# Has anyone here made $$$ on forex trading?



## Steve82 (25 April 2014)

Well it has been about 2 months now of trading Forex and i have yet to make any $$$... In fact have only seem to be depositing more and more each week!...

I have tried MT4 with and without auto trading robots... which is full of SH*T...

What the $%$# am i doing wrong? ..

Every time I seem to be on a winning trade, the market just runs the other way! When i buy, the market falls, when i short the market rises! it is like someone knows what i am doing!

So, Has anyone here made $$$ on forex trading?

Steve


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## Wysiwyg (25 April 2014)

More losses than profit is my experience. I think it is my personality. I am a fighter and I fight the market makers that break up patterns and spike the price to stop loss zones. Gotta think -- what would I do to sting traders. Think like them and you will place your entries in the zones where they typically run price to shut out traders before the greater move.


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## >Apocalypto< (25 April 2014)

Steve82 said:


> Well it has been about 2 months now of trading Forex and i have yet to make any $$$... In fact have only seem to be depositing more and more each week!...
> 
> I have tried MT4 with and without auto trading robots... which is full of SH*T...
> 
> ...




don't take personally steve, FX is very hard. for me i don't look at it now under daily time frames.

I have made money in patches... made profit 3 months in a row till March this year when it all disapeared. that was it for me on sub daily time frames.

On the daily I have trippled 3 accs and made withdrawals. 

best patch i had was in 2010 on 1 hour i made 1.8k in a week took it all out and spent it. then the losing resumed. 

hard as hell.


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## Paulp (30 April 2014)

Steve82 said:


> Well it has been about 2 months now of trading Forex and i have yet to make any $$$... In fact have only seem to be depositing more and more each week!...
> 
> I have tried MT4 with and without auto trading robots... which is full of SH*T...
> 
> ...




You are not alone they know every move I make and take me out every time.
They take out all the stops then head the other way every time

Paulp


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## cogs (30 April 2014)

I am not a wizard or claim to be, I have just learnt some tricks over a very long time of trading.

Try using longer time frames or methods that force you to use longer time frames, until you know exactly what to look for on your shorter time frames for a good entry, then watch the longer time frame for closing.

Don't over leverage, I mean only trade small lot sizes so you have room to breath and not stress forcing you to making poor exits.

Be aware of news events for the pair you want to trade. The banks move the pairs around news events, it's not the news that moves the price, but the banks. Banks are looking for a discount entry, think about it.


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## polpak (30 April 2014)

Several known to self lost their fortunes trading forex, or escaped with a lot less than started.


Those who attempted persuade self to trade forex self felt mostly looking for bones they could gnaw remaining meat from before they tossed away.

Those seem still in accept were a lot smarter than self,  also able trade with hundreds of thousands, or more. 


Forex is big business, fine tuned.


Self stick to the ordinaries on the ASX, with an occasional drift into options or warrants when feel very comfortable.


As Clint says trader must know their own limitations....


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## AussieMatt (8 May 2014)

Steve82 said:


> Well it has been about 2 months now of trading Forex and i have yet to make any $$$... In fact have only seem to be depositing more and more each week!...
> 
> I have tried MT4 with and without auto trading robots... which is full of SH*T...
> 
> ...




Hey Steve,

Just some thoughts that might help you.

Do you have a plan? I don't know how new you are to trading but the first thing I picked up on from your comments is you may not have a very specifically defined reason to enter the market and how/when you will exit. Usually if you feel anxious when you are in a trade you either 1) have too big a position size 2) do not have a clear game plan as to what you will do at every step of the way.

This is a business like any other, you need to research and analyse yourself and your belief's on what you think is a viable method and why, does it suit your personality/mentality etc.. You cannot expect to go into it and be making a killing in your first 2 months trading, it takes years of fine tuning to be consistently profitable. 

Profitability also has nothing to do with any particular maker (I trade FX, Commod's, US stock etc) its how you approach trading and why that is more important.

The best thing about this business is that unlike other's you have an opportunity to find what works for you in a risk free way, you can demo trade for as long as it takes for you to find your method and gain some consistency, then put some money on the line when you have a strong case that it will work for you because you have proven it over time.

This all takes time, patience and practice and that's where most come unstuck, they just want to watch every news announcement and swing for the fences, well that just isn't a great way to start out, like other have said move to the higher time frames and I would recommend demoing if you are not already and preserve your capital until you have found what works for you.

All the best.

Matt.


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## dangap (5 July 2014)

AussieMatt said:


> Hey Steve,
> 
> Just some thoughts that might help you.
> 
> ...




This ^^^^^^100%


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## PurePA (6 July 2014)

AussieMatt said:


> Hey Steve,
> 
> Just some thoughts that might help you.
> 
> ...




Since I’ve joined this forum this is the best post that I’ve read so far. 

It usually takes couple of years before becoming consistently profitable and I’d recommend to Steve82 to buy a ‘Forex Tester’ to speed up learning curve.


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## minwa (6 July 2014)

Don't buy anything, forex has lots of free resources. You can find free softwares to test strategy. You can find free EA scripts to replay data and trade. 

Put a small amount of money in after you think you have a system. A week's salary or something. You will learn far more than clicking around in demo with no money on the line.


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## Dean34 (6 July 2014)

Steve82 said:


> Well it has been about 2 months now of trading Forex and i have yet to make any $$$... In fact have only seem to be depositing more and more each week!...
> 
> I have tried MT4 with and without auto trading robots... which is full of SH*T...
> 
> ...




Of all the issues I experienced and have heard from other forex traders, I would have to say the one that trumps them all is that price will always take my stop loss out only to then go in the direction I was hoping.

I simply got fed up with this. But I realized that if I put myself in a brokers shoes then it shouldn't be surprising at all. Brokers don't see your stop loss as a stop loss, they see it is a sell order (or buy order if your short). Their job is to fill orders..period, and not tend to your personal intentions and purposes (unless you have a private broker tending to your needs)! As we all seem to be looking at the same charts with the same prices (well almost with a pip or two difference here and there), and using the same trend lines, support/resistance, then we're all probably placing stops in the same 'areas'.


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## DeepState (6 July 2014)

Dean34 said:


> Of all the issues I experienced and have heard from other forex traders, I would have to say the one that trumps them all is that price will always take my stop loss out only to then go in the direction I was hoping.
> 
> I simply got fed up with this. But I realized that if I put myself in a brokers shoes then it shouldn't be surprising at all. Brokers don't see your stop loss as a stop loss, they see it is a sell order (or buy order if your short). Their job is to fill orders..period, and not tend to your personal intentions and purposes (unless you have a private broker tending to your needs)! As we all seem to be looking at the same charts with the same prices (well almost with a pip or two difference here and there), and using the same trend lines, support/resistance, then we're all probably placing stops in the same 'areas'.




Brokers are generally executing to your instructions.  They, as brokers, are not moving markets to trigger your stops...unless they are rigging the WM fix that is, in which case you'll miraculously buy at the high and sell at the low during the fix period. A stop-sell is no different to opening a sell to them, and that's as it should be.  It's only a position close for you.  Nowadays, they don't generally inventory positions in any material size after the Volcker Rule and capital requirements changed the landscape.

What you are noticing and losing money to is the fact that FFX reverts at short intervals. By short, that would be anything less than a couple of weeks down to intraday. Using stops will generally lose you money in this environment for the reasons you have discovered via personal experience.  Stops in this environment and type of market behavior are more appropriate for the purposes of solvency protection.  For you to overcome the hurdle you have experienced, you need to be able to forecast market movements sufficiently accurately to make up for the drag.  In the absence of reasonable forecasting power, it's only a matter of time before you'll walk away.


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## skyQuake (6 July 2014)

Edit: RY beat me to the punch.

Some further thoughts - are you setting your stops in really OBVIOUS areas of support/resist? Its fairly easy (and common) for a big trader/fund to bust through a significant level and trigger all the stops (and cover into them).
Those stop cascades can be quite nasty as most stops are Mkt orders.


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## dangap (6 July 2014)

The key is to find a strategy that works 50% of the time whilst sticking to a R/R plan that is not going to blow your account after 10 trades. I dont think anyone is chasing your stop.


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## dangap (6 July 2014)

dangap said:


> The key is to find a strategy that works 50% of the time whilst sticking to a R/R plan that is not going to blow your account after 10 trades. I dont think anyone is chasing your stop.




Personally i like to trade price action as i find all these lagging indicators a distraction when come time deciding to pull the trigger. With a good strategy we should always know when or when not to pull the trigger.
In saying that it can be easier said then done.


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## PurePA (6 July 2014)

Dean34 said:


> Of all the issues I experienced and have heard from other forex traders, I would have to say the one that trumps them all is that price will always take my stop loss out only to then go in the direction I was hoping.
> 
> I simply got fed up with this. But I realized that if I put myself in a brokers shoes then it shouldn't be surprising at all. Brokers don't see your stop loss as a stop loss, they see it is a sell order (or buy order if your short). Their job is to fill orders..period, and not tend to your personal intentions and purposes (unless you have a private broker tending to your needs)! As we all seem to be looking at the same charts with the same prices (well almost with a pip or two difference here and there), and using the same trend lines, support/resistance, then we're all probably placing stops in the same 'areas'.




We might be all looking at the same charts, but we all interpret them differently. Post a few charts here with your entries and your stops and most importantly with your logic behind it, and then you might get some responses with ideas as of why it is happening to you.


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## Dean34 (6 July 2014)

PurePA said:


> We might be all looking at the same charts, but we all interpret them differently. Post a few charts here with your entries and your stops and most importantly with your logic behind it, and then you might get some responses with ideas as of why it is happening to you.




It's not actually happening to me..I was responding to Steve82


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## PurePA (7 July 2014)

Dean34 said:


> It's not actually happening to me..I was responding to Steve82




Yeah, you’re right Dean34, I meant Steve82. I do apologise for the confusion


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## 2ku11yf0x (8 July 2014)

Steve82 said:


> Well it has been about 2 months now of trading Forex and i have yet to make any $$$... In fact have only seem to be depositing more and more each week!...
> 
> I have tried MT4 with and without auto trading robots... which is full of SH*T...
> 
> ...




As Mentioned, Forex isn't as simple as just "thinking" you know which way the market is going to go and blaming Brokers or "Market Makers" when it goes pear shaped..

I have been trading for about 12 months now, so I am by no means a veteran myself but I have learned a wealth of knowledge in that time.. 

1. treat your trading like a business - you would not just say "oh well, sell that item for whatever" if you were running a retail shop of some kind, you would have a system, and a plan for how, when and where your stock and pricing will work. And with every business, you have to spend money to make money - investing in good back testing software like Forex Tester 2 will do you good - people here that say that you shouldn't spend any money are also the people complaining about losses. 

2. Psychology is probably one of the most important, if not the most important aspect of trading, 99% of the reason you are losing has nothing to do with the chart, its what's going on between your ears while the trade is on.. I would suggest finding a good mentor, like I did, to be that "guardian angel" and help build the trader mentality. Knowing a good system and making money in forex is easy.. its the people and the psychology that makes it hard. 

3. Have RULES and be disciplined.. you may be watching a trade, see it spend 2 days in the red - it goes into the green, your $30 bucks up and you are just DYING to take that $30 - everyone has been here, including myself. DONT DO IT, have a plan, have a system and stick to the rules.. if you don't have rules yet, back test your system and make them. 

As I said, I have only been trading forex for about 12 months, I spent about 7 months demo trading and the last 5 live trading, I only trade micro lots but I am still consistently making about $50 a week outside my full time job, I take losses yes, but with proper money and risk management your winnings should always outweigh your losses.. as I get more confident I will simply increase my position sizing and therefore profits. 

DEMO TRADE, to the guy that said above "use a little bit of money" - if you are consistently losing and not confident, you shouldn't be using ANY money.. demo trade! its exactly the same and you can play with tens of thousands with no fear of having no food this week..

There are always going to be paranoid people in the market.. people who blame market makers and stop hunters, these people are just looking for something to blame.. think about it, the shear volume in the forex market has $47bn changing hands every single day.. you think they are going to buy or sell enough volume to make the market shift at all to grab your $3 stop loss?? I highly, highly doubt it - and that's provided they can move enough volume to move the market.. the market is moved by people, and people are emotional, irrational creatures - this is why the market is always unpredictable to an extent.. why its probability..

Feel free to shoot me a message if you have any questions or looking for a bit of advice, I will help where I can.. 

Dave


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## RADO (8 July 2014)

Steve82 said:


> Well it has been about 2 months now of trading Forex and i have yet to make any $$$... In fact have only seem to be depositing more and more each week!...
> 
> I have tried MT4 with and without auto trading robots... which is full of SH*T...
> 
> ...




Hi I have a few great tips for any one starting out in FX or even Futures. The first is to pay close attention to the Forex Factory Calender (click on the clock and synchronise it to the time on your PC - http://www.forexfactory.com/index.php?day=jul8.2014

View attachment 58611


1. Pay close attention to the RED events as they are heavy impact!
2. Pay close attention to RED heavy impact events that are USD, EUR, AUD or any other major country.
3. Click on the details folder as it tell you how it will affect the currency (some times price has already adjusted to   the forecast prior to announcement.
4. These are global economic events so they heavily effect the Futures market as well, so keep that in mind!
5. Keep a Diary and make note of what economic events effect the market the most

Another tip I have is to use range bar charts instead of time based charts. Your trading the price of something so don't you think it makes more sense to use a price based chart. As you can see in the pic below the trend is really clean. It will still show support resistance and patterns just like a time based chart, with the added benefit of looking more cleaner! But please note that they are not always as clean as in the picture below (far from it!).




If you wish to use Range bars on MT4 you need a plugin, But on NinjaTrader, Esignal, Tradestation and Multicharts this is a standard feature.

Well I hope these tips help some of you guys! just my  that's all!

RADO


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## tradermarket (31 August 2014)

Steve82 said:


> ... In fact have only seem to be depositing more and more each week!...
> 
> ...What the $%$# am i doing wrong? ..





Hello Steve. 

If you are depositing weekly, then I think the principal problem is that you are risking too much per each trade. My suggestion is to learn (read) about money management, because you shouldn ´t be depositing every week, even if you are not making any money. Your account must be alive for the long term thanks to apply a good money management strategy.

Good luck.


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## investortom (1 September 2014)

The odds are against you trading forex, more people would lose than make money that is for sure!


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## dangap (1 October 2014)

investortom said:


> The odds are against you trading forex, more people would lose than make money that is for sure!




Because most don't trade, they gamble.
Unfortunately most don't want to do the hard yards like hours and hours of manual back testing a strategy to see if it's profitable. Manual back testing (no EA's) is a must if wanting to be successful in any market, it's where you tie every thing together.


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## >Apocalypto< (1 October 2014)

investortom said:


> The odds are against you trading forex, more people would lose than make money that is for sure!




that applies to every market.


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## Lisa1218 (3 October 2014)

hi Steve,

I think almost everyone experienced this period...forex is a tough market and I think you can read more opinions from some professionals.


good luck!!!


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## Jens (3 October 2014)

dangap said:


> Because most don't trade, they gamble.
> Unfortunately most don't want to do the hard yards like hours and hours of manual back testing a strategy to see if it's profitable. Manual back testing (no EA's) is a must if wanting to be successful in any market, it's where you tie every thing together.




Exactly. My personal experience is that it takes years. Not to back test and find a method that works, but to work on your own mentality so you can STICK TO THE PLAN


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## Robert Brown (14 October 2014)

I have made many time $$$ but I also loss some times $$.


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## Jason73 (14 October 2014)

Money management and risk, money management and risk, money management and risk, money management and risk, money management and risk...

Work that out and you will profit. It has a lot less to do with the strategy that you use than you might think. There are literally hundreds of strategies out there that you can use to make money. The one that you chose will come down to personal choice. But if you don't manage your risk then you might as well not bother.


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## James Martin (15 October 2014)

Yes, it took a year of trial and error but I've been consistently making $$$ for the past two years.


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