Starting Out, Anyone give me a hand?

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NeedToKnow

Hello fellas,

Quick background, got involved with FOREX trading about 5 months ago while surfing during marathon online poker session. Long story short, in a moment of weakness I opened one of those 200-1 leverage, be George Soros, Market Maker (remains nameless) accounts. Being a natural degenerate gambler, I got hooked on the easy to use interface, loved the action. Being compulsive and relatively risk seeking, I was able to learn a ton, jump on a few nice moves, and I got pretty hot. Right place, right time, I am sure.

Fast forward to today. Am obsessed with trading. Love spending hours determing levels, setting up plays I feel have an expectancy edge, testing my work with real money. However, I know these MM Forex feeds are pure bullshit, and I am starting to swing a pretty decent line (for me at least). The better I do the less I like doing business with these "gentlemen". I have checked into some of the more legitimate Currnecy brokers (Hotspot, MF Global, etc.) and I am a little shocked at the Leverage offered, very small to say the least.

I am exploring trading futures, yet am wary. Will the interfaces and the like be really hard to learn to use, considering where I am coming from? I also hear these markets are extremely quick and very difficult to trade.

Basically I am wondering what advice any experienced traders have regarding which platform and charting package I should be using and how long it will take to get used to it. I would rather just start with the industry standard than working my way upfrom a streamlined retail version. Which Market would be a good choice to start with and really learn? One that offers the chance to make a living yet is still slow enough for a dedicated rookie to handle? Broker advice. Oh, I hit the bucket shop for like 80, so probably looking to open futures account with 50K.

Thanks guys, little long winded I know.

MOK
 
OEC has everything included with reasonable commissions, their platform is simple to use, the reviews in the broker section for this small place are of some the highest. I have an account with them and I recommend them highly.

TT
 
Just a guess but you're a flash in the pan.
You love the thrill and want high leverage.
Find a broker you can live with and learn the platform interface cold. Develop a system with rules and trade small for 6 months to a year with only 15k. Move your profits OUT of your brokerage and into money market regularly. Stay at a flat 15k.

After a year or more you'll know when you can start hitting heavy.

It's boring and sometimes slow but growing your capital and making a living is just grinding out a profit month after month. --Just turning over marked-up merchandise day after day.

I know this isn't what you wanted to hear but there it is.

Good Luck
 
Quote from NeedToKnow:
One that offers the chance to make a living yet is still slow enough for a dedicated rookie to handle?
More...

If you have 50k, start with YM with 1 or 2 contracts.
There is nothing magic about the index futures as far as being hard to trade. Most people here though are under capitalized, over leveraged and delusional.
That or you could use a margin account on SPY and if you last a year move to ES.
While you could make a living trading 10 contracts and you could trade 10 contrats with 50k...if your a real gambler you will get taken to the cleaners with that kind of leverage on index futures, especially if you were using a more "trend" based style on fx.
Personally though if I were you I would stick to what you know and look at currency futures.
 
Quote from infolode:

Just a guess but you're a flash in the pan.
You love the thrill and want high leverage.

I know this isn't what you wanted to hear but there it is.

Good Luck
More...

I agree, I am pretty sure I am a flash in the pan. Even if I am not, my recent results are definitely a highly unlikely deviation from the mean. It is because I am fully aware of this that I would now like to make the jump to futures, which it seems is a much more regulated and legitimate market than these OTC type operations.

It is very easy to be agressive with a "small" bankroll, whatever "small" means to each individual. The amount of money I have been lucky enough to make is no longer "small" to me. I would be upset if I lost it, unlike some 5 or 10K "take a shot" money.

I appreciate your guy's replies and advice. How about the bonds or notes, little less choppy than ES/YM? I just simply fear the E-Mini Indexes and I don't know why :( I hear so many stories about fellas getting slaughtered. Whatever, I've got the whole stream of conciousness thing going, probably not the right venue for that:D
 
why change a winning team, why not continue what you are doing; move from bucket shop to oanda, still similar to bucketshop, but not as advanced as hotspotfx etc.
 
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