Hey Guys,
I'm from a systems analyst background, and completely new to the world of forex. I did a little [tiny bit profitable] spread betting whilst at university, but life and committments caught up afterwards and I've been out of that game too.
I'm interested in getting into the game, and have been reading a lot of threads here (especially the beginners ones) over the past few days.
I believe I understand the basic concepts of MM and Assymettrical leverage (ie. if I'm starting with $1000, my maximum per trade would be 1.5% or $15, so at 30 a pips stop, is 5 micro lots, and a leverage of 5:1. Also that if I'm trading with micro lots, I'll be able to leverage my full 1.5% a lot more efficiently, as I won't hit the constraints of minimums as much)
I'm also starting to understand the importance of both disipline and self belief, in that it's important to work on a system, and exercise disipline in maintaining it. I believe I read somewhere that a decent method would be to change your stop loss based on how the trade is going. (eg. once it covers the spread of 10, move the stop up 10, and once its positive, move the stop to neutral to minimise exposure.)
So I'm in a position where I want to learn and educate myself further. I understand that we should not be looking to external factors and systems as solutions to internal problems, and that indicators are perhaps the least important part of the education of a begineer. Also that I should be using a demo account to practice before I begin on my trading journey.
So my main questions for now are:
Where would you suggest I start learning about charting, and how to read the graphs and prices and recognise the trends? I've read much about the philosophy for beginners, but not basics of charting.
What trading platforms should I be using to do this, and where should I demo? I've heard MT4 is good, but should I be looking further affield? Where would you suggest I run my demo account, and how will this tie in with MT4?
How important is MM and such when running a demo account? Am I learning the wrong things at the wrong time, or should I be applying these principles to my demo to give me a realistic view of the world?
Should I be looking at systems posted here at all, or just learning to read prices etc at this point?
I see the James16 group has a lot of information and help for traders. Is this something worth joining now, or should I wait a little until I understand the basics? I don't mind spending $129/month or whatever, but I don't want to be wasting money on things I won't understand.
Thanks for all your help. I'm determined not to be in the 98% of losers, no matter how much prior education costs. Any other tips are most welcome.
I'm from a systems analyst background, and completely new to the world of forex. I did a little [tiny bit profitable] spread betting whilst at university, but life and committments caught up afterwards and I've been out of that game too.
I'm interested in getting into the game, and have been reading a lot of threads here (especially the beginners ones) over the past few days.
I believe I understand the basic concepts of MM and Assymettrical leverage (ie. if I'm starting with $1000, my maximum per trade would be 1.5% or $15, so at 30 a pips stop, is 5 micro lots, and a leverage of 5:1. Also that if I'm trading with micro lots, I'll be able to leverage my full 1.5% a lot more efficiently, as I won't hit the constraints of minimums as much)
I'm also starting to understand the importance of both disipline and self belief, in that it's important to work on a system, and exercise disipline in maintaining it. I believe I read somewhere that a decent method would be to change your stop loss based on how the trade is going. (eg. once it covers the spread of 10, move the stop up 10, and once its positive, move the stop to neutral to minimise exposure.)
So I'm in a position where I want to learn and educate myself further. I understand that we should not be looking to external factors and systems as solutions to internal problems, and that indicators are perhaps the least important part of the education of a begineer. Also that I should be using a demo account to practice before I begin on my trading journey.
So my main questions for now are:
Where would you suggest I start learning about charting, and how to read the graphs and prices and recognise the trends? I've read much about the philosophy for beginners, but not basics of charting.
What trading platforms should I be using to do this, and where should I demo? I've heard MT4 is good, but should I be looking further affield? Where would you suggest I run my demo account, and how will this tie in with MT4?
How important is MM and such when running a demo account? Am I learning the wrong things at the wrong time, or should I be applying these principles to my demo to give me a realistic view of the world?
Should I be looking at systems posted here at all, or just learning to read prices etc at this point?
I see the James16 group has a lot of information and help for traders. Is this something worth joining now, or should I wait a little until I understand the basics? I don't mind spending $129/month or whatever, but I don't want to be wasting money on things I won't understand.
Thanks for all your help. I'm determined not to be in the 98% of losers, no matter how much prior education costs. Any other tips are most welcome.
