HOW TO GET STARTED TRADING FOREX

BROKER: Very important and very complicated decision. Check out http://www.forexpeacearmy.com for reviews of brokers. Keep in mind that some of the negative reviews are just 'sour grapes' by people who lost money due to their own mistakes. The brokers I have heard the best things about are: MB Trading, FX Solutions, Interbank FX and GFT. I currently use FX Solutions and like their trading platform a lot. I do not recommend FXCM.

When you open your account, specify a MICRO account (1 pip = 10 cents). Yes, you will not make money quickly but the idea in the beginning is not to LOSE money.

SOFTWARE: You will need MetaTrader4 which is used by most online traders. You can sign up for a FREE demo account with numerous online brokers and get access to this software with real time data. I use Alpari and ODL (I have 2 of them running on my computer).

TRAINING: Nothing beats BABYPIPS, in my opinion .. and on their forums you will find all the information you need about trading strategies.

CHAT: Please stay away from live chat rooms, you can so easily be led astray. The best resource I have found to date are the forums on babypips.com ... a large & giving group of successful traders are there & willing to help you. Another good resource is Forex Peace Army. If you join their mailing list, they send quite a bit of useful information and you can also join their FREE news service where they teach you how to trade the news (which I do not recommend until your skill level is very high). However learning how to do it, and how it works, is extremely valuable.

CHARTING: If you are not a skilled chart-reader, your learning curve for Forex will be longer .. go to BabyPips.com and go through their Pipsology school, from Kindergarten to 12th grade .. try to learn everything you can about chart reading and technical analysis. The Candlestick thread on the Babypips forum will help you learn candlestick formations, perhaps the single most useful thing to know when trading Forex.

Soon I will be sharing a strategy on this website that is simple to learn, even for a beginner, and can produce mega-pips in a relatively short time. Stay tuned.

Do not trade in a live account until you are making consistent profits in your demo account.
And when you start trading, just trade micro lots until your confidence AND your account balance builds.

ALERTS: I was not recommending any alert services because they charge monthly fees from $50-$250 or more and the results are often inconsistent. That is .. until I found THIS ONE. One time modest fee and check their stats! Now you can start to earn while you are learning.

Have Patience! The potential to make a lot of money starting with very little is very real in Forex, and this does not happen automatically or quickly. Be prepared to lose a up to 1/2 of your real money account (which should be no more than $3000 to start) before you start making it back again. You will LEARN by LOSING, so keep losses small and you will remain in the game!

Here are my suggestions for account size:

Minimum $1200 to start for a micro account
Minimum $10000 for a mini account. Please, unless you are a millionaire, do not start forex trading with a mini account. If you have, say $20k of SPECULATIVE money, then open a micro account with $2k and be prepared to top it up if you start losing. Once you are CONSISTENTLY in profit, more than 3 months of steady profit, you can add more funds and move to a mini account, then when you have $50k to a standard.

MORE TOOLS: on the Forex page I have links to other recommended resources. So far I have NOT found any automated trading software or system that works well.
Recently I found an excellent and affordable Forex trading course that I feel has huge value and can be used by beginners and more advanced traders alike.
Click here for more information.
For information on other trading courses, click here.

VERY IMPORTANT: As you succeed in trading (and with practice, patience & perserverance you will) remember to give back. Each month contribute 10% off the top of your profits to a favorite charity. Some of the ones I like are Children International (see link at left), Make-A-Wish, your local ASPCA, or any religious organization doing good work.

Email me with any questions, or join us on the Babypips forum, my handle is 4xStar.

There is RISK in forex trading!
Do not trade with money you cannot afford to lose.