[MightyMouse]

Originally Posted by trader_john »

I've found that with a small account, the impact of bad habits and mistakes are magnified. Some examples:

• you may close trades that go against you before your plan calls for them to be closed
• you may close winning trades prematurely
• overtrading will kill you in commissions (stocks/options/futures)
• opening a long when you meant to open a short could wipe you out (or worse)
• thinking you closed a trade when you didn't could wipe you out (or worse)

On the bright side, it might be more difficult to double your position rather than flattening it since you may reach your account limit.

That said, Forex seems like the most practical for small account active trading since you only have to overcome the spread, no commissions on top. The thing to watch out for is a big whip and complete destruction.
As an alternative, you could use a sim such as papermoney from thinkorswim while you build a stake.

John

Trader John ,
you don't need a small account and do not need to be inexperienced to make those mistakes.

[mrgreen]

I agree with all you posted but this. A new trader doesn't have the synaptic highways to understand what Mark Douglas or for that matter any book detailing a subject they have never experienced. IN this instance the emotional ups and downs of trading. After one has traded for a year or two they can get much more out of this book. If someone read this when they started to trade they should reread it again now that they have experienced what it is talking about. Actually it's worth putting on your cal to read once a year.

Originally Posted by daedalus »

Go out and buy Trading in the Zone by Mark Douglas. Read it twice before you place a trade. It would've saved me thousands if I had read it prior to trading. It is all about the psychological / emotional aspect of trading. That is what will be the hardest thing for 99% of trading to master. A trading method is easy. Pulling the trigger, managing a trade without emotion, and taking profit without fear or greed entering into the equation is the hard part.

[tlfx]

IMHO $1000 is more than enough to start trading in forex since forex have mini and micro lot accounts. But of course it's hard to make a good money with just $1000 but you can use it to learn especially how to control your emotion since demo trading is different. I heard this one trader can turn $5 into $4000 in a few months! So yeah, $1000 is more than enough to start trading in forex
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Just my opinion...

[fxlabrat]

I only have $100. But i saw an EA can make around 10% daily. So if i compound my money i'll get $1000's in a few months... wish i have $1000 at least.

[Hlm]

This reminds me to buy a lottery ticket when I get gas today. I mean, it is possible that a $1 ticket could be worth 200k if not millions.

But to be serious, is $1000 enough to start trading FOREX...because of the ability to trade pennies on the pip, technically yes it is. However, your profit is going to be porpotional to that (pennies on the pip) if you trade with solid money mangement that wouldn't be different if you were trading ten times that.

[BlowFish]

Originally Posted by fxlabrat »

I only have $100. But i saw an EA can make around 10% daily. So if i compound my money i'll get $1000's in a few months... wish i have $1000 at least.

With a small bank roll it is probably prudent to examine how much they can loose before making that 10%. Thats if you buy in to there claims in the first place. Neglect risk of ruin at your peril.

[rangerdoc]

Another contrarian viewpoint here... I think it's a great idea.

Much better to start with $1000 trading micro lots & losing it all than to deposit $20-30K like other suggest and losing all of it.

It's essential to discover what type of trading fits you best. I personally don't believe you can accurately find this out with a practice account. Paper accounts just don't screw with your emotions enough to be of value.

I say,
1) Open a micro account with a market maker (FYI, if you're trading anything less than $100,000 lots then you are trading with a market maker even if they tell you differently).
2) Try really hard not to lose it all.
3) Lose it all.

Hopefully, after completing these three steps, you will have learned a few things like:
A)What types of trading fit you best. Fast, slow, in-between. Are you an impatient person who is a nervous wreck if you have a trade open overnight.. do you lose sleep in this scenario? Or are you a rather disciplined patient person who would rather take your time making calculated decisions, then sit back and watch it develop?
B)Trading may be simple, but it sure ain't easy.
c)That the earlier posts were right... you are going to have to learn how to trade. This will take lots of time.
D)That you are the weakest link in the trading process.
E) You may even discover that trading isn't for you. No shame in that. Just like everyone isn't meant to be a pro athlete or musician.

If you walk away from your first account with this knowledge, then your $1000 taught you more than any book, video or course could.

Once you figure this out definitively, only then can you develop a methodology that has a snowballs-chance-in-hell of making money for you. You've probably heard this over and over by now: Almost any system will make money in the right hands. 90% of your success or failure is in the 7lbs of grey matter between your ears, not in any external thing like a system, broker or which market you trade.
To illustrate this, I once heard Eddie Van Halen pick up a cheap department store piece-of-crap guitar and play it. You know what? It sounded freakin' awesome. Now, put Eddie's guitar in my hands... you know what? It will sound like a piece-of-crap dept. store junker. yet the world is full of amateur musicians who are constantly chasing the latest gear, equipment and techniques, when all they really need is simply years of practice. Sound familiar? Just replace "musicians" with "traders" and you have an accurate description of the trading industry.
If you are really wise you will take this to heart. If not, then you will have to follow in the footsteps of millions of losers before you. Which is to first buy a system, then build a system, then build zillions of different systems. Once all these have failed you, then you may finally start to realize that the problem is you, not the systems. There are plenty of threads on here about the typical progression that traders make as they develop. There's lifetimes of experience in these forums. (Unfortunately, lots of it is buried in mounds of horse s#!t). Dig through it and you'll find gold.

Fact: You are NOT going to take $1000 and turn it into a million. Even with world-class rates of return, it would take decades to turn this amount of money into anything of value. The pressure to get above normal rates of return because your account is so small will ruin your chances for survival, even if you practice good money management by trading micro lots.

And the absolute best advice I could give you...
has nothing to do with trading....
drumroll please....
Stay out of debt or get out of debt. Most people in America make enough money in their lifetimes to retire very comfortably, yet almost all retire broke instead. Why? Because of debt.
It's much easier to trade for a living if you only need $20,000 a year to live on. Contrast that to most people who's lifestyles demand an income of $60-100K per year just to stay afloat. Which do you think has a better chance at trading for a living?
If you can't do this first, then it is a good indication that you have psychological or emotional issues with money. If you do not fix those first, they WILL manifest themselves in you trading behavior in very nasty ways. I promise.
if the whole reason you want to trade is to live a comfortable lifestyle, then this last piece of advice is enough alone. But if that is not good enough.. if you'd rather gouge out your eyes with a toothpick than have to work for someone else for the rest of your life, than trading may be one option.

All the posts here have been excellent. If you're not scared away yet, I say go for it!

Yes it is possible!!!