What trade size and leverage to use in forex?

8christianpaul8 posted:

Jamespaul posted:

8christianpaul8 posted:
XM is good. XM is my very first broker. What they say is true that no requotes. Though I blew a few accounts with them due to my own mistakes as a newbie. I switched to RoboForex because of the free VPS and good profit share bonus. When I get more capital to open a new account, I will open an account with XM again.

With XM you don’t actually need a big trading balance to start trading. You can even open an account with them now. I made mine with an initial deposit of just $500. You actually only need $5 with them.

I know but I prefer something at least around 1k dollars like what I use on my 2 accounts.

That sounds about right, anyone with some experience in trading shouldn’t be putting in less than 1k for sure. Nothing much to gain otherwise.

You can begin with identifying your risk per trade and the amount you want to invest. It is always wise to focus on your risk management. You can look for the lot size you would like to trade and see how it works out for you. I’m trading with some reliable brokers because of the platform choice. There is MT4, MT5 and Acttrader that I can access with Avatrade, Fxview and others.

If you have to start your trading journey , %0X leverage and micro lots is the correct thing. Do no go with higher leverages.

Gareylinn509 posted:

Numeromatt posted:
Leverage is a good option to use, don’t listen to those telling you that it should be avoided.

I don’t think that’s a very sound advice to be given to someone, leverage is a double edged sword, and more often than not, it proves to be on the wrong side of traders. Newbies are just greedy to make a quick buck and end up losing all their money, thanks to leverage.

I am also not saying that leverage should be used blindly, there has to be math to it.

Can somebody please recommend some brokers that offer small trade size? I was keen on going with IG but found out they don’t offer micro lots.

ele020 posted:
If you have to start your trading journey , %0X leverage and micro lots is the correct thing. Do no go with higher leverages.

Without any leverage at all I won’t be able to gain anything, my trading capital’s not much.

Kylealker87 posted:

ele020 posted:
If you have to start your trading journey , %0X leverage and micro lots is the correct thing. Do no go with higher leverages.

Without any leverage at all I won’t be able to gain anything, my trading capital’s not much.

hahhaa that's funny, I just noticed, I meant 50X and not Zero. Thank you for letting me know my typing error. And 50X is enough to start with. I don't recommend more than 50 if you have just started trading. Try smaller trade size, its okay to grow slow with small trade sizes rather than blowing up your capital completely.

irkedduff posted:
Can somebody please recommend some brokers that offer small trade size? I was keen on going with IG but found out they don’t offer micro lots.

Where did you check, I have traded micro lots on ig, but not across all markets do they give this small trade size, so that must be the reason. Anyhow here are some reputed brokers offering micro lots:
Oanda
Fxview
Pepperstone
Swissquote

irkedduff posted:
Can somebody please recommend some brokers that offer small trade size? I was keen on going with IG but found out they don’t offer micro lots.

For small capital traders even Alpari and FXTM are good choices.

Practice thoroughly your risk management on a demo account and then only use leverage. And start small.

I am a demo account user here, I have been trading for 4 months now, with a drawdown of around 20% on both my trading accounts (demo) with cityindex and fxview. I have installed all possible alerts and using forex steam EA, should I start live trading on perhaps micro lots with the same brokers?

I don't see any reason why not. Yes, it's best to start a small account first to get your skin in the game. If you would still follow the same principles you learned in demo and still profitable for the next few months, then go ahead and add more funds.

Kroolsc posted:
I am a demo account user here, I have been trading for 4 months now, with a drawdown of around 20% on both my trading accounts (demo) with cityindex and fxview. I have installed all possible alerts and using forex steam EA, should I start live trading on perhaps micro lots with the same brokers?

If they are working well for you and you are comfortable using them then why not?

Kroolsc posted:
I am a demo account user here, I have been trading for 4 months now, with a drawdown of around 20% on both my trading accounts (demo) with cityindex and fxview. I have installed all possible alerts and using forex steam EA, should I start live trading on perhaps micro lots with the same brokers?

No matter which broker you use you won’t get the same results as you were getting on your demo account, so it doesn’t matter.

First make a strong trading plan, of which leverage should not be a part. If you can’t make profits without leverage then you shouldn’t be trading at all.

inspirenez posted:
First make a strong trading plan, of which leverage should not be a part. If you can’t make profits without leverage then you shouldn’t be trading at all.

I believe leverage is used so that the percentage of profits increases, it does not mean that one does not know how to trade.

Kylealker87 posted:

inspirenez posted:
First make a strong trading plan, of which leverage should not be a part. If you can’t make profits without leverage then you shouldn’t be trading at all.

I believe leverage is used so that the percentage of profits increases, it does not mean that one does not know how to trade.

I sort of agree with you, leverage is required, but just should be used very carefully, after acquiring some experience.

What are you guys talking about? Leverage allows you to make the margin bigger. If you follow proper position sizing, you would have the exact same amount of risk every single trade. You only need 2 things: capital amount you are willing to risk and total pips from entry to stoploss. Using those two, you can get the correct lot size. Whatever happens to the trade, you will lose the exact same amount of capital regardless of what leverage you have on the account. Leverage matters only when you have a lot of trades open as it will allow you to open more due to bigger margin.

If you follow correct position sizing and risking 1 to 2% of your capital every single trade, leverage is not needed on this equation.