Hello from Indiana (U.S.A.)

[dland007 10]

Hi all! Like the rest of you, I'm new to this site and for me - also fairly new to trading online. I've traded some stocks (with mixed success), but see the real financial potential in FOREX. I'm looking forward to hearing from and learning from you and the more senior members on this site.

 

I would welcome and suggestions, hints, tips, etc. for getting started with FOREX and especially with the N225.

 

Cheers!

Dave

[sevensa 10]

Hi all! Like the rest of you, I'm new to this site and for me - also fairly new to trading online. I've traded some stocks (with mixed success), but see the real financial potential in FOREX. I'm looking forward to hearing from and learning from you and the more senior members on this site.

 

I would welcome and suggestions, hints, tips, etc. for getting started with FOREX and especially with the N225.

 

Cheers!

Dave

 

Welcome... I am curious about what made you decide that you "see the real financial potential in FOREX" as opposed to stocks? I am leaning over that this is not the instrument that give you real financial potential, but this is the trader.

[dland007 10]

Welcome... I am curious about what made you decide that you "see the real financial potential in FOREX" as opposed to stocks? I am leaning over that this is not the instrument that give you real financial potential, but this is the trader.

 

Sevensa,

I do agree that the 'trader' does play a significant role in the success of any trade - whether that trade involves securities, options, or Forex. What I meant by my comment was that in my opinion, (given the same trader) the Forex market provides significantly more potential for income - for the following two main reasons: 1) much more so than with stocks, the Forex market allows for profit to be made in both upward and downward moving markets, 2) Forex provides the ability to significantly multiply your profits (and losses!) with the use of large margins (as much as 400:1 in some cases).

[throughthemud 10]

Hi all! Like the rest of you, I'm new to this site and for me - also fairly new to trading online. I've traded some stocks (with mixed success), but see the real financial potential in FOREX. I'm looking forward to hearing from and learning from you and the more senior members on this site.

 

I would welcome and suggestions, hints, tips, etc. for getting started with FOREX and especially with the N225.

 

Cheers!

Dave

 

hey dave,

welcome to the forum. I just started here about a week ago but I've been trading forex for a while. Hope to see you in the forex lab often. My best advice for any high leverage market is to trade small and very cautiously until you are profitable for a few weeks straight. I doubt you'll take this advice (I know I didn't) but it's very important especially since you didnt have much success in trading stocks. Get a micro account so you can trade very small contract sizes until you get the hang of it.

[brownsfan019 17]

Sevensa,

I do agree that the 'trader' does play a significant role in the success of any trade - whether that trade involves securities, options, or Forex. What I meant by my comment was that in my opinion, (given the same trader) the Forex market provides significantly more potential for income - for the following two main reasons: 1) much more so than with stocks, the Forex market allows for profit to be made in both upward and downward moving markets, 2) Forex provides the ability to significantly multiply your profits (and losses!) with the use of large margins (as much as 400:1 in some cases).

 

1) You can make money in stocks, futures, options or forex in up or down markets. All markets go up or down and money can be made in all of them. Stocks are no different.

2) If you think 400:1 leverage is a reason TO trade there as a new person, I hope you keep your account size small to begin with.

 

Here's a few reasons to NOT trade forex:

 

1) 400:1 leverage is available

2) Since quotes are not centrally located, you may find different quotes at different brokers

3) Spreads can widen quite far during news announcements

4) Forex is not a centrally regulated market - your broker can take the opposite side of your trade

 

If you want leverage AND a regulated market, then futures is the choice. Key there being that you'd like to be trading where regulators exist.

[throughthemud 10]

I started off trading stocks and the reason I switched to forex are no commissions and less regulation. I didnt start out with very much money so it was harder for me to get past the commission in order to make a profit so I always trade stocks that were not worth anymore than $30 and then after I day traded for a few days my stock account was locked due to an SEC rule prohibiting day trading with accounts less than $25000. Especially as a beginner I found forex much easier to trade and be profitable in. The leverage can certainly work against you though. Play very cautious and safe and you'll be alright.

[dland007 10]

hey dave,

welcome to the forum. I just started here about a week ago but I've been trading forex for a while. Hope to see you in the forex lab often. My best advice for any high leverage market is to trade small and very cautiously until you are profitable for a few weeks straight. I doubt you'll take this advice (I know I didn't) but it's very important especially since you didnt have much success in trading stocks. Get a micro account so you can trade very small contract sizes until you get the hang of it.

 

Thanks for the advice throughthemud! I did open a micro account and made my first "real" trades last night. After 5 trades, I was up 10%. Not bad (I think) for my first day. I definitely plan to stay small for a while though!

D

[dland007 10]

hey dave,

welcome to the forum. I just started here about a week ago but I've been trading forex for a while. Hope to see you in the forex lab often. My best advice for any high leverage market is to trade small and very cautiously until you are profitable for a few weeks straight. I doubt you'll take this advice (I know I didn't) but it's very important especially since you didnt have much success in trading stocks. Get a micro account so you can trade very small contract sizes until you get the hang of it.

 

Hey throughthemud - since you've been trading for a while, I'd really be interested in your success level, general comments on FX, etc.!!

[dland007 10]

I started off trading stocks and the reason I switched to forex are no commissions and less regulation. I didnt start out with very much money so it was harder for me to get past the commission in order to make a profit so I always trade stocks that were not worth anymore than $30 and then after I day traded for a few days my stock account was locked due to an SEC rule prohibiting day trading with accounts less than $25000. Especially as a beginner I found forex much easier to trade and be profitable in. The leverage can certainly work against you though. Play very cautious and safe and you'll be alright.

 

It sounds like we're going down the same path. I ran into the same issues with stocks. I did have some decent sucesses (though relatively small), however I quickly learned that just because you sell a stock doesn't mean those funds are immediately available to trade again (big surprise and disappointment to me!). It usually took 3-4 days for everything to clear from a sale before I could reinvest. I hoping for much better 'liquidity' in FX.

[JEHs 10]

It sounds like we're going down the same path. I ran into the same issues with stocks. I did have some decent sucesses (though relatively small), however I quickly learned that just because you sell a stock doesn't mean those funds are immediately available to trade again (big surprise and disappointment to me!). It usually took 3-4 days for everything to clear from a sale before I could reinvest. I hoping for much better 'liquidity' in FX.

 

The biggest problem with stocks is the daytrade rule. If you have less than 25k you will not be able to daytrade. This might be the problem with the 3 to 4 days for money to clear. The money should be there immediately.

 

JH

[brownsfan019 17]

I started off trading stocks and the reason I switched to forex are no commissions and less regulation. I didnt start out with very much money so it was harder for me to get past the commission in order to make a profit so I always trade stocks that were not worth anymore than $30 and then after I day traded for a few days my stock account was locked due to an SEC rule prohibiting day trading with accounts less than $25000. Especially as a beginner I found forex much easier to trade and be profitable in. The leverage can certainly work against you though. Play very cautious and safe and you'll be alright.

 

1) If you think your broker is in business for free and doesn't charge 'commissions' I suggest reading up some more on this market. The FX marketers have done a marvelous job of creating this 'no commission' tagline and it seems to work. Maybe there aren't commissions, it's called spreads. lol.

 

2) It's not often I find someone wanting LESS regulation. Well, there's nothing less regulated as FX that's for sure. It has practically ZERO regulation.... I wish you luck should you have issues w/ your broker and need to call someone.

 

As for PDT, it does not exist in futures.

 

So I'm still not seeing ANY advantage of FX over futures. You can trade with $5k (or smaller), no PDT, massive leverage, no uptick rule and regulation all wrapped up into one.

[throughthemud 10]

Hey dave,

You won't have any liquidity problems with FXCM. I've been with them for almost a year and I only have good things to say about them.

 

When I first started trading forex I think I made 100% return in 2 days but then I lost almost all of that just because I became overconfident and didnt take my time analyzing the market before trading. This has happened several times but I've learned my lesson and I've been doing better and better. I've found that there is a lot more bad information out there than good information. They best policy when trading is to be patient whether that means waiting for all your indicators to line up or taking time to do adequate analysis. Patience is the biggest key for me at least.

[throughthemud 10]

1) If you think your broker is in business for free and doesn't charge 'commissions' I suggest reading up some more on this market. The FX marketers have done a marvelous job of creating this 'no commission' tagline and it seems to work. Maybe there aren't commissions, it's called spreads. lol.

 

2) It's not often I find someone wanting LESS regulation. Well, there's nothing less regulated as FX that's for sure. It has practically ZERO regulation.... I wish you luck should you have issues w/ your broker and need to call someone.

 

As for PDT, it does not exist in futures.

 

So I'm still not seeing ANY advantage of FX over futures. You can trade with $5k (or smaller), no PDT, massive leverage, no uptick rule and regulation all wrapped up into one.

 

Yes forex has spreads but so do stocks but stocks also have commissions and that is my whole point.

 

If you have a problem with your forex broker you can still bring it up with NFA. You can go to their website and check on all the cases they've ruled on. As long as you get a good broker there is no problem. I would probably be safer in futures but I haven't had any problems trading forex so I'm happy.

[brownsfan019 17]

Yes forex has spreads but so do stocks but stocks also have commissions and that is my whole point.

 

If you have a problem with your forex broker you can still bring it up with NFA. You can go to their website and check on all the cases they've ruled on. As long as you get a good broker there is no problem. I would probably be safer in futures but I haven't had any problems trading forex so I'm happy.

 

Not sure what stocks you are referring to, but spreads are tiny (if any) on most issues. And any decent liquid future will have the bid/ask.

 

Question - how many withdrawals have you done and how often do you do them? I ask b/c I had a trading friend awhile back put together a decent little scalper type thing and the broker 'allowed' him to run it briefly before shutting it down. Why? B/c he was winning and taking their money.

 

If you're losing, the FX brokers can be very kind to you. If you're a winning trader though, they can literally just turn your account off and say go elsewhere.

 

As you said, it is safer in futures where you get the same bang for your buck as you do in FX but you also get regulations & brokers that only make money on commissions, not by trading against you. To me, it doesn't add up - you're going to send your $ to some firm, they hold it, they get to produce the quotes, they see your trades, know where your stops are, they can move prices around and they can easily be on the other side of your trade. Sounds like a perfect setup on their side.

[throughthemud 10]

not all forex brokers make money by trading against you but on smaller accounts most of them do. if you want to know whether your forex broker is screwing you look at quotes from different brokers or free sources all over the internet. my broker had a bad tick once and they gave me the money it cost me plus extra since it was there mistake. I take money out about every 2 weeks. They haven't ever said anything negative to me about it. I'm sure there are lots of horrible fx brokers out there but they're not all bad. I started out using GFT and they are a shitty brokerage. If you trade with them you'll probably have a bad experience.

 

The spread is small on everything including stocks, forex and futures.

[Guest jezzicaz789]

Hi !

I've just visited this forum. Happy to get acquainted with you. Thanks.

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