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Hey guys. Last November (2011) I logged into MB Trading and setup a Demo account. they give you 10k fake money and let you go to work.
So its been almost a year now. Out of the 11 months I've been set up with them, I probably only actively traded for 5-6 months. the last 2-3 months have been a recovery time for me. I set up a bad stop and held a position from 1.2791 eur/usd ALLL the way down to the bottom. (the 1.20 bottom in july..yeah.. that hurt) So, I kept it. no way I could take the loss, and its now back up. Im back in the green. (quite a bit green ) Yes i do have patience, and even though its fake money. I've been making it "real money" by moving my money around a little. using a % of what i earn/lose. (mostly giving it to my wife lol)
I learned a few charts, how bollinger bands work, moving averages, mac d etc etc.. I DONT trade every day. sometime i hold a position for a few days, sometimes a few minutes. i use alot of trailing stops, and tend to stick with a falling position long enough to watch it climb again. and i spent ALOT of time learning how the platform i use works (MBT Desktop Pro) great software btw.
Ok so anyways, Bottom line. I stated in nov 2011, with 10k. its now October 2012 and my account balance is 63k. and i THINK i could have done better if I hadn't of messed up that stop. (that really hurt, i was SOOO close to a margin call. I had to trade my position average down a few pips at the time. which im glad i did. now my profit is even better that its back up.
so what it boils down to is; am I ready for real money? I took the advice, traded for a year or so and learned what I could, even though there is SO much more i need to learn. But should i go ahead and bite the bullet and put the coin in the account? Im thinking of starting with the micro account ($400 investment) and seeing what happens. i know it wont grow very fast, but i figure that is the easiest way to get used to playing with real money while minimizing risk..
i did the math, it would of had to go all the way to 1.18 for me to get a margin call, and i was able to get that to 1.15 by trading small amounts at the time.
and i have no problem taking a loss.. but a 1,200 dollar loss because it went the wrong way and hit your stop, and a 40thousand dollar loss because i fat fingered my keyboard are two completely different things. PLUS.. and i do want to emphasize this.. i HELD on purpose. i wanted to see if i could get myself out of the hole, which i did do.. no problem. i highly doubt i would of ever held a position like that with real money. but i also probably wouldn't of left open positions while i went on a 2 week vacation either lol. and at the end of the day.. i can close that position right now for 11k profit.. so i think i did ok.
I would say starting with $400 is very under capitalized. One of the biggest mistakes that you will see listed this board, other boards, and trading books is not starting with enough capital. I realize your intentions are to be careful. But $400 not enough imo.
"The day I became a winning trader was the day it became boring. Daily losses no longer bother me and daily wins no longer excited me. Took years of pain and busting a few accounts before finally got my mind right. I survived the darkness within and now just chillax and let my black box do the work."
I'd have to agree with Panda. That's a big red flag. Unless you had gone into the trade with that in mind, you should NEVER just let a trade go into drawdown endlessly. Always know your exit BEFORE you enter. Also, Sim is nothing like Live. Once there is real money involved it will change everything, and probably most of all your patience. Define what type of trader you will be (swing, day, scalper, etc). Then write a trading plan that includes at least your strategy and money management.
And above all...you should always be far more concerned with how much you can lose rather than how much you can make.
If you have a few hundred to test out and trade forex, then go for a try but take babysteps and don't use anything you can't lose.
Before you attempt to beat the odds, make sure you can survive the odds beating you.
If you are just going for feeling I understand but at some point when you really get going make sure you have adequate funding. Hats off for trying to be careful though.
"The day I became a winning trader was the day it became boring. Daily losses no longer bother me and daily wins no longer excited me. Took years of pain and busting a few accounts before finally got my mind right. I survived the darkness within and now just chillax and let my black box do the work."
yeah im not at all trying to make a big profit or live of 400 investment. its 400 i can afford to lose, and for no other reason that to just be moving REAL money around. see how long i can stretch it out. hey you never know, maybe it WILL go right, and i actually make some money, but if it goes bad, no biggy. i consider it a $400 lesson in forex experience.
I don't want to sound mean or discouraging but in my world, you did everything wrong. So what if you didn't get a margin call. No single trade should ever get you close to a margin call or even make you start thinking about the possibility of one. You did not control risk at all. You scaled into a losing position hoping to get yourself out of a losing position. You should have just exited it. That scaling into a loser works enough times to make you think it's actually a winning strategy. Then it bites you in the ass. If you wouldn't hold a real money trade that long, then holding a sim on is just irresponsible. This is a competitive blood sport. you will play the way you practice.
I'm sorry, in no way are you ready for live money on full size contracts. On the other hand, I highly recommend you invest the $400 in a forex account, trade the micros and get used to what trading real money is like. The difference between live and sim could not be more pronounced and until you experience what its like to feel the greed and fear of real money, you won't be prepared to move forward as a trader. The least expensive way to do this is micro forex.
Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication, Leonardo da Vinci
Most people chose unhappiness over uncertainty, Tim Ferris