Going live first time

What are some lessons learned/mistakes made the 1st time you went live?

Thinking you were ready to go live.

Its not too late to give up the fantasy and take up a decent occupation in a field that people really need. How about cosmetology? Or small engine repair?

My mistake the first time I traded was that I traded huge lots with small stop losses. Now I do the opposite.

Good luck with your first trade.

you made my day


even cycle repair will do

have you been playing demo since 2005 ?

Several experienced traders on this forum did not go live for many years. I decided not to be part of the crowd that threw $ @ going live without studying 4x and the NUMEROUS posts of traders that BLEW their accounts. Recall reading a post just last night of someone who did that and said he regretted not waiting. Besides, I separated in 2005 and took me over 4 years to get divorced, so didn't want any chance of any $ I may have made ending up on the chopping block. So, there's 2 good reasons there.

Good luck

you'll need it once your emotions kick in

You will always remember your first losing trade. Sort of like your first kiss or something else .


If you were doing fine on demo, after a while, you will be ok!

Be sure you can afford to lose your money. If it's money you can't afford to lose, then be very very very sure you know what you're doing so you don't lose it. Good luck!

I guess if you have gone through a divorce you should be able to seperate money and your emotions which will put you in a good position for dealing with losing trades in forex

NB: I hope that you are not offended by the above comment and no offensive is intended.

If you decided to go live....then your mind is already made...please do not care about what people think...do things your own way...take your chance and enjoy your life a bit more every days. If I had wait for the whole world to be ready for ME to go live...then I would probably still be demoing and losing my time...

Just make sure you follow your approach flawlessly...forgive yourself for the mistakes you will make...but don't repeat them...please ! Have fun doing this...And don't pay too much attention to what people say around here...

When I started live...I had enough money in the bank to sustain myself for a whole year...that's what made the difference for me...I could go through some drawdowns without going crazy about it...I wish you can enjoy the same financial freedom in your first year

I also threw away all the pre-accepted stuff they all eat here...(Like don't risk more than 1%...you will fail...your system is fine...but wait in a ranging market ...bla bla bla...)

I'll tell you secret...I trade 8% on each trades !! and I'm not crazy because when I started this trading thing...I saw it as a business opportunity. Account preservation ? That's for retirement accounts...not trading accounts...I start each years with a predefined amount of money in the account...and I trade it like I stole it...I shoot for the stars...it works for me and it make me enjoy myself...

I hope you will find who you really are and quit paying too much attention to Forex Factory members...

Well there you go....after 4 years...this was my fifth post !....and my last one !

...shoe repair? ...male prostitute....?

Shoe repairing male prostitute.

You've got to create your own little niche in the world and that market is untapped.

i'd stop at the first sentence.

Good Luck.
Quotes from Paul Tudor Jones to keep in mind....

"Now I spend the day trying to make myself as happy and relaxed as I can be. If I have positions going against me, I get right out; if they are going for me, I keep them."

"Don't think about all the money you will make on a trade, think about what you could lose."

Always accompany EVERY single opened trade with a Stop-Loss order no matter how confident you are with your trade. Never ever close the Stop-Loss order until you are ready to take profit.

Think of your every trade as a "Profit harvester" or "Profit Farmer" and your Stop-Loss as his/her bodyguard.

Good luck and have fun!!

several that come to mind
-dont be aggressive
-know what u are doing
-position size correctly; dont overleverage
-learn about good MM from the start
-dont trade everything the market gives u
-dont overtrade
-have discipline, patience; avoid revenge trading
-know the platform u are going to use, well; be sure to press the right buttons when trading (example, u are supposed to press 'modify trade' but instead u pressed 'close trade')... which leads me to
-dont trade when u are tired, sleepy, emotionally stressed/weak
-have a trading plan & trading rules & follow them
-eat & sleep well
-have a specific area/room as your trading room (to avoid distractions)

It will take you about 500 losing trades before you get the hang of trading FX. It takes that long to figure out that it is better to feed the market 30-40 pips than 150 pips or $300 worth of pips when you are wrong. After 500 losing trades, you will probably be good enough to say "Next" after any losing trade because you realize how to make money and capital preservation is paramount. Unfortunately, you can't learn that in a demo....you have to learn that trading live w/ real money and yes...it takes about 500 losing trades before it kicks in.

to me going live was part of my schooling

the emotions of going live may alter your perspective, pulling the trigger is diferent now, you may find things you need to re-learn after going live

i noticed that a very very small, minimum size live account also had the emotions

start out small as you can at first, just incase ur not realy ready

i thought i was ready many times before i realy was, not sure i am?

your platform will act a little diferent, youl get errors sometimes, requotes

hopefully your strategy isnt sensitive to a little slippage

my favorite quote; hope for the best, plan for the worst