1st week was a learning experience. We're $5 up so far. Oanda uses "units" instead of "lots" when creating your position size. I was caught off guard initially, forgetting what "units" meant. Basically, it's a limiting of your position size based on margin, from what I gather. It's easy to navigate though. Simply put in your SL and TP in pips, and put in your number of units. You can see the equivalent USD value on the right side of the screen. Based on the risk calculated, the units can be adjusted. In the case of lots, you do the whole calculation at once, so you put in SL, TP, and lot size based on one calculation: (balance * % risk) / (pips * 10) = lot size. Here's an example from the app below, where the risk is about 3.5% based on my account.
I'm confident in my strategies going forward, and I start again this afternoon, with 3 trades planned for the week, formed from fundamental announcements. It's simple, and it's helping me in many ways, from learning the platform, getting used to spreads, timing, and most importantly, building a routine.
