Forex Accounts Explained
Good money management is the essential key that many currency traders miss. Many traders ignore adapting good money management rules at their own peril. As a consequence, they get their account blown in a few weeks of trading. You need to become a disciplined trader. Trading discipline means developing a trading system based on money management rules that limit your risk and avoid making trading decisions based on emotions. In the end, every trader has to develop his/her own insights and systems.
One of the worst blunders that trades can make is to try to trade without sufficient capital. This does not mean that you should have a lot of money before you start trading; it only means that you need to have enough capital in your account to take advantage of the movements in the markets. Low capital increases your chances of getting blown out.
Many forex brokers fix the minimum amount required to open a standard account as $2000. However, it is recommended by most of the professional traders that you should start with at least $2500-5000 to get good results. A trader with limited capital is always a worried trader. He is always looking to minimize losses beyond the point of realistic trading. Never ever trade live without practicing on the demo account for a few months. First, try to double your account at least three times in a row on the demo account.
A standard account or a regular account (often also called 100k account), lets you trade a $100,000 standard lot with a $1000 deposit. This $1000 is kept as the margin by the broker. This is a 1% margin. Your account should have more than $1000 if you want to trade a $100k lot.
When you open an account with the broker, you must determine what the default margin is. You can change the account margin to whatever you feel comfortable with. If you start with a 2% margin, then it will cost you $2000 to trade one standard lot.
Many brokers offer huge leverage to the new trades. This is done to entice them to trade more. You can get a leverage of up to 400% by some brokers. Using 400% leverage means trading $400,000 with a $1000 deposit. With a small deposit you are controlling a huge amount. Be careful! You will get wiped out in a moment. Dont use more than 4% leverage while trading in the start. Too much leverage is dangerous for you.
With practice and more experience, you can increase the level of leverage in your trading. Its not that leverage is bad. Its just that you need to understand and learn how to use it. You can only do so with practice.
Mini accounts are great for newbies. You can open a mini account with a deposit of only $300. The mini account was developed to accommodate investors who were looking for diversification out of their stocks portfolios. This small dollar requirement allows many investors to participate in the forex markets who were previously unable to do so. Recently micro accounts have also been introduced.
One lot on a mini account means $10,000. On a mini account, you have a different lot size as compared to the standard account. You only need $50 to control a mini lot of $10,000. This is a leverage of 200%. Pip size on a mini account is also small as compared to the standard account. A pip size on the mini account is equal to $1 instead of $10 as on a standard lot.
If you lose 100 pips on a mini account, it means losing only $100 as compared to losing $1000 on a standard lot. You can say a mini account reduces your risk by 10%. But it also reduces the amount of profit that you can make. Start with at least $500 on a mini account. A mini account is a great way for beginners to practice forex trading. Once you develop the feel of how the currency markets work, you will have to open a standard account. It is on the standard account that you can make good money.