I am investigating trading on the FOREX. Their are so many seminars offering this and that, and plenty of warnings on youtube to stay off the ForEx. Research Ive seen suggests 95% of traders fail and go broke, Ramsey says 7 in 10 traders lose money...I'm looking to find and hear from any traders with actual experience who are consistently profitable. Please Help!

Answer
I made good money trading forex during 2005 and 2006, and actually made more than trading stocks and futures because of the high leverage. I was already a successful trader, and this was too good to be true. But then it became real popular and I had to rework my strategy. And then the rules changed.

Forex is largely unregulated and run by the banks. It wasn't enough for them to make money from the newbies. They were taking on too much risk trading against real traders. If I could see their heavy-handed moves and fakeouts and stop running, then others could as well. I exploited their weaknesses and used their strengths against them. They began denying my market orders when it was clear I would make money and they would lose. What kind of crap is that? Are they making a market or not?

Too many outside traders were making too much money. So they changed the rules.

Their algorithms work perfectly now to take advantage of fear and greed of the masses. They know just how much to move price to make you cave in and give up, or feel like you're missing out and get you in, then reverse it. They are masters of exploiting weak hands. Getting caught up in the middle of useless plundering is no fun.

There is almost no such thing as a trend anymore in forex; until there is and you wonder how you missed it.

I still occasionally trade forex, but trading stocks and index futures makes so much more sense, I find myself going for days without seriously even considering forex anymore.

The lure of forex is being able to start with so little money, high leverage and it's easy to learn how to push a few buttons to make trades.

Unfortunately, it is the most difficult market you could choose, and those very same things spell disaster for the newbie: high leverage and being underfunded and little experience.

Save your money and learn to trade stocks and ETF's. Develop a Trade Plan, and trade the simulator with fake money until you can show a consistent profit.

Contemplating making a living from trading is a pipe dream until you've done something; 90% of all traders fail in the first year, and there's some pretty smart people in that group. Trading isn't like other jobs, where you learn all you can, work hard, get the experience, and bing, you're successful. There are no guarantees with trading. It can drive you insane with frustration because it's more than 50% psychological, and not what you think you know.

The key here is that forex is a "trading" vehicle for experienced and advanced traders with lots of tools and computer power at their disposal. Even my two super-fast computers and eight monitors are no match for the mainframe computers used by the banks and hedge funds and currency traders around the world. You and I are just suckers to them; part of a little game they play for amusement on the side of their real business.

Are you a successful trader? If not, steer clear of forex until you are. You will lose your money and learn nothing more than how to push a few buttons.

Forex is no "game" like a video game. It's a pool of sharks ready to feed and eat you alive; always circling your position. You will find yourself on the defense immediately, and it is no fun. Unless you can learn how to join them and go on continual attack, you will lose. Nobody ever made any any real money playing defense. Investors beware -- this is not for you.

FOREX Trading Question?

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 $3,000 and in a week I have grossed around $600. 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.

Answer
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