Messing about with Forex

[busybob]

Does anyone do it in their spare time? When I first read about it years ago, I thought it was a big con or some sort of affiliate program, but alas, it turns out otherwise.

Trading stocks is one thing; you can hone in on the company / sector, read everything about it and reasonably know what's going to happen. Tesco's misreported their moolah, and the shareholders are going to react accordingly, a heavy-handed rule comes into the medical industry costing billions for companies to comply with and that will have an effect etc.

However, the fluidity of currency trading is kind of crazy and not-so predictable, but the 24/7 5 days a week trading hours may appeal to more people.

I've been playing in an online simulator, and it turns out to be fairly addictive, which is worrying me!

 

[MBE1]

Playing and trading are two very different things, as you will find out.

Don't put any faith in how your play trading has gone so far, real trading with your money will make you act and behave very differently.

 

[vvaannmmaann]

As above.I'm sure I read somewhere that the simulation programmes are rigged in your favour.As soon as you deposit real money things go the other way very quickly........

 

[toddmeister]

I've dabbled with forex and found the analytical side of reading the charts interesting but never really got my head around the fundamental side of it. I had a demo account for a while and then moved onto a live account with a very small deposit. As mentioned above the emotional side of using "real" money is massively different to using the demo account.
Even though I was only trading with a small amount I found it quite stressful and was constantly checking my positions and the charts.
Messing about is fine if you can afford to lose your account balance but as soon as you start to have even the slightest addictive tendencies I would suggest you walk away. The "leverage" available on forex trading can be a dangerous thing


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[Excel Expert]

As above.I'm sure I read somewhere that the simulation programmes are rigged in your favour.As soon as you deposit real money things go the other way very quickly........

You have me wondering if it is worth developing and selling a true simulator. It is easy enough to get a live forex feed in to Excel so developing a simulator would be straight forward-ish

 

[toddmeister]

The demo accounts use real-time charts so i can't see how they're "rigged".


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[Excel Expert]

I'm not sure they do have data that is all that accurate.

It costs a lot of money to get live Forex data - if someone wants to get that information couldn't they simply get it from those demos for free?

 

[busybob]

I'm not sure they do have data that is all that accurate.

It costs a lot of money to get live Forex data - if someone wants to get that information couldn't they simply get it from those demos for free?

no the simulator data is delayed by 15 mins.

as for making a simulator in excel, the whole point of using simulators is to place trades from the data, set stop losses and take profits, either manually or programmatically, and a whole lot more that excel can't do. meta trader has this sector wrapped up.

 

[MOIC]

I would equate forex trading to gambling in a casino, if you can't afford to lose the money, don't get involved.

 

[toddmeister]

Forex is only gambling if you go into live trading without a clue about what you're doing. Mosts traders spend months and even years testing and back testing strategies on demo accounts before moving onto a live account.
Trading forex using analytic and fundamental data is just as legit as trading traditional stocks


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[vvaannmmaann]

The demo accounts use real-time charts so i can't see how they're "rigged".


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This from 2010 - not too sure if things have changed since then.

2. Demos Are Rigged – Slippage during volatile periods and requotes are a part of live trading and they will impact your trading. When you’re using a demo account you are much less likely to get slipped or requoted. This is because some brokers rig their demos to make Forex trading appear easier than it is.

https://www.forex4noobs.com/forex-blog/forex-tips/2039/

 

[MOIC]

Forex is only gambling if you go into live trading without a clue about what you're doing. Mosts traders spend months and even years testing and back testing strategies on demo accounts before moving onto a live account.
Trading forex using analytic and fundamental data is just as legit as trading traditional stocks


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Poker players would use the same argument about experience and they would be right.

If you can't afford to lose the money, don't get involved.

 

[Excel Expert]

no the simulator data is delayed by 15 mins.

as for making a simulator in excel, the whole point of using simulators is to place trades from the data, set stop losses and take profits, either manually or programmatically, and a whole lot more that excel can't do. meta trader has this sector wrapped up.

Don't under estimate the power of Excel - One of my creations monitors and looks after over $500,000,000 in forex hedge funds for a global drinks corporation. It has direct Forex data links and has all sorts of threshold based triggers.

Anything that can be done with a "normal" program can be done in Excel.

 

[Donnie13]

I have both a demo account and a live account with GKFX. Each account is set up on different names to prevent any connection between live and demo accounts. I would regularly check the charts against each other to ensure things are as they are supposed to be. So far I have not seen any differences in the charts. Maybe some brokers demos are rigged but I can honestly say that the broker I am with seems to be legitimate with their demo account. Forex markets can be very lucrative if you know what you are doing. $5.3 trillion traded on a daily basis. That's a staggering number. So lots of people, companies etc are making lots of money. Worth remembering though, 95% of traders loose money. Study and patience is the key to success in my mind. I started dabbling with Forex over 2 years ago like all others, I can make fast money. I didn't think I can get rich quick but I thought make a comfortable part time income. I was wrong. Lost some money because at the start I thought I knew what I was doing. 2 years on and I look back and think, 'What was I thinking? I was an idiot'. I have learned so much in the last 2 years from reading and learning. Fundamental news is so important. I use Bollinger Bands, Moving Average and support and resistance lines on my charts and I only ever open a trade in the minutes after a news report. I can't stress enough, Learn and understand the news reports. Google them and study them and go back on previous months reports and see how they affected the market when they were released. Did the numbers match the estimates. If yes what happened, if no what happened. What direction did the market move and why. Then I wait for the report to be released and I trade within 5 minutes after the report is released based on the numbers. I set a mental stop loss ( as I do believe every broker has rigged the charts to take out physical set stop loses) and a physical take profit of 10 pips at £10 per pip. I am happy to walk away with a 10/1 winner most days without loses. Inevitably I do occur loses but nothing to the nature of 2 years ago. Folks this is just my experience as a part time trader. Forex is not a scam it is very real (you just have to watch Bloomberg TV and see all the sponsors advertising FX),however there are many scamers selling robots, strategies, automated systems etc, so my main advice is caution and study. REMEMBER FOREX IS NOT A 10 FURLONG SPRINT ITS A MARATHON. Good Luck.

 

[vvaannmmaann]

sorry could not read that could you re-do the paragraphs?

 

[Donnie13]

Vvannmannn I hope this is what you meant. You want this in paragraphs as you cannot understand my last post.


I have both a demo account and a live account with GKFX. Each account is set up on different names to prevent any connection between live and demo accounts. I would regularly check the charts against each other to ensure things are as they are supposed to be. So far I have not seen any differences in the charts. Maybe some brokers demos are rigged but I can honestly say that the broker I am with seems to be legitimate with their demo account.

Forex markets can be very lucrative if you know what you are doing. $5.3 trillion traded on a daily basis. That's a staggering number. So lots of people, companies etc are making lots of money. Worth remembering though, 95% of traders loose money. Study and patience is the key to success in my mind.

I started dabbling with Forex over 2 years ago like all others, I can make fast money. I didn't think I can get rich quick but I thought make a comfortable part time income. I was wrong. Lost some money because at the start I thought I knew what I was doing. 2 years on and I look back and think, 'What was I thinking? I was an idiot'. I have learned so much in the last 2 years from reading and learning.

Fundamental news is so important. I use Bollinger Bands, Moving Average and support and resistance lines on my charts and I only ever open a trade in the minutes after a news report. I can't stress enough, Learn and understand the news reports. Google them and study them and go back on previous months reports and see how they affected the market when they were released. Did the numbers match the estimates. If yes what happened, if no what happened. What direction did the market move and why. Then I wait for the report to be released and I trade within 5 minutes after the report is released based on the numbers. I set a mental stop loss ( as I do believe every broker has rigged the charts to take out physical set stop loses) and a physical take profit of 10 pips at £10 per pip. I am happy to walk away with a 10/1 winner most days without loses. Inevitably I do occur loses but nothing to the nature of 2 years ago.

Folks this is just my experience as a part time trader. Forex is not a scam it is very real (you just have to watch Bloomberg TV and see all the sponsors advertising FX),however there are many scamers selling robots, strategies, automated systems etc, so my main advice is caution and study. REMEMBER FOREX IS NOT A 10 FURLONG SPRINT ITS A MARATHON. Good Luck.

 

[garyk]

'messing about' with forex will end in tears.

Do it properly, apply yourself and use a system.

 

[Aspect Investments]

I agree Gary. You cannot mess about in this business. To be a successful Forex trader you need to understand what you are doing. Forex will eat you alive if you do not take it seriously.

Making money in the Forex business is all about knowledge. The more knowledge you have, the more successful you will be.

 

[garyk]

Yes and it nearly took down one of the big brokers last year, FXCM had to be bailed out with a 300 million(!) pound loan because of the movement of the swiss franc against the euro.

Boom!