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Making a living trading forex 93 replies

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Forex Trading for a living... anyone?

  • #41
  • May 28, 2010 7:02pm May 28, 2010 7:02pm
I'd be surprised if even 0.1% of people on this forum were living entirely off their forex profits...
  • #42
  • May 31, 2010 3:07pm May 31, 2010 3:07pm
Quoting witsnpips
I'd be surprised if even 0.1% of people on this forum were living entirely off their forex profits...
With 32,338 'active' members that should be about 32 traders making a living off Forex here at FF. Hmmm.....
Don't wish it were easier, wish you were better. ~ Jim Rohn
  • #43
  • May 31, 2010 9:19pm May 31, 2010 9:19pm
Quoting witsnpips
I'd be surprised if even 0.1% of people on this forum were living entirely off their forex profits...
And yet you are still here trying to be part of that 0.1%...

Speaks volumes, it really does..
  • #44
  • May 31, 2010 10:33pm May 31, 2010 10:33pm
My guess is that the reason so few succeed, is the same reason so few succeed at anything difficult.

90% of start ups fail, 0.001% of patents ever earn more than the cost of the patent itself, etc.

It takes a certain personality to trade successfully, in my opinion.

I earn a living trading forex. It's hard, but not impossible.

I just discovered FF, I'm here for ideas. So far I've found that it's mostly a recycling of old ideas...

Somebody should scour the forums and write "The Definitive FF Guide To Trading" and post it.
  • #45
  • May 31, 2010 10:43pm May 31, 2010 10:43pm
Quoting jm8985
Somebody should scour the forums and write "The Definitive FF Guide To Trading" and post it.
Yeah, it's called the James16 Chart Thread.
Don't wish it were easier, wish you were better. ~ Jim Rohn
  • #46
  • May 31, 2010 11:12pm May 31, 2010 11:12pm
I don't think its possible to live entirely on forex profits. Especially if the account is small. Those who can live on forex profits tend to have bigger accounts.
  • #47
  • May 31, 2010 11:40pm May 31, 2010 11:40pm
Quoting jm8985
It takes a certain personality to trade successfully, in my opinion.
Any type of profession requires a certain type of personality, it is no different in trading. Trading requires a certain personality to be successful.

It is no different from someone (a young hopeful) wanting to become a doctor, but doesn't want to deal with piss, shit and vomit. They have a conviction of wanting to become a doctor for the wrong reasons; highly paid, drive nice cars, respected society member, white collar high status, good reputation getting chicks... but when the reality kicks in; stressful environment, long hours/weekend work, mentally/physically demanding, long years of study, etc... They then realize if they have the personality or have what it takes. I mean, in class of medical students, there are a lot of drop outs (50% drop out is very common within the medical field).

And so 95% of people who get into this business also have a skewed perception of what the reality is, or what it requires to become a successful trader.

Trading is a competition between traders. 95% will fail. 5% will make huge profits. The 5% will profit from the 95% who fails. And that's just the way it is.
  • #48
  • Jun 1, 2010 12:33am Jun 1, 2010 12:33am
Quote
Any type of profession requires a certain type of personality, it is no different in trading.

Exactly my point.

Statistics lie... it could be that 95% of people "suited for trading" are successful, only 5% fail... who knows. Dial down the statistic a bit further.

On another point of why so many fail, the internet is saturated with forex disinformation. Forex is about making money, it's ripe for con artists preying on greed.
New traders need strong BS detectors, it's too easy to be led astray.
  • #49
  • Jun 1, 2010 1:09am Jun 1, 2010 1:09am
Quoting jm8985
Somebody should scour the forums and write "The Definitive FF Guide To Trading" and post it.
Let us know when its done, sure itll be a good read.
  • #50
  • Jun 1, 2010 1:18am Jun 1, 2010 1:18am
Quoting jm8985
New traders need strong BS detectors, it's too easy to be led astray.
nope. they (we all) need a non-bs detector. in a sea of bs there's plenty to be found, it's the non-bs that is the rarity.
Congratulations ScalaFX for coming out of the closet!
  • #51
  • Jun 1, 2010 1:24am Jun 1, 2010 1:24am
Firstly, I believe wherever money is changing hands, someone can get
rich. That applies to forex, too. (No, I haven't done it.)

Secondly, I think you ought to read this link about a story called
the $100 bn FX HUSTLE. It basically states that the industry promises
one thing to its retail trading clients (i.e., us) and quite the opposite
to its shareholders:

Quote
The majority of our revenue is derived from our activities
as a market-maker to our retail customers, where we act
as the counterparty to our customers’ trades.

Want more proof? There's more from this article, which is quoting
the prospectus from Gain Capital:

Quote
As a market-maker, we take an equal and opposite position to
our customers when executing a trade. ...it is neither economically
optimal nor necessary from a risk perspective to hedge all of our
customers’ trades on a one-to-one basis…

You'll have to read the whole link to get the idea, but you should
approach trading as if they're there to fleece you and play
past it.
HELL IS EMPTY, ALL THE DEVILS ARE HERE. -- Shakespeare
  • #52
  • Jun 1, 2010 1:35am Jun 1, 2010 1:35am
This post is primarily aimed at those who have not yet achieved consistent profitability but who haven't yet become so defeated or cynical about the prospect of doing so.

Hard work is important, of course. Dedication and honest graft will help in any sphere of life. More than working hard though, you must have the mindset that it is possible. You will come across many members of trading communities who will continuously reel out the over-used statistic that 95% of traders fail. They will likely have tried and failed themselves and will perhaps have come to believe that making a living from trading is simply impossible. Those of us who manage it know differently but each of us places particular weight on our own unique experiences. Therefore, those who fail are entirely likely to believe that's just how things are for prospective traders.

Can anyone make it at trading? No, naturally. A great many factors come into play ... psychology, capitalisation, strategy, fund protection etc etc ... and more people will try trading and realise it isn't for them than those who succeed at it and do it for evermore. This isn't a lot different to any other aspirational career choice.

History, and this very community this very moment, are full of examples that it is indeed possible. Please don't let the nay-sayers tell you otherwise.

Kind regards,

O N D
  • #53
  • Jun 1, 2010 2:24am Jun 1, 2010 2:24am
Quoting CrucialPoint
Any type of profession requires a certain type of personality, it is no different in trading. Trading requires a certain personality to be successful.

It is no different from someone (a young hopeful) wanting to become a doctor, but doesn't want to deal with piss, shit and vomit. They have a conviction of wanting to become a doctor for the wrong reasons; highly paid, drive nice cars, respected society member, white collar high status, good reputation getting chicks... but when the reality kicks in; stressful environment, long hours/weekend work,...
Welll said!!
  • #54
  • Jun 1, 2010 2:29am Jun 1, 2010 2:29am
Quote
in a sea of bs there's plenty to be found, it's the non-bs that is the rarity.

That made me laugh. You're right, it's difficult and close to impossible to find good information. So much BS, even on FF trading system threads.

For example the Simple H1 GBPUSD EA thread. The thread's reason to be, is that there is something special about GBPUSD pair. It trends...
His system is just a "trend is your friend" system, except the price at the entry hour is random, thus requiring a large stop.
Why not buy in to that same trend, at an optimal price (mean reversion)?
In fact why not buy a trend at any point when it becomes clear enough price is moving in the trend...? Why not look for trends in any major pair? Etc etc.
It's just one system disguised as another, with a bigger stop...


Quote
You'll have to read the whole link to get the idea, but you should
approach trading as if they're there to fleece you and play
past it.

I'd like to point out that brokers are a business, they make money. They're compensated for providing low capital traders with quick execution of small dollar amounts, as well as providing software etc.
I make a living trading, while scam brokers exist, I'd suggest that a bad trade is a bad trade...

I'm sure they rake it in by luring in inexperienced traders who place 90% bad trades, and trade against them. That may be their business model. Not a nice thing to do, but it's capitalism at work.
  • #55
  • Jun 1, 2010 7:25am Jun 1, 2010 7:25am
Quoting jm8985
I just discovered FF, I'm here for ideas. So far I've found that it's mostly a recycling of old ideas...
Agree 100% with you; if we break down every methodology (whether profitable or not) to its first principles, there are only a handful of ways to trade. For example, all indicators ever do is get you into a move X candles earlier, or later. Hence they're all much the same. Bottom line is that one either trades breakouts (buy strength, sell weakness) or pullbacks (buy temporary weakness, sell temporary strength) by attempting to pick likely reversal points. Everything is effectively a recycled variation of one of these themes.
  • #56
  • Jun 1, 2010 11:22am Jun 1, 2010 11:22am
Quoting ForexDude
Only 5% of people make money with forex and most of them are PROs.

what makes you think you will be part of that 5% ?

95% lose all their money in forex... if it was that easy and everyone was doing money with it, you would not see all those FOREX ads on hotmail, facebook and any of the 10 biggest sites, to trick sucker to invest their hard earned money in this tricky gamble.
It could happen to me too. I am constantly aware of that and it does give you a lot of sleepless nights. However when you trade with the what do i stand to lose vs how much I can gain, you have already overcome a major step.

Read through the post and you see people continually making stupid risks because they do not understand or they do take excessive risks.

Even if the people get smarter and take less risk you will see that the market changes. The 95% to 5% ratio will always be there.
  • #57
  • Jun 2, 2010 2:35am Jun 2, 2010 2:35am
Quoting Old_Not_Dead
This post is primarily aimed at those who have not yet achieved consistent profitability but who haven't yet become so defeated or cynical about the prospect of doing so.

Hard work is important, of course....
Bravo!
  • #58
  • Jun 2, 2010 3:32am Jun 2, 2010 3:32am
Quoting Haymaker
I don't think its possible to live entirely on forex profits. Especially if the account is small. Those who can live on forex profits tend to have bigger accounts.
how small is 'small' to u?
i have a very small, low 3-digit account (i actually have two low 3-digit accounts).
i am not consistently profitable yet, but i have tasted it --- to trade for a living. it can be done with a small account.
it all depends on your location (country), lifestyle, & money management (budgeting expenses).
  • #59
  • Jun 2, 2010 3:54am Jun 2, 2010 3:54am
Quoting supremeChaos
how small is 'small' to u?
i have a very small, low 3-digit account (i actually have two low 3-digit accounts).
i am not consistently profitable yet, but i have tasted it --- to trade for a living. it can be done with a small account.
it all depends on your location (country), lifestyle, & money management (budgeting expenses).
Good for you. Small or big is also subjective. You're absolutely right.
  • #60
  • Jun 14, 2010 3:52pm Jun 14, 2010 3:52pm
Quoting eddie0816
I'll try to be as thorough as possible here.

I have been teaching people to trade, and trading myself, for over ten years now.

I have seen kids get rich by trading who don't have a clue about the market until they got educated. This was in the equities market, which does not have even close to the...
Eddie, you said you had a great recommendation - would you be willing to share it? also, what are your thoughts on automated trading systems - can they work?
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