Is forex just a matter of patience?

[Attilitus]

I have been watching the forex market for about 2 weeks now and I must say that there are pretty easy methods of getting 2-3 sure-fire plays a day. At least they sure seem sure-fire when compared to the stock market. I have only been observing for a short period of time so maybe I am just missing something.

I would appreciate any advice/warnings before I open up my real account in the next week or so. (Don't worry I'll remember to set stop-losses )

[Woody55]

Been if FOREX only a couple of days on a DEMO account.....it does seem easy until you screw up....I went from 2500 to 700 in no time....not a fault of picks or T/A, just a badly placed order...I plan on trading DEMO money for the whole 30 days, then maybe another 30, then only putting a couple bones into a real money account....just me.........good luck.........BTW, RPM and Darth's thread help A LOT. WOLF is always willing to help as well.

[Attilitus]

Perhaps I should a bit more time trading and practicing setting orders then

If you don't mind me asking was it just a mistaken set stoploss or something more devious?

[wolf825]

Originally Posted by Attilitus

I have been watching the forex market for about 2 weeks now and I must say that there are pretty easy methods of getting 2-3 sure-fire plays a day. At least they sure seem sure-fire when compared to the stock market. I have only been observing for a short period of time so maybe I am just missing something.

I would appreciate any advice/warnings before I open up my real account in the next week or so. (Don't worry I'll remember to set stop-losses )

Trade on a DEMO account for at least 3 months...and check out different brokers/platforms. Trust me...you NEED that amount of time to get the hang of it when you are actually playing it....cause once you get good with the Demo--you start REAL money and suddenly you are back to swuare one--only this time you know how things work and are not testing out a platform or a market or a trade method on REAL cash.

USE that Demo Trading time to come up with a METHOD or STRATEGY or SYSTEM that works for you consistantly...Only when you have some consistancy should you think about REAL $$ accounts. Otherwise you are just asking to be slaughtered when you least expect it..and risking a lot more then just demo play-money...

Demo trade first...develop a trade method or plan and work out the bugs..check out and learn every in and out of the platform you are gonna use for real, so its not gonna be a learning curve with real funds at risk. Nothing worse then setting an order and then taking 5 minutes to figure out how to set your "Stop Loss" "OCO", "If-Then" or "Limit" order up--only to find your trade reversed on you and you are down $500.00 cause you were tryin to figure out the platform buttons...

Trade safe and good luck..and yes a lot of Forex is Patience..but its also a ton of RISK / MONEY Management wrapped around the TA of charting and fundamentals of news.

-w

[Woody55]

Drinking beer, watching TV, and talking with your wife WHILE DOING T/A is a losing combination.....I thought I was going long, but was going short and set up a stop loss in the wrong direction.......BAM down down 1800 bucks when I woke up in the morning.................HOWEVER............If I would have done what I intended, I would have been UP about 500. If it wasn't a DEMO account I would have kicked the wife instead of the dog. LOL

[wolf825]

Originally Posted by Woody55

If it wasn't a DEMO account I would have kicked the wife instead of the dog. LOL

Well.............you really should treat your demo account just like you would if it was real money.....I would say the reactions afterwards should be the same...


-w

[Woody55]

You're right....I'll kick the wife when she gets home......LOL, I've actually been doing just that(treating my DEMO like the real thing).........It helps, cuz I'm more reluctant to go ALL IN....now that I'm down.........hopefully I can do the same when REAL MONEY comes into play........EMOTIONS ARE A BITCH.......wish I was vulcan(spock/data), not a trekkie, but have seen the movies.

[Attilitus]

[wolf825]

Originally Posted by Woody55

You're right....I'll kick the wife when she gets home......LOL, I've actually been doing just that(treating my DEMO like the real thing).........It helps, cuz I'm more reluctant to go ALL IN....now that I'm down.........hopefully I can do the same when REAL MONEY comes into play........EMOTIONS ARE A BITCH.......wish I was vulcan(spock/data), not a trekkie, but have seen the movies.

Its not a matter of not having emoitions--its a matter of learning to control them and not let them control you. That comes with practice and time...

-w

[tippytwo]

why are you all letting your positions run so low??

set stop loss orders and don't trade with such a high % of your account (demo or not).

If you notice your position going against you, sell.

Although I've held positions for a few hours sometimes after a drop, only because indicators showed that it would move back up to my initial price. Pip spreads can "sometimes" kill an outright sell from a bad move(depends on how much further down you think the stock will move). Definately know your TA!!

Get some books from the library this week and read them.

I think scanning stocks and looking at hundreds of charts a night helps understand TA and thus the Forex. So possibly try some stocks too if you have not already.

dedication, motivation, discipline will get you there.

-T2