I read that most people that start out in FOREX do not do well. I started a practice account and looked at trends from the month chart down to the sixty minute chart buying into trends while keeping a good margin. I also read what the indicators do. I started with ,000 and in a week I have grossed around 0. My question is, it seemed very easy and I didn’t know if this is typical or because the account is a demo the results are fixed for results.
Trading indicators are best used along with money management and good risk control, using trading indicators alone will not enable you to be a successful trader, the market is just too random and unless risk is controlled over time your account will slowly get wiped out, regardless how good a “trader” you think you are.
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I wouldn’t trust "retail forex" practice accounts, as there’s a potential incentive for "retail forex brokers" to convince people that they’re profitable, even when they aren’t, just to get people to send in real money and churn their accounts to 0. In so-called "retail forex", you aren’t really trading foreign currencies directly; you’re trading an over-the-counter contract issued by your "broker" (not really a broker even because they’re your counterparty)..
Of course, it’s certainly possible that the simulator is accurate. What I would do is try to verify the results against a third-party source, such as Yahoo’s currency calculator. Also, keep in mind that just a week isn’t a very long time horizon; you may just have gotten lucky, so you might want to look over a much longer timeframe. Anecdotal evidence seems to indicate that at least 95% of "retail forex" customers lose (you can search the Web for various stats on this, for what that’s worth).
Forex is crowded with scams, generally, so please be careful; see also this warning from the CFTC:
http://www.cftc.gov/opa/enf98/opaforexa15.htm
Truthfully, you shouldn’t be in a position for more than three minutes, not 60! You’re leaving yourself very exposed to fluctuations! Ideally, trade in three PIP spreads. Up three, down three..whatever. But your orders should have a ceiling and a floor. I would recommend actually getting into a real simulation before actually trying the strategies on your own. My favorite sim is on OANDA.com. Check it out.
To answer your question, for you to make 20% on your money is atypical, unless you’re fully invested in one currency pair. That, to me, makes zero sense.
You need about 6 months to a year on the paper trading before you can start with real capital.
A certain amount of luck can have anybody making some money short term. The trick is to keep it up.
The results are not "fixed". The problem is that your decision making is not realistic because you know you aren’t really going to lose any money. Sticking to a trend following plan through the inevitable drawdowns when it’s real money on the line is hard.