Hi everyone

Hi,

I have just joined this forum. I am a medical doctor living and practicing in Kenya. I am an Indian citizen.

I have seriously decided to try and earn some extra money by trading forex. I know the road is long and hard but I guess I have the determination. I tried my luck in affiliate marketing, article writing and many other methods but honestly I do not have the time to write 100 articles and wait for a single sale

I began to trade forex on a demo account to learn the ropes and managed to grow a 25000 USD account to 37500 in three months. I am a complete newbie and I do not understand the technicalities yet. What I was doing was going online and referring some sites for trading signals (free ones) and implementing the same.

I then opened a live account by depositing 100 USD with iforex.com. I started trading actively on 17th December 2008. I managed to grow the account to 749.47 USD by the 19th December 2008. Call it beginners' luck or what but I am stunned that I could manage this much success. I am not one to get carried away but at least the signs are encouraging. What I have been doing is enter a trade, set up the SL and TP levels and monitor the trade with an eagle's eye. The trade begins to swing like a yo-yo but the minute I see a 20-30 USD profit I close the trade manually and set up another trade again with the same currency pair or a different one. It has so far worked but will have to see in the long run. Again I am quite happy if I can make 100-150 USD per day. That's my target for the next year or so. Hope it works!

Will keep posting my success or the lack of it regularly.

Have a nice day.

Hi rajgopal - Is it luck or do you have a system? For example, I have a system that generates one signal per day for me on the FTSE100, but it is completely objective, there is no judgement involved. Same with the stop and target. I am happy that the stop and target are same distance from entry as the system produces more winners than losers so alwys swings to my advantages over any 10 day period.

But this isn't luck, or skilled trading, its just statistics.

You might have actually have a system that works on such a statistical basis, but how do you identify your entry? What sort of entry signal do you use? I would suggest if you don't know why you enter trades, even if you have been profitable, stop trading and work out what your rules of engagement.

After that, ensure that your positions are not so large that if your stops are hit repeatedly you will be wiped out - the gains you have described suggest you are putting very large percentages of your capital at risk.

Hi rajgopal,
Welcome to T2W!
Congratulations on your early success. I don't want to dampen your enthusiasm for one minute, but I suspect you've experienced beginners luck. Certainly, a 750% profit in two days is completely unsustainable. Extrapolate that out over a year or so and you'll make the wealth of Bill Gates and Co look like loose change! Also, in case you're not yet aware, it's quite common for professional people like yourself to really struggle in this business - even if they get off to a really good start as you have done. The reason for this is that they apply false logic along the lines of 'if I can study medicine and qualify as a doctor after seven long years of hard study, then I can pretty much do anything I put my mind to. I have the intellect, discipline and perseverance to succeed'. While these qualities are all admirable and will result in you being successful in most things that you do in life - on their own, they aren't sufficient to guarantee success in trading the markets. Indeed, great intellect isn't especially important and can even get in the way. Why? Well, because very clever people tend to be supremely confident in their abilities which can easily spill over into arrogance. The minute you start to think that you've got the market licked - it will crush you ruthlessly and force you to eat a correspondingly large piece of humble pie. Sadly, I speak from bitter experience! Please don't take my comments the wrong way - I'm NOT saying that any of this applies to you - after all, I don't know you. The point is merely that it's a trap that professional people who are new to trading can easily fall in to. My post is just a 'heads up' to help ensure that your name doesn't get added to their ranks!
Good luck and Seasons greetings.
Tim.