You remark just made me thinking: What is the diff btw you & a gambler?
Binary Options: how serious can be trade them?
- Thread starter sysfraix
- Start date
In BO's its all about how well you predict the markets all trash talks about its scammy nature simply proves how difficult is to predict price movement in foreign exchange. I trade forex and BO with HF and Optiontrade and do it quite successfully just don't give up an pursue your goals
Do you mind if I ask you: what's your annual return?
I put $250 into a NADEX account 3 weeks ago just to test this out. I've done a few daily Index BO's but mainly played with 5 min expiration USD/JPY trades.
First off, the spreads will wreck you. For USD/JPY pairs, you're looking at >12% spreads depending on the market. Price action moves too fast to effectively use limit orders IMHO.
Here's a rough approximation of how I did:
Start> $250 Balance
After 10 Trades> $317 Balance
15 Trades> $180 Balance
30 Trades> $420
45 Trades> $270
60 Trades> $550
61 Trades> $200
62 Trades> $120
63 Trades> $84
Today I started with my $80 and traded nothing but USD/JPY pairs
In about 10-15 trades I got back up to $240 (a little under where I started).
Rules I Followed Trading Only $84 Today
Sizing is important. Generally I only traded 1 contract at a time. My big draw down from $550 to $200 came bc i got greedy and traded 3 contracts. Losses compounded obv.
To me, I don't have any edge over the house. I was just lucky getting back from $80 to $240. Perhaps there's some skill involved but I certainly don't have it.
The only strategy I used was reading the tape and making calls based solely on support/resistance levels (I'm not a technician but that's basically what I did).
I'm not saying someone else can't become consistently profitable, I'm just saying that I'd rather take more calculated risks selling Iron Condors on $SPY.
If spreads weren't so wide I'd probably explore this more but I'm closing the account tomorrow. Hope this helps!
First off, the spreads will wreck you. For USD/JPY pairs, you're looking at >12% spreads depending on the market. Price action moves too fast to effectively use limit orders IMHO.
Here's a rough approximation of how I did:
Start> $250 Balance
After 10 Trades> $317 Balance
15 Trades> $180 Balance
30 Trades> $420
45 Trades> $270
60 Trades> $550
61 Trades> $200
62 Trades> $120
63 Trades> $84
Today I started with my $80 and traded nothing but USD/JPY pairs
In about 10-15 trades I got back up to $240 (a little under where I started).
Rules I Followed Trading Only $84 Today
- Cut losses at $15. Once I was at $150, I increased my stop to $30. At one point, JPY gapped a few points lower on me and cost me $60 on a single trade.
- If I wasn't at least 2 points ITM by the 1 minute mark, I closed the trade because liquidity disappears around 45-30 seconds til expiration depending on your strike.
- Take profits at 75%. Tho honestly, I didn't follow this consistently either due to greed or liquidity
Sizing is important. Generally I only traded 1 contract at a time. My big draw down from $550 to $200 came bc i got greedy and traded 3 contracts. Losses compounded obv.
To me, I don't have any edge over the house. I was just lucky getting back from $80 to $240. Perhaps there's some skill involved but I certainly don't have it.
The only strategy I used was reading the tape and making calls based solely on support/resistance levels (I'm not a technician but that's basically what I did).
I'm not saying someone else can't become consistently profitable, I'm just saying that I'd rather take more calculated risks selling Iron Condors on $SPY.
If spreads weren't so wide I'd probably explore this more but I'm closing the account tomorrow. Hope this helps!
I shouldn't be putting my two cents here, because honestly I don't have two cents to spare. 3 days ago I started into this, Binary Options Trading. And honestly, its good for people wanting to get their feet wet in the world of trading. Is it gambling, sure, but its not a blind risk like a casino. Its calculated risk, 3 days ago, I couldn't read a chart, I seen it as being dead or alive, like at a hospital. Just following the ups and downs, and deciding weather or not I was going to have a heart attack losing 5 dollars.
My first 3 trades were good, not because of any Garuntee** trades. I won them on pure luck on the up and the down, still didn't have a clue what it meant, I just know I spent 50 bucks and got back 85... Yeah, hooked.
I started with 250 and was now over 300, eventually working my way up to 550 dollars, and I got super greedy and bet 100 on what seemed like a good roller** coaster ride uphill... Then when it looked good, I doubled down, didn't realise it meant at the current pip, again, completely new to this. Well, I lost 200 there, and got worried and thought I would do the 50's again, and lost that, all the way down to around 30 USD... Whoops, not only am I in the 90% failing rate, but I just spent my last 250 USD on something I had no clue about... Now its been 3 days, and I have been researching what everything means, and I MEAN EVERYTHING.
RSI, RIL, ATR, MACD, Bollinger Bands, EMA and SMA.
Honestly I like using the BB RSI and the EMA to consider my entry points. I haven't learned how to back out yet on profits, but I'm in the 80% rate of winning, so profits are coming, but 10% on 30 bucks isn't much. I'm a little timid and I'm missing out on great trades. But I'd rather miss a few than go broke, know?
Now, as far as not being or being worth getting into. If you have the patience to wait for good setups, and not fear a few losses, they will happen, then yes... Quick profits, on Binary Options, 60 seconds is what most people fail on anyways, BO is easier.
Heck, I just learned how to tell the difference from a Fail Bearish/Bullish Swing on a trend, and a low/high RSI... I have made 2 successful trades on Fail Swings, and I'm happy about that.
Its not for the quick thinking/acting player, but more of a methodical player. Gambling, sure, but still better odds then playing blackjack in the back corner of a smokey Casino against the shifty eye'd** dealers.
My first 3 trades were good, not because of any Garuntee** trades. I won them on pure luck on the up and the down, still didn't have a clue what it meant, I just know I spent 50 bucks and got back 85... Yeah, hooked.
I started with 250 and was now over 300, eventually working my way up to 550 dollars, and I got super greedy and bet 100 on what seemed like a good roller** coaster ride uphill... Then when it looked good, I doubled down, didn't realise it meant at the current pip, again, completely new to this. Well, I lost 200 there, and got worried and thought I would do the 50's again, and lost that, all the way down to around 30 USD... Whoops, not only am I in the 90% failing rate, but I just spent my last 250 USD on something I had no clue about... Now its been 3 days, and I have been researching what everything means, and I MEAN EVERYTHING.
RSI, RIL, ATR, MACD, Bollinger Bands, EMA and SMA.
Honestly I like using the BB RSI and the EMA to consider my entry points. I haven't learned how to back out yet on profits, but I'm in the 80% rate of winning, so profits are coming, but 10% on 30 bucks isn't much. I'm a little timid and I'm missing out on great trades. But I'd rather miss a few than go broke, know?
Now, as far as not being or being worth getting into. If you have the patience to wait for good setups, and not fear a few losses, they will happen, then yes... Quick profits, on Binary Options, 60 seconds is what most people fail on anyways, BO is easier.
Heck, I just learned how to tell the difference from a Fail Bearish/Bullish Swing on a trend, and a low/high RSI... I have made 2 successful trades on Fail Swings, and I'm happy about that.
Its not for the quick thinking/acting player, but more of a methodical player. Gambling, sure, but still better odds then playing blackjack in the back corner of a smokey Casino against the shifty eye'd** dealers.
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you can make big gains and then find out you can never get your money out of the account,and the paper trail leads you to a country with no extradition treaty- goodbye cash. Never trade anything that is not regulated through one of the major exchanges
You guys are all late to the Binary Party.
I made a small fortune between 2003 and 2008.
When they were still new, the spreads on all instruments were tight like 3 to 5 points.
They used to make so many mistakes in pricing them (they were Really slow in adjusting volatility).
Now only the most random of underlying markets will have a small bid/ask spread on the binary.
Basically the BO firms just increase the spread until it is impossible for clients to make big money.
Say they decide to list a new market.. say binaries on Bitcoin or whatever.
They might start with a 5 point bid/ask spread. If that makes money then fine.
But if too many punters are profitable they will just increase it to 10 and then to 12 or 15, 20.
Whatever it takes to become profitable for them, or at least not lose money for them.
Because of this you can never beat binaries in the long run.
And i haven't even mentioned the dirty games they play like rejecting orders if they mark your account as being one of the profitable ones. Its a totally rigged game against the punter. Unlimited losses welcomed, profits are limited and capped. I had to use 5 different accounts.
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What firm did you trade with?