Trading for living

[pingatec]

kind souls......

Ok serious loss of confidence here... have tried the overnight trade (most profitable so far),

have tried the intra-hour trade (demo only),

have tried standing on my head and chalk patterns on the floor...............

Read Luca from cover to cover

9 months after going live, have lost 25% of my deposit

Gentlemen and ladies...

would really appreciate some guidelines as to :
a) The pairs you trade

b) The time frame from open to close

c) the indicators you use - which pair and which period in stoch/macd etc - the simpler the better

d) Time you go in (GMT) and out (I log in for UK open -2 hours and NY open - 2 hours) (used to trade index futures)

e) How one can profit without watching the market for 12 hours (and sleep soundly) - this means i need a broker who NEVER misses my stops

f) a forex course that actually deals with the REAL WORLD

g) Do you have a "STandard Operating Procedure" that you refer to before every trade? a trading algorithm? a IF/THEN/AND flow chart?

finally, the chestnut.... who is your dealer? Refco I use because I know they won't disappear with my deposit, but they are nowhere near as flash as the other sites... but just who is reliable? I understand the UK/Europe sites have stricter regulators than US.

Appreciate if you could send something to me. Anything at all would be appreciated

tiggertch@hotmail.com


Regards


go the AB's !!

$IMON, take it from an old hand (9 months) its like doing a whole new Uni degree - only more expensive

[peteuk]

Everyone everywhere asks the same question, what strategy do you use, what time frame, indicator values, stops, targets etc etc etc, expecting that once armed with the settings they will automatically be able to make good trades and truck loads of cash.

Friends, the answer is not in the strategy used, it's in the way you trade. More or less every indicator ever discovered has a varying degree of accuracy but there are no systems or strategies that are always profitable to everyone, one mans meat is another mans poison. Aside from that, any strategy you use will need to be adjusted from trade to trade as the market changes, what worked on one trade may not work on another. Using someone elses strategy without the neccessary knowledge or skill would be like borrowing a chisel from a carpenter and expecting to be able to build a cabinet, you could probably muddle through but it's going to look like shit! On top of that, there are so many other components to what makes a particular strategy work for a particular trader, it's a very personal 'tailor made' thing, everyone is different and we all have different personalities.

Predicting the way a currency will go is only a very small part of trading, in fact it's about the easiest part because you only have 2 choices. Managing your trade is much more important and will dictate whether you succeed in this business or go broke.

Guess what, we're back to discipline again! Whatever strategy you use, from the complicated Elliot Wave analysis to the simple EMA cross, there is only one thing that will make you money in the long run and that is the discipline to control your emotions, trade your plan, cut losses short and let profits run, manage your money, and don't gamble.

I hope that helps, I'm not being secretive, I just don't believe it will help by posting exactly what I use as indicators. If you really can't decide on a system then toss a coin, I'm serious. As long as you manage the trade you'll gain in the long run.

Cheers

Pete

[TRADERguy]

Pingatec,
I agree with Pete. Just remember that whatever chart patterns/indicators/strategies/timeframes/currency pairs you choose, you need to be able to follow the price action. In a nutshell: if prices are going up you want to be long and if prices are going down you want to be short. If the price action is too choppy to tell where the price is headed, then don’t take a position until you can tell. Add in discipline and proper money management and you will do just fine.

[csaunders]

Hi Pingatec,

Since the Boks are unexpectedly going to beat the Kiwi's in the upcoming RWC - I'll give you a few pointers as consolation for the future upset

I use GFT and pretty good - I'm not complaining. As Rezo has said many times - they pretty much all are the same. Don't worry about this unless you are unhappy with your current broker.

Firstly - keep it simple: as Trader Guy said - follow the trend, horizontal lines etc - although as Pete says this is really personality driven - do you like stats, are you analytically minded, do you get a feel for the price action - whatever flies with you....

Secondly plan your trade in advance and stick to it - i.e. discipline.

Have a look at the 27/23 thread - there is a strategy although still needs to be tested with diff parameters etc. Don't

Thirdly - Keep economic announcements in mind. Very important - especially the market moving ones. Typically movement after an announcement is genuine if figures are not as expected. Why - because the whole world hears them and typically take collective action especially if the figures are obviously bad or good.

Fourthly - money management. Many guys only risk 1-2% of their capital with every trade - this pretty much means you can make 50 losses straight before your capital is gone. If you are in a winner sit with it to make up for the losses.

For me I don't have the time to sit in front of a PC all day (to trade that is) so I trade only in short bursts. I'm starting now to experiment with longer term trades since my capital has grown and decent stops can be put in place. +30 pips. Although I need a plan first before I'll commit to it - otherwise I'm only hoping...

Go to it - trade the plan and don't over-trade. If need be demo trade first until the confidence returns. We all have been through the negative periods...

Talking of negative periods - the markets are flat dull and boring at the moment - thank God for a bit of action yesterday...

Cheers and good luck

[pingatec]

Hi all, appreciate the words of wisdom. Have some more reading material to cover (thanks TRADERGuy!)

just made my first profitable trade for a week short EUR/USD

for the record, I just had the best steak in the world - the Butcher Shop, Sandton, Jo'burg

- this time round the AB's have their own cook.....

[HappiestTrader]

overload,

thanks for telling your story. Gives the rest of us hope. You da freaking man! Way to go!!!!!
best of luck to you!!

[overload]

Originally posted by HappiestTrader
overload,

thanks for telling your story. Gives the rest of us hope. You da freaking man! Way to go!!!!!
best of luck to you!!

Yeah, that's what my last creditor said before their collection agency guy knocked on my door.

"Many of life's failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.
Thomas A. Edison (1847 - 1931)"

How close was he before he gave up?

And, if I'm "da freaking man," how come I don't have more votes?

Sam

[mjk24601]

Pingatec
I have been trading for a living for a very long time now and the one thing that I have learned is that there is no substitute for experience. I have had the advantage of starting my carreer on the trading floors in Chicago and Minneapolis, and have had the benifit of watching many great trader work, and was thankfully able to learn much from them. Since you are restricted to internet trading I can only tell you that are probably a million different systems, spreads, and other trading mutations that work for hundreds of traders around the world, like snow flakes no single trader trades alike. That said I cant help you with what I do to churn money out of these markets, I look at my charts and the advisory analysis that I have bought (yes I pay for information) pick my spots and trade. It is more of a feel for the market than anything else. I like to overtrade, so I use my demo account to refine my feel for what I belive is going to happen, and once I think I have a good feel, I switch over to my live account. This system has profited me as I have racked up large losses in my demo account and modest profits in my live account. I can stand to lose fake money instead of the real thing. I belive that the market has a zen like rythem to it, and it takes patients to feel out its patterns. I belive you will just have to be more patient in feeling out you entrys and less patient in taking your profits. There is a proverb in the trading pits in Chicago that says "Bulls make money, Bears make money, and Pigs get slaughtered". Be more patient, it only takes one good trade to pay your bills, and you have all day to find it.
I hope this helps a little.
Michael