Currently, I have been experimenting with margin trading a bit, seeing how it works and what happens. I would only use small amounts, but just until recently I have used higher amounts 2-5 bitcoin, and today I put a long order (expecting the price to go up for profit) at 920$, and currently the bitcoin price is near $870 taking a total loss of -$203.20 (-5.56%), I really don't know what moves to make when I should take my loss or when I should cashout my profit. My intentions are to patiently wait for the price to settle a bit higher and see if I can take less of a loss or even maybe see it go above 925$ again, let me know if you think nthis is a bad idea.
One thing to keep in mind is that I am charged around 10$ in fee's when margin trading with around 5 BTC when I am doing this, so regardless I have to make 10$+ to profit which is the most annoying part for me, if anyone knows of a margin trading website that has low fee's please let me know of that too, thanks for the help.
I ended up taking a total loss of: $-298.15 + -$27.09 with an average percent drop of around -8.27%
The worst part is the second I sold my BTC, I decided to open a sell order so expecting the price to go down, and a few seconds later after placing that order the price shot up 30$ on kraken, causing me to lose another 50$ right away. I'm starting to think this just isn't for me.
Right now, Bitcoin is very very hard to trade, as the market is still deciding whether it has put in a bottom yet upon which to build from. My advice to you if you are margin trading 'just to see what happens', then stop immediately. Most traders lose money in the market same as most gamblers in the casino lose.
If you are going to trade BTC, then you have got to learn the rules of the game. You have got to learn what a trade setup looks like, you have to learn how to manage your risk, and above all else, you need discipline and a very thick skin. Even the most prolific traders that I know take absolute poundings from time to time and if you are the type that takes this sort of treatment from the market too much to heart, then believe me, trading is not for you! If a trader was looking at a long trade, here are some reasons that he may have to enter such a trade (plenty more reasons not to enter that trade btw, which are not shown on this chart), and how he may structure such a trade, operating strict profit and stop loss targets:
If you are going to margin trade, then Kraken is most certainly not the place to do it. I would recommend BTC 3 Month Futures on OKCoin. There, you can get up to *20 margin, with 0% fees on market maker orders (i.e. orders placed in the bid/ask walls). Previously, I would have balked at recommending a Chinese exchange, due to the fact that these guys can just turn around and say "Fuck You!", before taking your money with impunity, with there being absolutely nothing you can do about it. But since in 2016, both Kraken and Bitfinex done exactly that to thier customers, it seems that the Bitcoin margin trader may as well take the better trading conditions and chunkier trading volumes on the Chinese exchanges. With that said, only send across a small amount of BTC at a time, and don't ever bet more than you are wiling to lose on any one trade. Just like Finex and Kraken, OKCoin actively trade against their own customers, and thanks to *20 margin position liquidating runs are common place.