I Look Back Now and Wonder

[Bear Mtn. 10]

Great post Bootstrap, something that should be required reading for members of the forum

 

Thanks Null,

 

I've actually started buying up some speculative stuff lately. It's Probably a little premature to start buying already but I like the odds. It's likely that we are far from seeing the worst yet though. The market is going to a roller coaster for for quite awhile.

 

-bsl113

 

Just curious how that's working out for you now bsl? If you still come on the forum and see this?

[Neil316 10]

Thanks so much. I am so now to this and despite reading 4 books so far still find it a bit scarey. Your advice was helpful.

Where do I go for the best training?

Cheers,

Neil,

[Tams 20]

Thanks so much. I am so now to this and despite reading 4 books so far still find it a bit scarey. Your advice was helpful.

Where do I go for the best training?

Cheers,

Neil,

 

 

 

The best place to learn trading is the discussion forum.

You can ask questions about an unfolding event, you can get feedback in real time.

 

The worst place to learn trading is also the discussion forum.

There are gems within the posts...

There are also half truths and outright delusions.

It is difficult, if not impossible, for a newbie to sort out which is useful, and which is not.

 

One good thing about TradersLaboratory is that you can gauge the value of a post by the "Thanks" it has given by its readers.

 

In this information-overload age... the "Thanks" rating is not only an indispensable time saver, it might also save your sanity and capital.

Edited September 25, 2009 by Tams

[StockTrader6080 10]

Great post.

 

I think it's important new traders (and old traders) realise how much there is to do for point #4.

 

Do you have an plan for when your trading software goes down?

What about when the exchange goes down?

Do you know how to hedge your trading instrument/size and do you have the excess capital available to?

Do you have another brokerage account if you can't access your current one?

PC Crash?

Internet Crash?

Your local phone exchange crash? (Yes, I actually have had that happen, and yes I was in a position.)

Power outage?

Godzilla?

 

You get the drift.

 

Come on Guys!

 

You make it sound so complicated that people think their only solution is to dump their money into mutual funds and pray that it goes up.

 

But remember this; Many mutual funds dropped 40% to 60% last year, while the "brilliant" fund managers got their money out and left everyone else to ride it down to the bottom.

 

If any of those things you pointed out ever did happen, it would simply mean you were a 'buy-and-holder' for a day. As a mutual fund holder, you are a 'buy-and-holder' for years.

 

Being down for 1 day is not the end of the world. As you pointed out, whole brokerages and exchanges go down, so anyone in the market is in the same boat.

 

Cheers,

 

ST

[edabreu 10]

Thanks so much. I am so now to this and despite reading 4 books so far still find it a bit scarey. Your advice was helpful.

Where do I go for the best training?

Cheers,

Neil,

 

The best place to start your 'training' is in front of your charts in the live market with the books you are reading right along side you. Read one about technical analysis. It should have some stratgies described within it, and discussions about the varous indicators and price patterns. Start to focus on finding those patterns on your charts. Do this first in static time, then work your way up to real time recognition. As an added exercise, put one of the strategies mentioned in your book onto your chart. Paper trade it and see what kind of results you get. You will need a good trade platform and some data feed. The platform depends on what kind of trading you are interested in. Trade Navigator is a good robust platrform that will scale up with you as your advance. Ninja is pretty good too, but when you get to the point of devising your trading strategies and systems and possibly atuo-trading them, Ninja is difficult to code. Trade station is easier to code, but I cannot recommend their data feed for intraday.

 

Make a training schedule of a specific amount of time you will spend with hands on market evaluating and stick to it. Split your reading into technical and other (mindset and physcology) and read the technicals in front of your charts so it becomes productive. The other read in comfort away from the market.

 

So, decide what kind of trading you are interested in and go from there. You can always change your mind later. For now, do not trade cash.

[clmacdougall 11]

Thanks so much. I am so now to this and despite reading 4 books so far still find it a bit scarey. Your advice was helpful.

Where do I go for the best training?

Cheers,

Neil,

 

Neil, I was new to it 3 years and 100 books ago, I have read thousands of articles and created dozens of binders full of my own studies. Spent night and day studying for 2 years and have spent only 8 hours a day for the last year studying and can tell you this, keep your money in your pocket and keep studying.

Trading interferes with market understanding, it puts you through emotions you should never be facing before you're ready to trade. If after you've read your 50th book you discover your not really interested in market understanding than just walk away and no harm done, elseways your gonna go through some serious pain up front and potentially not find what works at all.

Don't let anything get in the way of your studying, it's a key to breaking through.

[glynnt 10]

Bootstrap, can you post a few charts please....give a few clues to see what you are seeing?

[Jasonn 10]

Fantastic post.... just wanted to say thanks!

[dam5h 10]

you seem very comfortable in your shoes as successful traders for having only been in the game less than a year; most would agree it takes a good bit longer for most.

[maxima 10]

Godzilla?

Bring it ON !! BBQ is going to be overwhelming !

[lbj 10]

DEFINITION OF SUCCESSFUL??? Can anyone sum up what they think difference between a successful (profitable) and unsuccessful trader is in a few words? I mean not what skills they require, but what is the definition of "successful"?

[SIUYA 11]

definition of a successful trader.

One who is consistently net profitable over a long and sustainable period of time.

 

This usually deletes many traders who -

make a fortune and then blow up.....thats gambling (and some get away with it)

dont make enough money to pay the bills with any regularity - usually as they are undercaptialised

[brownsfan019 17]

DEFINITION OF SUCCESSFUL??? Can anyone sum up what they think difference between a successful (profitable) and unsuccessful trader is in a few words? I mean not what skills they require, but what is the definition of "successful"?

 

Successful trader = one that pulls money out of the market

 

Unsuccessful trader = one that provides money supply to successful traders

 

This business is all about $$$$. That's it. Either you make it or you don't.

[AmCan1 10]

Hard to argue with those two definitions. In my view, it is important to be very business minded and treat your trading as a very dangerous business. It requires precise and assertive action. Businesses do take time to become successful and that is normal and ok. Same with trading. If you are trading to make money, then your energy should be put into doing what it takes to create the plan that will, make you money. Then trade it accurately and objectively. Not easy to do if you are too emotionally involved with each individual trade. Emotions and objectivity do not go together.

 

If you are struggling with getting successful as a trader (making money) chances are you are victim to some of the basic reasons that cause traders to fail: Undercapitalization, too much risk exposure (either per trade or per your plan or lack thereof), no effective plan, no confidence to follow your plan, scared money, need to be right, trading for the wrong reasons (something other than just to make money), lack of foundation, lack of practice, pennywise and pound foolish in regards to your 'tools of the trade'.. hmmm.. what else? Oh yeah, over trading. Not knowing when to quit, but that should be covered in your tradeplan. It's really not that long of a list yet any one of them will prevent a trader from succeeding. So solve all of them and you should be good to go.

[Tiobingo 10]

The definition to success is trading your tradeplan accurately and moving your account in a positive direction on a consistent basis. Apply proper money management techniques and the rest will take care of itself, so long as you remain vigilant. I agree with AmCan1 that you have to treat it as a business.

[davidwilsoon 10]

Just got back from a whirlwind tour of the Wild West counties myself, think you will find that vast majority of successful trader(10%) go through the many phases you have described (Market Wizards testimonies), then there are many (90%)who get trapped in the eternal search for the holy grail.

Anyway have a good break in Florida, looks like you deserve it.

 

Very nice post, most appreciative of you sharing. Your user id, is very fitting once the story is revealed!

[davidwilsoon 10]

Thanks sharing. It's geat

[davidwilsoon 10]

Goodonya bootstrap - great post

 

Do you have an plan for when your trading software goes down?

What about when the exchange goes down?

Do you know how to hedge your trading instrument/size and do you have the excess capital available to?

Do you have another brokerage account if you can't access your current one?

[ellyka112 10]

Wonderful post bootstrap.

 

Thanks for sharing it with us. :thumbs up:

I hope more people take notice of it.

 

you are quite welcome. i am about to sign off and head to florida for a few days. i will check back in with you guys when i get back home on wednesday morning.

[ithamarsorek 10]

WOW!!! Great post.

It is "in the face" post which speaks tremendously of what to anticipate or not.

Thanks Bootstrap!!!

[Ericthetrader 10]

Thanks for posting....

[Karol 10]

Thanks that's very useful

[mathew.luk 10]

Great thread bootstrap.

 

Definitely great points, especially 4 to 10.

 

That passion and commitment for trading right there, is gold! Thumbs up!

[Karol 10]

Spread

Because currencies, are trade on interbank market the spread can be different depending on the broker you use, so it's well worth checking a few out before you open an account. Most forex brokers publish live or delayed prices on their websites so you can compare spreads, but check if the spread is fixed or variable. A fixed spread means exactly that — it will always be the same no matter what time of day or night it is. Some brokers use a variable spread, which might appear to be nice and small when the market is quiet, but when things get busy they can widen the spread which means the market must move more in your favor before you start to make a profit. Fixed spreads are generally slightly wider than the variable spreads are when at their narrowest, but over the long term fixed can be safer.

 

Execution

 

Some brokers will show live prices on their trading platform, but will they honor them when it comes to pushing the Buy or Sell button? The best way to find out is to open a demo account and give them a test drive. Let me know which broker has the best execution.Frankly this one is much more important then the spread.

 

Trading Platform

 

Good trading software will show live prices that you can actually trade at, not just indicative quotes. It will offer Limit and Stop orders, and ideally will let you attach these to your entry order. One-Cancels-Other orders are another useful feature — they mean you can set up your trade and then leave the software to get on with it. And the most important feature of all — can you actually understand the platform? Better to have it for much more time than a week right

 

Support

 

Forex is a 24 hour market, so your broker should offer 24 hour support. You might not be trading at 3am, but that could be what time it is in your brokers head office on the other side of the planet, so make sure there will be somebody there to pick up the phone if things go wrong. You should also check if you can close positions over the phone — essential in case your PC or internet connection crash at a critical moment.

Regulation

Forex brokers are regulated, but that doesn't mean they all have equal backing. We are looking for a broker regulated in your country /part of the world

 

Do they have ECN that you can really see the market and what are the commission?

 

Choosing a forex broker isn't difficult.Check out a few, and always get a demo account first to make sure you're happy with the way everything works before sending off your opening balance.

[drewminer 10]

Nicely said.

 

As for me I just joined this TL board 5 minutes ago. I've been trading equities and options on and off for 20 years. Last year I took 50k from my equity account and tried trading ES. Lost 40k in about 3 months (probably to a lot of guys on this board!). Anyway I did some reading, and made all my cash back and quite a bit more swing trading equities part time.

 

What sucks is that I really liked the fast paced ES action. I just think using a standard IB account with high speed internet puts me at too much of a disadvantage to the pros out there trading ticks.

 

I am back, and on the hunt for a less choppy symbol to trade.

 

Thanks for the thoughts.

 

Drew