when do you know your ready?

watchdaride · Mar 25, 2004

To the fulltime traders ( that make a profit)

What was the turning point that gave you the confidence to go full time. I have been trading forex for aprox 18 months and have some trading rules I stick with and have been profitable 4 months in a row . Making a small profit consistenly and waiting for the right trade was hard trying the control . Controlling greed and patience was the hardest hurdle for me and sticking to a plan. Anyway is there any advice from fulltime traders you could give to someone thinking of going fulltime?

gms · Mar 25, 2004

You may also want to ask those that aren't profitable, the answers may be interesting and isn't suspect of survivorship bias.

reg · Mar 25, 2004

Quote from watchdaride:

To the fulltime traders ( that make a profit)

What was the turning point that gave you the confidence to go full time. I have been trading forex for aprox 18 months and have some trading rules I stick with and have been profitable 4 months in a row . Making a small profit consistenly and waiting for the right trade was hard trying the control . Controlling greed and patience was the hardest hurdle for me and sticking to a plan. Anyway is there any advice from fulltime traders you could give to someone thinking of going fulltime?

Always control your losses - sounds simple but not following this rule has cost me a lot of $$$.

DHOHHI · Mar 25, 2004

Quote from watchdaride:

What was the turning point that gave you the confidence to go full time. I have been trading forex for aprox 18 months and have some trading rules I stick with and have been profitable 4 months in a row . Making a small profit consistenly and waiting for the right trade was hard trying the control . Controlling greed and patience was the hardest hurdle for me and sticking to a plan. Anyway is there any advice from fulltime traders you could give to someone thinking of going fulltime?

I'd suggest you continue with what you're doing. Small profits and keeping emotions in check as far as fear/greed. 4 months of profits is a good start; if you set another goal I'd say shoot for a slightly higher profit target in what hopefully will be your 5th consecutive profitable month (maybe trade slightly larger size and shoot for the same per trade profit objective as you now have). If you achieve that up the target slightly in month 6 etc. etc. When you find reaching a given target beyond reach then plateau the target for a few months until you've successfully achieved that level. Singles and doubles consistently are the way to go ... those that shoot for the home runs often strike out too often and end up washing out of the game.

rwk · Mar 25, 2004

When to trade full-time is varies by individual. I am unmarried and willing to live frugally, which makes surviving the lean times much easier. If you have a job, I recommend keeping it until the recovery gets a little better established. It's a bit like wing-walking: Never let go of what you have, until you got hold of something else.

moneymoneymoney · Mar 25, 2004

Have at least 18 months of expenses (including health insurance) in the bank before going fulltime. If you start trading fulltime and need to make money right away you're almost certain to fail.

lindq · Mar 25, 2004

When you can take the pebble from my hand, Grasshopper.

gamalruach · Mar 25, 2004

Quote from watchdaride:

To the fulltime traders ( that make a profit)

What was the turning point that gave you the confidence to go full time. I have been trading forex for aprox 18 months and have some trading rules I stick with and have been profitable 4 months in a row . Making a small profit consistenly and waiting for the right trade was hard trying the control . Controlling greed and patience was the hardest hurdle for me and sticking to a plan. Anyway is there any advice from fulltime traders you could give to someone thinking of going fulltime?

1. Have enough capital in your trading account.

2. Trade size wise, trade in relation to your account size! Make small-sized trades if you have a smaller account to start with.

3. Use my nifty 50/50/30/1-2 money management system.

4. Do NOT use stop losses! I traded through an 800 point EUR/USD drawdown; A 700 point USD/JPY drawdown; and (this latest) 200 point EUR/USD drawdown. Never lost a cent of my principle.

Though I did have "operating costs" on the Dollar/Yen Short trade, and used some profit to manage positions in the 800 and 200 point EUR/USD spike downs respectively.

Who do you use as your forex broker?

"I have been trading forex for aprox 18 months and have some trading rules I stick with."

What are they? Do tell!

Saham

illiquid · Mar 25, 2004

Quote from gamalruach:

[4. Do NOT use stop losses! I traded through an 800 point EUR/USD drawdown; A 700 point USD/JPY drawdown; and (this latest) 200 point EUR/USD drawdown. Never lost a cent of my principle.

Saham [/B]

Wow, that's great advice for someone just starting out. A real gem

gamalruach · Mar 25, 2004

Quote from illiquid:

Wow, that's great advice for someone just starting out. A real gem

//shrug//

I placed over 3000 trades using stop losses (on demos) - got mangled and margin calls. I placed over 1000 trades (live) without using stop losses - still have my principle and also have profit.

Go figure.

I'd rather warchdaride manage his trades successfully than just use non-thinking stop losses.

Cheers!

Sam