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Beginner Question

  • #1
  • First Post: Jan 29, 2007 11:05pm Jan 29, 2007 11:05pm
Hi,
First of all I'm sorry about my not too-good-english. Recently I open a mini account about $500. I already knew trading forex since 1 year ago.Since then i read a lot of book about it,market wizard,joe dinapoly,van k tharp,etc.Then with my knowledge and many confident i start to trade live.But it seem i don't get the result i want, either i hesitate or i blew my strategy because my lack of patience.Before i start trading i telling my friend that my goal is 200-300pip/month. He laugh it say i too naive,that i don't realistic. He also say that even the best trader only make 50%.But anyway i just trust i can do it.Since now my account goes down 25%, i starting to question my goal, it is achievable or i just dreaming.Well what i want to ask you guys is there someone out there with capital like myself can make 100% or even 1000% in just short time, or i just a dreamer.

Thanks
  • #2
  • Jan 29, 2007 11:11pm Jan 29, 2007 11:11pm
The reality is you'll be doing good if you don't lose your whole account, nevermind making 2-300 pips a month right off the bat.
How you act is more important than how you feel.
  • #3
  • Jan 29, 2007 11:12pm Jan 29, 2007 11:12pm
Quoting indra
Hi,
First of all I'm sorry about my not too-good-english. Recently I open a mini account about $500. I already knew trading forex since 1 year ago.Since then i read a lot of book about it,market wizard,joe dinapoly,van k tharp,etc.Then with my knowledge and many confident i start to trade live.But it seem i don't get the result i want, either i hesitate or i blew my strategy because my lack of patience.Before i start trading i telling my friend that my goal is 200-300pip/month. He laugh it say i too naive,that i don't realistic. He also say that even the best trader only make 50%.But anyway i just trust i can do it.Since now my account goes down 25%, i starting to question my goal, it is achievable or i just dreaming.Well what i want to ask you guys is there someone out there with capital like myself can make 100% or even 1000% in just short time, or i just a dreamer.

Thanks
Well, I'm sure it's POSSIBLE for you to make that kind of return, but it isn't likely. If you get your money management right on a halfway decent system, you can easily pull 30-50% a month. Unfortunately, your about 1-2 years away from even beginning to understand how to do that.

Keep reading, switch to demo until you get a better feel for the market, and test out different ideas until you find something that is consistently profitable. It may be fun to throw on something you think might run for 300 pips, but until you have a methodology backtested, your more likely to get -300 instead.

Welcome to the Factory.
  • #4
  • Jan 29, 2007 11:33pm Jan 29, 2007 11:33pm
Quoting indra
Hi,
First of all I'm sorry about my not too-good-english. Recently I open a mini account about $500. I already knew trading forex since 1 year ago.Since then i read a lot of book about it,market wizard,joe dinapoly,van k tharp,etc.Then with my knowledge and many confident i start to trade live.But it seem i don't get the result i want, either i hesitate or i blew my strategy because my lack of patience.Before i start trading i telling my friend that my goal is 200-300pip/month. He laugh it say i too naive,that i don't realistic. He also say that even the best trader only make 50%.But anyway i just trust i can do it.Since now my account goes down 25%, i starting to question my goal, it is achievable or i just dreaming.Well what i want to ask you guys is there someone out there with capital like myself can make 100% or even 1000% in just short time, or i just a dreamer.

Thanks
Darkstar has given you some very good advice (he has a bad habit of doing that ), so pay attention to what he said.

I will add this. Having only $500 (and now $375) in a MINI account is a certain way to lose all your money. The smallest position size you can trade is 10,000. If you divide this by your account size, you started off with a true leverage of 10000/500=20:1, which is far to much leverage for anyone, but especially for a beginner. Now if you open a trade, your true leverage would be 10000/375=26.7:1, which is even worse.

Please do yourself a favor and close your mini a account and open a micro account so you can trade 1000 lot size. Then your true leverage will be much smaller. 1000/500 = 2:1 & 1000/375=2.67:1.

Brokers should be shot for allowing people to open mini accounts with only a few hundred dollars!

I would also recommend adding more money to your account as it is very difficult to trade a small account. The larger your account, the easier it is to trade. Just don't give in to the temptation to take on a larger position size.

After you've opened your micro account, trade only ONE lot (1000) for every trade you make until you can consistently make money with that one lot. If you can't make money with a single micro lot, then it makes no sense to trade a larger size until you can.

100% to 1000% quickly? Forget that. The harder you push yourself to make money, the faster you will lose it. Forget about making money for now. Your focus should be on learning how to trade well first and foremost. Afterwards, you can start to think about making money, in small, consistent gains that will grow from compounding.

Dial
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  • #5
  • Edited 12:43am Jan 30, 2007 12:29am | Edited 12:43am
Oh my goodness, modesty abounds.
Diallist has spent {probably} more hours putting together an Information Package for Freshmen FX Traders like yourself than you have been Trading FX.

Let's go out on a limb here and say that you won't be retired in a week or so. If that, in fact, is true.. I would strongly suggest that the next time your trigger finger is twitch'n', go spend some time in the "Beginners Forum" readin' the stickies. That will most likely not only save you money, it will most likely earn you money in the long run. Beyond that, you may find how much more that forum has to offer as it is {usually} written in language you should understand.

btw Charles, I have to admit that, I know you have done huge work on account size/lot size, but couldn't put my mouse on it to post that link here. Is it in the Stickies? If not, it should be.
  • #6
  • Jan 30, 2007 12:29am Jan 30, 2007 12:29am
I've had two brokers and Oanda is the far better of the two so I recommend you go with them, it's critical with a small account.

You could trade with 100 unit lots, trading for a $.01 a pip with $2.59 margin per lot. But if it was me i'd still just trade with a demo until I could find something that worked consistently, then i'd trade it live as mentioned above.
How you act is more important than how you feel.
  • #7
  • Last Post: Jan 30, 2007 1:20pm Jan 30, 2007 1:20pm
Quoting Bemac
Oh my goodness, modesty abounds.
Diallist has spent {probably} more hours putting together an Information Package for Freshmen FX Traders like yourself than you have been Trading FX.

Let's go out on a limb here and say that you won't be retired in a week or so. If that, in fact, is true.. I would strongly suggest that the next time your trigger finger is twitch'n', go spend some time in the "Beginners Forum" readin' the stickies. That will most likely not only save you money, it will most likely earn you money in the long run. Beyond that, you may find how much more that forum has to offer as it is {usually} written in language you should understand.

btw Charles, I have to admit that, I know you have done huge work on account size/lot size, but couldn't put my mouse on it to post that link here. Is it in the Stickies? If not, it should be.
Thanks Bemac! Like Darkstar, you're another of my favorites!

Yes, the info you mentioned is in the Money Management sticky in the Beginners Forum.

Dial
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