Forex Trading for a living... anyone? | Page 6 | Forex Factory

Options

Go to
Permalinks
Print Thread

Similar Threads

Making a living trading forex 93 replies

Is anyone here earning a living, just with forex trading? 242 replies

Living in China, trading for a living 18 replies

How can I make a living trading forex? 25 replies

is it a game or job?anyone makes his living by forex? 16 replies

Attachments: Forex Trading for a living... anyone?
Exit Attachments

Forex Trading for a living... anyone?

  • #101
  • Jan 8, 2011 7:49pm Jan 8, 2011 7:49pm
"sooner or later you're going to realize just as I did that there's a difference between knowing the path and walking the path"

Sorry, couldn't resist that line from The Matrix. It doesn't really matter what system other people use but you need to find what works for you. You can give two people the same system with the same rules and one will make money and the other will lose.

It took me few years to get profitable and a hell of a lot of screen time trying to follow others peoples systems. It all fell into place when I cleared all the crap off my charts and moved up to higher time frames. But that's just me
  • #102
  • Jan 20, 2011 3:48am Jan 20, 2011 3:48am
Quoting willf
"sooner or later you're going to realize just as I did that there's a difference between knowing the path and walking the path"

I agree with the statement above and the only thing that is needed to walk the path is the discypline.

Peter
Jesus Christ is my only Lord !
  • #103
  • Jan 20, 2011 12:43pm Jan 20, 2011 12:43pm
Quoting xDennis
Hi,
I am new to the whole Forex trading industry. I am looking for a career change and just have a few questions.

Is it possible to make a 6figure/year income trading forex.

What would an advaced trader say the average income is of a serious forex trader?

Are there any website that provide these type of stats?



Thanks,
Dennis
You cannot do 6 figure/year income you can make unlimited but it`s based on your trading system trading skills,money management control and risk control.is an full time job,there is no limit on how much you can do.
You can do how much you need,but is not easy,you have to know your needs in order to achieve them.
I dont think stats are releveant in this case it can be very differently from one person to another.
Forex is like having an job where you are paid based on your performance,if you do performance you do money,if not you know the answer.
But i think you should concentrate first of all on your trading plan and strategy and not on the money,money comes in,is not an problem if of course you are good.
  • #104
  • Jan 20, 2011 2:17pm Jan 20, 2011 2:17pm
There are really two things required to make a living from forex trading:

1. You being skilled enough to make consistent profits. This not only includes your skill in picking profitable entry and exit points, but your skill in managing your money as well. **This is the biggest challenge for all traders.**

2. You need a LOT of capital. **This is often overlooked by most traders when considering trading for a living.**

Consider the cost of living in your geographic area. How much money do you need to make per month in order to survive?

Now realize that that's the amount of profit you need to pull in from forex trading. Let's do the math...

Say you need to bring in $3000 a month to pay for rent, food, gas, bills, etc. Let's further assume that your rate of return from trading is 10% per month (remember, you have to do this consistently). So a 10% rate of return of what amount equals $3000?

Answer: $30,000 risked for trading

Now remember point # 1...you're a skilled trader which means you're using proper money management. Which means you certainly wouldn't be risking your entire $30,000 capital to trading.

Proper money management typically dictates risking only 10% of your capital to trading. If $3000 monthly profit requires $30,000 risked, and $30,000 risked should be only 10% of what total amount?

Answer: $300,000 total capital

So to make a profit of $3000 per month, it's best to have $300,000 in capital. That's a LOT of money, but it's really what you need to have in order to trade forex for a living (again, assuming you need $3000 per month to survive).

If you have less capital than that and still attempt to make $3000 a month trading forex for a living, then that means you're risking too high a % of your capital (i.e., more than 10%). That's not proper money management. And when you do not use proper money management, in the long-run you're bound to fail.

Just my two cents.
  • #105
  • Jan 20, 2011 5:12pm Jan 20, 2011 5:12pm
Great advice for sheeple but you have to take a risk in life if you wanna break out of the flock.

Reward comes with risk. Do your homework (1000's of hours if necessary), calculate your risk reward, then go for it only if the sums add up.

I always ask myself why college teachers teach but live on breadline wages. They are educated but not very clever. Grow some balls.

No dis meant at all Ocean.
  • #106
  • Jan 21, 2011 2:25am Jan 21, 2011 2:25am
None taken.

You bring up a good point about risk/reward. Just as in the investing world, in the forex trading world, the same rules of investing apply...

Low Risk = Low Reward
High Risk = High Reward

Every trader is different...so is every trader's tolerance for risk.

However, I believe most people who trade forex have too high expectations. It's not really their fault. There's so much "get-rich-quick" hype behind retail forex trading (thanks to marketers of EA's, forex systems, etc.) that most forex traders (especially newbies) focus too much on the "High Reward" aspect and not enough on it's ugly counterpart, "High Risk".

Forex brokers don't help either by offering high leverage. Isn't higher leverage nothing more than higher risk?

You can even add the "leverage" component to the rules of investing...

Low Leverage = Low Risk = Low Reward
High Leverage = High Risk = High Reward

High leverage and high risk is why most forex traders lose money. They focus too much on high reward that they overlook the fact that in order to achieve that, one must have high risk.

No one can break the rules of investing, not even in forex trading. Unless, of course, you are a super trader who can achieve "Low Risk = High Reward". Many traders believe they are (or can be) super traders, few ever are.

In my $3000 per month profits example, too many forex traders are expecting to achieve that on so little capital...$50000, $10000, maybe even with as little as $5000 capital.

That's not going to happen unless you take on high risk/high leverage. But when you do, your probability for long-term success drops significantly.

Too many traders are turning "forex trading" into "forex gambling". That's why the majority of forex traders end up wiping out their accounts.

Anyway, I'm not hear to rain on anyone's parade. I'm just keeping it real.

I still believe one can grow wealthy from forex trading, but only in a conservative low risk way...meaning, always using proper money management and executing sound trading strategies with discipline and without emotion.

Don't risk too much. Take the Low Risk = Low Reward approach even in forex trading because guess what? Those low rewards begin to really add up.

Said another way, the turtle wins the race, each and every time!
  • #107
  • Jan 21, 2011 5:00am Jan 21, 2011 5:00am
Every trader's dream is to achieve trading for a living. Although it is very difficult, but it is doable.

In order to do that, first of all you need a startup capital. You cannot open an account in forex for $2000 and say I want to make a living from that! Any trading system or style, one wants to follow, will have a drawdown. And if you are looking at making around $1500-2500 a month, which is 150 to 250 pip if you are trading whole lots, then you should expect drawdowns of not less than 300 pips. Your account won't tolerate that.

Basicaly in order to be able to make 1500-2500 USD a month you would need to have an account of 25,000 USD or more. This means you are making around 6% a month. Which is also somehow diffcult to acheive too.

The next thing you need to look at, is finding a system. A good system is the key of success. If you have your own system or you want to follow another peron's system, you need to look at these things first: 1. Max Drawdown, 2. Feasibilty and hours of trading.

Another thing to take into consideration is money management, risk and reward. Personal things like Fear, Greed, and discipline.
  • #108
  • Edited 3:20am Jan 22, 2011 2:42am | Edited 3:20am
Quoting OceanOfPips
None taken.

You bring up a good point about risk/reward. Just as in the investing world, in the forex trading world, the same rules of investing apply...

Low Risk = Low Reward
High Risk = High Reward

Every trader is different...so is every trader's tolerance for risk.

However, I believe most people who trade forex have too high expectations. It's not really their fault. There's so much "get-rich-quick" hype behind retail forex trading (thanks to marketers of EA's, forex systems, etc.) that most forex traders (especially newbies) focus...
Hi Ocean, thanks for the great response and good advice. Personally I made all the mistakes most newbs make and blew bundles thinking forex was a get rich quick solution.

IMHO Psychology, discipline, fear and greed are the bain of rookie forex traders, learn to contol them is the only way you will succeed.

Regarding startup capital too much is a bad thing also. Start with 30k instead of 3k and risk 1% per trade, you will blow it just as fast with either account.

There are plenty of short term traders on FF that could make 20 - 40% per month just risking 1% per trade on a smallish account, Vantage, Islander, Medici, Tradeprice to name just a few. Admittedly they may have taken 3 or 4 years watching price action and learning to overcome fear and greed to get to that stage but that is what it takes.

I guess my point is I would hate to see any newbie think he had a better chance of succeeding just cos he/she had more money in their account. Start with a micro account and grow it slow and steady.
  • #109
  • Edited 8:11am Jan 22, 2011 2:54am | Edited 8:11am
Quoting harym
Every trader's dream is to achieve trading for a living. Although it is very difficult, but it is doable.

In order to do that, first of all you need a startup capital. You cannot open an account in forex for $2000 and say I want to make a living from that! Any trading system or style, one wants to follow, will have a drawdown. And if you are looking at making around $1500-2500 a month, which is 150 to 250 pip if you are trading whole lots, then you should expect drawdowns of not less than 300 pips. Your account won't tolerate that.

Basicaly...
Good post and I should have read it before I replied to Ocean.

I would also advise to forget pips and use percentages instead. Pip counts are meaningless.

On a really good day I may make 80 or 90 pips in 5 or 6 trades equating to between 7% and 12% growth on account. If I ever mention pips made in a trade now it is because I am too lazy to work out the percentages.

P.S in fact I think the correct way to express results would be as a reward risk formula, e.g. 2.5:R etc, but that complicates things even more.
  • #110
  • Jan 22, 2011 7:46pm Jan 22, 2011 7:46pm
I always go back and forth on whether I want to trade for a living. During my job, I look at the market action, knowing that I can do pretty well if it had my complete attention.

However, I know I'd get bored and lonely pretty fast. Trading at home would probably get to be a drag. No one is there but you

So I try to create a strategy that enables me to work and trade. It's worked for me in the equity market, but forex's action is a different beast. I'm still working on it, writing software to help, etc.
  • #111
  • Mar 11, 2011 12:20pm Mar 11, 2011 12:20pm
I've been doing this for about 2-3 years and I am finally slowly being profitable with real money in forex. It was a long tiring road (it still is). For the past two years ALL my free time is spent in forex/markets even some late nights.

Have a look at this picture. Are these people wasting their time? The banks even pay these people to do exactly the same thing as what your TRYING to do at home.

So, what I keep telling myself when I started is this. If all those people sitting in the banks trading floors are also losing money than why would the banks be in business of trading?

It HAS to be profitable otherwise why would they be doing it. The next thing you have to realise that when someone wins someone has to lose so it is a constant battle with each other, just like a tennis game for example.

We all compete with each other. But in this game we also compete with teams of professionals doing this for many years. Quants and mathematicians formalizing strategies to have that extra edge. Using the tennis example, you can't beat Roger Federer just by downloading MT4 and practicing a few hours after work for a year and expect to be profitable. You need to do your time which takes years.

You have to practice, practice, practice, sleep and eat forex just like the pros do. If there is something you don't understand study that one thing and do that for as long as it takes until you do then move onto the next thing. After time you will get better and profitability will follow.

Having said that, I am still learning but at least for the past 6 months I can say I am finally making some consistent profits.
Attached Image
  • #112
  • Apr 9, 2011 9:05pm Apr 9, 2011 9:05pm
Using a simple, conservative, compounding plan you can turn a 4 figure account into a 7 figure account in a year, if you are a great, consistant trader.

Eddie,
Great advise and dead on with the numbers.
I ran a managed account for 4 years and was approached by hundreds of programers with outstanding systems. I was able to find one that fit my personal style and remembered the momey management theory that we put in place for our investors.
I then tracked the system for 15 months using a 10k start balance with a $1.00 per $5000 equity risk. I then compounded at the end of each month keeping the same ratio. After 15 months the system had compounded into over $805,000. At that point I felt secure in going live and have been trading it ever since.

I pay my bills and care for my children, more than enough for me!

Patience and the understanding that if you are cosistant you can earn money. If you look to be a millionare tomorrow you wil get crushed.
  • #113
  • Apr 25, 2011 1:35pm Apr 25, 2011 1:35pm
Hello,
I've been trying to trade for nearly six years. Here's what I've discoverd. I studied technical analysis, RSI , Fibonacci, MACD, etc. I've also tried about every robot on the market. First mini account I lost 1000's then I downgraded to a micro and lost 100's but I always believed it was possible to make a living trading forex. The simple answer is there is no easy way apart from ignore all advertised easy ways. Learn and practice your own ideas. Don't let it seem over complicated. Using your chosen time frame establish if the market is trending or range bound for that time frame only, then apply only your chosen rules for range or trend trading, (the two don't work together). Don't take any trade personally, treat it like an insurance quote, If you like what you see go for it, if not IGNORE it and wait for a better quote (entry set up). The thing with trading is its Quality on entry and exit not QUANTITY.
GOOD LUCK.
  • #114
  • Apr 25, 2011 5:44pm Apr 25, 2011 5:44pm
@xDennis - It is definitely possible xDennis. And the 95% thing, I feel someone is overly pessimistic there. You'll find the overly pessimistic people are pessimistic for a reason; there are plenty here at FF.

When I began, I did the same as you. Buy books, etc. My advice, start your DEMO trading as soon as possible and try out different systems just to get a feel for the various methods. You will soon find out things like time frame you like to trade under, the systems that fit your personality, and eventually tweak the systems you like to your needs. As a beginner, you have to accept other ideas before you begin to formulate and improve on your own ideas.

Good Luck to you.

@PipGod, I do hope you have recouped that money you lossed.
  • #115
  • Apr 25, 2011 9:02pm Apr 25, 2011 9:02pm
Quoting Dad
You'll find the overly pessimistic people are pessimistic for a reason; there are plenty here at FF.
Not necessarily. What you may consider is pessimistic, I consider to be realistic. This game can be extremely hard and harsh.

I don't know if you've ever hung around www.myfxbook.com. I've been a frequent visitor there for about 18 months or so (although not so much now) because I am tired, yes tired, of seeing account, after account, after account, after account getting smashed to smithereens.

Every once in a while a wonder boy comes along and talks the talk and I think "great, maybe this time". Alas, they never seem to be able to walk the walk for any length of time. Everything looks good for a little while and all of a sudden, the account is deleted and the wonder boy vanishes. Even so called managers of investor accounts can't cut it. Reality doesn't lie when it's staring one in the face.
Nothing worth having is easy.
  • #116
  • Aug 20, 2011 1:50pm Aug 20, 2011 1:50pm
I am okay with just making a couple hundred dollars a week to start out. I dont want to quit my job....the problem I have is FINRA. I am a registered associate at a broker/dealer who doesn't earn commissions but I do recieve compensation from the brokers I support. I have been told that I am not allowed to open a trading account anywhere outside of the firm, it could be grounds for termination. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to work around this issue?

The net worth requirements to trade currencies at my firm are tremendous, and I only want to open a micro account...
  • #117
  • Aug 23, 2011 6:57pm Aug 23, 2011 6:57pm
In my mind it will be a decade before I can make a living off of forex, or trading in general....

We take the 2-3 Year "learning time" THEN I must add the time needed to trade up to the level of capital required to live off of...

That time to accumulate capital STARTS AFTER one has learned to constantly trade in a profitable manner....

(This is starting with a very small stake, and taking a small amount out every month fairly early on, not enough to live on, but enough say for a good meal out - as a motivator.)

I think the strength in forex is not getting rich quickly, but the increased potential/possibility of income per hour. That is... if you are profitable, you can increase your income with the simple application of additional capital... hard to do in most other jobs, such as engineering. (What I trained for - still looking for a job )

In short the potential is in the lack of a hard cap in income, NOT the ease of learning...

(I am about one month in... so 9 years and 11 months to go!)
  • #118
  • Aug 28, 2011 2:47pm Aug 28, 2011 2:47pm
Yes, you can make a living out of the Forex market, but and it’s a big BUT, it’s not just a case of having starting capital and a system. The successful ones are those that start at the beginning as “an apprentice” rather than jumping directly to “Journeyman”.


You need to do a lot of studying before even thinking of opening a trading account. Spend some of that starting capital on a good book, learn about the basics of candle types, support and resistance levels, when to use a TD trendline and also when not. What (other) indicators are there and what are their uses? How do they work?

Download a demo and practice applying these to a chart, check to see if what you think will happen does.


Notice we haven’t even thought about placing trades yet.

Once you are thoroughly competent in applying these and understand their uses and limitations should start dummy trading.
Source out a simple MA crossover system, learn when to make trades with it and more importantly, when to ignore it and not make a trade. Don’t worry about making or losing the dummy account money, you can always start again, concentrate on pinning down the method for your system. The how and why it works.
Learn to read your chart timeframes from the “Top Down” applying trend lines, fib levels etc. as appropiate .
Next add say an RSI and learn how to use it as confirmation to your MA’s. I could go on but hopefully you get the picture. Learning Forex takes time gathering the knowledge and then learning to apply it.
Once you start dummy trading the system,to actually make dummy money, not only should already be able to make trades with a high probability of success. But, when they fail you will be able to understand why.

There are a lot of other things to learn even after you get this far.

$250 to earning a living? Now the lesson is patience and the power of compounding.

AJN
I know absolutely everything, unfortunately 99.99% of what I know is wrong!
  • #119
  • Sep 2, 2011 5:44am Sep 2, 2011 5:44am
Quoting reliatron
Hello,
I've been trying to trade for nearly six years. Here's what I've discoverd. I studied technical analysis, RSI , Fibonacci, MACD, etc. I've also tried about every robot on the market. First mini account I lost 1000's then I downgraded to a micro and lost 100's but I always believed it was possible to make a living trading forex. The simple answer is there is no easy way apart from ignore all advertised easy ways. Learn and practice your own ideas. Don't let it seem over complicated. Using your chosen time frame establish if the market is trending...

Nice post man, I completely agree...
go go go
  • #120
  • Sep 4, 2011 3:32am Sep 4, 2011 3:32am
I started trading real money just a few months ago and it's going well.
My goal is 25 pips a week, I don't take anything out of the account and trade about .001 lots per hunrdred $ with pretty conservative stop loss and other risk management.
Only looking for 25 pips means i have a very relaxed attitude, I do not entertain 'iffy' trades, i enter late and exit early. I scarecly ever fail to get 25 pips and the account is compounding nicely, (you can do the sums yourself if you want to.)
I also have time to play with my kids and do not have blood pressure or stress issues.
If the game carries on like this I will have a $100,000.00+ trading account in a couple of years.
I may well not have had a heart attack either.
Don't ask me, I have no idea what's going on.
0 traders viewing now