xgavinc's Posts - Page 6

DEMO ACCOUNT vs LIVE ACCOUNT in New Traders Aug 15, 2016 at 10:33

Your mindset has to change from trader to administrator with an automated system... every EA needs monitoring and at some point manual intervention. It's when you intervene too much that it becomes a problem. Many running EA's will auto trade and manual trade in parallel, essentially fighting each other. Remember, for every manual trade you make, the EA will take that into account which will likely be outside it's scope (adding vegetables to a fruit basket). If you separate the trades with an identifier, you are double trading on the same pair, same balance, etc. causing double tro...

Hedges and Martingales an explosive combination. in General Aug 15, 2016 at 09:56

I don't use sl's and tp's, I check periodically (daily, weekly, monthly), If profit exceeds largest negative order, I close it. I also use a lower leverage, so I can run a very wide grid, broker also allows real time leverage change, so I can reduce it further if I need to.I don't martingale (perse'), I increase lot size based on balance targets, and margin level has to be at a certain point before an increase.I use hedging to cover a larger area (effectively running a grid on top of a grid), the idea is that profit from a buy and sell, same pair, would potentially give bac...

How do you keep up to date with trading news/ events/ opinions? in New Traders Aug 10, 2016 at 08:34

Variable spread is adjusted on the following:Higher than usual liquidity [like news events. The quotes become "out of price quotes", iow. the price you were quoted is already out of date due to high volatility, by providing a larger spread the margin of quote errors are reduced for the broker.]Lower than usual liquidity[The market is flat, like near dead. The broker increases spread to discourage trading on instruments it will find difficult to fill due to low liquidity, hence you will pay a premium to get filled.]On brokers providing fixed spreads you will encounter more "off q...

Beginners - Kill your emotions in New Traders Aug 08, 2016 at 09:06

As stated above, it's:A: Placing too many orders (though generally if there is a good reason, it's ok if managed well.)B: Placing orders where the lot size is too large (this is the number one killer of an account.)Both can be alleviated by keeping your margin level above a threshold. The higher your leverage, the higher your threshold should be, generally the consensus is that an above 1000% margin level should be adequate up to 1:1000 leverage, I somewhat disagree and think above 1000% up to 1:100 leverage, and 1000% for every additional 100 (eg. 1:200 - 2000%) will provide a good bu...

Beginners - Kill your emotions in New Traders Aug 04, 2016 at 11:13

Greedy people will never make it back. I noticed people with patience and persistence inevitably succeed. I think you eventually reach a stage in your trading where you realize the marathon is more successful than the sprint. I can go over 3 days of not opening or closing a trade (and profit - ie. balance remains the same), and it doesn't phase me... the market is just flat, but doesn't remain flat forever. Three years ago a flat balance over 3 days had me anxious and chasing trades and profits to catch up causing me to over leverage... never a good idea.As one trader put it, "lik...

Steps to become a professional forex trader in New Traders Aug 04, 2016 at 07:36

That would be OCD 😀, if you had ADHD you would get bored too quickly (I had a wife with ADHD, she attempted trading but got bored within 2 minutes, after a week she gave up... it was just not interesting enough for her).

Beginners - Kill your emotions in New Traders Aug 04, 2016 at 07:25

Been trading for about 6 years, first 3 lost thousands and now making it all back slowly. My emotions are pretty much dead at this point regarding trading 😁

How to Be an Expert in Forex Trading: Some Tips in General Aug 02, 2016 at 08:34

Some brokers (many actually), have partner programs. The programs aren't clearly defined on their websites and every broker differs, but anyone is welcome to inquire (I won't give broker names, as that would be biased). These range from the lowest "partnership" in which the broker will provide credit (you are either fully liable for the credit or not) and earn a percentage or fixed price per x-pips profit (similar rules to "introducing brokers" which is also a partner program), to providing the trader with a basket of managed accounts, to a full out brokerage (simil...

DEMO ACCOUNT vs LIVE ACCOUNT in New Traders Aug 02, 2016 at 07:41

If you can choose your starting capital on demo, yes. These $100k default demo accounts are useless. Rarely will someone starting with trading dump $100k into an account and even less likely will someone get accurate EA / Algo analysis from it (I can create an EA that randomly buys and sells with a 3000% ML on a $100k demo account and never lose, do the same on a $100-$1000 account and it's almost written in stone that it won't surpass 6 months). I'm expanding on your comment, I agree with you 100%.

How to Be an Expert in Forex Trading: Some Tips in General Aug 01, 2016 at 10:28

30 000 hours of making consistent profits, not blowing the account and not trading in your underwear...Good brokers will introduce you to investors or the broker will directly invest with you in the form of a credit, good investors don't make direct investments with traders (there are some, but very few) and good traders don't beg for investors.Your 'expert' level will be determined by your investors.

US Elections in General Jul 28, 2016 at 10:46

I'll continue trading with caution, at the moment I'm concentrating on getting my margin level up. Neither of the candidates are appealing, in the sense that 1. They mostly have attacked one another, instead of saying what makes themselves capable 2. Both have ideologies without any concrete plan (Trump is very ambitious, Clinton just basically regurgitating what the last 3 presidents have "promised"). So I'll be looking at actual action and implementation for market movers and remain hesitant on media splurge.

US Elections in General Jul 27, 2016 at 10:20

Topic on the impact of US Elections on the markets before, during and after.

Brexit in General Jul 27, 2016 at 10:17

As Sceadagenga states. Any liquidity will come directly from new policy reform, the "Brexit" rapids are over.@Hero76 I created a thread for US Elections 😀

DEMO ACCOUNT vs LIVE ACCOUNT in New Traders Jul 19, 2016 at 09:34

I meant time-trade [experience] vs money-emotion [experience] Time spent on demo is potential money gain and true emotional experience wasted in live - but as you say, nothing is truly wasted on whichever area you focus on. (Though, if I knew then what I know now, I would have jumped into a live low leverage, low lot, cent account immediately - even after months of demo, it didn't prepare me at all for live account. If anything it just made me cocky and take on too much risk).I still stand by my view that demo is to learn the trading platform and should not be used to learn how to trade. Y...

Brexit in General Jul 18, 2016 at 15:22

When it really comes down to it, the US president has little to no power anyway (in the grand scheme of things). He / She still has to get through the Senate and Congress. He or she can appoint people into certain positions, veto bills, grant reprieves and pardons except in the case of impeachment and is bound by the constitution. Anything beside that is done by recommendations to Congress (requiring 2/3rds majority support in almost anything). The Supreme Court can also override decisions the president makes that they deem are legally irresponsible. Each state has it's own set of rules an...

Brexit in General Jul 18, 2016 at 14:04

I'm also leaning toward a Trump win... primarily because I'm curious to see what that wall will look like :-D

Beginners - Kill your emotions in New Traders Jul 18, 2016 at 14:01

You also need a passion for it. If you're in it just for the money you are in it for the wrong reason, money should be secondary to understanding the markets.

Brexit in General Jul 18, 2016 at 10:08

That would be more akin to a credit review, not a default. Your creditors accepting less (less interest or just outstanding capital loan amount - no interest (thereby accepting the interest they have made as final), is not a default. If anything, the US is already defaulting (not paying certain loans) as they cannot afford it ($Trillions), Trump would renegotiate on outstanding debt and not take on more debt on unproductive products / services - that's what he's saying. He also says it right there “I would borrow, knowing that if the economy crashed, you could make a deal,”...

Brexit in General Jul 18, 2016 at 09:42

Looking from a third perspective (I'm not a US citizen), it seems Trump will openly spend an enormous amount of money on questionable "non-essential" infrastructure (like a wall) though he does seem determined to fix the economy, and Clinton will spend an enormous amount of money on everything (and lie about spending it), she seems to be more focused on fixing "working class" problems (I haven't heard her mention the poor and impoverished - Trump seems one up on this)... both seem to be a negative outlook for markets either way.Obama claims Clinton has a plan and Tr...

DEMO ACCOUNT vs LIVE ACCOUNT in New Traders Jul 15, 2016 at 14:49

Live account you gain emotional experience when you lose money, on demo you gain trading experience and lose time.

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Posts by xgavinc