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How much is forex costing you?

  • #21
  • Jul 24, 2006 8:47am Jul 24, 2006 8:47am
I have been "playing" at this for about a year.

  1. Blew about $500 -$600 in live mini accounts.
  2. Spent maybe $200 on books
  3. Spent about $200 on Mentoring and materials
  4. Spent about $300 on EAs from Ebay

Now that I have found this and a couple other informative forums I have quit spending money. More time on demos now then live. Actually my live account is now going in the right direction (up) although slow and not straight.

I am 50 now and make a good living... my goal is to go slow and learn.
If I am able to consistently make profits after another 2-3 years of slow learning I will consider myself a success.

There is so much good information on these forums (FF, MoneyTec, TSD and StrategyBuilder), the biggest problem is trying not to be overwhelmed... find a couple good strategies and focus and learn.

I think I have made a decison that I will only manually trade EAs. But even with that you need to be able to "feel and flow" with the market.

  • #22
  • Jul 24, 2006 9:11am Jul 24, 2006 9:11am
Guys, I dont mean to be offensive at all.
Im just making a consideration.
  • #23
  • Jul 24, 2006 9:34am Jul 24, 2006 9:34am
Quoting trucco
thanks.

Fom my point of view these 3 things should be part of you after 1 year, you dont need more.
And beside this, in 1 year you had the chance to see all the possible market patterns, market behaviours, events, surprises, etc etc. You have the chance to cover 100% of cases over a year.

This said, if after 1 year a brain is still not able to be oriented and have learned what to do...I believe that even after 3,4,5,6 will still be the same
1 year of focusing only on forex? Because, some people have full time jobs (you have to pay your bills). It's not like everybody has a good savings account and can stay home 1 year and focus on the forex. So I think that's why 2-3 years, because I don't have the time that I would like to have.
Try hard, think fast, die young
  • #24
  • Jul 24, 2006 10:07am Jul 24, 2006 10:07am
I have been in trading for 7 months now. It has cost me just under 10K. I will actually be proftiable in the next month or two, usually depending on Non Farm Payroll days. I have wasted some money on unnecessary traing which I am working on getting refunded at least partially, but the growth is exponential. I did not start with a lot of money in my brokerage account at all. I spend 100 a month on news and tick feeds, and 79 a month on wireless Verizon internet on my laptop. That is the extent of my monthly expenses. I trade at 60 -70 % and have an ROI from January of 285% if you just count the money invested in the account not the software and training. Blew up two accounts early but so far so good from then.

While I am not profitable yet, the main reason was the learning curve and minimal starting point. My first deposit was $500 blew that up added alittle more then got a little more serious. Paper trading is key,I just was too much in a hurry to make money so I basically was paper trading with real money which is pretty dumb but i could afford to lose it and did.

What i would say is either do it or dont, Dont go half assed at it because you will be disappointed. So many people whine about it it asif the money is just supposed to fly into your account without work and it doesnot. It is a real business and needs time andwork to succeed. It means sometimes getting up at 3 or 4 in the morning and sitting at a computer for hours waiting for a good trade, but that is a personal decision you must make. I actually trade the euro session 97% of the time. Ocasionally I will sit up at night but not often. I will get up at 5 but usually more around 6:30 - 7 and trade till around 11.

Good luck
  • #25
  • Jul 24, 2006 10:12am Jul 24, 2006 10:12am
Quoting dof
1 year of focusing only on forex? Because, some people have full time jobs (you have to pay your bills). It's not like everybody has a good savings account and can stay home 1 year and focus on the forex. So I think that's why 2-3 years, because I don't have the time that I would like to have.
I also have full time job, but I would be a lier telling you that I don't spend at least 4 hours a day reading, looking charts, systems, events, economical indicators, FF etc etc...and anyway, even if im at work I have the chance to follow with one eye what is happening (a web page telling me the price and some news web pages), so in 1 year I can cover 100% of possibilities.

Now is 6 months I trade, I think I saw enought, and things are only repeating and reapiting..well, not exactly repeating, but I developed a way to read things.

Ofcourse I still mistake many times, and this will always be, but the important is that my good trades cover the bad ones.

So I agree that the more you dirve a car, the more you become a good driver..but guys, if after one year you are still a bad driver..well, I dont see a good prospective.. even if you are not a taxi driver driving 10 hours a day.
I think everybody of us is driving the forex car at least 3-4 hours a day, and after one year, you should have drove all kind of streets, and saw enought traffic and crazy drivers behaviours

So what I mean is, that is ablossutly true that the more you do something, the more you improve it, but is also true that the big improve and the capacity to learn comes in the first period, and what comes after is just perfection.
  • #26
  • Jul 24, 2006 10:15am Jul 24, 2006 10:15am
Quoting treasurecay25
I have been in trading for 7 months now. It has cost me just under 10K. I will actually be proftiable in the next month or two, usually depending on Non Farm Payroll days. I have wasted some money on unnecessary traing which I am working on getting refunded at least partially, but the growth is exponential. I did not start with a lot of money in my brokerage account at all. I spend 100 a month on news and tick feeds, and 79 a month on wireless Verizon internet on my laptop. That is the extent of my monthly expenses. I trade at 60 -70 % and have an ROI from January of 285% if you just count the money invested in the account not the software and training. Blew up two accounts early but so far so good from then.

While I am not profitable yet, the main reason was the learning curve and minimal starting point. My first deposit was $500 blew that up added alittle more then got a little more serious. Paper trading is key,I just was too much in a hurry to make money so I basically was paper trading with real money which is pretty dumb but i could afford to lose it and did.

What i would say is either do it or dont, Dont go half assed at it because you will be disappointed. So many people whine about it it asif the money is just supposed to fly into your account without work and it doesnot. It is a real business and needs time andwork to succeed. It means sometimes getting up at 3 or 4 in the morning and sitting at a computer for hours waiting for a good trade, but that is a personal decision you must make. I actually trade the euro session 97% of the time. Ocasionally I will sit up at night but not often. I will get up at 5 but usually more around 6:30 - 7 and trade till around 11.

Good luck
I undestand you perfectly. Today I woke up at 3:45 and stayed up all night. No I'm at my job, trying to sleep
I made arround 100 pips on gbp/usd on 3 trades. So it wasn't in vain. You have to make some sacrifices, without it's just a waste of time.
How satisfied are you with Verizon data? I want to get also.
Try hard, think fast, die young
  • #27
  • Jul 24, 2006 11:27am Jul 24, 2006 11:27am
I picture two type of traders, based on your thread.

1) Those who are constantly looking for this "indicator" that spits dollars everytime it delivers a signal. Everytime a "guru" has a well-put-advertised system that makes 300 pips or 2000 pips a month, they go buy it, becuase now they're "convinced" they found the syste they were looking for. These type of trader spend more on "systems" than trading. Their main goal? The easy way out to "predict" what price is going to do next. They need to trade every single time market delivers a "chance" for trading. Oh by the way, because they set stop-losses so tigth, they get many whipsaws it's unbelievable. But they're now worried because their system tells them that's ok to lose 50% of the time if you can be profitable. The joke everyone seems to believe.They're pose to lose because their system tells them that 95% of forex traders lose money, you know some crap like that.

2)Those who decide to understand the market. They're inquisitive. They need to know where and why price reacts. They look at the bigger picture. They look at various time frames looking for clues. They developed a system based on price observation. They follow the system religiously. Some of them use fibos just for clues. Other have nothing at the charts. Not a single dot/line bells/whistles. They don't care what the price is going to do next. They trade with "if " instead of the "when" Most importantly" They don't take every trade the see. They need to see certain structure/bias on the market in order to trade.

Wonder how much they spent on forex? Probably nothing
Peace
  • #28
  • Jul 24, 2006 11:35am Jul 24, 2006 11:35am
Hello everyone,

Fascinating stories.

My experience differs somewhat.

Today is probably typical for me. I traded the Canadian news release for retail sales. Began at 8:15 am eastern; finished by 8:40 am. Grabbed about 20 pips of a 45 pip move. Made a few thousand dollars, jotted down my journal entries/thoughts upon reviewing what happened. That's it. Rest of the morning I had my Starbucks (grande iced caramel mocha, with whipped cream!!) then spent about two hours replying to traders' emails on this and another forum. Tomorrow and Wednesday I'm in Atlanta continuing the college tour thing with my rising senior son. My trading schedule this week: monitor US durable orders and initial claims on Thursday for possible trade, followed by actually trading Friday's US GDP q2 release.

Forex costs me $80 for a data feed I probably don't need. I've taken no fee-based training courses....none, nada. I'm just so impressed when you guys and gals talk about T/A!! Just over my head. Other costs, I think I pay $25 for wire transfers. In beginning, I nearly blew out my first account. I invested $4k of a $5k account, trading all hours of the night (not anymore!) plus trading live when most would have traded paper. But there's such a vastly different thought process in live trading, not to mention the technical differences in brokers' platforms. And why do what most others do, considering most others fail in this business??

So I have low overhead, I make my living trading and I'm having a ball!!
  • #29
  • Jul 24, 2006 11:44am Jul 24, 2006 11:44am
Quoting MoneyMa$ter
Hello everyone,

Fascinating stories.

My experience differs somewhat.

Today is probably typical for me. I traded the Canadian news release for retail sales. Began at 8:15 am eastern; finished by 8:40 am. Grabbed about 20 pips of a 45 pip move. Made a few thousand dollars, jotted down my journal entries/thoughts upon reviewing what happened. That's it. Rest of the morning I had my Starbucks (grande iced caramel mocha, with whipped cream!!) then spent about two hours replying to traders' emails on this and another forum. Tomorrow and Wednesday I'm in Atlanta continuing the college tour thing with my rising senior son. My trading schedule this week: monitor US durable orders and initial claims on Thursday for possible trade, followed by actually trading Friday's US GDP q2 release.

Forex costs me $80 for a data feed I probably don't need. I've taken no fee-based training courses....none, nada. I'm just so impressed when you guys and gals talk about T/A!! Just over my head. Other costs, I think I pay $25 for wire transfers. In beginning, I nearly blew out my first account. I invested $4k of a $5k account, trading all hours of the night (not anymore!) plus trading live when most would have traded paper. But there's such a vastly different thought process in live trading, not to mention the technical differences in brokers' platforms. And why do what most others do, considering most others fail in this business??

So I have low overhead, I make my living trading and I'm having a ball!!

I absolutly agree with you man
I also traded only the news for +30 pips with cad, but only for a few hundreds
Learn how to drive a car can mean also to put the automatic driver
  • #30
  • Jul 24, 2006 2:28pm Jul 24, 2006 2:28pm
Quoting feb2865
But they're now worried because their system tells them that's ok to lose 50% of the time if you can be profitable. The joke everyone seems to believe.They're pose to lose because their system tells them that 95% of forex traders lose money, you know some crap like that.
I have to disagree. Even if your system produces bad trades 95% of the time, no where does it say it has to be a non-profitable, ie non-successful, system. You're confusing being profitable with being right. You don't always have to be right to be profitable. And yes, roughly nine out of ten players in this game do fold out because they took bets too large for their dealt hand because they don't understand the difference between being successful and being right. You have to know how to bet before you can be a good player. You could be holding pocket rockets, but if you don't know how to bet, I'm sure you'll get taken out.

Money management being the key, it has taken me a year and a half to find this key to open the door to being a profitable trader. Now that I have found my discipline and have been using it to enforce money management strategies, I'm raising the titanic known as my trading account. Being a college student, and having the freedom that goes with that, this is my full time job that I picked. The pay may be non-existant for now, and I may still have a few thousand dollars to go before I have regained the ground I lost by blowing up a few live accounts, but I enjoy every minute of this game. I scare my friends with my enthusiasm and passion that I have for forex.
  • #31
  • Jul 24, 2006 2:38pm Jul 24, 2006 2:38pm
Quoting MoneyMa$ter
Hello everyone,

Fascinating stories.

My experience differs somewhat.

snip
Forex costs me $80 for a data feed I probably don't need. I've taken no fee-based training courses....none, nada. I'm just so impressed when you guys and gals talk about T/A!! Just over my head. Other costs, I think I pay $25 for wire transfers. In beginning, I nearly blew out my first account. I invested $4k of a $5k account, trading all hours of the night (not anymore!) plus trading live when most would have traded paper. But there's such a vastly different thought process in live trading, not to mention the technical differences in brokers' platforms. And why do what most others do, considering most others fail in this business??

So I have low overhead, I make my living trading and I'm having a ball!!
Thanks for your post.... would you mind sharing what broker you are using for your successful business? Thanks.

Don
Don Life is expensive, but includes a free trip around the sun.
  • #32
  • Jul 24, 2006 5:19pm Jul 24, 2006 5:19pm
Quoting dof
I undestand you perfectly. Today I woke up at 3:45 and stayed up all night. No I'm at my job, trying to sleep
I made arround 100 pips on gbp/usd on 3 trades. So it wasn't in vain. You have to make some sacrifices, without it's just a waste of time.
How satisfied are you with Verizon data? I want to get also.
So far so good, I got it by default on my new Dell laptop signed up for a 30 day trial and just renewed a 2 year contract with one month free. I have had great recption everywhere verizon cel phones work. Actually faster than my earthlink DSL wire connection. Traded 15 pips in a cab from Atlanta s airport out to marrietta the other day. Cant beat that.
  • #33
  • Jul 24, 2006 7:01pm Jul 24, 2006 7:01pm
Quoting traderone
Thanks for your post.... would you mind sharing what broker you are using for your successful business? Thanks.

Don
FXSol Don.
  • #34
  • Jul 24, 2006 7:06pm Jul 24, 2006 7:06pm
Forex was costing me alot until last week when I scored $16,000 on a super easy trade that I took the opposite direction on...

Poor guy...

:surprised (Sup, MM?)


:
Mr. Trend
  • #35
  • Jul 24, 2006 7:41pm Jul 24, 2006 7:41pm
Quoting Mr Trend
Forex was costing me alot until last week when I scored $16,000 on a super easy trade that I took the opposite direction on...

Poor guy...

:surprised (Sup, MM?)


:


But he ain't no poor guy, that's for sure. Just make sure you're earning interest on that 16 large so when I come to SF, I can collect "da vig"!!!
  • #36
  • Jul 24, 2006 7:59pm Jul 24, 2006 7:59pm
Quoting treasurecay25
So far so good, I got it by default on my new Dell laptop signed up for a 30 day trial and just renewed a 2 year contract with one month free. I have had great recption everywhere verizon cel phones work. Actually faster than my earthlink DSL wire connection. Traded 15 pips in a cab from Atlanta s airport out to marrietta the other day. Cant beat that.
Oh yeah, it's great.
I will get the internet, it's like air
Try hard, think fast, die young
  • #37
  • Last Post: Jul 24, 2006 11:45pm Jul 24, 2006 11:45pm
LOL. Just looked at my LLC's proforma statement...first year expenses were just over 9K. . . Would i trade any of the time or experience gained? Not one bit of it. I'm in this as a career change. I could have easily spent those dollars on tuition at a local college/University had i chosen another path.

Cheers,
Thom
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