If you start with a spreadbetter it can be in the low hundreds. At 50p per point you could get started that way and never have to put more in! Wishful thinking for a starter, though. The good thing about small accounts is that it makes you stop and think again while waiting for the new money to be credited and it imposes the discipline of low stakes because of low margins.
Barramundi
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If you have not determined where you will enter and exit, then I would suggest that you do not start trading with real money any time soon. Start a demo account while you get yourself educated on all facets of trading, including but not limited to technical and fundamental analysis, money and risk management, trading psychology. Babypips.com could be regarded as a good place to start.
hoodoo man
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If you start at 50p per point, you are almost certainly trading with leverage unless you are putting up £10k plus. Why suggest leverage to an inexperienced trader? If it is used, it should be kept at 2:1 tops until you really know what you are doing.
The good thing is that you have to stop while you put more money in? This sounds like an attempt at controlled gambling. If you know what you are doing, you are not jacking away your trading money and therefore do not need to wait while you top up your account.
Discipline is something that comes from you, not something that can be imposed by crutches. If you need imposed discipline, you aren't ready to be an independent trader and should go trade for a firm where you will have a boss who imposes discipline and a risk profile, along with the security of a salary.
Spreadbetting is not "low stakes because of low margins" - it is grossly overleveraged so that you can take positions worth £10k plus with a deposit of £50 and wipe yourself out on a tiny move against your position. Then repeat, over and over.
Unless you know exactly what you are doing and why, not only will you not run up a £50 account into anything substantial, you won't take 50p per point seriously either. It will become a hobby, and you'll keep jacking away a few hundred here and there to re-fund your account in order to continue your hobby.
Spitlink, I see you have been here ten years and have over six thousand posts. I'd appreciate your comments on my post - do you usually give similar advice to those new to trading?
Why day trading?
What products will you be trading? (this will affect your minimum funding requirement)
To enter, you buy before the market goes up. To exit, you sell to close when the market is not going to go up any further. Reverse for sells.
Why do you want to start "soon" when you don't appear to have taken a lot of time to research what is a very serious business.
If I told you the vig at the casino or races was less, would you believe me, and would you investigate what this means?
neil
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If you don't know where and when to enter/exit then you are asking for trouble.
There are many posts on this site relating to trading (including discussion on entries etc). What you have to do is make the effort to read them, practice on demo/tiny stakes, refine your approach, rinse and repeat.
It takes time, effort and practice.
jiggly
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why waste your time on a demo any further than the amount of time it will take you to learn how to use the platform?
demo trading is NOT real trading and considering you can open a micro account and trade from unit sizes of one, calling someone prudent for the sake of a few hundred dollars is just too cheap in my opinion.
learn to trade properly, you've got to hurt!
demo trading is NOT real trading and considering you can open a micro account and trade from unit sizes of one, calling someone prudent for the sake of a few hundred dollars is just too cheap in my opinion.
learn to trade properly, you've got to hurt!
Jet24 stated that he was going to start day trading with 3K. That is not investing. I do not believe that 3K will last him long with a broker if he has no experience, do you? Minimum trade 10 per point?The best, IMO, is a SB firm, which are not all as bad as they are painted.and 50p/point is a good place to start. Gambling? Of course it is gambling, but the risk is reduced if it is based on a careful plan of probabilities. I trade with a 1 point spread on the indices and, occasionally, cable. That is all I really need to do to survive! and I think that I can say that I have done that.
I have an account with a broker and an SB firm, but I am trading less and less with the brokeras these days.
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TheBramble
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What if nobody tells you where the entry and exit points are? Are you still going to start day trading?
enragedcow
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hi jets24
i'm pretty new to trading too
just set up an account with like $500 - $1000 (or native equivalent), i suggest CFDs as they're the only thing i know how to trade (lol bias much?)
first step: buy a book about technical analysis or use www.investopedia.com www.babypips.com (those 2 are the best for newbies i think)
second step: READ READ READ LEARN LEARN and learn and read
third step: set up a demo account with the firm you wish, learn to use the platform, get comfortable with all the buttons, experiment by trading with lots of like 400,000 on demo accounts when you've had enough of the demo and try your hardest to blow the account
lastly set up an account trading at like 10c a pip, or $1 a pip if you need a bit more motivation to be disciplined and trade whatever system you feel will work
first rule of trading: DON"T LOSE MONEY
you break this rule and all your internets will be taken from you
i'm pretty new to trading too
just set up an account with like $500 - $1000 (or native equivalent), i suggest CFDs as they're the only thing i know how to trade (lol bias much?)
first step: buy a book about technical analysis or use www.investopedia.com www.babypips.com (those 2 are the best for newbies i think)
second step: READ READ READ LEARN LEARN and learn and read
third step: set up a demo account with the firm you wish, learn to use the platform, get comfortable with all the buttons, experiment by trading with lots of like 400,000 on demo accounts when you've had enough of the demo and try your hardest to blow the account
lastly set up an account trading at like 10c a pip, or $1 a pip if you need a bit more motivation to be disciplined and trade whatever system you feel will work
first rule of trading: DON"T LOSE MONEY
you break this rule and all your internets will be taken from you
Masquerade
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That's a **** rule. Also your advice is pretty crap tbh trading $1/pip with $500-1k account. All traders experience variance, making and losing money shouldn't be an indicator of progress over the short run.
No, perhaps it is not an indicator of progress but it is a criteria for survival. If he only has 3K it is essential that he build on that. Putting it all in at once is dangerous because of the desire that most of us have, especially in the early stages, of increasing stakes to the limit.
Once that money is gone, it's gone. There's no going back, except with new capital
