Demo Trading

After my online research and reading Currency Trading for Dummies, the next logical step for me was to open a FXCM Demo Account. I must admit on initially downloading the Trading Station II Platform, I felt as though I did not have a clue.  There were all these flashing red and blue boxes, and all kinds of options, sell, buy, stop, limit & entry.  Then there were the charts with erratic candlesticks all over the screen.  This got me thinking how on earth had people learnt to trade this business before demo trading was an option.  

After a few days familiarising myself with the Trading Platform, watching tutorials and cross referencing with my book, I started to gain a little understanding and began to look for candlestick reversal patterns that I had studied.  I had some losses, but was also able to test and practice trades. The Demo Trading I was doing gave me invaluable experiences as I had made different mistakes such as pressing the buy instead of sell, picking the wrong currency pair and a few other silly mistakes.  

Fast forward four weeks and I was £7,000 up.  Yes unbelievable, looking back it was the worst possible result I could have had.  I was amazed, I thought I can actually do this, I can make serious money, give up the day job and live on the Costa-del-Sol, just with the press of a few buttons on my new Forex Trading Station II Platform.  HOW WRONG WAS I.....

The Positives of Demo Trading, (which still remain positives today):

1) Demo trading costs nothing

2) Allows you to develop and test systems without risk

3) Most importantly, allows you to learn how to use the Trading Platform effectively.  

The Negatives of Demo Trading:

1) Account size (which I will blog about later).  Most demo accounts give you £50,000 to trade with, most beginners have considerably less.  This in my opinion can make trading with discipline and patience much more difficult.  Also the large profits made on you £50,000 demo account are much less likely with for example a £1000 account.

2) No understanding of real risk.  It is an advantage to be able to trade without risk, but this leaves an important element out of the art of trading.  Trading psychology is important, it feels very different when your hard earned money is on the line.  The Demo Account saves you from potential massive losses whilst learning, but does not teach you anything about dealing with the emotions you will feel once that account balance is connected to your wallet.

To summarise, if I was to start again, which I have done recently at this time of writing, it would to be Demo Trade profitably between 2 - 3 months before going live.

Discipline and conscious control over emotional state are the 2 factors that determine Forex Winners or Losers

My Journey Begins...

It all began for me in the summer of 2009. Starting with a few days researching on the Internet, I came across what I believe is an absolute must for all beginners babypips.com.  This site includes everything from, What is Forex, Why Forex & Who Trades Forex, right through to Support & Resistance, Candlesticks, Fibonacci, Moving Averages, Creating a Trading Plan and much more than I can mention in one blog post.

I then purchased Currency Trading for Dummies written by the founders Mark Galait & Brian Dolan. This book was inexpensive and taught me about, how the Forex Market works and Macroeconomic Factors that impact on Currency Rates. There were some very good Fundamental Analysis and also my favourite part of the book Technical Analysis (Charting, Trend Analysis and Candlesticks). The book also  gave me guidance on developing my own Trading Plan. Included were examples of trade set ups, and also lots of valuable information on the most common mistakes, Risk-Management and much more.

After all this excellent information I was excited and ready to go to the next stage Demo Trading.

Discipline and conscious control over emotional state are the 2 factors that determine Forex Winners or Losers

Why I chose the Forex Trading Business

Hi, welcome to my blog.  

My name is Anthony Franks and I am happily married to Joanne Franks.  

I left school in 1990 and then went onto technical college and trained to be an electrician.  I have for the most part enjoyed my chosen career but my burning ambition has always taken me in the direction of finding financial independence.

Whilst working as a self employed electrician, I have also spent the last 16 years renovating property to either sell on or to rent out.  More recently I lived for a short time in Spain where I owned and ran a small shop and Internet business.  I can honestly say I have had moderate success with all my work and business ventures.

However, little did I know that the credit crunch had begun, the official period quoted by BBC News was 9th August 2007.  By the summer of 2009 the economy's breaks were fully on and much of business was grinding to a halt.

This was a shock to the system and left me wondering where my future was heading.  I had concluded everything that I personally was involved in was very dependent on a good thriving economy.  This is where the search began and I was attracted to the business of Forex.

What is Forex Trading - The Foreign Exchange Market, simply a place where the worlds currency is traded in pairs.  One currency versus another, 24 hours a day, 6 days a week, where profit and loss is guaranteed in all economic circumstances.

WHY THE FOREX BUSINESS???

The business can be fun, entertaining, thrilling, rewarding and challenging.  The business also has the advantage of huge financial gains in a short space of time.  You can spend as little or as much time as you like trading.  You can be making a profit while asleep, on holiday or out playing golf.  You can trade from anywhere in the world, even by your mobile telephone. You can be a Forex Trader until late on in your life and live anywhere in the world.  

Financial independence is a real objective.  No staff, expensive overheads, leases on premises, materials or stock are required.  The  transactional costs are low, leverage is high and last but not least the chance to give up the day job.

The aim of my blog over the next couple of months is to revisit all of the mistakes I have made, which are common to new traders.  This will reinforce the good habits I have now learnt and help with the transition to profitability. Then progressing with my trading plan and a journal of trades taken plus much much more..

Discipline and conscious control over emotional state are the 2 factors that determine Forex Winners or Losers