A reliable safe place to learn how to trade currency or goods?

fitzykev

Hi is there a safe site to learn how to trade currency or goods?

ColdIron

Most learn that trading currency is an inherently unsafe activity. What do you mean by 'goods' or is that shorthand for 'stuff'

Frequentlyhere

Oh you can use dummy accounts on most currency/trading platforms, you might even make a few virtual bob. 

You'll almost certainly be spanked trying it for real though, unless you can explain convincingly to yourself the edge you have over professionals. And if that edge is "trying out a bit of swing/momentum trading" based on a youtube video, then that's not an edge.

Edit: To be possibly more helpful, if you really want to carry on with this idea then I'd suggest finding a specialist forum with people who do this already. Whilst it's not impossible to make money, I'm pretty sure what they'll tell you is that the risks are high, the learning curve very steep and the profits small. It's mostly a bad idea to waste time on it.

Exodi

ColdIron said:

Most learn that trading currency is an inherently unsafe activity. What do you mean by 'goods' or is that shorthand for 'stuff'

I think they mean the platform is safe (as in reputable, and not a fly-by-night operation. I presume goods to mean commodities, but I could be wrong.

Otherwise agree with your views, FX trading is effectively gambling in disguise.

Frequentlyhere said:

You'll almost certainly be spanked trying it for real though, unless you can explain convincingly to yourself the edge you have over professionals. And if that edge is "trying out a bit of swing/momentum trading" based on a youtube video, then that's not an edge.

And just like that you've shut down 99% of prospective FX traders

dunstonh

fitzykev said:

Hi is there a safe site to learn how to trade currency or goods?

I saw something recently from a platform that said over 80% of the people using it for currency trading are making a loss.

What do you mean by goods?   -  open a shop maybe?

Exodi

dunstonh said:

fitzykev said:

Hi is there a safe site to learn how to trade currency or goods?

I saw something recently from a platform that said over 80% of the people using it for currency trading are making a loss.

What do you mean by goods?   -  open a shop maybe?

There is a problem, nay a plague, sweeping social media, in which people promote various investment strategies as a method to get rich quick. It is usually daytrading stocks/FX/commidites, or some form of investment bot, though the method isn't important.

They will portray that they have amassed inexhaustible wealth (often subconciously reinforced by rented lamborghinis, mansions, bags of cash, etc in the backgrounds of their videos - maybe they'll show you the winning trades in their portfolio, and forget to show you the losers) in an attempt to gain credibility... and they will tell you their secrets to daytrading that allowed them to gain all this wealth, for just the low low price of £XXX.

In reality, they know you can't gain this lifestyle from daytrading - they make their money from selling courses pretending you can.

Obviously if someone was able to find a way to reliably gain the returns they promote, they wouldn't share this secret as they would have effectively turned their laptop into a cash printer.

I can't emphasise how big of an issue this is on social media currently, especially to impressionable young adults that might be desperate at the moment.

(I'm not saying this is the case for the OP - more in response to the suggestion that over 80% of people are losing money on it, which I can fully believe).

fitzykev

Well when i say goods I can give an example. There is a guy in work and he buys and sells fruits and grains online. He never sees these goods in person tho. Apparently he is doing well at it the problem is I can't ask him as we don't get on very well

wmb194

fitzykev said:

Well when i say goods I can give an example. There is a guy in work and he buys and sells fruits and grains online. He never sees these goods in person tho. Apparently he is doing well at it the problem is I can't ask him as we don't get on very well

That'll be commodities futures contracts and/or derivatives e.g., CFDs. Some platforms will deal in CFDs and you can find ETFs for futures contracts but, again, very risky and often use lots of leverage that'll blow you to pieces if you're not careful.

Why are you asking about two of the riskiest endeavours going? Do you have any basic experience with stockmarket investing? It's usually better to start slow if you're a newb.

Having said this, for FX you could look at Fineco. At least it's a (Italian) bank and offers FSCS protection on your deposits. Before getting into anything fancy, I'd just start with unleveraged, ordinary cash multi-currency accounts myself, though, but you won't get rich quick.

fitzykev

I am just looking for something to try out. No big investment 

Exodi

fitzykev said:

I am just looking for something to try out. No big investment 

Why not research a Stocks and Shares ISA and instead? As wmb194, ultra high risk investment classes shouldn't be what you dip your toe in with.

While investing an a broad market index fund isn't likely to return you 50% in a day, it also isn't likely to wipe you out while you make a cup of tea.

Malthusian

fitzykev said:

Well when i say goods I can give an example. There is a guy in work and he buys and sells fruits and grains online. He never sees these goods in person tho. Apparently he is doing well at it the problem is I can't ask him as we don't get on very well

People who are losing money in get rich quick schemes often don't even tell their own wives. They certainly don't tell people they don't like. So you have no reliable information on whether he is doing well or not.
If he had worked out a way to beat the market and make consistent profits from commodity speculation, he would keep quiet about it. 
Commodity speculation, forex trading and all similar schemes amount to betting whether lines on a screen go up or down. There's nothing else to it; there is no evidence that anyone can consistently beat the market and the expected return of betting on a line on a screen is zero minus trading costs. Minus any money you spend on people who claim they can teach you how to make money from it.
(I was wondering if this was "dropshipping" - another kind of get rich quick scheme where the real money is in charging people for worthless courses and seminars - but AIUI that doesn't usually involve perishable goods.)