[Aaron137]

I started trading with $100 using a micro account. You can do it for less. Demo trade is a good way to start, although there is no emotional attachment to the risk of virtual money. If you cannot afford to lose less than $100 study charts and demo trade.

[marketwavez]

Originally Posted by Aaron137 »

I started trading with $100 using a micro account. You can do it for less. Demo trade is a good way to start, although there is no emotional attachment to the risk of virtual money. If you cannot afford to lose less than $100 study charts and demo trade.

What about trading a Micro account or Nano account with your $100 ?

Micro account trades at .10c pip


Nano account trades at .01c pip

[Aaron137]

I'd go Nano if you can - I think you can open one with $25.

[smuhr]

Go back to school on babypips.com

[charles1]

Opening an account is wise just so you can take advantage of all the educational stuff forex sites have to offer. Some of them even have weekly webinars. I know when I started out with the $50k paper accounts I lost a lot more quickly then I made. After reading how paper trading can affect live trading behavior I asked my account rep for my paper account to start me wtih $5k instead of the normal $50k, and instead of thinking in terms of money when i won or lost. I thought of it as points in a game and just forgot about the dollar sign. And I always played with the houses money, and reduced my position when i was losing and winning. I never went in on 1 lot and added on. I more like went in 2 or 3 lots and reduced. In the beginning i was more amped to make a million a day, now I'm more amped not to lose a million in one day, if you know what I mean. Take it slow and watch it build over time. I studied charts and one currency for a solid year before I went live.

[charles1]

Of course you can trade with a $1k just the same you can trade with $250 or $100,000. The only way to know what amount is right for you is to know that you've done your homework and you can trust the markets behavior as of late to make money management decisions that suit you stomach. I've personally started an account with just over $2k and in one week have just over $6k, now were the next weeks like that no of course not, could they have been of course they could. BUT I did my homework. Before I got into the market I ready a few books one i like the most The Markets Wizards. At the end of every interview there is some advice given to future traders; which i've made a note of. personally I'm a scalper I have no strength to affect the market but just to bottom feed. I'm like one of those little fish you see swimming underneath a shark. I'll go 1 lot maybe 2 lots in and as soon as I make them back I pull out and play with the houses money. Whether I make pips or lose pips I reduce my positions, because I'm not out to get rich over night. My goals is to work for myself and be responsible for my retirement. If I should get rich in the process so be it. Trading allows me a sense of freedom no job can give me. Today I scalp and someday I may be able to hold a position longer, but why ruin a good thing if it works. Hope that helped.

[jonbig04]

Wow, someone said you need 20k to trade. To each their own, but 20k? What the heck do you do with the money that you aren't trading with? I've never understood why people think you need so much money to trade. You need money to live while you LEARN how to trade, but IMO if you have learned you don't need much at all to get started building your account up. Once again this is only after you've put the learning and screentime and have developed a trading plan.

People told me to start with 5k per ES contract, but I couldnt figure out why I would do that when the margin is $500. What do I do with the other $4,500? I know my accuracy and risk and if I could lose $500 or $1000 per contract, I should'nt be trading in the first place, let alone $4,500.

Just my two cents.

[Aaron137]

I have heard the same thing - you need x amount to start trading. When starting out the maximum amount I wanted to lose was $100 and was risking about 10% each trade with a reward of about 2:1. Went on to triple my bank in 2 weeks and lost it. I think that was the most upsetting loss I had because I had not the discipline to follow the game plan. What no book can really teach you is discipline. The loss damaged my ego more than anything - having a plan and not sticking to it is what did the damage. Having a plan and discipline is the hardest part of the game - sometimes I think it would be easier to have someone looking over my shoulder and checking on whether I'm following the game plan.

I think what demo trading can really do though, is help you identify your win / loss ratio, reward / risk, help with money management, know what edge you have, and more importantly tracking whether you are following your trading plan.