[vani]

Originally Posted by Gulam »

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.

[briankim09]

Originally Posted by Tams »

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...

Good note. Thanks so much for sharing.

[AmCan1]

In my view, beginning traders should begin with the right mindset. Trading should be considered a business venture. I believe it is important to create a firm foundation for yourself prior to risking real money on real trades. You could get a mentor, and begin developing good trade habits. For me, after learning the very basics like what a long and short are, and proper risk management, I had to learn how to manually backtest. I learned the hard way before I had my lightbulb moment, the realization of the importance to backtesting. That changed everything for me. It helped put things in perspective as I learned about the relationship between wins, losses and the bigger picture; the equity curve itself.

Imagine this: A winning strategy, one that wins 2/3 of the time, still can and will have a losing streak, possible 10 losses in a row, for example. That's enough to get most traders to quit - to throw the baby out with the bathwater. That's what inexperienced traders do, who haven't backtested and who don't understand the win/loss relationship of their trade system. The best trades follow the losses and after the beginner quits with his losses, the trader who adequately backtested has the confidence to understand that the winners will come and propel the equity curve to new profit levels. 10 losses in a row might be rare and extreme but it happens even to the best systems. But 4 losses in a row is enough to make most inexperienced traders quit, and yet the winniest systems get 4 losses in a row with regularity. Backtesting opens up your vision and if you take a businesslike approach, and realize that losses are apart of winning, you will be in a much better position to succeed.

[pa18]

My humble ramblings only ....

1. Trading is 80% you not method so belief is the main core of you and if you believe you can do it, then you will do it.
2. Don't treat you trading account as real money. Think in points/pips not $$$.
3. Once you've mastered 1 and 2 and a method and have a decent edge, compound the hell of of you account to millionaire status in less than a year
4. Patience
5. Patience
6. Patience...

[cuttshot]

In my opinion if you want to be successful in the daytrading world you need to follow a few important steps...

First you need to find a system that puts the odds in your favor. While there are many systems out there that have been proven to be successful you need to make sure you find one that fits your style. You could have 5 different people trading the same system on the same market with different results. Everyone is going to trade a little differently.

Once you find a system that fits your style and has been proven to put the odds in your favor then you need to also find a market (or markets) that fit your style. There are many markets out there that are really profitable that I just can't trade. The ES is probably the most popular futures market out there. However, I can't trade it successfully. It just doesn't fit my trading style.

After finding a system that puts the odds in your favor and a few markets that fit your style you need to build a trade plan that you can follow each and every session. This trade plan needs to include your start time, end time, rules for entry, rules for exit, money management rules, rules for news events, and anything else that might come up throughout the session on your given market. Basically my goal is to have a rule for every situation that comes up so I don't sit there frozen in real time not knowing what to do.

All of the above steps will help build your confidence in your system. Trading with confidence is one of the most important factors in trading. Daytrading forces you to make quick decisions and having confidence in your system and trade plan will allow you to do just that.

Hope this helps.

Cuttshot

[AmCan1]

Excellent post Cuttshot. I couldn't agree with you more. There are many styles and what works for one won't necessarily work for someone else. In fact, for sure it won't unless the trader takes the time to learn it and understand it, fully. You can see someone else succeeding with a method of trading, and you can say to yourself, all I have to do is follow the rules that that guy is using and winning with, and I'll achieve the level of success that he is.

I believe this sort of idea will not work for most people, unless that person really works hard in learning that system and, the type of trade results it will get over time. That includes the string of losses that will pop up randomly. Most people who try to copy someone else's method without laying the foundation for themselves, will lose confidence quickly and end up quitting, sadly, right at the wrong time. They'll quit with their losses in hand and then watch from the sidelines as the winners start pouring in again. I've been there. I've done that. I've learned my lesson the hard way as I am sure so many others have, as well.

[WorldTrader]

The right education is a tough call. What is right? There are a lot of good webinars and free education content out there. Most of those sites are all trying to sell you something, so just don't bit into that. Thre are a million thigs for sale and you don't want to waste your money on junk. So avoid any robots or auto trade systems.

Use this website and the other traders here to learn. Attend some free teacing seminars or free trials. Check the feedback on those companies before you do any sort of free trial. I have attened many good educational webinars that reinforce what all traders need to hear.

The last thing I will say is, focus on one market that you like or want to trade, then do the research and training on that. That way you are not looking all over the place at all different kinds of markets.

[cuttshot]

I agree worldtrader there are a lot of systems and educational programs out there for sale and a lot of them are junk. However, if you look hard enough you will find some systems that have proven to be successful over time. I would also make sure to stay clear of autotraded systems and robots.

If you want to become a successful trader yourself then you need to take the time to learn how the markets move. Robots might work for a period of time but markets change over time. You need a system that is able to adjust to the changing market conditions.