thoughts on starting again - fresh and smart

OK hi all,havent been trading for over two years now,mainly because when i started i blown more accounts that i could remember totaling over 4 thousand euro in losses over about 2 years time.My main trouble as many would guess is over leveraging up to 30% 50% percent,thus trading with enormous risks and basically ending up in red most the times,asically no self control or strategy.

Now once i realized my mistake i gave up on it completely,and took time off-just forgetting everything ive learned and any interest in trading what so ever.
and went back to my usual work which is stacking shelf's in grocery store and doing whatever crap im told,no brain in involved what so ever,and its low wage job as its only part time,so for the last 7 years im basically lived from payday to payday.Only thing is every month i would save whats left into my savings account.

Now im at a point where im even ready to give up on my job,as time put in given transportation resources food alone to work is cutting even deeper into my wages,and its just pure hell staying at low point job for almost a decade.

Now over past couple years im close to saving near 5 thousand,well a bit less but have means to go up to 5k as have family member who kept track of forex when i gave up.

So need thoughts as its only matter of time once i decide to leave my job what to do next.And since basically only real skills i poses its being good at IT and catching up with technologies,can learn most stuff quickly,and best one can spend 24h if need be working on the screen.

So would like input from people who dared to go this way and answer few questions to me

1:if i was to go back to trading which would be locked to leverage 1:1 or at most 1:2 and only trade one instrument at the time (with medium volatility)
,id need to make at least over 100e a month to cover my main costs.but saying that ,i know that its easy to get trapped in the trades that might take months to turn any profit.

2 second thing is 5k opens few bigger brokers but,for years that ive been trading i used Oanda as my main one,and hadnt much issues,but trusting someone with 5k is little concern to me when i would decide to move all funds back or so on.

3.and another question is it worth the risk,given my history i know biggest flaws i made and,can agree that it takes more then 2-3 times to learn from same mistake,i would be securing myself with only trading 1:1 and basically monitoring trades,as i would let more experienced members of family to make the decisions.

4th and final question is 5k enough to get started if im looking to go this way,with no other income supplementing me and concentrating all focus on trading full time,as i know id be in micro lot section and best outcome would be around 0.50c on a pip up or down.So basically in most cases the only streategy being used is only trading amount i have thus leaving little risk to incur huge losses,yet i can imagine scenarios where some trades might take months to turn green,and broker would charge for every day open position,thus incurring small looses for long periods of time.

basically if i asked if its doable most people say yeah,like everything else if you put all your efforts in it.but at the same time my goal is to switch my crap job (i know i have one at least ) to full time trading with funds that i have,now i know its easier to say stay at the same job and do trading,but ive learned while its possible to do that at the same time not seeing whats going on and missing on good trades and closing at right times cost me good fortune none the less,because of just not being there when it all happened.

I know this is long post and posted in Rookie section,but anyone who when outside the box and did it would be good to hear your story pros and cons.thank you

I think you've answered your own question.....You sound full of doubt and therefore I would recommend staying in your job until you are certain you can achieve the results you require. I'm not sure a 5k account with a robust risk management strategy would enable you to to turn the kind of profits needed to live.. I am only a rookie trader myself and maybe others will not agree with me. But that is my honest opinion.

Thanks and best of luck no matter what you decide to do.
Bullbear80

thanks for honest advice.and yes im full of doubt,with the losses incurred in the past and being away from forex so long theres too many maybes and what if smth will go wrong.thx none the less.

You got some experience and know what be can done and lost.
Sometimes the job can get in the way and stop you from becoming a very good trader.
But it's a big step and most will never make that break.
If you make that step just focus on what you are doing and why.


Good luck with what ever you choose.

Well, maybe you should realize who you will be up against.

Some have economical news earlier then you.
Some can trade 1000x in 1 second.
Some can move the market to pick your stop loss order.
Some have access to order flow.
Some have algorithms that have millions of lines of code.
Some can change the mentality of the market participants.
Some can move the market only to change the direction when they decide
and
some just need to exchange a lot of money.

This is the reality. Think about it.

Also, keep in mind that a huge advantage of trading is that you can actual become good at it whilst keeping your day job. Please don't rush back into it, just dip your toe in whilst you're still working and see how you go. If you're not profitable whilst working, you probably won't be profitable while you're not working.

Just take small steps.

I would stay at your job and only do FOREX for fun. If you can get full time work at your job that would be better. If you do not like your job you should look for another job. Only do FOREX for fun and only spend money on FOREX that you do not need for other things.

50c a pip with 5k is still trading too big imo, but i never put all my eggs in one basket so different strokes for different folks i guess. also to make a living off 5k is almost impossible, you will most likely over-trade because you got bills to pay, let's say your monthly expenses is $3000, first month you will need to nail a 60% return. if you don't hit that, or if you lose money, next month, that $3000 is not just gonna be 60%. IMHO to be a professional trader, i mean a person with no other means of income besides trading, you need couple hefty accounts in forex, equity and futures to be able to hedge and diverse your risk properly, and also a pretty healthy saving to ride out the rainy days. good luck and make something out of this market while you live your life, don't count on Forex and don't let it consume you. Or you can use me as a motivation and prove me wrong! lol

Don't leave your job.

Choose a strategy and a timeframe that fit your working hours.
Write up your personal trading plan.
Get yourself a 5k demo and trade it like a live account.
Keep a log of every trade and analyse all your trades.
After you were profitable for a long time move over to a live account (but still, don't leave your job yet as it is quite possible that your trading gets worse once you are on the live account)


Oanda could be a good choice as you can trade very small lots there. This means you could even run a strategy on the weekly timeframe with 1000 pips SL without compromising good money management principles for a 5k account.

No way, no how.

You need a real job to support your trading habit. You will need a real job for food, rent and to pay for the losers.

It would be difficult, even with 500 K.

thx for all the advices,Especially slicktick suggesting using demo to see how i do.
Also not putting everything in one place is good advise too.
As money goes my monthly expenses are no more then 400$-inc rent bills,rest is shared by family.

So yeah 5k would hardly cut it for me,since id be using everything i have to fund it.So unless i had 10k splitting it in half would do the work as supplementing my bills without worry to reach goals or pressure fast.
As for working and trading id never do it again,even if it would be low risk trades or small,since first thing i learned in my first two years of trading that once you start forex it becomes your second full time job as its consuming physically and mentally,and some may not agree that it disturbs work and other activities from my experience i was spending close to 15-20h on forex alone when not working,and while working it would take edge off a bit,but not knowing whats going on in the market when your out and not being able to close positions when needed results in bad decisions.

I don't trade forex beyond a hobby, but a couple of traders at our local TA group are successful, and they've made it clear that their journey toward becoming profitable was extremely hard fought, and much more fraught with personal setbacks than they ever imagined it would be. Sorry if that sounds negative, but it takes exceptional knowledge, aptitude, patience and nerve to become a consistently successful trader.

Even if there are good reasons to quit your current job, that isn't going to make trading any easier. Perhaps you should first consider changing your job, if that is a viable option.

If it was me, I would want at least 3 years of profitable trading behind me, before I'd be willing to allow trading to become my primary source of income. Some reasons:

I believe it takes time to determine how profitable (or otherwise) a strategy is, especially considering the points that numbnuts makes here.

You also need to be sure that you're confident trading the strategy consistently. Psychology is very important, and if you aren't completely confident, it will be difficult to maintain discipline, especially if you have a few losses. Trading will likely cause you to confront inner demons that you didn't know existed.

Moreover, if trading is your only source of income, you need to have an accurate feel for how consistent your income is likely to be. For example, how much of your trading profit you'll need to put aside, to pay bills while you have losing weeks, or even losing months. Hence you need to have good budgeting skills. If you're constantly depleting your account to pay bills (and tax?), then it's that much more difficult for the account to grow. The stress, both financial and emotional, of trading for a living is much greater than simply attempting to make a 'background' income. The pressure to overtrade and/or overleverage yourself, if you fall behind required targets, will be that much greater.

You also need to take into consideration the attitudes and feelings of other family members, and how your pursuing a totally different career with a less consistent income might affect family lifestyle and relationships.

As for starting capital, I would work on the basis that an average return of 5% per month is outstandingly good, especially given that you must maintain extremely tight risk control, and after only 3 years of live trading. Then you simply do some math: for example, if you need only 100-200 euros pre-tax income per month to pay your bills, then you'd need an account size of 2,000–4,000 euros. Then I would suggest doubling that amount, to allow a decent margin for error.

Anyway, good luck, whatever you decide to do.

Never risk more than you can afford to lose.If you said you have a crappy low wage job and your only saving is 5000 € then it would not be wise to start trading with all your saving isnt it?

Put it in a bank and dont even think about trading live until you tripled a demo account with <5% Drawdown!!!!!!

Then if you tripled a demo account with <5% DD, then open a live account of 100 €, and triple it again with <5% DD, then you can only begin to think about opening a bigger account.But until you didnt tripled a demo account, dont even think about it.

Dont be stupid and irresponsible with your hard earned money!Good luck!

...And of course dont leave your job, its a cruel world out there, and unemployment is very high in the EU so atleast you have a job.Until you proven yourself to be a consistent trader who can live from its trading profit, your job is your income dude, it is a very bad idea to leave it, no matter how shitty is!

Well not going into forex now or anytime soon,since this post ive tried one of my accounts which had couple $ left from the past,and can only say feelings are like returning back to high school to study before exams,its so consuming,unpredictable and dont know why but with looses i have from the past still showing on my records its just numbing feeling,which i have long forgotten.maybe i grown to realize and appreciate that forex is only for those 5% of the people,and i for sure know that i dont have such skills.

2 years, you're still a baby. Keep your job and take small steps to do whatever you want with the FOREX. You have a blank canvas and all the time in the world to paint a picture. You can fail as many times as you like and invest as little or as much of it as you like. There's no need to get so up and down about it. It's just a thing.

Don't worry about the money, focus on how to profit first, then start small and build in line with your confidence. Take an amount you might have otherwise spent on something else and just trade as if that money is already lost, but of course with a goal in mind to develop a trading plan and operate it.

Forget the money, it's the sun in your eyes in trading. Learn how to make ground, however small the steps. Build your Armour and carve your blade. You need BOTH.

It's not so hard, it's just like learning a new language, if you want it enough you can have it. Take your time.

Technically anyone could trade profitable, but for sure its not for everyone.If you feel that its not for you its no problem, there are many more markets and safer investments if you care about your hard earned money.No need to feel bad about it, not everyone was meant to be a FX trader.

But if you really want to be a forex trader, then i say again, start with a demo, forget about live trading completely until you didnt made 3-400% growth on a demo account first, with <5% DRAWDOWN!!!!! Until you didnt completed this basic task, you are not prepared to trade live!!! Especially not if you only lost so far,start with the basics, learn why and how the markets move, and learn discipline to not make the same mistakes twice.

Demo accounts were invented for a reason, use them and test out every single idea and strategy you want there with 0 risk, and learn from there

Good luck dude, i hope you will be a succesful trader some day!

Hi All,

All most same situation for me also, but good thing is i haven't loose any money for the moment. I traded Fx in Demo ac for 1.5 years and gave up last year October due to my personnel issue. So I want gv a fresh start....

I have a day job... I found trading method which suitable for me in every aspect... and It is not available free. So guys I need a your views on mentoring programs. Is there really (Good) Fx mentoring program exist????? If it how to identify good mentor and program.

What kind things we should look for to identity good FX mentoring program.......

I think people who achieve success in anything are great at feeling their en devours out. They don't get swayed easily by others because they are more determined to follow through with their personal objectives than cave to the objectives of others. If you want to system hop then system hop, if you want to blow your account cause you're pissed off, do it!. (that'll learn ya!).. If you want to get crazy and try something that just came to your head, go for it. If you want a break, then have one. If it's not for you, you will know deep down.

"Do what you feel is right, and just keep doing it".! J4D - 2012 ..... bitches =P

Seriously though ... Like this thread, you felt the need to pose a question that you probably already know the answer to. But that's action.

For every action there is a reaction.. yaddy ya

Good luck with it!

Here's my thoughts for what it's worth.

1. If you equate time with income you have misunderstood trading. More time spent, does not mean more profit (ironically for many people it's the exact opposite). You can find a method of trading that does not require time staring at charts and can be very profitable.

2. The pressure to have to earn something from a months worth of trades from a small account is a killer. The risk that you will force trades that aren't there, see things in the charts that arn't there, and over-leverage, over risk and effectivley gamble to make this months rent, food bill etc will be huge. It sounds like a recipe for disaster - I know I couldn't do it

3. Most professional traders (I mean retail, not institutional) generally have enough bank roll to be able to choose their trades and wait for them. They are in a position to be relaxed and patient. Some got there by heavy risk and then settled, but I suggest they are probably the minority (just a hunch).

Most people trade with money they can afford to lose, and what they earn in trading is hobby money. I would stay working, find a method or system that allows you to work and trade stress free, build your account as the market dictates until the salary from your employment becomes your 'hobby money' - then you will know you can quit the job.

Hope it works for you whatever you decide.

Think you have made a good decision.
I been trading full time for a few years now.
It was a very hard journey short selling ban, credit card blown, exercise given up, drinking to much, etc
But got there in the end and now have a great lifestyle, but still do 60 plus hours a week(indifferent hours).
There was a big increase in my income when I went fulltime.
Because this allowed me to spend more hours and focus just on trading.
But before I went fulltime I know I was able to take money out of the market everyday.
Index and share CFD trader by the way.

Keep working hard and you will know when are ready to go without asking anyone.
Good Luck