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well, ive spent a lot of years trading various "instruments" and find that the institutions are interested in only one thing -- MONEY ! and they make most of it by using YOUR money (PRIMARY example being mutual funds)

can and will the broker in forex work against you -- you bet your bippy they will, and the SLOWER the time of day youre trading in, the MORE the mm will work at getting your money -- partly because of who they work for and partly because he/she may just be downright bored !

While it may not be the "jungle" out there some would portray, its not a hop, skip and a jump down the interstate either -- the original poster makes some good points, although obviously the figures were drawn from a higher money pool than a lot here have to work with, BUT the points themselves (with a very few exceptions) are VALID in any financial instrument trading situation.

my particular concerns are with the NEWBS who think an EA will make them money and that LEARNING is just too time consuming ! Forex, given its highly technical trading nature (support and resistance, intraday pivots, trend lines and fibs (or murry math for some) is one of the (relatively) easiest of the trading vehicles to master (or at least do pretty danged well with). One can spend a lifetime trading just ONE pair (i personally like the dollar yen this year) unlike having to flit from stock to stock, and therefore get to know and understand its moves pretty well, kinda like an excellent relationship with a lover -- there are untold methods of trading and everyone sooner or later finds their "niche", BUT YOU CANT FIND YOUR NICHE IF AN EA IS DOING YOUR TRADING FOR YOU !

so i agree that one should actually LEARN to trade MANUALLY --- armed with that information, youre good to go for the rest of your life ! I agree that the first year or so is a learning period, NOT to be ignored by the "get rich quick" newbs and i agree that is the time MOST will lose everything and drop out !

as a senior teaching moderator at a 5500 member stock group, I have watched newbs lose money year after year after year after year, and while I warn constantly, attempt to show the right way, try to teach them to learn to trade and coddle the newbs till im blue in the face, I know 95% of them wont be here next year ! Whatever the dollar amount is, the percentage of "drop outs" ;remains pretty much the same, year after year, and an EA (at the newb level) simply makes pocket change and puts off the education they so require if they are to survive !

the original poster may have gone a bit overboard on some of the bullet points, BUT to my way of thinking each one is VALID and should be shown significant respect --- ITS JUST THAT IT TAKES YEARS OF TRADING BEFORE YOU REALIZE JUST HOW CORRECT THEY ARE !

best to you all, and hope to see more than 5% of you back for the next school year !

enjoy and trade well, the money WILL come !

mp