Beginner Commodities Questions

[jjr4079 10]

Hi,

 

I am an absolute beginner to trading. I want to trade commodities, but I don't know where to start. Well, I have enough "risk capital" set aside to start - I'm aware of the inherent riskiness of commodities and have no delusions about getting rich quickly - but I don't know where to start or how to actually make a trade. Everything how to guide I find online seems to be a scam akin to horse racing betting systems. Can someone please advise me to the mechanics of making a commodities trade? Thank you! I really appreciate your help.

[TheDude 10]

Day trading or position trading?

 

If you are looking to do something different from daytrading, look at trading spreads perhaps? look at Welcome to Moore Research Center for their seasonal suggestions

[SIUYA 11]

welcome jjr

first, well done for realising most things that are advertised as scams. You can get pretty much most of the information they offer for free on the net. While there are many legitimate tools that are for offer - books, indicators, platforms. The information is largely available via the net or books. Dont spend good money on seminars unless you have thoroughly researched them....then still dont do them.

There are also plenty of webinars and seminars offered by exchanges, and data providers and brokers that are generally free or very, very cheap. These should help on the mechanics. Also if the mechanics are new to you, practice on a Simulator trading account first.

Threads here to look at for someone such as yourself will usually involve some market psychology, references to helpful books, some simple trading styles (dont get caught up too much in indicators and one particular style at the start)

Also ignore all the personal bickering that can occur between participants....it occurs and distracts.

As a guesstimate, 2-3 years of much reading, screen time and learning to get competent is what it takes according to general consensus to be profitable. good luck.

[jjr4079 10]

Thank you for the replys. With enough time and risk capital, is it possible for a person who is doing this right to make a modest salary from day trading commodities?

[jjr4079 10]

Thank you for the replies. With enough time and discipline, is it possible to make a modest salary from day trading commodities?

[tjnoon 10]

I think Siuya offers some good advice. You are wise to take your time. Much can be learned for no cost, for sure. I would say that you should treat this like a business and be very business minded with every trade decision you make, beginning with your equipment and tools. Apart from the basic mechanics of trading you should try to focus on three specific areas; trade methods, money management and trade psychology. The 3rd is the hardest to master because it requires mastering oneself which is often much harder than one would think. I believe it is also the most important because without solving that, the rest won't matter.

 

Create a good foundation for yourself and make sure you have given proper attention to each of those three things. In the end. we all live at the right edge of the chart and you have to have confidence in your trade decisions and that is no easy endeavor, trade after trade after trade. Realize that you need an edge in the market to succeed. Trades will win and trades will fail, all at a random distribution so the important thing is to do the necessary ground work (foundational work) to make sure that you have established an edge in the market and that you know with confidence that you put the odds in your favor on every single trade you take. That's what you should focus on learning about. You can do it yourself as Siuya suggests but I would offer that you could shorten your learning curve considerably with a good mentor, if you could find one. It may cost money but like every trade decision you make, including one like this, there will always be a double edged sword; pros and cons. There is no one right way but there sure are a lot of wrong ways. That's what makes a market though, right?

[johnfast8712 10]

I would start with learning theory and then getting some forex robot to work with

[Deusomega 10]

I would start with learning theory and then getting some forex robot to work with

 

Yes... because a forex robot is incredibly useful in relation to trading commodities. Spam bot ftw?

 

Also incredibly useful suggestion "start with learning theory"... could you possibly be anymore vague?

[zdo 20]

jr4079,

 

In the past "commodities" generally meant trading leveraged futures, but these days trading commodities has expanded to include ETF's and stocks of producers/extractors etc.

Is that what you mean?

ie What is your specific interest in "commodities"? (Ags, softs, PM's, nrg, etc)

ie Are your questions really about trading futures in general?

 

zdo