Jump to content

Welcome to the new Traders Laboratory! Please bear with us as we finish the migration over the next few days. If you find any issues, want to leave feedback, get in touch with us, or offer suggestions please post to the Support forum here.

  • Welcome Guests

    Welcome. You are currently viewing the forum as a guest which does not give you access to all the great features at Traders Laboratory such as interacting with members, access to all forums, downloading attachments, and eligibility to win free giveaways. Registration is fast, simple and absolutely free. Create a FREE Traders Laboratory account here.

MadMarketScientist

What is the One Thing Every New or Veteran Trader Must Have?

Recommended Posts

If you were to put together a top 10 list, or just one single thing that a trader should have to be successful what would those be?

 

While I could come up with a laundry list of things here's a couple of thoughts...

 

1. A back-up internet source. You always think your internet won't go down but it does. No matter how good your cable modem is, there is a reality that at some point while in live trading you're going to lose your internet. What would you do? If you're a beginner, you might panic - that's ok - I have. But I always remind people #1 put the phone number of your broker by your computer. Seems basic right? But how many of you have done it? Remember, when that internet goes down you can't Google search it to find it -- and I personally would have no clue how to get the number to my broker (IB) if I didn't have it written down. It's not like I get mailed statements anymore.

 

Then, have a back-up plan in place. Back in the day, ok, quite a few days ago I used to have dial-up as a back-up. Scary to even think that but there was a time. These days I have a Verizon Wireless Broadband modem. I've got the one that can turn your home/office into a Wifi zone. I've used it when I travel, on a cruise ship, at the airport, etc... but it is also my back-up in the even the internet dies on me. And, I can get it running in just a minute or two.

 

2. The very best charting platform you can afford. Too often people look for "free" and then wonder why their data is inconsistent or not available, whey the are so limited with indicators or timeframes available. This is one place you should not take a short-cut and many times if you combine it with a broker you can get these platforms for free anyway or highly discounted. Just don't forget you're still likely paying exchange fees so it's not going to be totally free....

 

 

What are yours?

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Not sure I completely buy into those MS. I have known a few people that have traded with hand drawn charts or even without charts, depends somewhat on your perspective. Trading simple price action from 5 minute bars doesn't require much in the charting department. Most retail stuff is fine unless you want to get into per tick analysis and then you are likely to hit a wall with most without some tricky programming. Neoticker being a notable exception that springs to mind.

 

I guess the days of phoning orders in has pretty much passed but whilst having decent internet is a pretty good idea again depending on your approach it might not be that important. (For example 'swing' trading using market on open orders). Having said that for most traders this is likely to be pretty important

 

Personally I would go a bit more existential....1) self discipline and 2) Honesty 3) Tenacity perhaps.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

A real desire to actually do what its required to succeed in the style of trading adopted.

 

example; I dont really want to day trade as I dont want to spend all day in front of a screen watching it for a few trades. I want to swing trade over a few days, and also long term trade. So I should not spend my time looking at and analyzing less than 60 min charts. (even though sometimes I do :))

 

You need to understand why it is you want to do something, and then focus on how to achieve that. A half assed approach is unlikely to work.:2c:

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I traded with a wirless mouse once. Big f*****g mistake! I've no need to tell you at exactly what point the batteries decided to die on me, leaving me panicking for what seemed like 15 mins (probably 15 secs) on whether to scramble around in the drawer for new batteries or call the desk to cover.

 

Ouch!

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

TheDude - I've been there! Talk about a panic. Another time I was traveling, and using IB and Ninja I do a lot with the middle mouse button. Never though that I wouldn't have that readily available on my laptop. Oops. Nothing worse than being in a trade, having no ability to use that button and madly searching the laptop to figure out how to turn that on. So lesson there might be if you are going to travel and trade on a laptop go through all the motions at home first and make sure everything is set-up to work perfect.

 

I can say I've used Gotomypc many times and actually traded off my home office PC remotely and that has always worked fine for me. Seems kinda crazy in theory but it hasn't failed me -- it's a touch slower than being there, and it does depend on your internet connection. There was a time I was in an internet cafe, 100 degrees in there probably running at 28K -- not so good that time.

 

I think I've traded long enough to run into every problem possible. They are funny now looking back. At the time I was probably weeping.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
If you were to put together a top 10 list, or just one single thing that a trader should have to be successful what would those be??

 

 

 

In a word........

 

Discipline.

 

Having the discipline it takes to keep after your trading education after putting in long hours to study, prepare, test, analyze and review the rules, software, trading vehicles and systems before ever placing your first trade.

 

Having the discipline to start with small sizes as you continue to learn and trade.

 

Having the discipline required to wait to trade real money with maximum leverage until you achieve proper capitalization for your trading goals.

 

Having the discipline required to remain patient while waiting for the most opportune time before entering a trade.

 

Having the discipline to exit a trade and take a loss when the market tells you you were wrong this time.

 

Having the discipline to exit a trade when you reached your target by not permitting greed to influence your decision.

 

Having the discipline required to control your emotions before, during and after a trade.

 

Having the discipline to follow your well tested and proven trading system rather than override it simply because "you know better."

 

Good Trading to you all.

 

- Spydertrader

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.


  • Topics

  • Posts

    • How's about other crypto exchanges? Are all they banned in your country or only Binance?
    • Be careful who you blame.   I can tell you one thing for sure.   Effective traders don’t blame others when things start to go wrong.   You can hang onto your tendency to play the victim, or the martyr… but if you want to achieve in trading, you have to be prepared to take responsibility.   People assign reasons to outcomes, whether based on internal or external factors.   When traders face losses, it's common for them to blame bad luck, poor advice, or other external factors, rather than reflecting on their own personal attributes like arrogance, fear, or greed.   This is a challenging lesson to grasp in your trading journey, but one that holds immense value.   This is called attribution theory. Taking responsibility for your actions is the key to improving your trading skills. Pause and ask yourself - What role did I play in my financial decisions?   After all, you were the one who listened to that source, and decided to act on that trade based on the rumour. Attributing results solely to external circumstances is what is known as having an ‘external locus of control’.   It's a concept coined by psychologist Julian Rotter in 1954. A trader with an external locus of control might say, "I made a profit because the markets are currently favourable."   Instead, strive to develop an "internal locus of control" and take ownership of your actions.   Assume that all trading results are within your realm of responsibility and actively seek ways to improve your own behaviour.   This is the fastest route to enhancing your trading abilities. A trader with an internal locus of control might proudly state, "My equity curve is rising because I am a disciplined trader who faithfully follows my trading plan." Author: Louise Bedford Source: https://www.tradinggame.com.au/
    • SELF IMPROVEMENT.   The whole self-help industry began when Dale Carnegie published How to Win Friends and Influence People in 1936. Then came other classics like Think And Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill, Awaken the Giant Within by Tony Robbins toward the end of the century.   Today, teaching people how to improve themselves is a business. A pure ruthless business where some people sell utter bullshit.   There are broke Instagrammers and YouTubers with literally no solid background teaching men how to be attractive to women, how to begin a start-up, how to become successful — most of these guys speaking nothing more than hollow motivational words and cliche stuff. They waste your time. Some of these people who present themselves as hugely successful also give talks and write books.   There are so many books on financial advice, self-improvement, love, etc and some people actually try to read them. They are a waste of time, mostly.   When you start reading a dozen books on finance you realize that they all say the same stuff.   You are not going to live forever in the learning phase. Don't procrastinate by reading bull-shit or the same good knowledge in 10 books. What we ought to do is choose wisely.   Yes. A good book can change your life, given you do what it asks you to do.   All the books I have named up to now are worthy of reading. Tim Ferriss, Simon Sinek, Robert Greene — these guys are worthy of reading. These guys teach what others don't. Their books are unique and actually, come from relevant and successful people.   When Richard Branson writes a book about entrepreneurship, go read it. Every line in that book is said by one of the greatest entrepreneurs of our time.   When a Chinese millionaire( he claims to be) Youtuber who releases a video titled “Why reading books keeps you broke” and a year later another one “My recommendation of books for grand success” you should be wise to tell him to jump from Victoria Falls.   These self-improvement gurus sell you delusions.   They say they have those little tricks that only they know that if you use, everything in your life will be perfect. Those little tricks. We are just “making of a to-do-list before sleeping” away from becoming the next Bill Gates.   There are no little tricks.   There is no success-mantra.   Self-improvement is a trap for 99% of the people. You can't do that unless you are very, very strong.   If you are looking for easy ways, you will only keep wasting your time forgetting that your time on this planet is limited, as alive humans that is.   Also, I feel that people who claim to read like a book a day or promote it are idiots. You retain nothing. When you do read a good book, you read slow, sometimes a whole paragraph, again and again, dwelling on it, trying to internalize its knowledge. You try to understand. You think. It takes time.   It's better to read a good book 10 times than 1000 stupid ones.   So be choosy. Read from the guys who actually know something, not some wannabe ‘influencers’.   Edit: Think And Grow Rich was written as a result of a project assigned to Napoleon Hill by Andrew Carnegie(the 2nd richest man in recent history). He was asked to study the most successful people on the planet and document which characteristics made them great. He did extensive work in studying hundreds of the most successful people of that time. The result was that little book.   Nowadays some people just study Instagram algorithms and think of themselves as a Dale Carnegie or Anthony Robbins. By Nupur Nishant, Quora Profits from free accurate cryptos signals: https://www.predictmag.com/    
    • there is no avoiding loses to be honest, its just how the market is. you win some and hopefully more, but u do lose some. 
    • $CSCO Cisco Systems stock, nice top of range breakout, from Stocks to Watch at https://stockconsultant.com/?CSCOSEPN Septerna stock watch for a bottom breakout, good upside price gap
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use.