Binary options have been a big hit on the net for some time now. That’s why I’ve tried my hand at this kind of stock market trading. My name is Sven, I am 37 years old and come from Bielefeld. At this age you are usually a little bit more seated. You have a job, always pay your bills well and go on weekend trips with your family. But I wanted to venture into this little adventure and see if I could secure a little extra income with this kind of business. I would like to say in advance that I have been working with binary options for quite some time. Here are my experiences with these trading options.

Highs and Lows

I made my first experiences on the platform of BD Swiss, formerly Banc de Swiss. This company, although the name suggests otherwise, is not based in Switzerland, but in Cyprus. At first, I was a little scared off by this circumstance, and I asked myself the question about the seriousness of the provider. But when reading more closely, the user quickly finds out that the provider is regulated and is regularly monitored by the responsible supervisory authorities. The platform is very clear and my first trades were quickly placed.

As with any kind of gambling, the ups and downs of emotions began here. Won, lost and won again. To get more security, I later signed up for Etoro. This broker also offers a special professional chart. With this chart, price developments can be predicted with a certain certainty, even though trading remains a game of chance. With this information I achieved higher winnings and doubled my deposit first. Another provider I signed up with is Anyoption. Here I received a corresponding analysis chart with it. However, I quickly realized that the results were less accurate than those of Etoro, so the bottom line is that you should always rely on Etoro’s chart. Otherwise, more accurate results can only be obtained against very high sums of money and with insider knowledge. Nevertheless, I have to live with losses again and again, because no matter what information you have, the prices can change quickly. This up and down became my constant companion.

*** See for yourself how easy online trading is at BDSwiss ***

The trade is simple

Nevertheless, trading on most platforms is very easy. The web interfaces are simple, and you can quickly find the derivatives you are looking for. Also, a trade can be set with just a few clicks, so I didn’t have to get too involved with the technical basics. Some providers also offer special software that can be installed directly on the computer. This works similar to the web interface, but I quickly noticed that trading can be delayed by only about a second. But especially with derivatives, like the 60-second options, such a time span can already lead to a loss. So I moved my trading back to the web platforms.

As time went by, I wanted to keep my stakes better under control. So I was attracted by the trade of mobile devices. From a smartphone or tablet, trading works just as well as from home. However, you need a fast flat rate on the phone, which also has enough data volume, because all information is transmitted in real time. So I mainly negotiated from my home PC, but when I was travelling I also used my smartphone again and again. However, I quickly renounced to the providers who offered special software for the mobile trade. Some hung up while using it, others simply broke off the connection to the server. So I basically switched to mobile trading via the browser in the smartphone.

How I won

As mentioned earlier, when trading binary options, profit and loss go hand in hand. However, I quickly realized that it was possible to develop a strategy to increase the profit margin. I first decided to listen to my instinct. All too often, however, the price went in the opposite direction. So I followed the chart’s instructions and bet whenever the price reached the highest or lowest value. If I now bet on a rising price with falling prices, I could assume with a probability of 80 percent that this result would actually occur. However, there is also a large residual risk here, so that I soon learned to deal with the matter more closely. Above all, it is important to study the respective stock market prices. One should also deal with the assessments of experts, because here I received predictions as to whether a price will rise or fall over the course of the day.

In this way I was able to reduce the residual risk by another 10 percent. However, it is primarily the level of bets that determines the return. When I began to bet higher amounts, I naturally also incurred high losses once with a risk of loss of only 10 percent. As a rule, my stakes amounted to between 50 and 200 euros. Thus I had to recognize that also with all caution, fast large sums can get lost. The ratio of profit to loss for me was about 60 to 50, so that I could count on a return of 10 percent on my bets. In my experience, however, this value fluctuates very strongly, since on some days higher profits and on others also larger losses were brought in. I reached the average of 10 percent yield per day through prudent trading. Also, I always set a maximum amount with which I wanted to trade the day. I also never let myself be carried away, even on good days, to exceed this value.

My experience with the deposit systems

I also had to learn quickly with the deposit systems, there are many different possibilities, which are connected with different conditions. Usually I used the deposit system from Skrill, formerly Moneybookers. While searching for a broker who also accepts Paypal, I quickly noticed that this payment method is only marginally represented here. Sometimes I also used my credit card, but there can be additional costs, as I soon discovered. In the early days of trading, I was mainly concerned with the conditions for the deposit and withdrawal, because here too, horrendous fees or long waiting times can be incurred.

Besides all the experiences you can gain when trading binary options, your own emotions are the most important. Most of the time I had a positive mood, although there were often moments that almost drove me to despair. This is where I would have liked to have thrown everything away. Trading binary options is like any other game of chance, a pure thrill. Adrenaline coupled with the relieving feeling of triumph or the stale feeling of defeat, went hand in hand with me and it has remained that way to this day.

Experience report written by Sven, 37 years old, living in Bielefeld.