Quote from neuroticself:
you're doing goos skalpz, you raised my interest so I opened a demo account.
first impression: the interface is much better/faster of what I got at my broker for stocks (don't know if that's true for every broker, I'm on OANDA)
Do you have some thoughts to share on time frames and profit targets? I immediately got the impression that trying to go for every single pip and tight stops is too time consuming, how much time do you spend at the desk? Or maybe I should go mechanical?
keep the lessons coming, I definitely need 'em 
neuro
Hey Neuro,
"doing goos" is what I usually do. Doing
good is what I aspire to do!
"Do you have some thoughts to share on time frames and profit targets?"
Nothing I can post here without being outside the bounds of this Journal.
"how much time do you spend at the desk?"
You mean in my cluttered spare room with a cheap chair, my cats pouncing on my keyboard and a trading station that looks like one used in a bank if the bank is in Barnum and Bailey's circus?
Every minute the forex is open, except when I sleep.
When analyzing the Backspace key on my keyboard is more exciting than looking at my monitors I know the market is in between countries.
"Or maybe I should go mechanical?"
That's actually a
very good question.
Without writing a
chapter on the subject, my take on mechanical trading is that it is a novel idea.
It is probably a concept that is good in theory but knowing what I do about the nature of forex and trading, it is a failure in application.
Look at video software games.
Though, how many of them will set you in a live situation, like a football game, and allow you to play like you would on a game?
None that I know of.
You could box Mike Tyson on a game, but trying going live with him using a mechanical software system.
He'd bite a chunk of your mouse off.
In my mind, same thing goes for forex.
No way can a mechanical system do what I can do in a live setting, in that, I need to make onsite determinations and judgments.
I need to figure what's bulldroppings and what's not. And I'm not talking about just when I'm on a date.
No programming software can equal making proper assessments. I don't care what they say.
Successful trading is about advancing, not about thinking you got the Holy Grail.
I've had "the Holy Grail" lots of times until the market came along and destroyed it.
Plus, there is no way Big Blue can fathom trading rules and principles and I won't ever tell a programmer what I know, so... good luck to anyone who wants to try to invent a trading program that is worth anything.
When you are first beginning to trade forex, that is the time it is most imperative for you to know and understand yourself what you are doing.
Making notes on what went right or wrong in each trade you're in - nothing can compare to it in order to advance yourself.
You know, if a beginner comes to the market and tries only to make winning trades, s/he is not learning all there is to know.
You have to make trades (on a demo) but also know what it takes to (and why you) lose.
Successfully dealing with just plain
losing is critical to becoming an advanced trader.
When I first started about 2 years ago, I spent around 6 months a demos.
Losing fascinated me more than winning. Consequently I was lucky enough to make some headway into the nature of what causes losses.
I probably have a dozen half-read books on trading that address losing that I'd do much better finishing reading.
Overall, teaching yourself is imperative. The principles to progress are definitely out there. You just have to study and read and ask questions, not only of others but of yourself and about trading and money, etc., etc.
Getting the answers then being able to apply them correctly can mean the difference between making it in forex, and getting killed.
I know because I've come close enough to getting killed plenty of times.
And on demo accounts I got bagged more times than I can remember: So many margin calls I should have gotten arrested.
But... you make breakthroughs.
I remember, when I first started, being so frustrated I felt like killing myself (that I've always been suicidal probably didn't help much).
I was manic about learning and trading. Then this one guy told me, "You just have to watch the charts, Sam."
Well, you know, he's right!
When I first started I knew A LOT more about the core extrageneous planet gasses of Mars than I did about trading "pairs" in forex.
Trading forex is like flying a plane. You need to put the hours in.
You need to test this, and try this, and say,
what happens if I do THIS, or this or this or this or this or this....
Testing, testing, testing, testing, testing, testing. Eventually you will advance.
At first it's all a fog and a dense forest darkly. When just starting you're going to do bad. Once you get better, you realize, Hey, I DID advance!
And since you DID advance, you CAN advance further.
But it does take those 100s of hours in the market.
Without those, with or without a demo, forget it, you'll go the way of the wind.
Sam
