Forex trading

[mSnooze]

When would you say someone is ready to trade live? How many data points would be enough to determine whether you have an edge?

For me, my original intention was to trade demo until I hit 3 consecutive months of profit, then start a small live account with the same amount of money that I traded with in demo ($500).

This month is the end of my 3 months. But because I don't take trades often (the signals I use don't always concur, plus I miss some trades because I'm busy / at work), I've only had about 10 trades in the past 3 months.

I suspect this isn't enough to prove that I have an actual edge, but should I still go ahead anyway? (will learn faster if I have some skin in the game?) Or should I stick to demo for another 3 months.

Maybe you can continue to us demo first, and try out different type of trading methods, e.g. swing, day, position. Then you will be able to find the suitable method that match your lifestyle and schedule.

 

[iCuteCube]

Maybe you can continue to us demo first, and try out different type of trading methods, e.g. swing, day, position. Then you will be able to find the suitable method that match your lifestyle and schedule.

Yup, that is perfectly correct.

Develop your own strategies that works for you. Because everyone trade with different perception, mindsets, and many other things that varies among traders.

Find the ways you like to trade and match your timing. For example, trading at morning and night may uses different strategies (Disregarding News).

Trading Fx is fun, but tough journey, I should start again soon, sometimes it just get too tired exploring different method to see how fine your strategies works. Strategies that i backtracked in the past may not be useful in today's context. Make sure you plan your strategies properly and don't trust those EAs.

 

[Majestic12]

Don't bother with demo trading. It doesn't prepare you for the actual battlefield well enough. Put in your money, lose, feel the pain and find out why. Then if you have the guts, continue.

 

[supratentorium]

When would you say someone is ready to trade live? How many data points would be enough to determine whether you have an edge?

I think your trading timeframe don't allow you have enough trades to assess whether you have an edge.
I would think 30 is the minimum for a benchmark as is the requirement of a normal distribution of returns even though this is not true for trading.

If you are only funding $500 for live trading, why not? The worst case scenario -you blow up $500. BUT you may learn something that you might not know when trading a demo account.

 

[forextradingkid]

Maybe you can continue to us demo first, and try out different type of trading methods, e.g. swing, day, position. Then you will be able to find the suitable method that match your lifestyle and schedule.

That's a great point. Trading forex should be viewed as a journey and respected as a business. Like any other areas of specialization, it requires hours and hours of hard work and dedication.

It took me quite some time before I found out a methodology that suited my personality, which is day-trading off 1-min charts.

Just watch out while using leverage. It can be your friend and it can also be your enemy. Use it only when you have complete understanding of your trading system.

Good luck!

 

[simage]

Beg to differ. I signed up with them for both demo and live account. When I encountered trading problems, I called their hot lines and nobody pick up the call. I tried again on other days. When someone pick up the call, I asked for technical support staff and was told I cannot speak to them direct. They will revert back to me when they find what went wrong and must issue a ticket to them to get their reply.

This is ridiculous. When one is on live trade and something goes wrong, it would means losing trade if the trade go against you. Every minute counts. How to trust them.

Oanda best ~ ^^

 

[bardsmanship]

I think your trading timeframe don't allow you have enough trades to assess whether you have an edge.
I would think 30 is the minimum for a benchmark as is the requirement of a normal distribution of returns even though this is not true for trading.

If you are only funding $500 for live trading, why not? The worst case scenario -you blow up $500. BUT you may learn something that you might not know when trading a demo account.

This is exactly what I've been thinking, too. At the rate I'm going, it'll probably take me 9 months to hit 30 trades... I think I really might learn much faster if I just start trading live, albeit with a small amount.

Thanks for the comments guys!

 

[sAVaGEmP5]

Beg to differ. I signed up with them for both demo and live account. When I encountered trading problems, I called their hot lines and nobody pick up the call. I tried again on other days. When someone pick up the call, I asked for technical support staff and was told I cannot speak to them direct. They will revert back to me when they find what went wrong and must issue a ticket to them to get their reply.

This is ridiculous. When one is on live trade and something goes wrong, it would means losing trade if the trade go against you. Every minute counts. How to trust them.

bro how much your capital ? Higher margin account get to talk on phone k. Likely that few k should use ticket.

 

[Shiny Things]

Came across this link, get rebate trading forex. (URL deleted)

Flagged this bloke for advertising.

 

[Sprintermauts]

first of all, sorry for hijacking this thread.

but speaking about oanda, i really want to know, is there any difference between the demo a/c and live a/c? besides the feeling of loosing on live compared to demo... like, really, what are the difference?.....

like the execution time in demo compared to live?.... are the rates on the demo same as live? i've read at the reviews about oanda online, that they have connection problems.... problems happen when you are profiting and it "magically" logs you out and hangs.... like, they suddenly spike the prices, and keep on giving re-quotes.... hmm...

basically, i've never gone live yet as im still underaged (going 21 this oct). i've been trading demo for the past 1 year, been reading books and online strategies..... i see myself as a technical trader and not so of a fundamental. i average about 60 pips a week (volatile weeks) on the demo with Eur/Usd... low risk, low return....

i really want to hear from those using Oanda live about the experience..

 

[bball21]

first of all, sorry for hijacking this thread.

but speaking about oanda, i really want to know, is there any difference between the demo a/c and live a/c? besides the feeling of loosing on live compared to demo... like, really, what are the difference?.....

like the execution time in demo compared to live?.... are the rates on the demo same as live? i've read at the reviews about oanda online, that they have connection problems.... problems happen when you are profiting and it "magically" logs you out and hangs.... like, they suddenly spike the prices, and keep on giving re-quotes.... hmm...

basically, i've never gone live yet as im still underaged (going 21 this oct). i've been trading demo for the past 1 year, been reading books and online strategies..... i see myself as a technical trader and not so of a fundamental. i average about 60 pips a week (volatile weeks) on the demo with Eur/Usd... low risk, low return....

i really want to hear from those using Oanda live about the experience..

i have been using oanda for 2 years,i never requotes , spike happen on news , but that happen to other brokers, i nv use oanda demo before so i do not know,my suggestion is if u wan to try live , take out a sum of money and put into the account but do not have the idea of getting it back, because when u trade real money, emotions come into place, and given 1 year, there is alot of market conditions that varies and ur strategy may not work well, hope that helps,

 

[forextradingkid]

first of all, sorry for hijacking this thread.

but speaking about oanda, i really want to know, is there any difference between the demo a/c and live a/c? besides the feeling of loosing on live compared to demo... like, really, what are the difference?.....

like the execution time in demo compared to live?.... are the rates on the demo same as live? i've read at the reviews about oanda online, that they have connection problems.... problems happen when you are profiting and it "magically" logs you out and hangs.... like, they suddenly spike the prices, and keep on giving re-quotes.... hmm...

basically, i've never gone live yet as im still underaged (going 21 this oct). i've been trading demo for the past 1 year, been reading books and online strategies..... i see myself as a technical trader and not so of a fundamental. i average about 60 pips a week (volatile weeks) on the demo with Eur/Usd... low risk, low return....

i really want to hear from those using Oanda live about the experience..

Good to hear that you are starting this journey at such a young age!

I've not have any problems with Oanda so far. Widening of the spread around news release is pretty much standard across all brokers. And I don't see much difference between its demo and live versions.

For myself, I used the Demo version only to understand its functions and use. I test my strategies using other software. Nothing beats going in live to confront your psychology, emotions and other "demons" that appear during trading.

Having said that, always trade small within the limits of your risk!

Good luck!

 

[tronian]

forex is fast and furious, win fast, lose also fast.

 

[tronian]

btw, i trade using saxobank. Deposit used to be 3000USD, think it changed sometime ago.

 

[c3phas]

so any recommendation on broker?

You can try LMAX.. execution speed is flawless.. the best broker i've used thus far..

 

[es0teric]

Hi, is there any forex account that needed to pay for monthly or annual fees? (sorry for being noob)

Actually I'm trying to look for a "free" account is like if I don't trade for a month or a year, I don't need to pay for anything.

 

[bardsmanship]

Hi, is there any forex account that needed to pay for monthly or annual fees? (sorry for being noob)

Actually I'm trying to look for a "free" account is like if I don't trade for a month or a year, I don't need to pay for anything.

Most brokers don't have activity fees I believe. You can try Oanda, there are no charges even if you don't touch your account for months.

 

[vae_victis]

I am using Oanda pacific as my broker for live trading.

So far so good, able to use MT4 (only if you have >1000 unit position size) as well as its native fxTrade platform.

In terms of execution of trades, I use mainly limit orders and witness slippages though. The slippages are not big enough for concern (less than 0.3 pips usually) and they dont occur that frequently.

The best thing for OANDA is that it allows flexible lot sizing (down to 1 unit). If you have small accounts and want to practice good risk management you can use OANDA fxTrade platform to create orders with proper position sizes.