, share their strategies. When they do post, they are often drowned out by the chorus of fools and wannabes.

So, if you read something interesting here, go away and verify it for yourself before acting on it.

2) Never risk more than 1% or maximum 2% of your account at any one time. Effective money management will keep you in the game. It will also limit your potential profit, but better to have a smaller profit than a blown account.

3) Plan your trade and trade your plan. As soon as you start operating outside your plan (such as moving stop-losses for example), you are no longer trading, but instead are gambling.

If you find you are tempted to deviate from your strategy while trading, then you may not have sufficient confidence in it. More backtesting will cure this problem.

4) Backtest backtest backtest. Once you have spotted a potential opportunity, backtest for at least 1 full year (preferably 2) to see what would have happened if you had traded it. If you don’t backtest, how can you ever know if that strategy is profitable? Only by painstakingly backtesting and refining a strategy will you have the confidence that it works.

5) Use a micro account rather than demo accounts. There’s nothing wrong with using a demo account to get used to a platform or to familiarise yourself with the various functions. That’s fine. It’s also fine for putting together the bare bones of a strategy.

But for forward testing, a micro account (one that will let you trade 0.01 lots - a micro lot) is better. This is because, in my experience, demo accounts do not always behave in exactly the same way as live accounts, and so can give you profits or losses that would not happen on a live acct. With a micro account, your losses will still be small (~$1.40 for a 20 pip loss).

There’s also psychological effect of losing real money which is absent from demo trading. This has a massive effect, and you won’t know how you’ll handle real losses unless you experience them. Many traders find that a strategy that seems to work ok in demo breaks down on a live acct because they cannot stick to it when the real losses mount up, even if they are within the expected parameters of the strategy.

6) Choose a trading style that suits your circumstances. It’s no good trying to trade the 5 minute timeframe that requires you to watch the market like a hawk for 6 hours if you also work full-time or have other commitments.

There are plenty of ways to trade profitably using higher timeframes such as daily, weekly or even monthly.

7) Don’t try to make profit by paying for EAs or signals or gurus etc. With a few notable exceptions, they are mostly an expensive waste of time.

Happy trading!
  • #17
  • Sep 9, 2018 1:05pm Sep 9, 2018 1:05pm
Quoting Forex-Jedi
The best advice I can give is as follows: 1) Don’t overof the strategy. .. Don’t try to make profit by paying for EAs or signals or gurus etc. With a few notable exceptions, they are mostly an expensive waste of time. Happy trading!
Waoh! i find this a very interesting read. However, with the MEGATonne of information OVERLOAD in here @ FF and across the net, a newbie is drowned with too much info here and there in no time. i sincerely need a mentor. i respect the not willing to expose your winning strategy part, but could you still guide me on how to be a profitable trader?
  • #18
  • Sep 9, 2018 8:55pm Sep 9, 2018 8:55pm
Hi Megaluck, sound a positive from your user name..wish you luck on your forex trade.
  • #19
  • Sep 12, 2018 2:23pm Sep 12, 2018 2:23pm
I recommend:

1) that any pointers, advice or strategies you take seriously come from profitable people trading live accounts with full sized lots (or at least 0.5 lots). There is a lot of advice on forums such as this, but in my opinion, there is no point in "learning" from someone that has been on a demo/micro account for years. Certainly no disrespect intended to any one, as demo and micro accounts definitely have their place in currency trading, just not as the platform from which to teach.

I used to fish bass tournaments, and it would be of no help to have someone that has never caught fish in a tournament to try to teach someone how to do it....if they knew how to do it, then it stands to reason they would be doing it themselves.

2) that you don't make things more complicated than they need to be. There is no bonus points for having the most lines and colors on your charts.

My two pips worth....
  • #20
  • Edited 4:14pm Sep 13, 2018 4:44am | Edited 4:14pm
Quoting MegaLuck
Hi Guys its a pleasure to join this forum . Im new to forex, and im willing to devote time , and money to learn , and get serious about it. If its not asking much i would like some guidelines , where to start ? Books, Where to open account , etc ,etc. Anyway some words about me , im a 24y old from Portugal, work as a computer technician , and earn some extra bucks playing poker, my main reason to learn about forex , its make money , and the mental challenge. Once again its a pleasure to join this wonderfull group Gustavo
Hi MegaLuck

Don't read any trading books because you are setting yourself up to lose from traders who couldn't cut it trading themselves anyway.
If you do, you will lose for sure. Better to go into trading without any of their hang ups.
The whole industry will set you up for manual trading using lots of indicators and large trading size positions.

Wrong - Wrong - Wrong

Honestly, you need to learn how to create strategy's BY coding them into EA's for testing on the MT4 strategy tester.
The money is made later by spending your time TESTING these strategy's on demo charts for three months before trading them with a live account.

Now you will be in the group of the 5% that are profitable from day 1.
My broker states that 60% of their business now comes from Algo Traders.
I trade with 8 EA's just using $1 a pip and make a nice living.
Trading thin liquidity at the boundary of the charts
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