Thanks everyone for the (mostly) helpful and constructive responses. I figured some luck early on =/= sustainable gains, that's why I asked to find out where other people hit roadbumps. It seems like a lot of people talk about their personal experience where they did really well at first only to lose it all later! Nothing new under the sun eh?
Anyway I'm still in the phase where I'm trying to find where my interest lies and what type of trader to become, before I started practicing with forex I had multiple stock trading accounts that I've been practicing on for a few months now... some ups and some downs. I might go back to stocks... but I figured it'd be a good idea to stay away from them for a bit since it seems like the U.S. economy is gonna hit the fan soon... I don't want to start my career in stocks as soon as that happens! So I figured I might learn forex and see where it takes me. I guess either is fine as long as I'm learning right? As far as the psychological aspects... maybe I'll start with small sums of real money and see how my emotions fare.
Also I think some people misunderstood me. I do not consider myself to be a good trader. Quite the contrary... the main point was the fact that like I said I am new to trading and that I was skeptical that someone as unskilled as me could make such returns. There's no way that someone with so little knowledge could make those returns when there are so many people who devote years to mastering the trade and absorbing volumes of knowledge. If it was that easy then who would go to work, right?
Anyway, thanks for the advice. Perhaps I'll stick around and give updates later... but for now it's back to the simulations!
If you are making money in sim, then your approach is on target at least. Even making in sim is not straight forward.Genuine question, not trying to be condescending. I really want to know what the catch is or where people are getting hung up. Background: I started practicing forex trading as a hobby a couple weeks ago using TDAmeritrade's thinkorswim and then with a practice account on Oanda (TD won't let me trade forex with my amount of money). I haven't started trading real money yet. I wanted to make sure I knew what I'm getting into.
Anyway, since I started trading, I haven't had a negative day. In fact, most days I'm positive 5-10%, and that's with my extremely limited knowledge of trading. I just did some research on the Internet and then jumped in. I have zero method whatsoever, I just keep in mind some basic tips I gleaned online combined with patience and common sense.
Yet, whenever I look online I see tons of negative people saying this and that, that Forex trading is a gamble, scam, etc., that you might as well go to the casino, that 90% of people lose money according to official sources, that the brokers have to profit somehow, etc. I was reading through the terms when I signed up for Oanda and even they said that 2/3s or their users lose money. How can this be? Aren't these people taking this seriously? I mean it's their money and everything. I understand some people are brash or just trying to get rich quick, but certainly not the majority of them?
Could it just be that I have what they call beginner's luck? Is it somehow different with real money, will new forces working against me appear as soon as I start trading with my own money?
I want to know what the catch is. Again, not trying to show off my skillz or anything, I'm just skeptical. I really just jumped into this and the returns seem too good for someone who just started with no knowledge whatsoever. Thanks in advance.
If you are making money in sim, then your approach is on target at least. Even making in sim is not straight forward.
I would say just jump into live small size, and see if it changes anything for you. You may run into some new obstacles, but either way you can make it.
No the main point which you haven't seem to pick up on yet, from prior posts, is that demo is NOT real... the main point was the fact that like I said I am new to trading and that I was skeptical that someone as unskilled as me could make such returns. There's no way that someone with so little knowledge could make those returns when there are so many people who devote years to mastering the trade and absorbing volumes of knowledge...
How would you define real, because am sure there is a purpose why demo was created or designed in the market..No the main point which you haven't seem to pick up on yet, from prior posts, is that demo is NOT real.
Not even close to real.
Really, you need real to be defined?How would you define real, because am sure there is a purpose why demo was created or designed in the market..