Tips for a Begining Day Trader

[vikkktor 10]

Hello everyone,

 

I've studied a lot about day trading and I'm about to really commence day trading.

I would love to receive general tips on how to accelerate my learning curve.

 

Also, I have some specific questions:

 

Please, does anyone know links to sites where I can obtain:

- templates of trader's journal, dairy, evaluation forms or sheet etc.

- free historic data (yearly, monthly, weekly, hourly) for equities, futures and other markets

- free real time market data (NOT delayed)

- free important market data (eg GDP growth, unemployment rate, VIX, open interest, 52 weekly highs/low) all available at the same website

- free open source software that can be used or adapted in analyzing the financial markets.

 

I realize I may seem ridiculous wanting to have everything free but every penny I save is a penny I can use as capital for trading.

 

Thank you

[brownsfan019 17]

While trying to pinch pennies so you have more capital to trade with, expecting to outfit your new business for free is ridiculous. As with any business, you have to spend money to make money.

[Tams 20]

Hello everyone,

 

I've studied a lot about day trading and I'm about to really commence day trading.

I would love to receive general tips on how to accelerate my learning curve.

 

Also, I have some specific questions:

 

Please, does anyone know links to sites where I can obtain:

- templates of trader's journal, dairy, evaluation forms or sheet etc.

- free historic data (yearly, monthly, weekly, hourly) for equities, futures and other markets

- free real time market data (NOT delayed)

- free important market data (eg GDP growth, unemployment rate, VIX, open interest, 52 weekly highs/low) all available at the same website

- free open source software that can be used or adapted in analyzing the financial markets.

 

I realize I may seem ridiculous wanting to have everything free but every penny I save is a penny I can use as capital for trading.

 

Thank you

 

 

 

lots of free stuff on the web...

 

including lots of the stuff you are looking for,

 

most importantly, you can find lots of the free stuff right here in this web site.

[ekshay 10]

I've studied a lot about day trading and I'm about to really commence day trading.

I would love to receive general tips on how to accelerate my learning curve.

OK. Considering that you are asking about real-time market data, here's the first tip...

 

"Recognise that you do NOT know ANYTHING about Day Trading, until you actually do it."

 

:haha: It is kinda like bicycle-riding. Studying a lot, without doing it, only gives a false sense of knowledge.

 

Please, does anyone know links to sites where I can obtain:

- templates of trader's journal, dairy, evaluation forms or sheet etc.

This depends on what you want to track, how many markets you are trading, and how many different trading strategies you are working with.

When starting, its better to keep it personal, and keep it simple.

 

- free historic data (yearly, monthly, weekly, hourly) for equities, futures and other markets

- free real time market data (NOT delayed)

- free open source software that can be used or adapted in analyzing the financial markets.

{This is totally NOT a broker recommendation.}

 

For most markets, MetaTrader brokers like GCI, Windsor and Broco, would be a nice start for "free real-time charting tool loaded with past data".

 

If you know exactly which market you want to trade, and someone on this forum is sim-trading it and posting their charts, just ask them what they did. Like I am freely real-time simming Emini Futures on NinjaTrader [software], thanks to Mirus [broker].

 

I don't know about the Open Source part. Hope you have Windows.

For anything else, just Google.

 

- free important market data (eg GDP growth, unemployment rate, VIX, open interest, 52 weekly highs/low) all available at the same website

I am not much of a Stocks guy, have a Forex background, but isn't this kind of information freely available on media websites [like Yahoo Finance, Bloomberg, CNBC, etc.] ... and on Exchange websites [like CME Group].

 

There is a Toolbox at the top of this very page ... I think you will find the Economic Calendar and the Derivatives Report useful.

Personally, I also like the ForexFactory Calendar.

 

I realize I may seem ridiculous wanting to have everything free but every penny I save is a penny I can use as capital for trading.

Oh no. It would be even more ridiculous if you spend money on the wrong things.

It is true that the best stuff ain't free, but you are just beginning to Demo-trade yet. That SHOULD be as cheap as possible.

 

What if ... like many ... in a few months ... you reach a conclusion ... that this day trading business ... is really ... NOT for you ...

... You'd be better off finding that as cheaply as you possibly can.

Edited November 22, 2009 by ekshay

[electroniclocal 10]

If you are really serious then you would invest the time and money to give yourself a chance to succeed. I haven't yet met a doctor, lawyer or accountant who learned his trade for free. This is a competative business with lots of well capitalised people who you want to trade against. There aren't too many David's around but there are a lot of Goliaths.

[uexkuell 10]

... may seem ridiculous wanting to have everything free but every penny I save is a penny I can use as capital for trading.

 

Good idea.

 

Have seen many guys that spent much on pricey feeds and other information sources and failed more or less because of this.

If you spend say 100$ per month on a feed this puts you on a big pressure to start trading with real money pretty soon (this sums up to 3600$ in 3 years which is about the minimum time horizon most people need to get profitable).

 

 

It's still astonishing to me that nearly all the really valuable information comes more or less for free on the internet (like here on this site). But you'll have to spend a lot of time searching, reading, thinking, trying and judging on your own.

 

On the other hand many of the information sources that charge you around 100$ per month give mediocre quality or are even misleading.

[JEHs 10]

If you are really serious then you would invest the time and money to give yourself a chance to succeed. I haven't yet met a doctor, lawyer or accountant who learned his trade for free. This is a competative business with lots of well capitalised people who you want to trade against. There aren't too many David's around but there are a lot of Goliaths.

 

The investment is in time. As has been said here, everything you need is available for free.

The thing is though, you can't really compare this to the professions of doctors or lawyers, because to do that all you need to do is invest the money and time and you pretty much know you will come out the other end with a career that pays pretty well.

In this trading business, you have no idea. You could put in 20 years or the rest of your life and never really make it. If all I had to do was pay the money that it costs to be a doctor and put in the time and I would be a trader, even a mediocre one, I would do it, but the fact of the matter is, there is no way of knowing.

 

These days everything you need to trade is available for free. You need to put in the time and see what happens. No guarantees. Everyone starts off thinking they are the exception to the rule, but most of us end up not being the exception.

[Tams 20]

there are 2 things that a successful trader must have, but not a requirement in most of the "professions".

 

the first requirement is a killer instinct...

you can be well educated and well read,

you can be rational and methodical,

you can be calculated and have all the bases covered,

but if you don't have a killer instinct,

you won't be able to pull the trigger at the opportune time.

[sevensa 10]

there are 2 things that a successful trader must have, but not a requirement in most of the "professions".

 

the first requirement is a killer instinct...

you can be well educated and well read,

you can be rational and methodical,

you can be calculated and have all the bases covered,

but if you don't have a killer instinct,

you won't be able to pull the trigger at the opportune time.

 

If you have a well defined edge and know the probabilities, there is no need to have a killer instinct to pull the trigger. You are just executing your plan then and have no need for any kind of killer instinct; just the ability and discipline to follow your plan.

 

You said there are two requirements. What is the 2nd?

[Tams 20]

If you have a well defined edge and know the probabilities, there is no need to have a killer instinct to pull the trigger. You are just executing your plan then and have no need for any kind of killer instinct; just the ability and discipline to follow your plan...

 

 

you can call it killer instinct,

you can call it discipline,

or you can call it cool-calm-execution...

 

call it whatever you may,

the name doesn't matter,

 

the fact is,

despite all the good intentions,

educations,

preparation,

calculation,

some people just cannot pull the trigger at opportune times...

 

be thankful if you can,

have pride in knowing that you are a selected few...

 

 

 

 

I will leave the 2nd one for people to chime in...

Edited November 23, 2009 by Tams

[JEHs 10]

you can call it killer instinct,

you can call it discipline,

or you can call it cool-calm-execution...

 

call it whatever you may,

the name doesn't matter,

 

the fact is,

despite all the good intentions,

educations,

preparation,

calculation,

some people just cannot pull the trigger at opportune times...

 

be thankful if you can,

have pride in knowing that you are a selected few...

 

 

 

 

I will leave the 2nd one for people to chime in...

 

Pulling the trigger isn't the problem for most of us, I'm guessing, so it must be the "other thing".

I am on the edge of my seat now... this could be just the nugget of information we have all been waiting for all these years that will put us over the edge...

:rofl:

 

Good times...

[Tams 20]

Pulling the trigger isn't the problem for most of us, I'm guessing, so it must be the "other thing".

I am on the edge of my seat now... this could be just the nugget of information we have all been waiting for all these years that will put us over the edge...

:rofl:

 

Good times...

 

 

pulling the trigger is easy,

pulling the trigger at opportune time is a different story.

 

;-)

[JEHs 10]

pulling the trigger is easy,

pulling the trigger at opportune time is a different story.

 

;-)

 

Ahh... it's all clear to me now...pull the trigger at the right time...

I'm going to try that and see how it works. I noticed when I pulled it at the wrong time, things didn't go so well, but I wasn't quite sure what to do with that information.

...so, I have to pull it at the right time....the light bulb comes on...:doh:

 

Is that the 2nd thing, or is that just sort of building on the first thing?

 

:haha:

 

Sorry, for some reason this just struck me as funny. The long winter nights are setting in and I had my two beer Sunday night a little early. I'll try to keep quiet now.

:rofl:

[clippercityify 10]

Vikkktor,

 

As you get your feet wet, you probably wouldn't know what's good to buy and what's not -- in trading / learning services. So finding free resources is great idea -- just the process of finding should be a learning experience. freestockcharts.com mentioned has streaming charts. But getting a demo account for what you want to trade, where you could practice different strategies without the money involved would probably be a good place to start.

 

Good luck!

[vikkktor 10]

Thanks guys. I'm learning alot.

[Gulam 10]

Get the RIGHT education and focus on risk managment, thats they key!

[sevensa 10]

Get the RIGHT education and focus on risk managment, thats they key!

 

How would you define "right" education?

[Gulam 10]

How would you define "right" education?

 

Please look into: read on dominate cycles period by Ehler and his book Rocket Science for traders, risk management, i.e correct position sizing, diversification in to different stocks (if your trading stocks), i.e basket trading. If your trading stocks, there is a definite edge then trading futures which was staring in my face until somoene told me.

 

I have been trading a long time but not with the correct education. I have learnt from a nice person Iraj, that trading is all about risk management.

[edabreu 10]

Hello everyone,

 

I've studied a lot about day trading and I'm about to really commence day trading.

I would love to receive general tips on how to accelerate my learning curve.

 

Also, I have some specific questions:

 

Please, does anyone know links to sites where I can obtain:

- templates of trader's journal, dairy, evaluation forms or sheet etc.

- free historic data (yearly, monthly, weekly, hourly) for equities, futures and other markets

- free real time market data (NOT delayed)

- free important market data (eg GDP growth, unemployment rate, VIX, open interest, 52 weekly highs/low) all available at the same website

- free open source software that can be used or adapted in analyzing the financial markets.

 

I realize I may seem ridiculous wanting to have everything free but every penny I save is a penny I can use as capital for trading.

 

Thank you

 

A great way to journal your progress is to also journal the success rate of your strategies and trade setups, and even the time of day that you trade so you can recognize any patterns that may have an impact on when you trade a strategy. A great journal, very inexpensive, is here: Your Trading Journal - it is very robust so you can detail almost every aspect of your approach - including your developing (or deteriorating) mental state.

[gethim 10]

Hello everyone,

 

I've studied a lot about day trading and I'm about to really commence day trading.

I would love to receive general tips on how to accelerate my learning curve.

 

Also, I have some specific questions:

 

Please, does anyone know links to sites where I can obtain:

- templates of trader's journal, dairy, evaluation forms or sheet etc.

- free historic data (yearly, monthly, weekly, hourly) for equities, futures and other markets

- free real time market data (NOT delayed)

- free important market data (eg GDP growth, unemployment rate, VIX, open interest, 52 weekly highs/low) all available at the same website

- free open source software that can be used or adapted in analyzing the financial markets.

 

I realize I may seem ridiculous wanting to have everything free but every penny I save is a penny I can use as capital for trading.

 

Thank you

 

 

FINVIZ.com - Stock Screener will be the best to explore markets

[robertm 10]

Nifty site, at least for the tech of nothing else.

[edabreu 10]

This little setup is based on range bars. Depending on the instrument, set the range to something that is within your risk tolerance. I use 7R on the CL, and 5R or 6R on the ES, and 7R on the TF and YM. Think in terms of a price bracket, and what you are looking for is a slammed door on a price bracket run. So look for a series of top closes (range bars can only close at one end of the range or the other), and then a hard bottom close (adjust for shorts).

Remember - only at key S&R, never in middle space. You can use a trading band like a keltner set to about 4.5 deviation.

Merry Christmas, and good luck in 2010.

[vikkktor 10]

Thanks for the info.

[vikkktor 10]

Thanks for sharing.

Happy Holidays.

[vani 10]

Get the RIGHT education and focus on risk managment, thats they key!

 

I guess you are right on this; he must not stick to one site only and must not spend a penny to have the right education. There are lots of good resources/strategies out there to help. One of the best I have come across is makemoneycurrencytrading dot co dot uk as they run free webinars and training. They also send free daily reports.