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Time it takes to be a Successful Forex trader

  • #21
  • Jul 15, 2008 3:36am Jul 15, 2008 3:36am
Quoting Mr Trend
That's the least of your worries.Nothing scary about stop-hunters. That's how the market works. Banks run stops to create liquidity.
Alright. I concluded that after reading reviews and threads about dishonest brokers. I don't get it. How do you then decide which broker is the best?
I read about brokers being stop-hunters so that they can kick you out of your trades.

Quoting billflet
"If I ever become successful trading and if I acquire appropriate skills, I would help form a non-profit brokerage."

This is bargaining with the Lord/Karma/Whatever Higher Power You Happen To Believe In. This higher power has been around the block a few times and can see through the bargaining. It won't work.
We're more likely to get rewarded for what we do (study, learn, practice, etc.) rather than for what we promise we'll do if the reward is given in advance. There are no shortcuts; not even by promising to be a better person.
I am not looking for any rewards by doing that. I may not be able to do it, but who knows what can happen in the future? Sure, you all can laugh at it, but nothing wrong about "speculating" the idea. "The Future Offers Endless Possibilites" - The Secret

Quoting fxRichard
Canon fodder = added liquidity lol on a more serious note you state that you have 6 months saved up for living expenses but you did not state how much you plan to open an account with
Ok. Thanks for your concern. I have saved enough for trading. I have been studying Alexander Elder's books on money-management. I will quit forex ASAP the day I know it's not for me and I have no plans to lose my entire capital and make the same mistakes that have been made by other losers by not following proper money-management principles.

Quoting Mr Trend
Also, I hate to say this, but you need to hear it -- if you really think you're going to need a few months to "know this game inside and out", you're seriously mistaken. If it were that easy, everyone would be a trader.

...
Hmmm. Point noted. I still believe that it shouldn't take more than a year for somebody to find out whether forex trading is for them or not.
Anyway, I am going to back to work part-time and have decided to trade part-time only for now.

Can somebody help me decide the next step after finishing my book studies?
I read somewhere that one should do paper trading with a charts software with historical date before demo-trading. Would that be a good idea?
  • #22
  • Jul 15, 2008 4:43am Jul 15, 2008 4:43am
Everyone goes through the learning curve at a different pace. 1 year is very unusual. 3-5 years seems to be a more typical timeframe. If you try trading for a living too early and you need to earn money to live on, you will likely force your trades and your results will suffer. And even accomplished traders have weeks/months of drawdowns. It's just part of the business that you need to be prepared for. A good mentor would shorten your learning time and ultimately save you money. If you rush your learning process, you'll be apt to short circuit your forex goals.

There's a lot of well organized info on the James 16 private forum and membership costs less than 1 bad trade per month. It's a good place to start.

Maybe this post will help you in your journey.

http://www.forexfactory.com/showthre...ferrerid=35876


All the best
Bill
  • #23
  • Jul 15, 2008 7:27am Jul 15, 2008 7:27am
Quoting billflet
Everyone goes through the learning curve at a different pace. 1 year is very unusual. 3-5 years seems to be a more typical timeframe. If you try trading for a living too early and you need to earn money to live on, you will likely force your trades and your results will suffer. And even accomplished traders have weeks/months of drawdowns. It's just part of the business that you need to be prepared for. A good mentor would shorten your learning time and ultimately save you money. If you rush your learning process, you'll be apt to short circuit your forex goals.

There's a lot of well organized info on the James 16 private forum and membership costs less than 1 bad trade per month. It's a good place to start.

Maybe this post will help you in your journey.

http://www.forexfactory.com/showthre...ferrerid=35876


All the best
Bill

Thanks for the link and your advice. I have decided to focus on forex part-time only for now until I become another George Soros or Warren Buffet!
  • #24
  • Jul 15, 2008 7:43am Jul 15, 2008 7:43am
Let me ask you this so some of us can better point you in the right direction: What fits your personality more:

a) analyze market place a few order and forget about them until tomorrow or even a few days and each pip is worth very little amount of money<br><br>
b) Sit in front of the computer all day and wait for setups to occur and make trades all day but by the end of the day you have no open positions, each pip is worth small money
c) spend 1-3 hours a day trading where each pip = big money, you have no open positions after your 1-3 hours.

There is hope, it can be done in less than a year, I did it however I found an edge that works for me and spent 12-18 hours a day learning (no kidding!). My advice is if you can determine what type of trader you are, find an edge that fits your type, then stick with that method/system! Too many people try a method/system for a short amount of time and disregard it because they don't make big money right away and have losses. Every method/system will have losses at some point but I will tell you one thing, the longer you use it the better you will get.
  • #25
  • Jul 15, 2008 11:38pm Jul 15, 2008 11:38pm
Quoting fxRichard
Let me ask you this so some of us can better point you in the right direction: What fits your personality more:
Thanks for your offer to help. So far I haven't really decided what option to go with. I had been thinking about shorter timeframes, but it has now started to sound like a deadly game unless you are experienced. Due to not having a source of income and wanting to make money fast, I would have gone for that option, but now I am stepping back and analyzing it more seriously. Since I have decided to continue working part-time, I can take a more relaxed approach - so maybe Swing Trading initially but I would like to trade smaller time frames as I gain more experience and confidence.
However, my concern with Swing Trading is paying the interest on my open trades. (maybe i can earn too - but don't really know what pairs i will be trading - maybe EUR/USD to begin with).
I think I jumped ahead by coming to this forum before finishing my studies. Joining this forum was supposed to be the next step after finishing my off-line studies; but I think I made the right decision, as I am able to now work again part-time while I have sufficient funds to survive also in case I don't find a job immediately.

Wow! I can't believe there are people actually taking interest in my forex career and offering my advice. I think it's really cool. That's what we should all be doing anyway - helping and supporting each other - while I know at the same time that we are all competitors while we are trading. But I think it's going to be a nice break from trading coming back to this forum.
  • #26
  • Jul 16, 2008 1:53am Jul 16, 2008 1:53am
Quoting trader35
I had been thinking about shorter timeframes, but it has now started to sound like a deadly game unless you are experienced. Due to not having a source of income and wanting to make money fast, I would have gone for that option, but now I am stepping back and analyzing it more seriously.
Good. Smart.
Quoting trader35
Since I have decided to continue working part-time, I can take a more relaxed approach - so maybe Swing Trading initially but I would like to trade smaller time frames as I gain more experience and confidence.
You can do that definitely. Just start with dailys. If you can't make money trading dailys, you're not going to make money short term. Furthermore, don't get into changing what markets you trade, i.e., forex, then stocks, then futures, then options... if you can't make money in Forex, you're not going to in any other market. It's all the same -- greed and fear...
Quoting trader35
However, my concern with Swing Trading is paying the interest on my open trades. (maybe i can earn too - but don't really know what pairs i will be trading - maybe EUR/USD to begin with).
It all evens out. Don't worry...once again, that's the least of your worries.
Quoting trader35
I think I jumped ahead by coming to this forum before finishing my studies. Joining this forum was supposed to be the next step after finishing my off-line studies; but I think I made the right decision, as I am able to now work again part-time while I have sufficient funds to survive also in case I don't find a job immediately.
Sounds like you're on the right track.
Mr. Trend
  • #27
  • Jul 16, 2008 11:50pm Jul 16, 2008 11:50pm
Time it takes to be a successful forex trader. Lets say that a trader has a 5K account and they make only one trade and the account grows by one dollar and the trader never makes another forex trade. This makes the trader a successful forex trader. He has succeeded in making money trading the forex. Total time to accomplish this is a few minutes.


What I think you actually mean is that .... Time it takes to be an experienced forex trader. This is a task that does take time and skill to complete. Many excellent answers were given above.
"To Be A Successful Forex Trader, You Need A Successful Forex Mentor."
  • #28
  • Jul 16, 2008 11:55pm Jul 16, 2008 11:55pm
putting any sort of timeframe on when you must become profitable is just not the right approach. That doesn't mean don't work just as hard etc.

But IMO learning this business is worth it no matter how long it takes(excluding those that it effects mentally/health/family etc).

Treat it as a business, and you can succeed.


Good luck

Mike

everything my good buddy Mr.T said is dead on
  • #29
  • Jul 17, 2008 12:20am Jul 17, 2008 12:20am
Quoting mbqb11
everything my good buddy Mr.T said is dead on
And so were your words too!
"To Be A Successful Forex Trader, You Need A Successful Forex Mentor."
  • #30
  • Jul 17, 2008 1:14am Jul 17, 2008 1:14am
It depends..
Trade what you see, not what you think.
  • #31
  • Jul 17, 2008 7:59am Jul 17, 2008 7:59am
Quoting trader35
Thanks for your offer to help. So far I haven't really decided what option to go with. I had been thinking about shorter timeframes, but it has now started to sound like a deadly game unless you are experienced.
This is just my opinion and I know a lot of long time frame traders are going to shun this but I don't care. You won't gain experience trading short timeframes by practicing on longer ones. Long timeframes require a form of money management that only enables you to use a small percentage of your account because of the increased time of exposure your trade has in the market thus you have to be capable of withstanind large drawdowns etc. Shorter timeframes allow you to utilize more of your money to make money as you have less time of exposure in the market. Too many people are concerned with obtaining a large pip count, a large pip count does not equal a large bank account, the value of the pip is more important than the number of pips. Which do you think is easier to do, make a trade and catch 100 pips or 10 pips? Yes it is true that on a shorter timeframe you have a higher chance of failure if you are using larger lots BUT this is only true if you do not know what you are doing. If you had the choice of being successful trader on short time frame vs large time frame I personally would pick the short timeframe as you have the potential to make money faster (and lose faster). If you want your grandchildren to enjoy the money you make in Forex trade on long term charts lol. Here's an example, can you tell me which of these two charts is a long TF and which is the shorter TF? Some may be able to, we'll see.....
Attached Image(s) (click to enlarge)
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Click to Enlarge Name: EU.jpg Size: 34 KB
  • #32
  • Jul 17, 2008 8:15am Jul 17, 2008 8:15am
Hi fxRichard, i think the chart on top is a longer TF chart while the one below is the shorter TF one. Reason being there are some bars with no wicks on the bottom chart. Just my guess.



Cheers
  • #33
  • Jul 18, 2008 10:10am Jul 18, 2008 10:10am
Quoting fxRichard
Here's an example, can you tell me which of these two charts is a long TF and which is the shorter TF? Some may be able to, we'll see.....
Very interesting opinion. So trading the longer timeframes won't necessarily help me trade shorter ones! So why waste time. Maybe I should start with only shorter ones during demo trading. My goal is not to make a lot initially. Just small profits here and there. So I won't be risking a lot of money for at least a year or so.

Looking at the charts, all that I see are candlesticks, so I have no way of telling which one is which.
  • #34
  • Jul 18, 2008 10:31am Jul 18, 2008 10:31am
Quoting TradeCell
Hi fxRichard, i think the chart on top is a longer TF chart while the one below is the shorter TF one. Reason being there are some bars with no wicks on the bottom chart. Just my guess.



Cheers
I'm with TradeCell, the second one looks like the shorter timeframe.

Arthcub
Visit my journal here.
  • #35
  • Jul 18, 2008 10:41am Jul 18, 2008 10:41am
Correct the top is a 1hr chart and the bottom a 1min. The main thing we are looking at here are the waves in the market, both timeframes move similarly IMO. Something to think about...
  • #36
  • Jul 18, 2008 11:35am Jul 18, 2008 11:35am
Quoting fxRichard
Correct the top is a 1hr chart and the bottom a 1min. The main thing we are looking at here are the waves in the market, both timeframes move similarly IMO. Something to think about...
I think wave theory would apply to both time frames, but if you were looking for candle or bar formations, I believe you would need to stay with the larger timeframe.
Visit my journal here.
  • #37
  • Jul 18, 2008 1:57pm Jul 18, 2008 1:57pm
Quoting Rosscub
I think wave theory would apply to both time frames, but if you were looking for candle or bar formations, I believe you would need to stay with the larger timeframe.
This may be true, personally I use timeframes < 1min with line on close so no candles thus different patterns and formations occur.
  • #38
  • Jul 18, 2008 3:28pm Jul 18, 2008 3:28pm
I know this has been mentioned already but...

Becoming successful generally isn't fast.

My first account was a $200 live account. I threw darts at the screen and picked positions based on whatever hocus pocus convinced me that I'd make a few pips.

I know everyone says to use a demo account, but if it wasn't real money I wouldn't have learned. The pain of watching my money float away was a good experience -- and I didn't waste time developing a set of skills in a psychological environment that is nothing like real trading.

After I blew up that account I switched companies, having a much better idea about the pros and cons of various accounts, the use of leverage, and all of that.

After trading for approximately a year on this second account, I've recently gone back to reading forums and picking up little things here and there. The few books on market timing, technical analysis, famous investors and so forth have been taken out of the local library a few times.

I think I can turn a regular profit now, but I'm not sure yet, at least not on my active trading account. My longer term account is doing well, picking up carry trades at what should be opportune moments, but it isn't going to make me rich quick.

My short term account, or my play account, is where I day trade on the 5m/1hr or scalp on the 1m/5m. I recognize that I need to be fairly active or I'll get bored and make stupid decisions. The 1/5 gives me plenty of opportunity to be active.

I've written some EA's, but I've never tried to trade one live. I think I can convert my (apparently) successful strategies into an EA and if I can earn enough I'll start experimenting with that.

So, after about a year and a half I've turned a corner, but there is no way I could have any reasonable expectation that I'd be able to earn enough to pay my bills at this point. However, there's no rush...
nav++
  • #39
  • Jul 19, 2008 7:09am Jul 19, 2008 7:09am
It took me well over a year to become consistently profitable.
  • #40
  • Jul 19, 2008 8:11pm Jul 19, 2008 8:11pm
As the majority of FX traders I have lost money in the market when starting, one book that is a MUST READ: "Trading in the zone" by Mark Douglas, applying the principles written in this book will make your trading better, I say it because it made my trading better.
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