I've been studying up for the last few months on the FOREX markets and believe I am ready to take the plunge. I'm going to one of those two hour workshops tonight from those 4X Made Easy advertisements you see on TV (LINK)... their software is outrageously priced, but I'm going more for the information then to hear a salespitch from their products. I've read about 8 books on the subject and was just wondering if there were any other traders out there? If so, what is the best way to go about starting to trade? Are these FOREX software makers on the market worth the plunge or can you do the same type of stuff for a lot cheaper on your own? Obviously these companies are getting their information from sources... any idea where? Thanks in advance for any feedback, or comments of anykind on the subject.
I trade Forex from time to time. My primary speciality is equities though. My hedge fund is only equities though. My best advice I can give you is sign up for those free demo accounts either through fxcm.com or refcofx.com. Trade consistently for some time and until you get your confidence up. Then put in real money. The cool thing about Forex is that you can trade at all odd hours of the day and night, if you are a workaholic type personality. Plus its the most liquid of all markets. Plus the margin leverage they give you is amazing. One last thing. A lot of forex is based on technicals. Make sure you are well versed with technicals, otherwise you might get lost in some moves. Yes, ultimately fundamental news does move the underlying security but technicals play a big role. Once again, sign up for that demo account ASAP.
Will do, thanks! Thanks for the feedback too... I really love the trade at anytime aspect of it, because my schedule is different from day to day (self employed)... one day my work load may be 12 hours and the next day it may be 2.
I've done some dabbling in the past, but not anything big time... I just recently decided to go to work for myself so now I actually have time to do something like this. My father is a big trader, and is into equities and sells annuities for a living so I can seek some advise from him... but he's knows about as much with FOREX as I do, which is basically from books. I'm definately doing my homework before jumping in fully, but I don't mind putting in some money to take some punches for a bit either.
Mr. Brightside....I've never traded Forex before but I am a professional stock trader. Is it pretty much the same as just playing chart patterns?
Basically 70% of the moves in Forex are attributable to chartists/technicians. If you are good with charts you have a better chance of surviving in the Forex field. It is also safer, I believe, due to the fact that there is no underlying company which can affect the price movement (through bad earnings, PR....) My only issue with Forex is that the moves tend to be stronger and longer lasting. What I mean by this is, that often when a currency starts moving it will not retrace back to where you entered it for a very, very long time. So if you are on the wrong side of a trade, you might be looking at a larger loss than if you played equities. Equities have a tendency to bounce back and forth, and most times you can pull breakeven with a trade after about a week or so, if you were wrong in initial judgement. This calls for strong stop loss guidelines when placing a trade.
lol a week...i'm basically a scalper/momentum trader and i don't think i've held anything a week since i've been here. maybe i will give a try one of these days.
Those aren't the old Momentum Trading guys? I might be wrong but I think I received an email from zone trading.
nope about 90+% of the traders here are NYS scalpers. that is basically all that they want you to do here, but you can trade anyway you want. basically, it is a proprietary trading company.
For someone who has an interest in a possible career move into trading what advise can you give. How do you like zonetrading? What's the money like? How hard is it to get in? Do people mostly succed or fail in this line of work? Any advise from anyone in the industry would be helpful. I have a little knowledge in trading, but have never actually tried it. I also have a Series 7. Thanks.
Who you think you are, moestavern19? Don't quit your day job, pablo. Is this site any good? Anyone, anyone.....anyone besides SwoLy-D? http://www.forextradersworld.com/
Beautiful thing about FOREX trading is no exchanges fees or commission applicable - it's straight bid/ask spread. Even more beautiful, your account cannot fall below margin, meaning you can never lose $ not already in the account. But the best thing is the firm price certainty. No pussyfooting from brokers or marketmakers trying to match the last trade and such. What you see on the ticker is what you get. This all being said, IMO over time almost no novice will come out of the FOREX markets with even a dollar in profit.
I am actually a manager of a team of traders, I preach technicals as well as fundamentals, but "the trend is your friend" is a good motto to go by. Stop Loss point is also crucial, it is a life saving tool within the Forex trading system. If I were you I'd buy the dollar around 106 - and wait till 110 to sell again. it will keep ranging around that area I'd imagine for awhile, but nobody knows.
And the people who do this for a living like me do. Its all about experience, like you said, as a novice, please practice on the platfrom, stay with the stable currencies, JPY, USD, GBP, EUR... those are the currencies I'd recommend..
sorry i just checked back to this thread.... to answer your questions... 1. zonetrading was a great place that i happened to find by chance. it is a proprietary trading company where you don't have to put your own funds up to trade. they sponsored me for the 7, 55 and 63 as well. it is really a great place to work to get into trading. 2. the money can be very good if you are good at it. i think about 40% of the 75 traders here make over 100k. i am not one of them though. couple that with how laid back and easy this work environment is then you've got something pretty good. also, when they hire you here they tell you not to expect to make any money for 6 to 9 months, so make sure you have money saved up or you are ready to work a part time job because this is true. there is a significant learning curve to trading and you also have to make back the money you lost while you were learning. 3. if you are good at video games and quick on the keyboard then that will help. this is not a place where you fundamentally analyze stocks. a few people trade charts but like i said 90% are NYSE scalpers that try to capture quick moves based on order imbalances and stuff like that. so during the hiring process they make sure that they have someone who is relatively quick and someone who has a desire to learn about different types of trading. also, since you already have your series 7 that will help you get hired. 4. most people fail at trading. i think like less than 10% succeed on their own. at zone it is closer to 25-30% mainly due to the setup of new trades being grouped with successful traders who become their coaches. the coaches get paid a bonus for how much their students make so it's in everyone's interests to make money. hope that answers a few of your questions. let me know if u have anymore.
