Forex v Indices v Commodoties etc...?

I've been trading Forex for around three years with little to no success. I'm sure you are all aware of the statistics of how many people fail at trading so I'll spare you all the details. Trading is a journey and all people follow that journey at different speeds so reaching the destination much quicker than others, some take their time but will get there eventually.

It is because of this that I think that people should find a trading style and strategy that suits their needs and their personality. If you are a fast 'go getter' with a good handle on your emotions then perhaps scalping is for you. Personally this would destroy me and turn me into a bag of nerves.

So my question is thus. I am not looking for strategies or systems or anything else. I have a fairly good understanding of the way the markets work. I like to use fairly tight hard stops and use trailing stops when in profit to get me out of trades. Perhaps why I've not had so much success is Forex is not suited to this style and you have to have wider stops, get your entries spot on?

I was wondering if anybody else out there made the move from Forex to Indicies or anything and saw a vast improvement in their trading or if they are all pretty much the same? Or if anyone out there trades both and would could recommend one over the other for someone like me who doesn't want to keep getting stopped out every other trade by a random spike on Cable.

Thanks in advance.

*******Yes I realise it's commodities before anyone says, damn 'O' and 'I' are too close on this keyboard and I have fingers like pig tits.

I've traded just about all of it, though stocks and forex have ended up being the main focal points, with indices thrown in occassionally. The observation I'd offer up is that tight stops increase the chances of getting stopped out in every market. You need to properly account for "normal" volatility in whatever market you trade.

For all my forex trading my stops are no more than 30 pips on any of my automated programs. I think your stops shouldn't be any larger, even in a volatile market if you are going to be correct. The 50% target and the full target need to be towards your advantage even with a lower than 50% success rate to be on the safe side. Also risk of no more than 2.5% of your account per trade. If you keep simple rules in your trading, I think you can be a success at it. But like anything else in trading, it takes discipline.

Thanks for the replies,

I guess you're both right, tight stops no matter what market are the same, placing a stop based on account size and risking X% is the same no matter what instrument.

I rarely place a stop larger than 30 pips, it varies between 20 and 30. Perhaps it's my entries I need to work on and not picking the 'right' instrument.

I was just hoping that perhaps some indices were 'slower' moving and not subject to wild spikes that Forex can be sometimes, I guess it's laziness on my part for not researching it and just hoping someone might have had a similar experience.

The S&P for the most part is very slow and lower risk compared to other commodities. A good market for you to try would be 5 year bonds possibly. Or 10 year bonds...

Soloquan said:

I was just hoping that perhaps some indices were 'slower' moving and not subject to wild spikes that Forex can be sometimes, I guess it's laziness on my part for not researching it and just hoping someone might have had a similar experience.

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First, I'd point out that any market that moves "slower" is going to move slower both for you and against you. Less volatility tends to also mean less opportunity.

Second, forex is actually a lower volatility market than others. Check out Looking at Volatility Across Markets.

Soloquan said:

I was wondering if anybody else out there made the move from Forex to Indicies or anything and saw a vast improvement in their trading or if they are all pretty much the same? .

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Yes. Absolutely vast.

Index futures are great markets to trade. All I need is patience.

They also suit your trailing exit method (intraday).