trademanager

I know it's sometimes difficult to obtain what you want when you don't know perfectly a platform.
It's been my case when I first joined this thread as I was using a completely different one.
And there is so many interesting things to read in this thread that it's certainly better to concentrate on trading then on IT.

So here's my modest contribution to this thread and to all what Udine gives us.

But please, READ THE RULES AND THE THREAD for all what's related to trading...
Stay calm and polite with each other.
You'll see, this thread is a real wonder on both the trading and the human point of view.

It's not always easy.
But it really deserves it...



How to set your EA to manage your stops and take profit
according to Udine's rules...

(Zips with EA and parameters are included at the end of this post.)


First, maybe you could use WUKAR_WB_Trail_v1_3_2e.mq4 from ericjschroed
http://www.forexfactory.com/showthre...35#post7543135
instead of the separated Wukar and Wheelbarrel.


Both work perfectly well, but Eric's may be less confusing as everything is integrated in the same EA and the same interface.
It also handles OCO orders.

Attached Image (click to enlarge)

This is a copy of my parameters with a 5.5 commission.

The zip file contains both Eric's EA and the presets parameters for 0 and 5.5 commissions.
Just put this EA in your C:\Program Files\MetaTrader 4\MQL4\Experts
and the presets in C:\Program Files\MetaTrader 4\MQL4\Presets

Drag the EA on your screen
Use these parameters

Attached Image (click to enlarge)

Then click on This button (depends on your language)

Attached Image (click to enlarge)

And load the presets of your choice.
Clic OK.
Then on your main screen, clic Autotrading to activate it.

Attached Image (click to enlarge)

And check in Tools / Options that all is checked like this (depends on your language) :

Attached Image

It should work fine now.
The little smiley on the top right of your screen should be smiling ;-)

Attached Image

Test that everything is fine with a few test orders and when it's ok, create a template (Right clic / Templates / Save Template)
Then apply this template to your other pairs (Right clic / Templates and select the one you've just created...

Hope this helps...

why people dont succeed in forex ?

will say it bluntly... 100 % of the people start out in forex for one reason only: to make
a shitload of money as a get rich quick scheme and make money from day 1.

90 - 95 % of the people fail in forex for the following reasons:

1. no clue of what their getting into
2. no system
3. no plan
4. no patience
5. no focus
6. no discipline
7. dont treat it like a business, but more as a game/hobby/entertainment
8. dont act / work as a professional
9. no administration
10. looking for shortcuts and not putting in the effort

the 5 - 10 % of the people who succeed in the end, realize that forex is not get rich quick, you need to work it
study, test, train, etc etc.

You think that somebody who wants to play professional basketball can join the NBA from day 1??
how much training with blood, sweat and tears, has gone into the training before even reaching that NBA level?? And how many of those young guys never make it into the NBA ???

You can change the basketball player, into doctor, lawyer, tennisplayer, golfer, forextrader .... anything...
and how much training, studying these highly paid professionals do on a daily basis ???

1. no clue what their getting into...
everybody should at least have read the school over at babypips.com ONCE, twice would be better..

2. no system
they jump from system to system, make the first changes after two three trades, to "improve" the system without testing it in depth...

when you test a system... any system for that matter you must test it as is presented to you, see if
STEP I. you can get consistent with minimal lotsize and if that is the case
STEP II. double your demo account twice

That is important, because during the time your doubling your demo account you will encounter all kind of market changes, that will show you if the system can stand the test of time..

IT WILL ONLY WORK IF THE SYSTEM YOUR TESTING FITS YOUR PERSONALITY !!! Sometimes a system works perfectly for others, but not for you, there is nothing lost.. there are plenty systems that can make money... and there is one that fits your personality as well

3. no plan
this includes: goalsetting plan, trading plan, business plan
with regards to the goalsetting, the first thing they say I want to make a lot of money.... and then go for it..

WRONG !!

These are the 6 questions you need to answer for ALL of your goals (not only forex) !!
1. Precisely (meaning precisely) what do I want (the end in mind / ideal result) ?
2. By what date ?
3. How did others get there (dont invent the wheel) ?
4. What five smaller pieces can I break this into ?
5. Who can I ask for help ?
6. What is the first measurable step I must take in the next 24 hours ?

Now what to do:
A. Take massive action
B. See what is working and what not
C. Adapt until you see its working
D. Find mentors

With regards to the trading plan I have attached something everybody should use.
for a businessplan template there are plenty out there so do a quick google search

4. no patience
I have said it before:
A $1K account making 1 %/ day and compounding makes you a millionair in 3 years !!
So what is so F@#king hard to understand ??

Where were you 3 years ago??? and where will you be in 3 years time if you continue like this??

5. no focus
make an excel sheet, set it up as your trading journal/log, where you log everything and add an extra sheet where you have a $1K account compounding to a million and update the file at the end of every trading day = to keep your eyes on the goal..

6. no discipline
create a daily routine, do fitness daily; eat and drink healthy, sleep enough

Every time you make a trading mistake do 10 burpees...LOL (I did) In the worst case you dont get rich, but you will be fit (and still get your dreamgirl)!!

7. dont treat it like a business
You are the CEO of ME Inc.... and as long you dont have a money machine you are the money machine..
See your personal situation as a company of one: ME Inc.
Are you going towards wealth or bankruptcy??

Your company needs 2 things:
1. profits
2. positive cash flow (spend less than you earn)
that all !!

8. dont act/work as a professional.
treat it as if you go to work... and try to improve every day... not to impress somebody, but simply make yourself better

9. no administration
how many of you dont have a trading journal/log, where you write down EVERYTHING ???
and i dont mean simply writing down: day/pair/ entry / exit / profit /losss
I mean everything, with pics of entry, reason of entering, situation of news at that moment, ADR, feelings ... everything...
this is so underestimated by way too many people !!!

it helps you to analyze your trades during the weekend, see where you made mistakes (do your burpees) and maybe adjust your
system rules so you wont make that mistake again..
10. looking for shortcuts

in forex are no shortcuts... you must put in the work..
As Vince Lombardy said: Success comes before work ONLY in the dictionary !!

enough said for the moment..

Udine

how to plan living off forex earnings

First of all you must see forex as a start not a finish
Why do I say that...

Forex profits can build your future...
- pay off all your debts
- live of the forex earnings
- invest forex profits into passive income streams..

but the question is... how to start all that ??

suppose you have been demo trading a system (any system for that matter) and you consistently make 1 % a day.. day in day out...

In the meantime you have been saving up some cash to open a live account. Well I can tell you that trading demo or live is a whole different ballgame.

My advice is to start with a small account say max. 1K and trade the smallest lotsize possible, to get used to the mental stuff. and get consistent trading live...

I already mentioned that a 1K account compounding 1 % a day will make you a millionair in three years..

Now you say 1 % is not a lot... Well your bank might pay 2 % a year, so your doing better than your bank...so no complaining

I make 2 % daily, at least most of the days, so the odds can are improving

ok now some math. theory

if you make 2 % a day for 20 trading days, you multiply your account with 1.48.

Say you have 1.000 to start
month 1 1.480
month 2 2.190
month 3 3.241
month 4 4.797
month 5 7.100
month 6 10.509

so after 6 months you have 10K

10 K @ 2 % / day = $ 200 / day * 5 days = 1K / week

you let the account grow to say $ 60K
then you split the account in three equal parts

1 part goes into a seperate account for not feeling the pressure; in case you dont trade profitable you still can pay for food and shelter

2 part is for living expenses: 20K * 2 % (or even 1 %) = $ 400 / day * 5 = $ 2K a week, you should be able to live of
that

3 part for investing in passive income: by taking 50 % of the profits and invest in passive income so in the future you never have to work a day in your life anymore

Live below your means, pay off your debts and you will see you dont need that much to have a decent life ... so what if you aint the next Soros.. whogives a damn....

As long as you can provide all that is needed for your family and you can teach that to your kids... in my book YOU ARE A WINNER !!!


that is my humble opinion..

cheers

Udine

Top Crude Oil ETF List

This is a list of all US-traded ETFs that are currently included in the Oil & Gas ETFdb Category by the ETF Database staff. Each ETF is placed in a single “best fit” ETFdb Category; if you want to browse ETFs with more flexible selection criteria, To see more information of the Oil & Gas ETFs

These are tough times for oil exchange-traded funds (ETFs). Not only have crude prices tanked 40% this year as the boom in U.S. shale oil has created abundant supplies, but OPEC’s decision not to increase production has helped depress prices as well and many experts aren’t expecting a significant rebound for years.
Nonetheless, this is a sector that investors with a long time horizon should consider because prices aren’t going to stay depressed forever. Moreover, though environmentalists have argued for decades that oil is a finite resource, companies keep finding more of the stuff. In the U.S. alone, the U.S. Energy Information Administration estimates that proven reserves of oil and natural gas reserves have risen for five straight years. That boon has offset the declines in production amongst OPEC members. (For more, see: How Oil ETFs React to Falling Energy Prices.)
ETF investors can avoid the risks of exposure to single stocks that tend to fluctuate based on the direction of oil prices. Like with other investments, the key to oil ETFs are their fees. The lower they are the better. Also, you should avoided chasing high yields offered by some funds, which may not be sustainable. It's especially important to be aware of dividend sustainability. (For related reading, see: What Determines Oil Prices?)
Below is a list of the five biggest oil ETFs based on assets under management along with commentary on the fund’s holdings. Not surprisingly, many got pounded in 2014 and won’t have an easy time in 2015 either. We have included both energy equities and commodities funds and listed them in declining order based on assets under management. (For more, see: Long Term Oil ETFs.)

Energy ETFs

Energy Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLE)
Assets Under Management: $12 billion
2014 Performance: -8.7%
Total Expenses: 0.15%
XLE has a well-diversified portfolio with holdings in majors such as Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM) and ConocoPhilips Co. (COP), along with services provider including Schlumberger NC (SLB). It was the only one of the SPDR sector ETFs to end 2014 on a down note, though some observers are predicting better times ahead for the fund in 2015.
Alerian MLP ETF (AMLP)
Assets Under Management: $9.18 billion
2014 Performance: 4.83%
Total Expenses: 0.85%
AMLP, which focuses on energy master limited partnerships, is a strange fund. Not only are its expenses sky high, but it also is the first ETF structured as a C-corporation, making it subject to income taxes.
Vanguard Energy ETF (VDE)
Assets Under Management: $3.92 billlion
2014 Performance: -9.94%
Total Expenses: 0.12%
VDE offers broad-based exposure to small, medium and large-cap names involved in all aspects of the oil industry, from the construction of rigs to the refining of products and the exploration for new oil fields.
United States Oil Fund (USO)
Assets Under Management: $1.17 billion
2014 Performance: -42.36%
Total Expenses: 0.76%
This is about as straightforward as you can get. It tracks the swings oil prices through futures contracts for light sweet crude, which is the primary benchmark used in the U.S. Even so, the expenses seem kind of high for such a simple fund.
PowerShares DB Oil ETF (DBO)
Assets Under Management: $284 million
2014 Performance: -43.33%
Total Expenses: 0.77%
This is another fund that tracks the price of oil through its underlying index, though it also makes money from the interest in the Treasury Bills it owns. Again, the expenses are on the high side.
PowerShares DB Energy ETF (DBE)
Assets Under Management: $140 million
2014 Performance: -40.07%
Total Expenses: 0.78%
This ETF tracks a wide variety of energy commodities including Brent Crude, heating oil, WTI Crude, gasoline and natural gas.

The Bottom Line

Rather than betting on oil or oil companies alone, oil ETFs offer investors a cheap, easy way to diversify their energy investment portfolio. Just be sure to do your own research before investing in any of these funds, and pay attention to fees

How People Make or Lose Money in forex ?

Let's take a look at a simple example of how someone can make money from a forex transaction. Suppose you have $900 U.S. dollars and you exchange that for $1000 Canadian dollars. One week later, the CAD/USD exchange rate goes up from 0.90 to 1.0, so the Canadian dolar which you own has increased in value compared to the U.S. dollar. You could then exchange the $1000 CAD you have back into U.S. dollars and you would receive $1000 USD.


So you started with $900 USD, you now have $1000 USD, a profit of $100 USD.

Your Decision	CAD	USD
You buy 1,000 CAD at the CAD/USD rate of 0.90	+1000	-900
A week later, the CAD/USD rises to 1.00 and you exchange your 1,000 CAD back into U.S. dollars	-1000	+1000
Profit		+100

How Forex Brokers Make Money

Trading forex is great – online access to your account so you can trade anywhere in the world, very high leverage which enables you to make a significant amount of money from a very small account, the trades are commission-free and even the spreads in forex are extremely tight.
Given that you, the forex trader, has a number of advantages, have you ever wondered how your retail forex broker makes money? And why are there so many retail forex brokers out there? After all, forex broker advertisements are everywhere and the competition seems to be very stiff. So how, exactly, does your forex broker make money?


In the foreign exchange market, traders and speculators buy and sell various currencies based on whether they think the currency will appreciate or lose value. The foreign exchange, or forex, market is high risk and sees more than $5 trillion dollars traded daily. Traders have to go through an intermediary such as a forex broker to execute trades. No matter the gains or losses sustained by individual traders, forex brokers make money on commissions and fees, some of them hidden. Understanding how forex brokers make money can help you in choosing the right broker.
Role of the Foreign Exchange Broker
A foreign-exchange broker takes orders to buy or sell currencies and executes them. Forex brokers typically operate on the over-the-counter, or OTC, market. This is a market that is not subject to the same regulations as other financial exchanges, and the forex broker may not be subject to many of the rules that govern securities transactions. There is also no centralized clearing mechanism in this market which means you will have be careful that your counterparty does not default. Make sure that you investigate the counterparty and his capitalization before you proceed. Be vigilant in choosing a reliable forex broker.
Forex Broker Fees
In return for executing buy or sell orders, the forex broker will charge a commission per trade or a spread. That is how forex brokers make their money. A spread is the difference between the bid price and the ask price for the trade. The bid price is the price you will receive for selling a currency, while the ask price is the price you will have to pay for buying a currency. The difference between the bid and ask price is the broker’s spread. A broker could also charge both a commission and a spread on a trade. Some brokers may claim to offer commission-free trades. Actually, these brokers probably make a commission by widening the spread on trades.
The spread could also be either fixed or variable. In the case of a variable spread, the spread will vary depending on how the market moves. A major market event, such as a change in interest rates, could cause the spread to change. This could either be favorable or unfavorable to you. If the market gets volatile, you could end up paying much more than you expected. Another aspect to note is that a forex broker could have a different spread for buying a currency and for selling the same currency. Thus you have to pay close attention to pricing.
In general, the brokers who are well capitalized and work with a number of large foreign exchange dealers to get competitive quotes typically offer competitive pricing.
Risks of Foreign Exchange Trading
It is possible to trade on margin by depositing a small amount as a margin requirement. This introduces a lot of risk in the foreign exchange market for both the trader and the broker. For example, in January 2015, the Swiss National Bank stopped supporting the euro, causing the Swiss franc to appreciate considerably versus the euro. Traders caught on the wrong side of this trade lost their money and were not able to make good on the margin requirements, resulting in some brokers suffering catastrophic losses and even going into bankruptcy.
The Bottom Line
Those contemplating trading in the forex market will have to proceed cautiously—many foreign-exchange traders have lost money as a result of fraudulent get-rich schemes that promise great returns in this thinly regulated market. The forex market is not one in which prices are transparent and each broker has his own quoting method. It is up to those who are transacting in this market to investigate their broker pricing to ensure that they are getting a good deal.

how to make money from forex trading ?

Trading foreign exchange on the currency market, also called trading forex, can be a thrilling hobby and a great source of investment income. To put it into perspective, the securities market trades about $22.4 billion per day; the forex market trades about $5 trillion per day. You can make a lot of money without putting too much into your original investment, and predicting the direction of the market can be quite exciting. You can trade forex online in multiple ways.


Investors can trade almost any currency in the world. Investors, as individuals, countries, and corporations, may trade in the forex if they have enough financial capital to get started and are astute enough to make money at it. How someone makes money in the forex is a speculative process: you are betting that the value of one currency will increase relative to another.
Currencies are traded, and priced, in pairs within the forex. For example, you may have seen a currency quote for a EUR/USD pair of 1.2131. In this example, the base currency is the euro and the U.S. dollar is the quote currency. In all currency quote cases, the base currency is worth one unit, and the quoted currency is the amount of currency that one unit of the base currency can buy. So, in this example, one euro can buy 1.2131 U.S. dollars. How an investor makes money in forex is by either an appreciation in the value of the quoted currency, or by a decrease in value of the base currency. (For an overview of foreign exchange, read A Primer On The Forex Market.)

Another way to look at currency trading is to think about the position an investor is taking on each currency in the pair. The base currency can be thought of as a short position because you are "selling" the base currency to purchase the quoted currency, which can be seen as the long position on the currency pair. In our example above, we see that one euro can purchase $1.2131 and vice versa. To purchase the euros, the investor must first go short on the U.S. dollar in order to go long on the euro. To make money on this investment, the investor will have to sell back the euros when their value appreciates relative to the U.S. dollar. For example, assume the value of the euro appreciates to $1.2141 - on a lot of $100,000 the investor would gain US$100 ($121,410 - $121,310) if he or she sold the euros at this exchange rate. Conversely, if the EUR/USD exchange rate fell by 10 pips to $1.2121, then the investor would lose US$100 ($121,210 - $121,310).