I'm in the US, is forex trading pointless?

[dontworryaboutit]

If betting with a spread is illegal, how am I supposed to make more than cents of profit if I can't adjust for leverage? 

[UvaKail123]

If you know what you are doing and have capital it's not pointless.  You get 50 to 1 leverage in the US, and you can place directional trades long or short on pairs.   

[dmedin]

Is it illegal for you to open an account based in the UK?

[UvaKail123]

Yeah, we're not allowed to have overseas accounts.  Most regulated reputable brokers won't take US clients.  There are scam brokers based out of places like the Grenadines, Bahamas, Marshall Islands that will happily take your money and give you 1000 to 1 leverage.  They'll even let you fund via credit card.  Good look getting a payout if you win big!

The only reason I'd want an account in the UK as a US person would be so that I could trade stock CFDs.   Otherwise why do you want one?  

[dmedin]

18 minutes ago, UvaKail123 said:

Yeah, we're not allowed to have overseas accounts

Well that really sucks.

But it's perfectly legal to gamble on the sports?

Wow...

I guess you're forced to work with options?  Which are really complex and a pain in the @ss.

[UvaKail123]

I think 50 to 1 in Forex is more than enough.  2 to 1 in stocks is even enough since they move way more than currencies.  Options definitely help give you leverage and help with risk. 

Options aren't that complicated in my opinion.  All you need to know how to do is basic strategies like calls, puts, covered calls and call/put vertical spreads.  I don't mess with anything else.  The hardest part is timing your trades and buying the right expiration date.

In the US I don't think you can do much unless you have at least 10k in a stock account.  That will let you run a few stock positions and allow you to have some options plays on too.  Forex you can go much smaller.  You just have to be realistic about what kind of returns you can expect.

 

 

 

[dmedin]

11 minutes ago, UvaKail123 said:

In the US I don't think you can do much unless you have at least 10k in a stock account

 

Sounds like in the U.S. they are much more aggressive and up front about the fact that 'little people' shouldn't 'play' with the markets.  I think your big financial advisers and such want people to pay them to manage all their finances for them.

Big money corruption all over the place.

[UvaKail123]

True, they would rather you put your money with them so they can put you in passive investments and charge you a fee every quarter to do nothing.  That's why retail brokers are shrinking in the US.  Plus the government thinks they need to protect you from yourself.  Either way you need enough capital to make it in trading otherwise you'll constantly be playing the lottery and we know how that usually turns out.

[ItsAlex]

You should consider trading currencies futures at the CME in Chicago.

1 contract of EUR/USD Ticker #6E goes for 500$ margin. 6$ per tick, 12$ per point profit. That's the same leverage I get with a professional spread betting account in the UK. If you have a smaller account they now have micros as well, the margin for those goes to 50$ per contract.

https://ninjatrader.com/PDF/ninjatrader_futures_contract_details.pdf

Futures also have tax benefits in the US (60/40 tax). 

All the best