Is it possible to start trading FOREX with $1000?

[torero 10]

Anyone thinking about trading forex please check this forum before even opening an account.

 

The Non-Dealing Desk Forum - Savvy Traders Want to Know - Powered by vBulletin

 

I'm not trying to hype this site but it has serious discussion on forex and brokers. It clears up the industry's shady side of business. And it IS POSSIBLE to get 1 pip spread and to get to real SPOT MARKET. Deciding on a broker paramount!!!! Buyer BEWARE!

[Reaver 10]

If you're wanting to get a feel for trading real money, you can open an account with Oanda...they let you trade any size you want. I started out with $100, no false hopes or delusions, but I wanted to get a feel for the difference between papertrading and real money. Even if it's a few bucks, it will still make a difference in your approach if it's real money on the line. Good for making the transition.

[pipMonster 10]

Just graduated from college and looking to start trading the FOREX markets. Ive been looking into brokers and seems like FOREX brokers offer huge leverage. They also guarantee my stops so I can only lose what I put in. Any advice on a sufficient capital for trading?

 

You can start trading w/ $1000 IF you reduce your expectations to the size of your account. This means forget about leverage and get up to speed on money management and risk assessment. I would suggest an account with Oanda for the reason that they offer trades to very small size and their execution is excellent, though they do have variable spreads to watch for during 'high profile' data releases. You would want to stick to a total risk per trade of 2-3% of your account.

 

No matter which broker you go with, you'll encounter some slippage. A few pips at the most is typical.

 

Have you paper traded your strategy into profits and are you confident in being able to execute it without fail or question? If not, work out your strategy some more in demo land. There's no rush to get into the market. It'll be there when you're ready to trade your hard earned cash.

[Reaver 10]

Nicely put Pipmonster. I think a small account with NO leverage is good to start. On one hand cranking up leverage could work out nicely, and if your account is only a couple hundred bucks it wouldn't be the end of the world...but it would build horrible habits....so I say no leverage and slowly build up as you see fit, IF you see fit.

[torero 10]

monster,

 

I was thinking of trying out Oanda's demo and wanted to know if they are as good as they claim in terms of demo to real account accuracy (no window dressing) and if the execution and spread is as reliable. I currently trade with MBTrading and like them alot, but always looking for a 2nd account as part of my contingency plan. Thanks.

[Reaver 10]

Torero,

 

I use Oanda, and have for a while. They are good, the only thing to watch out for however is when they widen spreads at news releases. That can trigger a stop. Other than that though, they have the best execution I've seen.

[pipMonster 10]

Ditto w/ Reaver. I had one problem with Oanda and it was resolved as soon as I brought it to their attention. I've wanted to leave them as I became very upset a few times with their variable spreads, but I found no other equally good broker. Sometimes it's the devil you know vs. the devil you don't.

[Reaver 10]

I agree Pipmonster,

 

I have almost packed a couple of times myself, but like you said....I couldn't find anything better. The only broker I'd be interested in would be MB Trading, besides Oanda. And that's only because they have such a good rep in other instruments and I like the non dealing desk approach, although I'm not sure how accurate that really is....

[Guest rwalkerx]

I've been playing around with a mini account on forex.com Started with $1200. I've been up $400 and down $300. Battling back and forth. This has gone on for 5 months now. I guess I'm no good at forex but atleast I haven't blown out my account.

[Reaver 10]

I've been playing around with a mini account on forex.com Started with $1200. I've been up $400 and down $300. Battling back and forth. This has gone on for 5 months now. I guess I'm no good at forex but atleast I haven't blown out my account.

 

Yeah I know what you mean brother. Forex apparently is different than the other markets...man I have seen some crazy moves...but then again I may be completely off base since I've only traded forex so far....can't wait to be ready for futures...

[InvestRight 10]

I don't believe in spendin 1000's of $$'s on seminars, or paying brokers for something I can do better myself. I use a hedging / carry trade strategy from FreedomRocks4x.com very successfully. MT

[walterw 10]

screentime, screntime, screentime , monday to monday and monday to monday plus RRR (RISK REWARD RATIO) ¡¡¡ you need to make good gains and small stops... cant get out of a trade winning little, cant afford to trade with such great big stops... so screentime, screentime, screentime.... it is possible... really doesnt matter much wich technique, its important that the technique you choose has a good RRR included on its plan.... maybe... after 6 months of succesfull paper trading, you can start thinking of real money trading....

[vince1887 10]

OPen up a demo account 1st and see how well you do with play $. Go to any brokerage that offers Metatrader 4 platforms and at least get used to see how it feels. Stay with this site and learn the ABC's. You will make it just fine.

[vince1887 10]

If you are going to trade anyway with real $$ then use only .10 lot to trade. Once you make your account grows to 1500.00 then trade .20 lots. Whe the account is up to 2000.00 then gradually increase. If you start with .5 to 1.0 lots, well......I hope you have more money to fund your account.

 

Be patient. Learn all you can from this sight.

 

Vince

[sevensa 10]

OPen up a demo account 1st and see how well you do with play $. Go to any brokerage that offers Metatrader 4 platforms and at least get used to see how it feels. Stay with this site and learn the ABC's. You will make it just fine.

 

The question was asked in August 2006 and the person asking the question has not been around since September 2006. You are a bit late with your answer.

[DianaR 10]

Just graduated from college and looking to start trading the FOREX markets. Ive been looking into brokers and seems like FOREX brokers offer huge leverage. They also guarantee my stops so I can only lose what I put in. Any advice on a sufficient capital for trading?

 

Even if you could, should you?

 

Probably not right now. Now is the time for you to build a nice stash of money to see you through tough times and low paying jobs while the worlds' economies settle down.

[sevensa 10]

Even if you could, should you?

 

Probably not right now. Now is the time for you to build a nice stash of money to see you through tough times and low paying jobs while the worlds' economies settle down.

 

Please see my post above. The question is over two years old and the original poster not been around for over two years as well.

[walterw 10]

screentime, screntime, screentime , monday to monday and monday to monday plus RRR (RISK REWARD RATIO) ¡¡¡ you need to make good gains and small stops... cant get out of a trade winning little, cant afford to trade with such great big stops... so screentime, screentime, screentime.... it is possible... really doesnt matter much wich technique, its important that the technique you choose has a good RRR included on its plan.... maybe... after 6 months of succesfull paper trading, you can start thinking of real money trading....

 

so so true chimp... cheers Walter.

[MightyMouse 12]

With $1000, I'd probably want to trade other things like stocks or maybe currency etf's which move in lockstep with the currencies. if you learn to make money trading those, then it's a matter of adding funds and risk to trade the cash or futures currency markets. My guess is you've already made your mind up. Good luck.

[walterw 10]

Well yes , you can start with $1000 forex trading , why not ? and if you become consistent in making 10 pips per day, that sums up pretty quick... Its a good idea to prove yourself as a good and stable trader with small amounts, then volume on your acct its a by-product of consistency... cheers Walter.

 

 

PD: consistency demands a simple method... when things get too complicated its very dificult to be consistent.

[trader_john 10]

I've found that with a small account, the impact of bad habits and mistakes are magnified. Some examples:

 

• you may close trades that go against you before your plan calls for them to be closed
  
• you may close winning trades prematurely
  
• overtrading will kill you in commissions (stocks/options/futures)
  
• opening a long when you meant to open a short could wipe you out (or worse)
  
• thinking you closed a trade when you didn't could wipe you out (or worse)
  

 

On the bright side, it might be more difficult to double your position rather than flattening it since you may reach your account limit.

 

That said, Forex seems like the most practical for small account active trading since you only have to overcome the spread, no commissions on top. The thing to watch out for is a big whip and complete destruction.

As an alternative, you could use a sim such as papermoney from thinkorswim while you build a stake.

 

John

[daedalus 10]

My opinion. Do it. But don't open your account with 1000.00. Expect, FULLY EXPECT to LOSE everything you deposit. So if you only have 1000.00, you should deposit 50 bucks with Oanda into a MICRO account. That way you can trade LIVE, not DEMO from the get go and risk a minimal amount of money. You screw up and lose it all, you get to start over again 20x's. If you can take the 50.00 to 100.00 consider repeating that a couple times before you can even consider putting any money up front.

 

People always say you need a lot of capital to start. I disagree on the basis that if you TRULY know what you're doing and are consistently successful you should be able to grow any amount of money into any amount of money. The difference is starting small requires MUCH MUCH MUCH more discipline and consistency over the long run to make any appreciable growth.

 

You don't need 20k to start if you are a consistently profitable trader. Its not about the capital in my opinion, its about the consistency. Does more capital = more "buffer" room before your out looking for a job again? Sure. But you don't need to 20k to buffer your losses if you're already good enough not to make them. And if you're not good enough to not make them then you've got no purpose to be trading with 20k in your trading account.

 

Deposit 50 bucks. Learn. Lose due to YOU (not your method) screwing up. Repeat until step 3 is absent. Go from there.

 

Just don't DEMO. There is so much talk about demo trading, we tell everyone new to trading to DEMO DEMO DEMO. Then they do with their 50k practice account, they make 2-3k a day and think they got it all figured out and the Ferrari is gonna be in the garage by the end of the month. Then they go live with their 5k and its wiped from their account faster than they can say "I Don't know what the hell i'm doing". Much of this is due to the psychological aspects of trading, fear of loss, greed, anger, all of it. And it surfaces as soon as you put real money on the line. So what you need to do is never take the easy route and Demo. Use live money from day one so your actions ALWAYS have a consequence and you don't get to write off stupidity as "oh, well at least it was only a demo account".

 

Go out and buy Trading in the Zone by Mark Douglas. Read it twice before you place a trade. It would've saved me thousands if I had read it prior to trading. It is all about the psychological / emotional aspect of trading. That is what will be the hardest thing for 99% of trading to master. A trading method is easy. Pulling the trigger, managing a trade without emotion, and taking profit without fear or greed entering into the equation is the hard part.

 

Hope this helps!

[walterw 10]

A true professional trader should give same importance and technical focus whatever the acct size is... once you have a solid method ( wich is key for success) ... it doesnt matter if it is 100 bucks or a millon, if you want to succeed, you are not playing... you are trading... can you still enjoy trading ? jajaja, well yes, depending in your method... chimps do enjoy ¡¡ cheers Walter.

[MightyMouse 12]

I've found that with a small account, the impact of bad habits and mistakes are magnified. Some examples:

 

• you may close trades that go against you before your plan calls for them to be closed
  
• you may close winning trades prematurely
  
• overtrading will kill you in commissions (stocks/options/futures)
  
• opening a long when you meant to open a short could wipe you out (or worse)
  
• thinking you closed a trade when you didn't could wipe you out (or worse)
  

 

On the bright side, it might be more difficult to double your position rather than flattening it since you may reach your account limit.

 

That said, Forex seems like the most practical for small account active trading since you only have to overcome the spread, no commissions on top. The thing to watch out for is a big whip and complete destruction.

As an alternative, you could use a sim such as papermoney from thinkorswim while you build a stake.

 

John

 

 

 

Trader John ,

you don't need a small account and do not need to be inexperienced to make those mistakes.

[mrgreen 10]

I agree with all you posted but this. A new trader doesn't have the synaptic highways to understand what Mark Douglas or for that matter any book detailing a subject they have never experienced. IN this instance the emotional ups and downs of trading. After one has traded for a year or two they can get much more out of this book. If someone read this when they started to trade they should reread it again now that they have experienced what it is talking about. Actually it's worth putting on your cal to read once a year.

 

Go out and buy Trading in the Zone by Mark Douglas. Read it twice before you place a trade. It would've saved me thousands if I had read it prior to trading. It is all about the psychological / emotional aspect of trading. That is what will be the hardest thing for 99% of trading to master. A trading method is easy. Pulling the trigger, managing a trade without emotion, and taking profit without fear or greed entering into the equation is the hard part.