Your Single Best Piece of Advice

Anita V

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Hey guys and gals,

I've been doing research for the past couple months, I've gone through countless forums, posts and even books on fx trading so far. Now I'm wondering, if you could give me only one single piece of advice before I start trading live what would it be? I haven't chosen a broker as of yet, so I suppose you could give me your recommendation on that but I'd prefer almost anything else since I've done my work on that already. Who better to give me tips than a bunch of experts? They say that knowledge is the best weapon you can arm yourself with starting in this industry and with time comes experience. I'm trying to gather as much of that prized knowledge as I can before I start!

PS. I do plan to open a practice account and to test all of my strategies diligently before moving to the next step. I'd just like to glean from the collective expertise as much as I can while I await that next challenge.
 
Hello Anita,

I'd recommend against asking for specific broker recommendations in this thread. That will just result in the whole thread getting moved over to Company Comparisons and Competitions.

If you want broker recommendations, read this thread: https://www.forexpeacearmy.com/forex-forum/beginners-bootcamp/12903-best-forex-broker.html

My single best piece of advice is Due Diligence. You need to do some real research before giving your money to a broker. You need to do some research before spending a cent on any forex product.

My second best piece of advice is to study Risk Management. If you don't understand that subject, the best broker and a good trading system can still send you straight to the poorhouse.

Since you say you'll be practicing on demo, you've already taken my third best piece of advice. :D

You can find articles I've written about risk management, broker selection, product selection and more here:

Forex Basics Boot Camp - Forex Peace Army Forum
 
I've already done a great deal of research trying to pick a proper broker and I wasn't asking for recommendations on that. As for the rest of your advice, it seems golden. I've read a bit of your basics boot camp already and I plan to finish that up shortly. Risk management still seems a little too theoretic in my mind, I think I'll need to practice in a more real situation to grasp that better.

Someone had suggested opening a micro account with about 100$ might be better than trading in a demo account(insofar as you grasp it quicker even if you're just risking pennies), would you agree?
 
Some people prefer to jump straight in with a micro account. Personally, I suggest all new traders start with a demo account. Why waste even pennies learning what buttons to press in the trading platform? Demos allow you to experiment with all the features available, even ones you may not currently plan to use. Having multiple demo accounts can let you test several strategies side by side.
 
Hi Pharaoh,

I started my first demo account last night with Oanda. Man did I feel like I was in over my head. I think I'll hit the books/learning forums again, I had no idea what I was doing! I plan on re-reading your Basics Boot Camp another time for good measure. I have a degree in finance, but that doesn't seem to help me all that much right now!
 
Once again thanks Pharaoh! Is this post not visible to more people?

I was hoping to get responses from as many people as possible! Just out of curiosity, what time-frame do you trade in personally or what have you found to be the most successful short-term or long-term trades?
 
Anita V, welcome to the FPA,

Forum activity comes in waves. Sometimes a thread will get 4 or 5 responses in a day. Sometimes it will sit unnoticed for a week or more.

My single best piece of advice is...

Keep asking questions. Someone will answer sooner or later.
 
Here is my more then single best Piece of Advice;

I normally trade divergence/convergence with an indicator from Top Dog trading that gives me my wave count and cycles...I did ok...butttttttt....

After years I finally man'd up and started to properly count waves...wait for it and yes the best advice I can give is; trade the Gantley bullish and bearish wave patterns it is an M and a W...yes there is more but dammed if my account hasn't started to grow again with less draw down...past two weeks have been nice.

Indicator MT4 Free named the Zup_V39 displays the fib measurements confirming the pattern...checkout the link for more info on these patterns
Harmonic trading - trade Gartley pattern successfully


Then keep a copy of the attachment opened on your desk top to confirm the pattern:

Other indicators on my chart are; Shi Channel indicator; Fibo-grid indicator; and a 60 sma...

Yeah more then one piece of advice, but really the most important is understanding and utilizing the M/W patterns, man oh man, keep it simple :)
 

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Hi Iono,

So far, as you say, divergence/convergence has been my friend and one of the few tools that I have a bit of a grasp on(among using stoch, MACD and bollinger bands). I would also like to use fibonacci measurements but I haven't figured out how to get them on my platform yet. As for the Gantley wave patterns, I read up on them but didn't really go any further since I felt I needed a better base before tackling those. Thanks for the link, I will certainly consider using the patterns when I've gotten more comfortable.

If you don't mind answering, how do you make use of the 60 day sma, more for trends or for support and resistance levels?(I don't event want to ask about the other indicators yet)

Good post! Really got the gears turning in my head :)

Cheers!
 
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