Thread: Some Questions for Experienced Traders

Hello everyone,

I recently signed up at etoro, and I received an email from them asking when it would be best for them to call me and answer any questions I may have. I compiled this list of questions for them (I wanted to be somewhat prepared, not just randomly asking questions and forgetting any important ones) and then had the thought to post it on some forex forum, because many opinions is always better than one. Especially one that may or may not be biased since they're getting paid to try to sell their product (that being getting me to sign up for real trading etc)

So these questions are really aimed toward anybody that has more experience than I, (which would be absolutely none, other than the first nine chapters of the Forex Peace Army Guide) but any advice to one or all of these questions qould be tremendously helpful.

Thanks so much in advance.


Oh... almost forgot to put the questions.. here they are:




1. I am a college freshman and consider myself to be pretty ambitious. I've been interested in the forex market for some time but only recently discovered its true potential as far as how much can be made. I'm currently saving up $5,000 to hopefully invest this summer and start trading for real, but before I do, how realistic is it that I can be making a pretty decent salary by the time I graduate, given that it'll take me at least five years (I am, after all, looking to go to grad school immediately)

2. I have heard that it's not wise to trust a non-ECN (if I am saying that correctly?) broker company, can you explain to me more clearly what that means, and why some have said it's not wise to trust them?

3. I am currently reading the Forex Peace Army Guide- have you heard of this? If so, would you recommend any further readings, or is the FPA Guide sufficient enough to get me started to where I can just start practicing and getting a feel for things?

4. Do you know about how many hours this takes as a full-time career?

5. From data I've found online (payscale.com) I've seen that a Forex Trader's salary ranges anywhere between $50-303,000. Granted, this is only as accurate as the people who submit their own data, but, it makes me wonder two things:

i. The first is, once one has a trading strategy in place and can make some pretty consistent ROI, what is keeping them from become rich beyond their wildest dreams? If I were to consistently make an average of 20% ROI a month, then wouldn't it follow that my money nearly doubles every year?

ii. The second thing that it makes me wonder is is it possible/normal/realistic to make a good income as an individual? Do most people that trade full time trade individually, meaning they're self employed, or do they typically work for somebody?

iii. If you don't mind me asking, why are you a consultant for forex.com, and not making it rich yourself?

6. Do you personally think taking courses or even getting a minor in economics, specifically macroeconomics would be beneficial?

Thanks so much in advance!


Mathieu

Originally Posted by smartyy

Hello everyone,

I recently signed up at etoro, and I received an email from them asking when it would be best for them to call me and answer any questions I may have. I compiled this list of questions for them (I wanted to be somewhat prepared, not just randomly asking questions and forgetting any important ones) and then had the thought to post it on some forex forum, because many opinions is always better than one. Especially one that may or may not be biased since they're getting paid to try to sell their product (that being getting me to sign up for real trading etc)

So these questions are really aimed toward anybody that has more experience than I, (which would be absolutely none, other than the first nine chapters of the Forex Peace Army Guide) but any advice to one or all of these questions qould be tremendously helpful.

Thanks so much in advance.


Oh... almost forgot to put the questions.. here they are:




1. I am a college freshman and consider myself to be pretty ambitious. I've been interested in the forex market for some time but only recently discovered its true potential as far as how much can be made. I'm currently saving up $5,000 to hopefully invest this summer and start trading for real, but before I do, how realistic is it that I can be making a pretty decent salary by the time I graduate, given that it'll take me at least five years (I am, after all, looking to go to grad school immediately)

2. I have heard that it's not wise to trust a non-ECN (if I am saying that correctly?) broker company, can you explain to me more clearly what that means, and why some have said it's not wise to trust them?

3. I am currently reading the Forex Peace Army Guide- have you heard of this? If so, would you recommend any further readings, or is the FPA Guide sufficient enough to get me started to where I can just start practicing and getting a feel for things?

4. Do you know about how many hours this takes as a full-time career?

5. From data I've found online (payscale.com) I've seen that a Forex Trader's salary ranges anywhere between $50-303,000. Granted, this is only as accurate as the people who submit their own data, but, it makes me wonder two things:

i. The first is, once one has a trading strategy in place and can make some pretty consistent ROI, what is keeping them from become rich beyond their wildest dreams? If I were to consistently make an average of 20% ROI a month, then wouldn't it follow that my money nearly doubles every year?

ii. The second thing that it makes me wonder is is it possible/normal/realistic to make a good income as an individual? Do most people that trade full time trade individually, meaning they're self employed, or do they typically work for somebody?

iii. If you don't mind me asking, why are you a consultant for forex.com, and not making it rich yourself?

6. Do you personally think taking courses or even getting a minor in economics, specifically macroeconomics would be beneficial?

Thanks so much in advance!


Mathieu

It dependes on you and your kowledge , you can make more chesse in 1/2 hour than in a week , takin the right position on the right time.

Originally Posted by smartyy

ok, here is realistic approach, sad but true

1. If you start trading live before you can be profitable on demo for few month most likely you will drain your account.

2. If you are profitable there is no difference for you if a broker is ECN or not. If your broker does not play with the feed you should not care. Why would you care if your order went to the market or was matched against someone else bet? If you make profit you should not bother.

3. Forex Peace Army Guide is a good place to look for info, if you are a rookie, check on babypips.com

4. You can trade 2-3 hours a day and be done, but this should not be primary concern to a beginner.

5. if you are a forex trader you dont have a salary, you take money from other traders and banks.

6. Economics and finances has nothing to do with profitable trading. That is only good to show off that you know about technical analysis and fundamentals, but it does not help you to be profitable. A lot of bright persons, PhDs and other well educated people fail in trading and they wonder why? They know a lot and pretty successful in life, but this does not count in forex. Trading is dumb and boring. You will not believe it until you get on the other side.


Mathieu

Don't fall into the trap of stories that taking a quick course and reading few smart books is all that is needed for success. In fact, the beginning will be much more difficult, however the return pays off.
good luck