[Minis Trader]

GREAT post, a huge amount of information in one place, thanks for doing the legwork.

[tomar2515]

Great post for the beginning trader. Real world education is always the best lesson learned.

[ChicagoTrader]

About dedication to this business, I actually predate many of you doing this, I guess. The post was well put and applies to any form of trading, actually.

Back when the PC was considered an expensive toy, dedication in trading meant standing still in a sweaty, crowded pit and getting poked by sharp pencils. It meant dealing with "pit politics", losing your place on a step, constant flu and getting colds from being with a few hundred of your "best friends" and spending the wee hours updating charts with pencils and rulers.

Markets have good and bad times. I got started in the 1970s and today's "problems" and market swings are no different than back then. The trader divorce rate was no different and moment of silence on the floor for colleagues who had committed suicide happened then, just like now.

Markets trend, sometimes they don't. Big fish sometimes become bigger, sometimes they fry. What markets pay attention to changes over time, and sometimes it all goes full cycle. Governments over-regulate, under-regulate, and then go through the same cycle all over again.

If you've ever read "Reminices of a Stock Operator", you'll know what I am writing about. Trading becomes all the rage, then it becomes the "cause" of all things evil.

Good thing I kept learning about IT during this whole process. Pushing a mouse may be less difficult than standing on a step for seven hours, but controlling emotions is just as challenging.

Finally, schlocks selling trading systems have been around for a long time. Learn your own way and planning what you'll do and how is the best advice of the post.

Enjoy the ride.

[jess82]

well, for me this seems like a open source for many people to start on this business. I started with my account and many friends and relatives have been asking about how this works, even if they don’t have idea about currencies and stuff. There are many things involved on this market

[Stormy]

I've been reading posts of this site and have been able to gleen from others words and experiences. Just not enough to allow me to open my own account and risk my own money. Even paper trading is scary for me as I don't know where the heck to begin!
Surely, there is a humanatarian somewhere across the USA that is willing to aid those who want to learn. A classroom setting would be great! I'm NOT purchasing another "I'll teach you to trade" course.

[imgunn]

Some great advice here

[kingtodd]

Hi Bootstrap
Very honorable of you to reveal your struggles. I am at the starting gate in trading. Sold my property, moved away from everybody (NY to Las Vegas) and sit and study solid. It has been 2 months now and have tremendous amount of info and still feel like I know nothing. I have been practice trading the Q's (qqqq) with options. This is what I learned at first. Getting ok with understanding candlesticks, being able to get out of a trade moving against me (paper trading). Just funded an optionhouse.com account, but use another program to watch the charts and the option movement. At the same time I have been looking at the Forex. I have been drawn to added programs that claim to make you money. A lot of them seem to be Meta trader Add ons. One that is very different is Wave59.com, adding intraday predetermined patterns using astrology. Pricey, though. Being a visual person, I like dynamic charts that I could trade on in Forex. I invested in Visualtrader and got an IQfeed for it. I like it, not sure how much it will really help me in the end. I tend to overdo it in the charts and programs right now, but I like to see everything before I decide. Out of that kind of research, free useful info came as well. The best economic calendar I found so far is http://www.forexfactory.com/calendar...=2009-3-10&c=2
Out of researching Forex, got help for equities as well. On trying to decide which broker to use, Still at a loss. ECN's MM, and the rest. These are the two most exstensive sites so far: http://www.goforex.net/forex-broker-ratings.htm and http://www.forexfactory.com/brokers.php The rest I saw in various Blogs.

QUESTION..... ANY RECOMENDATIONS ON A WHERE TO TRADE FOREX AND WHAT PLATFORM TO USE?

I know you said the add ons are a waste of money. Nothing useful?

Thanks again Bootstrap and anybody who will reply.
If you are trading the Q's (qqqq) options, and want to interact on this, let me know.


Success to all
Todd

[edabreu]

Great post. Thanks. I still need to hear this. It's damned worth it.

"Endeavor to persevere" keeps popping in my head every day.