Tsetsyfly:
How profitable is this forex.

ZedFX:
hello to everyone.
@pipsbasketings @every experience trader(4+ years) in the house.

I'll love to know.

ZedFX:
hello to everyone.

@pipsbasketings @every experience trader(4+ years) in the house.

I'll love to know.

it is true that we need to learn everyday.

now why am bringing this up is that luckily we have access to people we can verify that truly the have done this thing for atleast 3yrs+

My issue goes as this, is there any point in the process of becoming or a trader that you can stop to learn something new about the market? or once you get pass the knowledge phase all you do for the rest of the years is focus on the practical, trade and trade and trade?

is there at any point in time need to learn or relearn about the market?
or look to get any information, in that does the market change?

Cause, having clocked a 1 year with months now, I reach a point that looks like if I continue to learn more, it is harmful, instead it looks as if I should now go forward into the process of trading and trading as a technical trader?

Hope the insight I require is clear?

Karleb:
@Binary Options

I remember reading about binary options for the first time on babypips.com some years ago .
It was exactly like Bet 9ja to me, I made a little research and majority of forex trader felt the same way.

In fact, forex traders hardly talk about it. I can bet that for a binary option topic/article there are upto 100, 000 forex topic/articles/books on the internet. Binary options might suits someone who don't know the market and don't wish to know. Seriously, there a lot to gain in forex than that bet 9ja thingy.


@on whether there are a lot to learn in forex.

There a lot of topics in forex. If forex was a course in the university, these topics can be taught from B. Sc level to P. Hd level.

I must say though, forex is learnable between a few period but so many people abuse this hence the reason why so many people lose.

Take for example, I have a book with almost 500 pages on Harmonic patterns. I'm very sure it will take upto a year to sincerely dissect this book to fully understand this patterns.
What about Elliot wave theory? People still firmly believe the 3rd wave has to be the longest but it's not always so especially in forex market (Elliot discovered his waves in the stock markets), not all waves has the ABC correction, some extents to 7th, 9th wave but how many people know this?

How many traders can correctly draw fibonacci?

What about the fundamentals? Without news prices don't move. We have no, low, medium and high impact news, although traders are advised to focus mainly on the high impact news as there are the ones with huge impact.

How many people know of sentiment analysis? What about the numerous candle patterns and chart patterns?
It's not just about when 20 SMA crosses 40 EMA alone.

My point is, the topics are limited but when you go in depth there are a whole lot to learn and it might take decades to master this is why forex traders specialize and you don't need to know all to make decent and consistent profit.

ZedFX:
hello to everyone.
@pipsbasketings @every experience trader(4+ years) in the house.

I'll love to know.

Pipsbasketings:
OK, have you been seeing my trades so far? did you see my last baskets' statement which I freshly closed, printed, and posted yesterday. Weeeel, here is another one I opened just a few hours yesterday after I closed my previous basket; I opened a new basket and closed today before market close....see attached.

Notice how similar the two results are, the curve, the profit factor, win rate, etc. I blurred the $$$ for reasons earlier stated.

My next post will now answer all the questions you asked.

ZedFX:
hello to everyone.

@pipsbasketings @every experience trader(4+ years) in the house.

I'll love to know.

it is true that we need to learn everyday.

now why am bringing this up is that luckily we have access to people we can verify that truly the have done this thing for atleast 3yrs+

My issue goes as this, is there any point in the process of becoming or a trader that you can stop to learn something new about the market? or once you get pass the knowledge phase all you do for the rest of the years is focus on the practical, trade and trade and trade?

is there at any point in time need to learn or relearn about the market?
or look to get any information, in that does the market change?

Cause, having clocked a 1 year with months now, I reach a point that looks like if I continue to learn more, it is harmful, instead it looks as if I should now go forward into the process of trading and trading as a technical trader?

Hope the insight I require is clear?

Pipsbasketings:
OK, have you been seeing my trades so far? did you see my last baskets' statement which I freshly closed, printed, and posted yesterday. Weeeel, here is another one I opened just a few hours yesterday after I closed my previous basket; I opened a new basket and closed today before market close....see attached.

Notice how similar the two results are, the curve, the profit factor, win rate, etc. I blurred the $$$ for reasons earlier stated.

My next post will now answer all the questions you asked.

Shevychen2:


This is a fantastic question. In simple and clear terms, if you still feel the need to keep learning and tweaking your strategy, you are still a learner, pun intended (even if you're no longer blowing accounts).

Every successful trader will tell you that trading is boring. Why? They only repeat specific steps day in day out, year to year. Get a strategy, backtest it for 5-10 years, if it delivers good results (this is relative, but for people like us anything above 60% per year on average), forward test with real money for 2-3 years. That gives you over a decade of various market cycles. Any system that passes the test is good.

Don't forget to make a note of how different risk profiles affect the strategy. A strategy that will give you 350% a year but can go in 50-70% drawdown is useless. You will most likely crash that account when the drawdown hits. Reducing the risk to allow for a max 20-30% drawdown and making 100% per year on the other hand is a good way to ensure longevity. Some people with big capital (7 digits) will further reduce the risk to allow a max 10% drawdown and maybe 30-50% return per year. This explains why one trader can blow their account in one month while another trader using the same strategy keeps making money for decades non stop.

Make a note of the steps in the system and your ideal risk profile, then keep repeating it forever.

If you want to keep reading all the hipster forex strategies and techniques on the Internet in the name of gaining more knowledge, you're wasting your time. The teachers of the bulk of the so called knowledge don't have an account with a one year track record that hasn't blown up. Find what works, shut out everything else.

My answer goes against the grain of what the average person believes, but normal human psychology is why forex is hard for 99% of people anyway. Forex is different from other life scenarios where more learning improves expertise. In forex, more learning often means analysis paralysis or uncertainty in your mind.

If you haven't perfected a strategy, however, keep learning and keep looking for your own system.

Pipsbasketings:
These are great questions, true answers should be provided guys. I beg you all that have positive experiences in fx to reply to him with true answers.



I'm a living testimony of a working forex business: before I provide my own answers to your questions, pls digest this one here - The journey to becoming a professional:
1) You lose a lot of money
2) You lose a small amount of money
3) You break even
4) You make a small amount of money
5) You make a lot of money

The question now is: What category do you fall?

I'm not saying this to lure anyone to give me his account to trade, or to take your money, I'm never interested in such. The fact here remains the fact, I make good money from this business, FX with proven results.

Shevychen2:




Don't forget to make a note of how different risk profiles affect the strategy. A strategy that will give you 350% a year but can go in 50-70% drawdown is useless. You will most likely crash that account when the drawdown hits. Reducing the risk to allow for a max 20-30% drawdown and making 100% per year on the other hand is a good way to ensure longevity. Some people with big capital (7 digits) will further reduce the risk to allow a max 10% drawdown and maybe 30-50% return per year. This explains why one trader can blow their account in one month while another trader using the same strategy keeps making money for decades non stop.

Make a note of the steps in the system and your ideal risk profile, then keep repeating it forever.

Shevychen2:


This is a fantastic question. In simple and clear terms, if you still feel the need to keep learning and tweaking your strategy, you are still a learner, pun intended (even if you're no longer blowing accounts).

Every successful trader will tell you that trading is boring. Why? They only repeat specific steps day in day out, year to year. Get a strategy, backtest it for 5-10 years, if it delivers good results (this is relative, but for people like us anything above 60% per year on average), forward test with real money for 2-3 years. That gives you over a decade of various market cycles. Any system that passes the test is good.

Don't forget to make a note of how different risk profiles affect the strategy. A strategy that will give you 350% a year but can go in 50-70% drawdown is useless. You will most likely crash that account when the drawdown hits. Reducing the risk to allow for a max 20-30% drawdown and making 100% per year on the other hand is a good way to ensure longevity. Some people with big capital (7 digits) will further reduce the risk to allow a max 10% drawdown and maybe 30-50% return per year. This explains why one trader can blow their account in one month while another trader using the same strategy keeps making money for decades non stop.

Make a note of the steps in the system and your ideal risk profile, then keep repeating it forever.

If you want to keep reading all the hipster forex strategies and techniques on the Internet in the name of gaining more knowledge, you're wasting your time. The teachers of the bulk of the so called knowledge don't have an account with a one year track record that hasn't blown up. Find what works, shut out everything else.

My answer goes against the grain of what the average person believes, but normal human psychology is why forex is hard for 99% of people anyway. Forex is different from other life scenarios where more learning improves expertise. In forex, more learning often means analysis paralysis or uncertainty in your mind.

If you haven't perfected a strategy, however, keep learning and keep looking for your own system.

WallStreetfx:


it's high time you creats a rule based strategy that you will follow strictly

Shevychen2:


This is a fantastic question. In simple and clear terms, if you still feel the need to keep learning and tweaking your strategy, you are still a learner, pun intended (even if you're no longer blowing accounts).

Every successful trader will tell you that trading is boring. Why? They only repeat specific steps day in day out, year to year. Get a strategy, backtest it for 5-10 years, if it delivers good results (this is relative, but for people like us anything above 60% per year on average), forward test with real money for 2-3 years. That gives you over a decade of various market cycles. Any system that passes the test is good.

Don't forget to make a note of how different risk profiles affect the strategy. A strategy that will give you 350% a year but can go in 50-70% drawdown is useless. You will most likely crash that account when the drawdown hits. Reducing the risk to allow for a max 20-30% drawdown and making 100% per year on the other hand is a good way to ensure longevity. Some people with big capital (7 digits) will further reduce the risk to allow a max 10% drawdown and maybe 30-50% return per year. This explains why one trader can blow their account in one month while another trader using the same strategy keeps making money for decades non stop.

Make a note of the steps in the system and your ideal risk profile, then keep repeating it forever.

If you want to keep reading all the hipster forex strategies and techniques on the Internet in the name of gaining more knowledge, you're wasting your time. The teachers of the bulk of the so called knowledge don't have an account with a one year track record that hasn't blown up. Find what works, shut out everything else.

My answer goes against the grain of what the average person believes, but normal human psychology is why forex is hard for 99% of people anyway. Forex is different from other life scenarios where more learning improves expertise. In forex, more learning often means analysis paralysis or uncertainty in your mind.

If you haven't perfected a strategy, however, keep learning and keep looking for your own system.

Karleb:
@Binary Options

I remember reading about binary options for the first time on babypips.com some years ago .
It was exactly like Bet 9ja to me, I made a little research and majority of forex trader felt the same way.

In fact, forex traders hardly talk about it. I can bet that for a binary option topic/article there are upto 100, 000 forex topic/articles/books on the internet. Binary options might suits someone who don't know the market and don't wish to know. Seriously, there a lot to gain in forex than that bet 9ja thingy.


@on whether there are a lot to learn in forex.

There a lot of topics in forex. If forex was a course in the university, these topics can be taught from B. Sc level to P. Hd level.

I must say though, forex is learnable between a few period but so many people abuse this hence the reason why so many people lose.

Take for example, I have a book with almost 500 pages on Harmonic patterns. I'm very sure it will take upto a year to sincerely dissect this book to fully understand this patterns.
What about Elliot wave theory? People still firmly believe the 3rd wave has to be the longest but it's not always so especially in forex market (Elliot discovered his waves in the stock markets), not all waves has the ABC correction, some extents to 7th, 9th wave but how many people know this?

How many traders can correctly draw fibonacci?

What about the fundamentals? Without news prices don't move. We have no, low, medium and high impact news, although traders are advised to focus mainly on the high impact news as there are the ones with huge impact.

How many people know of sentiment analysis? What about the numerous candle patterns and chart patterns?
It's not just about when 20 SMA crosses 40 EMA alone.

My point is, the topics are limited but when you go in depth there are a whole lot to learn and it might take decades to master this is why forex traders specialize and you don't need to know all to make decent and consistent profit.

Pipsbasketings:
These are my answers (personal), trading is personal and my answers may not tally with others here, the reason why we are different as traders.

My issue goes as this, is there any point in the process of becoming or a trader that you can stop to learn something new about the market? or once you get pass the knowledge phase all you do for the rest of the years is focus on the practical, trade and trade and trade?

"A basic condition of human existence which means that people are never totally satisfied with the quantity and variety of goods and services they consume. It means that people never get enough, that there's always something else that they would want or need". We always believe that we can get more from our strategies, like filtering out bad trades, like finding a perfect entry and exit even though our systems are already working.
Since there is no 100% perfect system, we try our best to become open to learning and see how we can achieve a 100% trading outcome. I don't think we want to stop to learn something new about the market or especially our already working trading strategy. Based on the journey to becoming a professional trader, the question is: where do you belong. For me, I believe as you move higher in the rank, the less and more specific you want to learn - just like an inverted cone.

is there at any point in time a need to learn or relearn about the market?
Of course, who wants to remain the same forever, why would Dangote start to build refineries despite being the richest man in Africa for many years. There is always a need to learn and relearn, but when I relearn - I don't dump all I already know. From experience, you will get to a point where you already have a believed working system, cos you are not patient enough to do adequate testing, you become swayed by another strategy while thirsty for knowledge, learning, and unlearning. You then completely forget and abandon the already believed working strategy which you should have practised for confirmation. So be careful when learning and relearning, keep what you already have so you don't forget and so you can return to it when the new knowledge fails.

or look to get any information, in that does the market change?
The market is dynamic and many times is radical, you cannot take or choose to trade all. Be specific in what you look for to trade. This makes your trading strategy.
In this dynamic and radical market, do you want to trade it ONLY when it is chaotic? or when it is calm? do you want to pick tops and bottoms? (these are people that wait for a bounce at resistance and supports. Do you want to trade when price returns from the tops and bottoms and complete a formation (these are chart patterns traders), do you want to follow trends? continuation? reversal? pullbacks? do you just want to swing the price? Do you want to trade only candles, do you want to be fundamental? Or technical? or mixed? A lot more questions to ask. Until you answer these questions before you can define who you exactly are in the forex market. The fact remains, you cannot trade all, if you try it, you will be swayed away by the market. Chose a position and stand by it throughout your trading career.

Cause, having clocked a 1 year with months now, I reach a point that looks like if I continue to learn more, it is harmful, instead it looks as if I should now go forward into the process of trading and trading as a technical trader?
Yes, what you feel is very normal. A time will come where you will be very confident to believe FX is a scam and no one can convince you against your belief. Almost every successful traders passed through this stage.
I believe one year and a few months is not enough to define where you belong in the business, you are still in the formation stage. If you are consistent/persistent, in about 1yr more you should hatch and crack up. In another 1yr of consistency, you should breakeven or make small money but may not be enough for a living. Trading professionally and full-time (FX is the sole and ONLY income to live on) may require 7-10years depending on many factors. So don't worry, keep on pushing, what you experience at this stage is normal.

Hope the insight I require is clear?
It is very clear.
My advice is:
1. choose one specific trading strategy and one specific trading style,
2. backtest it with historical data, IF IT FAILS, GO BACK TO 1
3. forward test with a demo account for about 3months. IF IT FAILS, GO BACK TO 1
4. put say $100 and try exactly the same thing you did on the demo. IF IT FAILS, GO BACK TO 1

Regards

Shevychen2:


This is a fantastic question. In simple and clear terms, if you still feel the need to keep learning and tweaking your strategy, you are still a learner, pun intended (even if you're no longer blowing accounts).

Every successful trader will tell you that trading is boring. Why? They only repeat specific steps day in day out, year to year. Get a strategy, backtest it for 5-10 years, if it delivers good results (this is relative, but for people like us anything above 60% per year on average), forward test with real money for 2-3 years. That gives you over a decade of various market cycles. Any system that passes the test is good.

Don't forget to make a note of how different risk profiles affect the strategy. A strategy that will give you 350% a year but can go in 50-70% drawdown is useless. You will most likely crash that account when the drawdown hits. Reducing the risk to allow for a max 20-30% drawdown and making 100% per year on the other hand is a good way to ensure longevity. Some people with big capital (7 digits) will further reduce the risk to allow a max 10% drawdown and maybe 30-50% return per year. This explains why one trader can blow their account in one month while another trader using the same strategy keeps making money for decades non stop.

Make a note of the steps in the system and your ideal risk profile, then keep repeating it forever.

If you want to keep reading all the hipster forex strategies and techniques on the Internet in the name of gaining more knowledge, you're wasting your time. The teachers of the bulk of the so called knowledge don't have an account with a one year track record that hasn't blown up. Find what works, shut out everything else.

My answer goes against the grain of what the average person believes, but normal human psychology is why forex is hard for 99% of people anyway. Forex is different from other life scenarios where more learning improves expertise. In forex, more learning often means analysis paralysis or uncertainty in your mind.

If you haven't perfected a strategy, however, keep learning and keep looking for your own system.

I don't trade tops and bottoms, so I don't have.

I hope I tried, chai, your question many ooo

blackman007:

God has blessed you and will continue to bless you for all you do, I have some questions for you boss @pipsbasketings I know for a fact you are not a scalper, you are more of a laid back, relaxed, or swing trader so to speak, now here comes my question,
(1) on a average how many trades do you take in a week?? ( I know its all depends on what the market can give but I just want to have an idea)
(2) do you keep trades over the weekend? because I noticed you closed all your trades yesterday..
(3) do you have some set of pairs you trades? Or you just trade any pair as long as there's a trade set up or a confirmation?
(4) and do you have books or materials that can give me more insights on how to catch tops and bottoms of a move? although I started learning how to trade since mid last year, majorly from paid courses, free courses on YouTube, and some few selected tips and advise I get from here....I've spent at least 3-5 hours daily learning over the past one year, learning how this Forex business works.... Hope to hear from you soon.. God bless us all...

ZedFX:


yeah, this is the point.
do you just have a rule based strategy and that's that for years.

no need to seek to learn more about the market anymore assuming your strategy is already solid.

why am asking this is that, you'll come across a video on YouTube, a post or whatever on FX especially technical and you still want to know more.

that looks like it can be never ending path

WallStreetfx:


Reducing your drawdown, Can you give us some step to be taken to decrease a drawdown? Does it have to be reducing your risk per trade or reducing your risk to reward because there are some strategy that will allow you to lose 5 trades out of 10 before you bang profit.

Pipsbasketings:
These are my answers (personal), trading is personal and my answers may not tally with others here, the reason why we are different as traders.

My issue goes as this, is there any point in the process of becoming or a trader that you can stop to learn something new about the market? or once you get pass the knowledge phase all you do for the rest of the years is focus on the practical, trade and trade and trade?

"A basic condition of human existence which means that people are never totally satisfied with the quantity and variety of goods and services they consume. It means that people never get enough, that there's always something else that they would want or need". We always believe that we can get more from our strategies, like filtering out bad trades, like finding a perfect entry and exit even though our systems are already working.
Since there is no 100% perfect system, we try our best to become open to learning and see how we can achieve a 100% trading outcome. I don't think we want to stop to learn something new about the market or especially our already working trading strategy. Based on the journey to becoming a professional trader, the question is: where do you belong. For me, I believe as you move higher in the rank, the less and more specific you want to learn - just like an inverted cone.

is there at any point in time a need to learn or relearn about the market?
Of course, who wants to remain the same forever, why would Dangote start to build refineries despite being the richest man in Africa for many years. There is always a need to learn and relearn, but when I relearn - I don't dump all I already know. From experience, you will get to a point where you already have a believed working system, cos you are not patient enough to do adequate testing, you become swayed by another strategy while thirsty for knowledge, learning, and unlearning. You then completely forget and abandon the already believed working strategy which you should have practised for confirmation. So be careful when learning and relearning, keep what you already have so you don't forget and so you can return to it when the new knowledge fails.

or look to get any information, in that does the market change?
The market is dynamic and many times is radical, you cannot take or choose to trade all. Be specific in what you look for to trade. This makes your trading strategy.
In this dynamic and radical market, do you want to trade it ONLY when it is chaotic? or when it is calm? do you want to pick tops and bottoms? (these are people that wait for a bounce at resistance and supports. Do you want to trade when price returns from the tops and bottoms and complete a formation (these are chart patterns traders), do you want to follow trends? continuation? reversal? pullbacks? do you just want to swing the price? Do you want to trade only candles, do you want to be fundamental? Or technical? or mixed? A lot more questions to ask. Until you answer these questions before you can define who you exactly are in the forex market. The fact remains, you cannot trade all, if you try it, you will be swayed away by the market. Chose a position and stand by it throughout your trading career.

Cause, having clocked a 1 year with months now, I reach a point that looks like if I continue to learn more, it is harmful, instead it looks as if I should now go forward into the process of trading and trading as a technical trader?
Yes, what you feel is very normal. A time will come where you will be very confident to believe FX is a scam and no one can convince you against your belief. Almost every successful traders passed through this stage.
I believe one year and a few months is not enough to define where you belong in the business, you are still in the formation stage. If you are consistent/persistent, in about 1yr more you should hatch and crack up. In another 1yr of consistency, you should breakeven or make small money but may not be enough for a living. Trading professionally and full-time (FX is the sole and ONLY income to live on) may require 7-10years depending on many factors. So don't worry, keep on pushing, what you experience at this stage is normal.

Hope the insight I require is clear?
It is very clear.
My advice is:
1. choose one specific trading strategy and one specific trading style,
2. backtest it with historical data, IF IT FAILS, GO BACK TO 1
3. forward test with a demo account for about 3months. IF IT FAILS, GO BACK TO 1
4. put say $100 and try exactly the same thing you did on the demo. IF IT FAILS, GO BACK TO 1

Regards

Shevychen2:

Definitely reducing risk per trade. A system with a potential 70% historical max expected drawdown on 2% risk per trade can go down to around 10-12% max drawdown if you reduce risk from 2% per trade to 0.25% per trade. And the thing with historical drawdowns is that they are just that:historical based on backtests. Some flash crash or whatever can increase the expected DD in future. All the more reason why you should lower it as much as possible to give yourself a chance to survive forever.

I don't believe in risk to reward ratios. I worry about my risk only and let the market do whatever it wants until I get an exit signal. The exit signal may come where I had in mind originally, fall short of it, or blow past it.

ZedFX:


you see this is my point, believe me I have read a lot on forex and understand a lot.

but there always seems to be something else you don't know.

so am like do we ever reach a point we can say okay, I'm done with my PhD, now is to work and get promoted and work more and get promoted?

Pipsbasketings:
(1) on a average how many trades do you take in a week?? ( I know its all depends on what the market can give but I just want to have an idea)

My answer to this question is personal to my trading style and strategy; hence may definitely be useless to you. I do basketing, but I know people here that trade only 1 or 2 pairs. However, I will still answer.
I look through a total of 28pairs and gold, the total is 29. My general belief is that all these pairs move, they trend, swing, up and down, range. So I take advantage of every opportunity they present. I do not trade all the pairs at once, I scan through to determine which one gives me the best entry. So I don't determine how many pairs I enter per week, I always follow what the market presents to me per time. However, I have a general expectation that I will never have more than 20pairs in a basket no matter how great the trades are. Again, this information may not be relevant to you.

(2) do you keep trades over the weekend? because I noticed you closed all your trades yesterday..
100% yes, over 4 weekends and even more. Like I have stated many times, I go in when the market presents itself to go in, I go out when it presents itself to be out. I don't enter a market with a basic expectation of the general RR many traders talk about. Again, I don't determine what I want from the market, I take what it gives me. So if it will require 2months to exit, I follow suit.

(3) do you have some set of pairs you trades? Or you just trade any pair as long as there's a trade set up or a confirmation?
Answer in 1. above. Just to add, I avoid the CNH, HKD, PLN, SGD, NOK, SEK, CZK, HUF, RON, RUB, TRY, ZAR, MXN, and other weird quoted pairs. The list of pairs I trade has been selected just by looking at their overall playout, no gaps, big spikes etc.

(4) and do you have books or materials that can give me more insights on how to catch tops and bottoms of a move?
I don't trade tops and bottoms, so I don't have.

I hope I tried, chai, your question many ooo