Is it time for me?

[lulu2199]

Hello everybody,

I have started a forex demo account at Oanda about 2 weeks ago. I must say, the profit that I make currently is abnormally big: I have made 20k with a virtual fund of 100k. All this profit has been made in just 2 weeks, all holidays and losses considered.

I decide to stick with demo account for at least some time before switching to live one day. However, I heard a lot of horror story with live accounts, such as they don't fill orders, that they constantly requote your trades, the spread is bigger in live accounts than in demo accounts, etc.

However, I checked my broker company, Oanda, and some specialists on the internet said that their spread is tight, and their demo account is EXACTLY identical to their live accounts.

Therefore I must ask:

Is the live account THAT bad compared with demo account? What about Oanda?

Are there any users here from Oanda? Your review of this platform?

Also... About my profit... I have made 20% of profit in 2 weeks. Is that normal?

Thanks!

Lulu2199

 

[capsmart]

Hi Lulu
Concerning Oanda I do have a live account but not a demo so I cannot compare the two. What you could do is open a real account with the smallest possible amount and see for yourself. It will be difficult to find someone trading on both a demo and a real account. On the other hand Oanda is a very fast platform and I never suffered from "tricks". But I am not scalping the market and do not trade the news. If your system is trying to make 2-3 pips every time then it might not work as expected on a real account. Not just with Oanda, you will face problems with all brokers, not because they will try to fix the price but simply to open a real trade they need extra confirmations that are not needed to open demo trades.
Making a 20% profit in 2 weeks is good and bad. If you took too much risk (risking to lose more than 2-3% per trade) then it is not good. If you took many trades with small risk and were able to make this profit this is again good and bad. It is good if you took trades on different pairs (trending and non trending) or and it is bad if you just went short on, let's say, eur/usd and were able to make profits out of downtrend that simply happened.
Two weeks trading is a very short time for conclusions. But who knows?? Maybe you are the new Soros and you can simply "feel" the market.
I can understand that you are ready to open a real account. If you cannot discipline yourself, at least open one with the smallest possible amount. An amount that you can afford to lose without affecting your life.

 

[lulu2199]

Hi Lulu
Concerning Oanda I do have a live account but not a demo so I cannot compare the two. What you could do is open a real account with the smallest possible amount and see for yourself. It will be difficult to find someone trading on both a demo and a real account. On the other hand Oanda is a very fast platform and I never suffered from "tricks". But I am not scalping the market and do not trade the news. If your system is trying to make 2-3 pips every time then it might not work as expected on a real account. Not just with Oanda, you will face problems with all brokers, not because they will try to fix the price but simply to open a real trade they need extra confirmations that are not needed to open demo trades.
Making a 20% profit in 2 weeks is good and bad. If you took too much risk (risking to lose more than 2-3% per trade) then it is not good. If you took many trades with small risk and were able to make this profit this is again good and bad. It is good if you took trades on different pairs (trending and non trending) or and it is bad if you just went short on, let's say, eur/usd and were able to make profits out of downtrend that simply happened.
Two weeks trading is a very short time for conclusions. But who knows?? Maybe you are the new Soros and you can simply "feel" the market.
I can understand that you are ready to open a real account. If you cannot discipline yourself, at least open one with the smallest possible amount. An amount that you can afford to lose without affecting your life.

Hi!

Thanks for reply me so fast!

I know that I am obviously too early to start a real live account to make a livinghood. After all, I am still a 18 yrs old student lol. Concerning the way that I trade it's quite simple: I check on 15 mins graph and trade on the trend. If I see that the pair is going to an extreme high or low, I then put a limit order to buy at the extreme and then long/short, depending how the market is.

Thanks!

Lulu2199

 

[capsmart]

Your system is fine but I would like to know your lot size and your stop loss. By multiplying your lot size with the amount of pips at risk (if your stop loss is hit) you will find out the dollar amount that you risk. If you divide this with your total capital you know your risk percentage. This should not be larger than 2-3%

 

[Enivid]

The difference between demo and live account is less technical and more emotional one. You don't need to worry about losing virtual money. Can't say the same for the live money.

To judge your profit (20%) it is necessary to know your risk per trade.

 

[Fxpipper]

I would suggest that you go live with a micro/nano account, check it out, keep a journal and track your performance..good luck, it looks like you're good at trading!

 

[Rob Taylor]

Lulu, it seems to me like you have been very lucky with your trading. Just trying to pick the low and the high is not really understanding what is going on with price action. You have to understand what is happening to make an informed decision on how to trade. You could very easily lose all of your profit on the next few trades. To be successful you have to understand the market and trade with high probability. Best of luck with your trading.

 

[lulu2199]

Lulu, it seems to me like you have been very lucky with your trading. Just trying to pick the low and the high is not really understanding what is going on with price action. You have to understand what is happening to make an informed decision on how to trade. You could very easily lose all of your profit on the next few trades. To be successful you have to understand the market and trade with high probability. Best of luck with your trading.

Hello Rob:

Thanks for replying me! I know that I don't understand what I am doing, and I am really lucky for all my profit.

Is there a book, or a course in university driving me on that road? I am going to college, and I also want to learn to become a trader.

Any idea?

Thanks!

Lulu2199

 

[capsmart]

Hi Lulu
There is a huge number of books about trading. It is important to learn the basics to start with. Visit the site babypips and you will find all the information you need. Concerning the university course, I think they will also teach the basics. I never heard about a university teaching how to trade. But there are so many universities so maybe there is something. Please understand that, in my opinion, trading is an art and not a science and therefore difficult to transmit the knowledge.

 

[Rob Taylor]

Hello Rob:

Thanks for replying me! I know that I don't understand what I am doing, and I am really lucky for all my profit.

Is there a book, or a course in university driving me on that road? I am going to college, and I also want to learn to become a trader.

Any idea?

Thanks!

Lulu2199

Hi Lulu.

If you want to become a professional trader you need to find a professional trader and learn from them. My advice would be for you to learn from someone that teaches price action trading. Dont waste your time with indicators, price action is the only thing that makes money consistently over time.

I can recommend Nial Fuller at [link removed]

His stuff is pretty good. He wont be able to teach you how to trade advanced price action which is what i do, but his stuff is a good introduction to price action. He trades the larger time frames 4 hours and upwards which could be good for you if you are only trading part time if you are going to college.

All the best.

 

[ezrydn]

Lulu,

Eleven months ago, I was hard pressed to spell FOREX, let alone, trade it. A friend called me and "mentioned" it. From there, I scowered the net and learned what I needed to know and I'm very happy with my "learning." Schools? I think they've already let us down by not mentioning Forex before this point in our lives.

There's so much to learn that taking your time is to your benefit. Over time, you'll fall into a niche you feel comfortable in. As much as I enjoy the "chase" in Forex, I'm doing very well at Binary Options. Don't lock your focus on one area. You're new. Find your own "sweet spot." You'll continually learn about the other Forex niches. And you'll do fine.

 

[Jacqui Abbott]

Hope you will have a great time ahead!

cheers!