Too Good To Be True?

Please be patient with me as I am an ABSOLUTE beginner to all of this. The more I learn the more this facinates me though.
Now to the first of, what will probably be, many questions:

I had never heard of any of this a week ago - by chance came across a link to FXCM and ended up opening a practise account.
The practise $50K I have managed to get up to $94K - so I would be $44K up in a week. It obviously can't be that easy. I am considering opening one of their 'mini' accounts with the minimum £300.

So, is the data I see on the practise account exactly the same as if I had been trading for real? Is the data manipulated to make it easier for me to profit? How do I calculate how much commission I would have to pay the company on my dealings or is this commission already built into the prices I pay.

I realise that if this was my own money I was using then my profits would not have been anywhere near what they are - I would have taken profits much earlier than I did - I would not have dared let them ride as long as I have.

My apologies if I have not used some of the correct terms - please be gentle and forgiving to a novice.

Well done, but........ a week isn't long enough to test any system. 88% gain in a week is impressive, but counts for nothing if it only came form one massive trade that ran your way by good luck, or which ran on favourable artificial data.

It would be good to practice-trade as long as you can stand it, certainly long enough for the market to throw up a significant period when more than 50% of your trades fail for one reason or another. This will allow the money management principles to be realistically tested. These should keep you in the game by allowing you to measure your risk before you enter the position and set realistic stops to protect both capital and profits. The real test of a system is how it copes with failure, not how well it signals entries.

Thanks for your reply. All help is appreciated.
I did 362 trades in total Almost all GBP/USD. 9 made a loss the rest a profit. Is it just that conditions have been favourable this last week?
Do you have any idea about the commission part I asked about?

fishboy - this gets more interesting. The system you used had a 97.5% success rate! I don't know of any system in history that has even claimed such a ratio, let alone achieved it. Then again, if someone had such a system, why would they waste their time on a board like this telling nimnuls like me about it? So, yes, it sounds too good to be true, but we only know the success rate and gain, no other details.

Any realistic testing should take account of commission etc. overheads - I don't know this company but I am sure such details will be buried somewhere in their literature.

As I said - these profits were only possible because I didnt care if I lost, real money would have been completely different. Some were were very low profits - some very high. I suppose if you look at the ones that made a loss they would probably have been enough to wipe out my £300, had it been for real and had they been my only trades.. The system I used was very straightforward - don't close the trade till it is in profit - easy to do when it isnt real money.

fishboy said:

The system I used was very straightforward - don't close the trade till it is in profit - easy to do when it isnt real money.

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Are you saying that you traded without a Stop Loss:-0?? - dont even think of it when you trade real money!!

Didn't know what stop loss was at first. And did't really care - almost all the trades i have done have, eventually, gone into profit. Trouble is some of them were considerably down at some point - eventually to rise into profit. I presume this is where the skill and knowledge comes in - if it was real money I would put a stop on - the truth is if I conducted a live account as I had this one I would almost certainly have bankrupted myself. With a low volume account that i am thinking of opening I would only be doing 1 or 2 trades at a time - this week I have had up to 25 at once. I do realise that in the 'real' world this sort of speculation is foolhardy.
This was one of the reasons for my questions - almost all my trades came good in the end. This makes me suspicious that the FXCM system is manipulating prices so that i have to win - would be a good incentive to make me invest real money if it seems I always win regardless of how reckless I am.

fishboy - you're not as daft as your name

Trade in the same way for another 3 weeks and see what happens.

What's daft about my name - my parents liked it at least. lol
I certainly will be trying the same thing for another few weeks - along with other strategies.
Thats the whole point in a practise account. Have i got this right - 'scalping'? Is this where i trade and close in quick succession to take advantage of rapidly moving markets, to take quick profits? I have done this quite a bit this week and had quite a bit of success. Seems less risky than the 'wait and see' approach.

Suppose I trade as I have been doing for the next 3 weeks and end up massively in profit? then I really will be confused.

fishboy said:

Suppose I trade as I have been doing for the next 3 weeks and end up massively in profit? then I really will be confused.

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What you do not realise is that in a practise account your emotion is non-existent and it is always your emotions and psychology that will determine the end result.
When you get in there for real i.e when you feel you are ready to test the waters start with a very small amount of money - learn to trade first and the money will follow

Thank you for all your comments - I certainly have lots to think about.
I'll let you know how I get on over the next few weeks.

fishboy said:

As I said - these profits were only possible because I didnt care if I lost, real money would have been completely different. Some were were very low profits - some very high. I suppose if you look at the ones that made a loss they would probably have been enough to wipe out my £300, had it been for real and had they been my only trades.. :!:The system I used was very straightforward - don't close the trade till it is in profit :!:- easy to do when it isnt real money.

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OH DEAR!

do some research and in time you will appreciate my flippant remark.

Floating around this site for some time would be a great start.

Thats exactly what I intend to do.
Get ready for lots more stupid questions.

thanks for starting this thread fishboy. i will have to give this a go myself.

does anyone know of any more 'realistic' practice trade sites?

davidkp said:

thanks for starting this thread fishboy. i will have to give this a go myself.

does anyone know of any more 'realistic' practice trade sites?

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mmm, I'm getting the strongest feeling you just want to trade and not learn.

You cant even be bothered to read the posts (apart from the one that says 'I made loads')

I've come across you in a different thread about not using stops and you still wanted the guide on how.

silly, silly, silly.

Learn to trade properly before jumping in, this is not a game for beginners luck, that will just destroy you completely as you then think you've made it.

You will learn but it will cost you. (and I'm not just talking money, confidence and phychology is a big issue)

good luck, you will need every ounce.