mykol

I've been trading foreign currencies online for more than a year, but, instead of making money, I have lost substantial amount (more USD 100K). I'm facing serious financial trouble already.

I suspect my forex co is only cheating me...most of the time when I'm taking a trading position, the price of currency is moving to the other side, thus, losing my money.

Is there anybody here who is involve in forex trading that can share some pointers / tips? I putting my last hope to my remaining investment to recover my losses.

Thanks.

Jeeper

Yes - I do this as well.
Taken some losses as well as gains...
First time I got into it I lost my initial investment pretty quick.....
Waited a few months and probably quite foolishly I re-invested a larger amount but made smaller lot trades.
I'm doing ok at it now - not brilliant - but have recouped the intial deposit and a little more and i'm enjoying the whole thing anyway and with money I can afford / don't mind losing. Now that I'm back above even....if I lose it again I won't be buying in again. It's very risky and very difficult.

If you've lost 100k I would stop what you're doing....it obviously ain't working.
You are probably the sort that makes lots of trades, rushes into trades that at positions that you think you have to get into before you miss the opportunity (and then within a few minutes it's worse).
I would presume you also refuse to set 'stops' thinking your position will come right. SET STOPS! Don't throw good money after bad.


Stop feeding money into this thing and get some training /research before continuing.

Which online provider are you using?
I am with FXCM and don't find them too bad.

Sue

You might it useful to also post on a trading forums such as: EliteTrader.com or Trade2Win.com etc.

Meow

Find another occupation. You obviously aren't very good at it.

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greghal

I would agree with Meow. Whilst forex trading looks attractive, if your dont know what you are doing you WLL lose a fortune. 90% of those that spreadbet on currency end up losing money.

As another poster metioned make sure you learn about how to analyse graphs and set stops and limits rather than just following a trend.

I do a small amount of specuation myself and am currently up due to a couple of very successful trades when i started allowing me to 'gamble with profit'. I dont profess to be an expert though, just a keen amateur!!

The Dean

A lot would depend on your trading style and psychology. Are you a day trader or do you follow trends?

Put it this way - if you see a profit, do you take it? If so, go and have a rethink. You need to take losses quickly (be VERY disciplined about stop-loss levels), but run profits.

FXCM, as someone mentioned, are about the best out there, and won't do anything unethical to rip you off.

Post a few more comments so that you exceed the minimum required to send/receive Private Messages, then I'll share some thoughts with you.

ilsew73

What is a good site to use? Just started now on expressFX just with a demo account but would like to actually get into it

Jeeper

At the end of the day - the exchange rate is as it is - and different 'sites' or platform providers will have exactly the same rates - the only difference may be in the spreads btw buy / sell....but even these i'd say there wouldn't be much difference (outside of news events).

maybe have a look at: http://www.forexpeacearmy.com/public/all_forex_reviews


Whichever you choose - stay with the demo account for a good while - at least a month to get used to it. Use all the functions possible even if it means taking a loss (it's only a demo account). Maybe set up 2 demo accounts...1 for the above and another to test you strategy (make lots of demo profit).

I played with the demo account for a week or so....jumped into the live environment and didn't take long before I f'd up a bunch of trades after misinterpretting what a function did (closed all current trades instead of the one I was trying to close).

Good trades will always be there (and bad ones) - there's no hurry to go live.

mykol

Thanks for your responses.

Im using Forextrader by Gain Capital.

Actually, I had a bad start in doing this. Without adequate training (after using a demo for less than a week), I was tempted and jumped into live environment investing USD 10k just to lose the money in 2 days. From then on, I invest monies hoping to recover the earlier losses.

I only trade EUR/USD and I usually start the day's trade in Tokyo session until the end of London session - I found difficult to speculate during NY session when most data are being released and when I lost most of my investments. I found it difficult to take the right position based on the data being released that affect the FX.

I can analyze the graphs and trends but I fail to get the right entry and exit points.

Another problem with me is my emotion and lack of discipline ( i tend to adjust the stops thinking that the rate will still change in favor of my position).

I sit and wait in front of my computer while doing this and I found this as unhealthy habit - staying in front of the computer 14 to 16 hours a day with breaks for meals, shower and attending call of nature. Do you do the same?

Jeeper

haha - used to when i first started. There's so much risk involved and it happens so fast that you can't help but watch it every second.
The best thing that happened to me was changing office locations so at work I wasn't able to access the platform. I had to set my entry level, targets, stops in the morning or evening at home.
It worked a treat as it meant I wasn't able to do what you do...adjust stops lower hoping for a turnaround. Also, it meant I wasn't able to adjust limits either which isn't the best. Sometimes I don't set a limit though.
I set the stop.....if it goes positive....I move the stop to break even......and let it ride with a trailing stop. Hard part is picking when to close the profit or how close to put the trailing stop.


That said.....it does occupy a fair bit of my evenings....that, and whinging about things on BE.com

try that for a while. Set the trade up and forget it for a while. see how that works for you. EDIT: DO IT WITH THE DEMO ACCOUNT! STOP LOSING YOUR HARD EARNED CASH. Be disciplined about it and see if you can trade a whole month on demo and turn a profit. Until you can do that on demo you probably won't be able to on live....due the emotion / fear / psych involved.