Disaster after just one week!

[Svetlio]

Hello to all traders! I was away from the forum for quite a long time but i was trying to develop a so called "system" and try to trade the forex market for real finaly.

So after 5 years of demo trading I decided to open an acc. with 600$! 300$ of the account are not mine, actualy a friend of mine gave them to me to trade his money.

So I use OANDA.com broker. They are offering good conditions for small size accounts. I can make the trading lots as small as 1 cent = 1 pip this is very usefull for beginners.

Ok let's go straight to the point. I use a 30 pips stop loss that is 1% on each trade on a 600$ acc. and a risk/reward at least 2.5 to 1. I trade 2 lots 1000$ each thats 1pip eqauls to 0.20 cent.

The first week I did grate I expected to do a 20% per month but i made 5% the first week that is 30$. Than I lost all of these 30$ on just one day....that was very hard for me.....i lost my fate in my judgemnt and I am no longer sure if can trade out of emotions.

And the worse thing is that half of the account is not mine so I am worried about that cause I have to show some results at the end of the month.

The account is still at 600$ but I was scared of myself that I managed to loose 5% from the acc. for less than a half a day and that scares me most because I used to loose not more than 1% on a trade.....broke the rules eventualy.I was runnig to get these 30$ back but that was a mistake.

Does any body went through that at the very begining of his trading carrer when he started to trade for the first time with real money? I think that I have mental problems more likeley than technikal....any comments or advices will be very usefull from the pros to give me some directions on how to continue to trade this account from now on.

I wish you very succesfull trading through year 2005 !

Thank you.

[MickMason]

It's not disaster, it's a learning curve, you've learned a valuable lesson quite cheaply to be honest, it takes some people a lot longer and a lot more money to recognise a problem exists!

Don't worry about the $600, or about your friends $300, he must have realised the risk when he gave you the money, if you lose it all then that's the way it goes sometimes.

Does your system work? Did it work on demo? Have you changed anything? Has the market changed? If the system worked on demo and nothing has changed there's no reason it shouldn't work now on a live account, so you're the weak link that's making loss, not your system.

I've got a solution for you, but first, did the system work on demo and has anything changed (apart from you)?

Mick

[mikead_61]

if you are worried about other person's money - just return it

if i ever-ever take somebody's money i'll make completely sure that that person understands that he/she will likely never see that money again (so for them it's a sort of gambling - i will either make a million, or loose it all)

do not trade other peoples's money - why would you want to do it in the first place? there's no minimal account size with oanda.

if it's your wife's money - then just trade your own - after all if you have a system that makes money it will be enough for both of you - and if you don't you will just lose half of it

i myself is trading $500 - just learnign not to enter stupid trades, learning the platform, spreads on varous pairs, leverage varies from pair to pair, charts can be customized, etc, etc.

and your story sounds like an overtrading/not controlling emotions/trying to get back what you lost story all the way - classic - was there done that - nobody is immune - just learn your lessons and move along

by the way - sitting in front of the monitor and being afraid to enter a trade is another classic behavior

you probably traded way too long with fake money - another proof that fake money trading has very little with real money trading (emotions are a killer)

i learned 3 lessons with fake money:
1. do not enter trade too early
2. do not marry a trade and become an investor (margin call cleared my lunacy)
3. pairs are correlated

and then i opened a real account (albeit small)

and after 1 month i'm still trading - though paid $90 for tuition (but was $180 down at some point)

[Minstrel]

Sounds like trading undercapitalized "sacred money". Your capital is just not enough to withstand the inevitable losses. Trading under such conditions becomes extremely difficult, no matter how good you and/or your system(s) are. You are risking someone else's money as well jeopardising a good friendship.

[CMCTrader]

You sound like your trading with emotion if you want a system that works as long as you dont let emotions get in the way I would sugest the ACD Method you can read about it in the trading methods and stratageis forum, it is the ACD thread.
Good luck in your trading

[email]

Hi Guys,

Sorry to hear your having a rough time there Svetlio. Guys just in my humble opinion I think this poor guy just needs to take a big deep breath and not go straight into some other system he problem is in his head not the system hes trading. He already put five years into it.
My friend I think you need first of all to listen to what mickmason has to say, second speak to your friend in person (so he can appreciate what state your in, and then back off for a few days, relax think about something else and re group.
Next week sit at your desk and write down what your feeling and why, why you feel the way when you trade, then leave it for another day or two, your subconscious will answer some of those questions. Now I am going to turn you over to mick.

Take care my friend
email

[mshwanz]

Hello,
well if you think a bit relaxed you will see that everything is going normal. it part of trading, all you need is just one good trade. just see if that you are doing the same things that you did on demo, if yes then dont worry about results. I had string of 15 losses but just getting one after that i got back on track and recovered those looses. dont change anyhitng if you are doing what you did in demo. you will make profit, trust me.
And about other people's money, don't worry about that, anyone giving you money to trade must understand all the risks and also think in terms that if he/she was good enough or brave enough, why don't he/she do it themselves.
Best of luck.

[TheSundanceKid]

Svetlio,

Just goes to show you that demo trading can only take you so far...
It's only when you have your real hard earned money on the line, that you can experience the full affects of trading on your psyche/emotions. It's a whole different ball game.
First off, you should not be afraid to lose all the money you have deposited w/your broker, Oanda. It is risk capital, and should be treated as such. Of course that does not mean that you should trade recklessly w/out care of winning or losing - but just be aware that you most likely will lose it all - especially if this is your first time trading on a live account. If you friend is not aware of this and ok with it, then give him back his money.
Secondly, you need to have some confidence in yourself and your system. This might need to be rebuilt after your recent experience. That's okay. One way to do this is to trade even smaller than you already have, until you have regained your confidence. You might also need to take a little time to refocus, that's okay too.
Treat your mistake as a lesson learned, and be greatful that you're account is still flat and w/out major loss(es). You're most likely in for many more lessons, before you can be consistently successful. Be aware of this, and plan accordingly.
With patience and persistence, there's a chance you will persevere in the long run.


Good Trading,

Sundance