Hello wonderful traders...

[angelaktariel]

My name is Eva and I found your forum through my searches and thought I would register, as I would love to talk to people, who have the same interest as I do. This site is wealth of information and I know I will be finding myself browsing it to learn more.

First of all, I am very new at trading, I do have to say that. My goal though is to become a full time trader, as I am looking for a career change, and I have always loved the market. I have read a few books, so I have some basic understanding of charts, fundemantals and such, but no trading experience. I will be trading with my own money and I don't want to make a fool of me and loosing it, so I want to get the right education, so I know how to trade the best.

What I was hoping to find out from anyone here, is their experience on how they got started. I do understand there are schools, and teachers and mentors, but I do not know enough people, who could point out even what the choices are, and furthermore the better choices. I have attended a workshop at a school (as an introduction to their training) that was recommended by the two people (one who attended their school and one who used to work there, but they are not traders), and recently I have been told, that school doesn't have a good reputation. I had all intentions to attend their training, but now I am confused and searching.

Again, I am looking at trading as my business, I know I need the correct training, and trying to find the right place, so any suggestion would be appreciated.

Thank you so much!

Eva

[mister ed]

Welcome to the board Eva - yes there is plenty of information here!

Regarding finding schools/mentors can i suggest you spend a month or so reading everything you can on this board and maybe even start paper trading (simulated trading) a market you are interested in - this will give you a feel for trading and what you need to know and will put you in a good position to have a better idea of what you want and need from a school/mentor, the questions you need to ask before committing and so on. If you have time join in with the chat room during market hours and watch what traders are doing.

There are hundreds of great posts and threads on this site and plenty of great posters. I am reluctant to nominate just one but if you read everything you can from "Walter" (the Chimp) and then follow his workings in the chat room that would be a great start. Walter has posted many very thoughtful and coherent threads where he explains his reasoning, testing, results and so on, so even if you end up not following Walter's style of trading you will get a great guide to a very robust process to employ in setting up your own trading approach.

There are others who have posted some threads that are well-structured from a learning perspective too: BrownsFan019 on trading with candlesticks, JPerl has an amazing series of threads on Market Profile, Soultrader has plenty of videos showing trading in real time, there is a massive thread on the application of VSA with consistent contributions from PivotProfiler. Now there are plenty I haven't mentioned too, just too many!

Enjoy!

[Sparrow]

Hi there and welcome,

I highly recommend reading Steenbarger's "Enhancing Trader Performance", as a trader you have to find your own niche, style to trade and your way to interpret the markets.
The book doesn't end there and it won't tell you which one you should pick, that it is up to yourself.
Unfortunately I can't recommend a school/mentor, since I just poke my nose into anything that comes along and try to get something out of it, a lot of trial and error.
Thanks to this board I'm making some progress .
Currently I explore very simple things and begin to find some value in it.

Good luck

[angelaktariel]

Hi Mister Ed,

You are so kind!!! Thank you so much for all the details in your e-mail, as far as who to follow around on this site and what kind of information is available. Something tells me, I will be looking out for your postings, too...

I am very excited to have found found such a great community with knowledgable contributors.

Thanks again for all the information, I really appreciate it!!!

Eva

[angelaktariel]

Hi Sparrow,

Thanks for your reply and the welcome as well. It's great to hear you are finding valuable information on this board that is improving your trading performance! It sure gives me hope and comfirmation that I am at the right place! I will check out the book you recommended, as I am not 100% sure what I will end up picking at the end. I have read a few really great books so far. I have to say the Stock Market Wizard by Jack Scwhager is definitely inspiring to me, as the people he interviewed, all have different styles of trading.

Right now I am into equities, but since I am so new, I really can't say that is what I will end up with. I have made a few trades so far, some turned out good, and some not so good, but those not so good ones were with very little loss thankfully, as I got myself out of those trades really quick....hehehe. I am also not capitalized yet as I am waiting for my funds to arrive, so limited to the 4 trades per 5 days, but that's ok, as I am learning right now anyway.

Thanks again for your input and keep up the great progress!!

Eva

[Sparrow]

Hi Eva,

sounds like you're off to a good start .
The reason why I recommend Steenbarger's book is because it is somewhat unique, it doesn't deal with setups itself but the way how to become a successful trader.
He's got a blog which is very popular and he's also talking about equities there, but just secondarily because stock index futures are his focus.

As for trading live and not paper trading is somewhat debatable. You can learn trading in a simulator much faster, but the emotinally side of trading is only experienced when there's real money on the line. Make your education as inexpensive as possible, but I don't have to tell you that women are much better at this than guys(me for example).

Hope some of it is useful

Cheers

[james_gsx]

One other book I would recommend is Trading in the Zone. You'll find over your path that your pyschological mindset is more important than the setups. You will learn more about yourself becoming a trader than you have in your entire life - trust me on that one. All I can really say is don't give up, even when it seems you've lost all your self esteem and you won't make it. Thats when you know it's all uphill

[angelaktariel]

Hey Sparrow again,

Thanks for the compliment of me on a good start. I try as much as I can, not make mistakes, but I am sure I will, as I am human after all...woman or man, doesn't really makes a difference...hehehe.

I just bookmarked Steenbarger's blog and will read it, as I am an avid blog reader anyway, so thank you for that.

So far I do have a plan on how tackle this and become a full time trader and make a success of it, and one thing I know, once I put my mind to something, I will focus on it and will achieve it, so I will get there, that I know.

Yes, the inexpensive part is important, as I don't plan on making everyone else rich, while I am trying to learn. However I also know there are people who can help me and they do need to be compensated as well. So, for now, I am reading books that have been recommended to me, than I plan on taking training through either a school, or just go straight to a mentor for live training. Than there is the psychology of trading that seems to be very important, and I have already found a great teacher/mentor for that, so I am good on that.

As you can see, I have put a little business plan together already on how to get where I want to be, now it's just the doing part, which I am looking forward to, as I love a good challenge and this one certainly is.

Eva

[angelaktariel]

Hi James,

I just finished reading your post about your "attitude"...how funny, you are posting on my thread.....hehehehe. YESSSSSSSSSSSSS.....Tradi ng in the Zone is one book I need to get indeed. It is on my list already, as it was recommended to me very highly by other people, too. I loved reading your thread, as I know that is one huge part that needs to be addressed, if someone wants to be successful at trading.

Thanks again for your input, I really appreciate it!

Eva

[james_gsx]

Well I'm glad my threads could help. If you are ever available to get online during the day check out our chatroom. A few of us trade live and post our trades and results, it's very informative and can help the slow parts of the day move by a little faster.

Oh, and you should check out our YM, ES, and NQ analysis thread, it might help you get in tune with the markets getting started out and offer some new introspective. Could help with your technical analysis too. Soultrader has a MP thread here that basically goes over the same thing that Brownsfan and I discuss but with a completely different perspective using Market Profile. Just goes to show that there are many ways to skin a cat, just pick what bests fit your personality and stick with that. Good luck.