time commitment

I think the main reason a people (myself included) become interested in the forex market is the alure of quick or easy money. Unfortunately, I don't have any idea how much time investment is really required to become a profitable trader. I'm not just talking about investment in education, and trial and error. I'm also talking about how much time is requred on a daily basis for a successful trader to sit in front of the computer and look at charts. Are there any experienced traders on this board that can shed some light on this subject?

I ask, because, while I enjoy reading about the forex, and enjoy trying to educate myself about successful trading, I find that I bore quickly when it comes to actually looking a charts. So, if it takes any more than 15-30 minutes a day, I should probably find something better to do with my time.

Is it possible to make long-term trades by simply doing 15 minutes of forex-related work/day?

I'm no expert, but in my experience, I love the longer timeframes. I also love Forex, the Factory, and charts. (Note: I HATE fundamentals and news) I have always been good at math and pattern recognition, so I find it interesting and challenging to look at charts and try to discern patterns.

Now to your question. If you are starting or trying to develop a system, IMO you will never become successful in 15-30 minutes a day. However, if you have a set of rules or a system already in hand, it is very possible to evaluate and execute your system for that day in that timeframe. I have never tried to limit my time looking at charts to 15-30 minutes a day. On the contrary, I spend as much time as possible looking at charts, browsing the Factory, and developing systems and formulas each and every day.

I am not sure what you mean by longer term, but if you mean days or longer, it is definitely possible to evaluate and execute in 15-30 minutes a day.

Hope that helps a little,
andersenws

I"m nearly the opposite of you Anders, I use the fundamentals to guide me and try use the technicals to pick the best possible entry point!! Nothin bugs me more then the market moving and me not knowing why.

IMHO a beginning trader needs to invest a substantial amount of time to learn the basics of trading. Otherwise you are either;

a. Taking pot luck and hoping eventually the trade will go your way
b. Following someone else's advice blindly in which case you might be better off with a managed fund.

Hope this helps.

I know I should probably use the fundamentals. I understand them, I just come from a strong math background, so I am more tuned towards the technical side of things. One thing you do HAVE to do, even if you are not trading fundamentals and news, is be aware of them. One of my worst trades ever was perfect technically, however I neglected to realize Bernanke was raising rates, and I was on the wrong side! I was also in class when this happened, so I couldn't do anything about it. That was certainly a learning experience!

andersenws

I don't think 15 to 30 minutes a day is going to cut it. I know, for myself, that I am trying to dedicate 20 hours a week to trading forex. At least until the end of the year. That time is mostly going to be spent on learning how to trade. I think you can really reduce your chart time if you want to. I know I'm trading on a 4 hour system, so I can get away with very little chart time if I need to. Of course I still need to learn as much about charts and patters as I can.

If your limited on time, and are available at the News times, then you could just trade news events, or the market directly afterwards which is where the best move is, but it's fast and furious so your going to need to practice hard at these times.

you'll be in and out between 10mins and 1hour depending on how you plan to trade the news.

If your limited on time, learn the trade the news time, it's where the big moves are each day, but also it's very volatile, but like any other time will need some training.


10mins to 1hour required per day if thats all you've got.


Time to learn, as long as it takes.

for me it has taken all of my time, well maybe all of my time + a few hours

If it only took 15 minutes a day, everyone would do it and be successful. It takes hours each day for many weeks, months, or even years for some. Part of it is psychological - seeing the charts frequently enough can help you overcome the psychological pitfalls of trading.

For example, I spent some time developing my system. Let's say that I didn't spend hours and hours developing it, but, I bought it off the shelf. I start trading it. I lose a couple times in a row. What do you think would happen to me and that system? Well, all the psychological demons would spring up and I'd toss the system and look for another one. That's the 15 minute method. What if, instead of trading it right away, I spent 6 months looking at historical setups, and demo trades using the system. Then, I start using the system live and encounter a couple of bad trades. Well, by this time, I've seen so many setups and trades for this system, that, I have the confidence to wade through the difficult times.

That's why you can't start out doing Forex on 15 minutes a day. Experienced guys can because they've already paid the price. They've seen hundreds of setups and scenarios. I'm convinced that few can be successful without putting out this kind of effort. Like many other things, though, I could be wrong!

I also want you to think about something you said in your post. You mentioned that if it takes more than 15 minutes a day that maybe you should find something more worthwhile to do with your time.

Well, that's a fair statement. But, consider the opportunity cost - or rather, what you would be giving up by finding something more "worthwhile." If you can master the skills necessary to be a successful trader, then, what you've done is guaranteed yourself and your family a virtually unlimited source of income and time free of working for others. The question isn't whether you should find something worthwhile or not. Rather, it's whether or not that prize is worth a sacrifice of time and effort right now in your life.

Well there is definately no better totally legal way of turning a small sum into a large sum, but if you look around you'll see not many people achieve this sadly


Thankfully I've got nothing better to do with my time, and can trade while I program/watch TV

Why spend your life doing something that bores you? There's lots of other ways to make good money. What gets your blood really pumping is what you're most likely to be successful at (and enjoy along the way).

Squid

I love it. The guy spends ~1000 hours sitting in a classroom learning the vagaries of the Roman Empire and the volume of a cone so he can acquire an associate's degree. Then he can somehow rationalize that spending more then 30 minutes a day learning the single most lucrative profession on earth isn't "worthwhile" for him. Humanity never ceases to amaze me...

Thanks to everybody for your responses.

Regarding my "i should find something more worthwhile to do" comment, I was just trying to be honest with myself. The fact of the matter is, while I like the idea of making more money, I don't like the idea of sitting in front of my computer for hours on end looking at charts. If that's what it takes to be successful, and I'm not willing to put in that kind of effort, it would be best to not waiste my time (and money).

Some might say that I have a short-sided view, given the amount of money one can theoretically make in the forex. However, you can also lose a lot of money in the forex. Furthermore, I would wager that not everybody that puts in the time will be successful at trading. I might want to become a professional athlete, but all the training in the world isn't going to get me there. The same might be true about trading the forex. Don't get me wrong, I'm not bad-mouthing the forex. I'd love to make money in it. I'm just saying that putting in a certain amount of time and effort does not ensure success.

Regarding my 15 min/day comment, I should have been more clear. I was not refering to the actual system development process (which I realize could take years). I was thinking more along the lines of, once one has a system in place, would 15 min/day be enough time to study charts, fundamentals, etc and make trades. I was planning on using longer time frames (perhaps being in trades for weeks or months at a time). With this sort of system, I assumed 15 min/day would be enough (after all, you wouldn't actually pulling the trigger on a bunch of trades).

I hoped I've cleared up any confusion my comments caused.

A few of you mentioned fundamentals and news. To date, all of my research on the forex was limited to technical analysis. I imagine that I would enjoy reading about fundamentals much more than looking at charts. And that, in turn would allow me to spend more of my time learning about the forex. To that end, I have some questions.

1) Where would be a good place to start reading about news/fundamentals and how they affect price movement? Most of the discussion on this board seems to focus on technicals.
2) I live in California. What times of the day are the "news" times in California?
3) Where can one find LIVE news that affects the market?

Thanks again for all your responses.

I spend about 2-3 hours a day total...

I live in Cali too. News time for the US pairs is between 5:30AM and 7:00AM. Check out the calendar...

Early starts for you then, 1:30pm to 2:30pm over here in the UK thankfully, and I find it hard to wake for them sometimes.

If you are wondering what the times for news are on the West coast, you can look on the homepage of Forex Factory and just change the time zone to reflect your own. I know that there are "news times" and times news comes out, which are two different things, but that will at least solve the latter.

Hope that helps,
andersenws

number related news is out instantly spot on the time said, although your news feed might be late, just got the trade the reaction blindly, not as hard as it seems.

Avoid Fed Speach news, on the initial move, wait for a trend to form, cause that normally chops around depending on his every word, and people trying to guess the entire speach.

I spend probably more time than I should or need to. For actual trading, I just need to know when my signal is triggered. Then, I place either a buy or sell stop order, enable my expert advisor which manages my trades and walk away. Rather, i could walk away if I wanted.

So, theoretically, I could spend about 15 minutes a day, give or take some time. Realistically, I spend more time because 1) I like it and 2) I keep meticulous track of my system which takes more time than just trading.

I probably spend waaaay to much time in front of my computer...but i'm looking at this as going to get a degree. And if i were in school i'd be there for about 8 to 10 hours a day studying. . .

So today i got up on my own (my body clock is so used to it by now) at 4:50am Pacific after falling fast asleep last nite at about midnite (it's normal for me to be happy-healty w/4 to 5hrs a day sleep).

I traded the NY open this am until 8amPT and banked a few pips. Then had some breakfast.

Then a chart alarm (set according to my model) turned my attention back to the EURUSD when it hit the 1.2780 level during the retrace at about 10am and i got into a buy trade, that i'm up about 40ish pips with break even +2 locked in.

Before that "alarm" and up to this post, i've read several chapters out of two books in my trading library, read more than 8 to 10 dozen posts is various threads in a couple fx forums...

Hugged my wife and son...

And had an all around wonderful day.

And that is normal for me on at least Tue/Wed/Thur every week. I wouldn't trade it for nearly anything...but time on a tropical beach with my wife.

Hey, that's the reason i'm doing this today!

Pip by Pip it's a sinch.
; ) Thom