Hi, I just recently became very interested in Forex trading and happened to come across this forum. I have been reading every thread for over a week now. I am 20 years old and in my junior year of college (however, I am taking the semester off due to personal reasons).
Anyway, I am an economics/political science major. I first learned of the existence of Forex in one of my economics classes. This was a while ago, I didn't really pursue it at the time - but I have desired to learn about and perhaps enter one of the financial markets for quite some time. Forex appeals to me for many reasons - liquidity, low start up capital, and the hands on approach. Also, I simply enjoy learning about the markets - which seems to be a rarity as most of my peers find economics terribly boring.
To be honest, my economics classes are the only classes I have really enjoyed and done well in on a consistent basis. I'm not going to delude myself here - I am not going to be looking at a high paying position right out of college. This is not to say my grades are terrible but they certainly aren't stellar and with the U.S. job market these days - I've got to be realistic with myself, I'll be hard-pressed to be earning $30K a year out of college. Without giving away too much personal info, I do not attend an Ivy League caliber school, nor one of the prestigious tech schools (MIT, Caltech). I've been heavily considering law school for quite some time - and still am, but I've already taken on significant student loans and I will be forced into the workforce for at least a year or two after graduation.
So, this is where Forex comes into play. First off, it just interests me. I could stare at graphs and charts and read about this stuff all day (and I have been). Second, I realize the high profit potential that exists. However I am not kidding myself into thinking this is some get rich quick scheme; I have been reading/reading/reading and at this point I'm not even considering opening a
demo account yet. However, the thought of making Forex trading an eventual career has high appeal to me. I simply want to be able to dictate my own work hours, and have complete control over my money & earning potential. I do not mind long hours at all, I just don't feel like toiling away in some office working for somebody else, making $30,000 a year.
Anyway I apologize for that long-winded introduction, here are some questions:
1) My biggest obstacle right now is my own self-doubt. I go through manic phases - one minute I'll feel like I'm totally grasping Forex and I have no doubt in my ability to apply what I've been learning to succeed in Forex. The next minute, I'll convince myself that I just don't have the sheer intelligence to succeed in this field. That's my biggest problem. I am willing to work very hard for this but if I just don't have the innate abilities/intelligence to succeed in this field, what does it matter?
2) Software recommendations anyone? I don't have any training in programming so forget that...I've been reading about backtesting and demo testing and I assume there is a software program you guys are using? I would like to backtest some systems but let's be honest here folks, I don't know the first thing about programming.
3) How much start-up capital is actually needed here to make money on Forex? Obviously I could open a mini-account today with $300...but I read a post somewhere in this forum where some guy claimed you need $300,000 capital to make $50,000 a year on Forex. Wow, I'll be lucky to have that much free capital to put on Forex 20 years from now. And simple math tells me that with a $300 account, I could only hope to make $50 in my first year? I'm planning on opening a mini-account, maybe in the fall depending on my learning curve - but $500 is about the most I can realistically afford to lose on Forex right now.
4) Systems...specifically - how do I make one? Technical Analysis appeals to me moreso than Fundamental simply because it isn't subject to my own bias/emotions. I don't have a background in engineering or programming so this may be a bit more difficult for me. I've noticed most people vehemently recommend developing your own system rather than adopting somebody else's. I have no troubles with this - but would it at least make sense to use somebody else's system as a base to work from?
Wow, that was a longer introduction than I planned it to be...my apologies. I probably have more questions that I meant to ask but these were the ones that popped to mind.