Not Sure What Is Right For Me...

[directprofit]

Hello!

I was hoping I could recieve advice regarding my current position:

I want to begin trading, though, I don't have time during the day. The only free time I have to contribute to trading is during the evening hours (5-10pm). I have heard about people trading "day to day" through the week and that is something I am interested in as it would fit my busy daily schedule. I also do not have much capital to start out with - under $500.

Could anyone recommend a trading instrument that would fit my needs?

Thank You, Jeff

 

[JonnyT]

Try the Dow!

Hi you have time to catch the last two hours of opening in the states 7-9pm

This is usually an excellent time to trade as the market normally moves during these hours.

However I think you need more capital!

 

[directprofit]

What about daily spread betting? That doesn't require much capital does it? And it is done "daily"?

 

[The Riddler]

If new to trading, there is no reason why you shouldn't start in small size. $500 is enough to get going providing you use stop losses and limit orders particularly if you are doing other things throughout the day. I do exactly this and started off with similar capital.

In the evening you will have time to assess the days trading and get your ideas ready for the morning. It does not take long to place a trade online or phone the broker.

I use www.finspreads.com On other threads people have moaned about them but they do run a training academy free of charge for your first 8 weeks and you can trade for a little as a penny a point for this period (stops can only be placed online with £1 a point orders and £2 on the phone) I know that there are other companies who offer a similar service like city index and cantor index.

I do agree that it would be better to start with more capital if possible as when you risk almost all your margin each time you trade it can easily blow you out (it also takes a long time to make any !)

Good Luck !

 

[directprofit]

Could you please tell me the minimum account balance finspreads.com requires? I'm not fully clear on the minimum account balance.

BTW - You started out with a low capital? Approximately how much?

Thanks - Jeff

 

[Helenqu]

Hi Jeff,

Fins minimum was £100 when I last looked.

You can do a great deal of learning with very small amounts of money. Use all the sims and games you can (two good ones on here for example).

I started out with £1000 in a D4F account, £200 in a Fins account and £5000 in a stock account and I still have the same amount of capital two years on having learnt a great deal and made 100s of trades. I can't say I have made money but I haven't lost it either Having less makes you more careful and makes you learn all you can from every trade. Personally I recommend it

 

[ChartMan]

Go for the £100 FINS account. To make you Sh** yourself and learn stop loss control, try betting 25p a point!!!! That's 1/4 % and way too high for normal "sensible " trading. It will frighten you as to how quick your money can go down the pan! A 100 point move against you will cost you 25% of your capital. 10P may be enough! Stop loss on the dow with fins needs to be in the order of 30-50 points..... Do the sums and think about it. The idea here is to test your mental stress levels, not make ( or lose) vast amounts of cash. When you're down to your last £25, top the account up with another £100 and have a serious re-think!
Trading the Dow between 7pm and 9pm CAN be very rewarding, as stated earlier. Check out my old posts in the archives under Dow Intraday. There you will find frequent reference to the "Tea Time Traders"- those that can only trade after a day at "work".
As Jonny T says, you get to look at the whole day, and can make excellent judgement callsand bag some good points into the bargain with 100 points not being uncommon. The name of the game is small, sure, and often.
With £100 in your account, you should not be trading more than 2-3p per point in the real world. At 2p, that equates to a 1% max loss per trade with a 50 point stop loss.

 

[The Riddler]

I agree with some of the comments above, when starting with such a small amount it really does put the pressure on.

As the saying goes 'money goes to money' although equally 'a fool and his money are easily parted'

I was merely suggesting finspreads as a learning tool with the 1p a point limit and there own training with regard to training on line.

As you gain confidence and feel that you can enter higher levels of capital I hope the lessons you will learn at the start will lead to if not large gains then at least capital retention.

 

[trader_dante]

Hello!

I was hoping I could recieve advice regarding my current position:

I want to begin trading, though, I don't have time during the day. The only free time I have to contribute to trading is during the evening hours (5-10pm). I have heard about people trading "day to day" through the week and that is something I am interested in as it would fit my busy daily schedule. I also do not have much capital to start out with - under $500.

Could anyone recommend a trading instrument that would fit my needs?

Thank You, Jeff

Jeff,

If you are in the US, (which I decude from the $ sign) then you won't be able to spread bet as far as I know.

If you are in the UK, you can use account opening bonuses to stretch your £500 a lot further. You can use it to get in the region of £1,000 straight off the bat and this should be more than enough to learn off as long as you use sensible risk management.

 

[Black Swan]

Jeff,

If you are in the US, (which I decude from the $ sign) then you won't be able to spread bet as far as I know.

If you are in the UK, you can use account opening bonuses to stretch your £500 a lot further. You can use it to get in the region of £1,000 straight off the bat and this should be more than enough to learn off as long as you use sensible risk management.

Tom, you're replying to ( and repping) a seven year old post there buddy, he may have moved on by now..I dunno, perhaps even got 'good enough' to open his own private trading room or something..

 

[trader_dante]

Tom, you're replying to ( and repping) a seven year old post there buddy, he may have moved on by now..I dunno, perhaps even got 'good enough' to open his own private trading room or something..

Good point.

One should never drink and post.