Learning to walk

Hello everyone.

I am a complete newbie who wants to learn to start trading on the FOREX. Having spent some time on the net, I am all but drowning in the tsunami of information available, the bulk of which I am unable to even understand let alone put into practice. The number of books, websites and courses available is dizzying.

I am very well aware of the fact that most "day-traders" are on a hiding to nothing and I am determined to avoid that dismal fate. But, to do so, I need to learn and learn a LOT.

Thus far, the resources I have identified as useful are:

1. babypips.com. Very clear, very well structured and easy to follow (it seems to my untutored eye).

2. "Come into my trading room" by Alexander Elder. I have just ordered this book from Amazon due to the consistently fabulous reviews about its usefulness for newbies like me.

Has anybody else used these resources and, if so, what do they think. Am I on the right track?

Also, can anybody recommend an online forex broker with a demo account I could open?

Many thanks.

+1

Im in the same position as you mate. The other day I was reading some thread and I had to google back and forth to even follow the conversation.
I hope some of the more knowledgable ppl on here will give us some advice. Just wanted to say that you are not alone mate (it thats any help/comfort)

diceboy said:

+1

Im in the same position as you mate. The other day I was reading some thread and I had to google back and forth to even follow the conversation.
I hope some of the more knowledgable ppl on here will give us some advice. Just wanted to say that you are not alone mate (it thats any help/comfort)

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ummm.. i'm by no means a pro, but i have been a 'newbie' for a good few years now. The feeling drowned in information bit doesn't get better, trust me, it gets worse. Once you think you understand one bit, you realise a whole 50 more aspects of the same subject which you do not get yet.

Babypips is a good website, their 'school' there is very good and a great place to start. As is trading demo accounts. I have a demo with Alpari for forex which is OK. Being profitable on a demo account however is very different to being able to replicate it live.

Blue Hornet said:

Hello everyone.

I am a complete newbie who wants to learn to start trading on the FOREX. Having spent some time on the net, I am all but drowning in the tsunami of information available, the bulk of which I am unable to even understand let alone put into practice. The number of books, websites and courses available is dizzying.

I am very well aware of the fact that most "day-traders" are on a hiding to nothing and I am determined to avoid that dismal fate. But, to do so, I need to learn and learn a LOT.

Thus far, the resources I have identified as useful are:

1. babypips.com. Very clear, very well structured and easy to follow (it seems to my untutored eye).

2. "Come into my trading room" by Alexander Elder. I have just ordered this book from Amazon due to the consistently fabulous reviews about its usefulness for newbies like me.

Has anybody else used these resources and, if so, what do they think. Am I on the right track?

Also, can anybody recommend an online forex broker with a demo account I could open?

Many thanks.

Click to expand...

Hope things are going well with your studies - because if u PERSEVERE and work hard, it WILL change your life - without a doubt..!!
Its difficult to do when your starting out, but despite the large amounts of info and data everywhere,you need to try and FOCUS... !!
Tradings a bit hard to quantify - but its mostly Psychological - (anyone who says otherwise is an academic and doesnt trade for a living)..!!

Im reading you want to start with the forex - !! Great stuff, thats a good start - but what you need to understand, is all markets are fractal by nature - which basically means " visually ",you will see in time, frighteningly similar " shapes and patterns across ALL markets - doesnt matter if its forex, commodities, fixed income, stock indexes, it doesnt matter at this stage.. !!
Try and get some reading done on Dow Theory, the basics of Candlestick charting and/or market profile - and learn about basic technicals - trendlines, channels,basic indicators- (NO OVERLOAD), different types of moving averages etc...!!

" Inta/intraday trading, is/can be" EXTREMELY "profitable if you know what your doing - Like the old saying goes - if you dont know what your doing, the market is a VERY expensive place to learn... !!
Forget the " get rich quick " mentality -
Start with the basics - practice/study - its all bout consistency.. !! Once you get the skills, you will have that " eureka " moment - THEN some very strange things will happen to your bank balance.. !!

Thank you very much for all your replies and support. I am presently working my way through the babypips "school" and grappling with things like Fibonacci Retracements. A long way to go yet before I do my first trade but it is very captivating. I reckon I will be here a lot.

If you go to this site
The Essentials of Trading
You can download the first few chapters of a good book for beginers,they will take you up to opening a practice account and entering a few trades.Obviously the whole book gives a lot more.

The author is on this site quite often as RhodyTrader

I think it is a shame that pretty much all new traders get lured into Forex. The reason for this is that Forex vendors can easily make money off all the poor newcomers by quoting impressive stats. Forex has been hyped up into something fashionable and sexy - yet the vast majority lose all their money.

Forex is just too complex - numerous pairs, 24 hour trading, the economics of many different countries, plus the usual variables like time frames on the charts and how long/large your trades will be. Yes, you can just concentrate on one pair but why does it have to be Forex?

I've traded numerous currencies but still find gold and oil far easier and more profitable. Yes, I'm a system seller for oil but that's because I trade it and make money from it. Forex would attract far more custom but I'm more interested in showing a profit from trading.

So, my advice would be to look at all the other stuff, not just Forex. Forex is big money and big rip-offs everywhere you look.

£10kLoser said:

Why does it have to be Forex?

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I'll tell you why I chose Forex. Initially I wanted something I could trade with a very small account, on the basis that I knew Id probably lose it. However, I also wanted to trade an account that would allow me a reasonable resolution over my position sizing, which pretty much means forex was the only game in town.

I know people who are trading oil at ten cents a pip - that must be O.01 contracts I think! The same applies to gold and presumably some other contracts. For example, AvaFX.com allow trading on commodities at this level and I'm sure some others do too.

Silver, gold and oil can be traded from MetaTrader from 0.1 contracts or a dollar a pip.

£10kLoser said:

I think it is a shame that pretty much all new traders get lured into Forex. The reason for this is that Forex vendors can easily make money off all the poor newcomers by quoting impressive stats. Forex has been hyped up into something fashionable and sexy - yet the vast majority lose all their money.

Forex is just too complex - numerous pairs, 24 hour trading, the economics of many different countries, plus the usual variables like time frames on the charts and how long/large your trades will be. Yes, you can just concentrate on one pair but why does it have to be Forex?

I've traded numerous currencies but still find gold and oil far easier and more profitable. Yes, I'm a system seller for oil but that's because I trade it and make money from it. Forex would attract far more custom but I'm more interested in showing a profit from trading.

So, my advice would be to look at all the other stuff, not just Forex. Forex is big money and big rip-offs everywhere you look.

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As a newbie, I both won, and lost enough on Forex to get me excited, although I'd originally wanted to trade commodities. The big movements and near 24H availability of forex were dangerously seductive. I was also lucky, if that's the right word, to enter the market when a couple of currencies were trending well long-term, and it made it look easy for a while (too easy, and I came unstuck, needless to say).


Anyway, more recently, it occurred to me that one might be able to reduce the complexity a bit by trading, e.g. the dollar index or the sterling index, or similar if they exist for the other majors. IG offer the "dollar basket" which I believe is the same as the dollar index, but they don't offer the sterling index. The dollar has had periods when it has been consistently strong (or weak) against all comers, and trading the index could be easier than going for a specific pair, no? Similarly the Euro and the Yen, but I don't know if such indeces exist for them, at least, that mere mortals are able to trade.

£10kLoser said:

I know people who are trading oil at ten cents a pip - that must be O.01 contracts I think! The same applies to gold and presumably some other contracts. For example, AvaFX.com allow trading on commodities at this level and I'm sure some others do too.

Silver, gold and oil can be traded from MetaTrader from 0.1 contracts or a dollar a pip.

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On an account that size do you still get margin calls or is it like forex where when your account hits $0.00 you are safe and owe nothing more?

"trading the index could be easier than going for a specific pair, no?"

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Ask yourself this question:

Why would someone risk their money trading a difficult instrument if they could make money trading an "easy" instrument?

hwsteele said:

On an account that size do you still get margin calls or is it like forex where when your account hits $0.00 you are safe and owe nothing more?

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I've never got involved with margin calls and can't understand why anyone should have them.

If your stop is not getting you out of the market loooooooong before your account is cleared out, there is something seriously wrong with your trading.

Most brokers require you have the margin to cover any bet, anyway.

new_trader said:

Ask yourself this question:

Why would someone risk their money trading a difficult instrument if they could make money trading an "easy" instrument?

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True, but as others have suggested, to the uninitiated, Forex pairs may look "easy", because of the large movements. My thought was just that an index/currency basket would (might) reflect a steady trend, possibly not very exciting looking, but could show a steady, if not very lucrative profit. Still, if the SB companies are not offering this (or not much), then it's an academic question, for those who only spread-bet.

Thanks,
M.

£10kLoser said:

I've never got involved with margin calls and can't understand why anyone should have them.

If your stop is not getting you out of the market loooooooong before your account is cleared out, there is something seriously wrong with your trading.

Most brokers require you have the margin to cover any bet, anyway.

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The point I was trying to make is that someone new to trading may be attracted to the fact that regardless of your trading skill you won't lose more than you have in your account. I know with "normal" futures trading that you CAN lose more than your account balance. When you're starting out that can make forex look more attractive. Not to mention the fact that you can start out with a small amount of money.
That's why I was asking about how the margin worked.