I considered forex trading a few years ago, but decided against it. Reasons being:
1. As a retail forex trader, you are at a big disadvantage against the major players who get much smaller bid/ask spread than retail traders.
2. I don't understand worldwide economics enough to figure out what drives foreign exchange rates. I am not comfortable with only doing technical analysis for trading. I must understand the fundamentals.
I went with trading US stock options. I know business and can understand company fundamentals. The first 2 years I lost all my money
. The 3rd year I was break even. Then TD Ameritrade decided to close my account since they no longer wanted Trinidadians as customers. That was early last year and because I was very busy with my job, I was out of the market the rest of the year.
Early this year, I opened my new account with another broker. I am now a lot wiser, educated, and mature after the long break. So far I have been profitable. I learnt to trade stress free and not trade based on emotions. I learnt how to use the broker's automatic trading tools to minimise loss and take profits at the right price. It works good with my busy job schedule since I don't get much time to be watching stock markets. I don't study about getting rich quick. I just take it easy and take whatever comes along. Don't fight up with it.
I don't day trade. That's too much stress. I just do some quick checks and when I find a opportunity with low risk and high gain, I take it. After that, I just forget it. My automatic trading tools will close the position at the right point for best profit. Stress free!
I especially like companies that are doing bad. It's easier to predict their price movement (down and more down), and the price movement is faster (stocks prices generally fall faster than they rise). I make a lot more money when stock prices fall than when they rise. In these last few days, I made some sweet profit on RIMM (maker of Blackberry phones) when their stock price hit rock bottom with a new 52 week low today. I hate Blackberry phones, but I love RIM, lol.
Just things to consider when chosing your investment options. Find the right investment choice that suits your personality. If you real afraid to lose money, then mutual funds are for you. Looking to make decent profit fast and can take loss of money, get into active trading like stocks, options, futures, or forex. Find what's right for you. I will personally stay away from forex, but that's just me. For me the small man, it's stock options to start off. To me it offers the best risk to reward ratios available and good for taking small money and safely growing it into big money quickly. If I do well, I will branch off into real estate. Then hopefully some day reach the point where I can make very early retirement from my day job.