I'm New To T2W - Where Do I Start?

SHORT ANSWER

If you've just joined T2W - welcome!

Regardless of your trading knowledge or experience, this is the place to learn about the site. It covers the basics about what we are, who we are and loads more besides.

If you’re not only new to T2W, but also new to trading, once you’re familiar with the contents of this Sticky, head over to the Sticky entitled: I’m New To TRADING – Where Do I Start? There, you’ll discover what to do next to ensure that your new trading career gets off to a flying start!

The Long Answer in the next post answers 14 mini-FAQs about T2W:

1. What is T2W and what are its objectives?
2. Are there any rules about acceptable / unacceptable content and conduct?
3. Are there any guidelines about writing reviews?
4. What are the main areas of the site? (Home, Forums and Articles etc.)
5. What are ‘Essentials’ and ‘Best Threads’ Stickies?
6. Is there a reputation system and how does it work?
7. What forum tools are there and how do I use them?
8. How can I contact other T2W members?
9. How do I report a post?
10. Who owns and runs T2W?
11. How does T2W generate its income?
12. Does T2W endorse any vendors?
13. How does one spot experienced, knowledgeable and profitable traders on T2W?
14. How do I get a mini-FAQ added to this Sticky?

LONG ANSWER

Once you’ve read the answers to the 12 mini-FAQs below, you’ll have a good understanding of what a fantastic resource T2W is, regardless of whether you’re a complete ‘newbie’ or a seasoned pro’. Enjoy!

1. What is T2W and what are its objectives?
Trade2Win (T2W) is a leading community web site for active traders who aim to profit from the world’s financial markets in the short term; ranging from a few minutes through to a few months. Investors who aim to profit from the markets over the longer term, i.e. anything from many months to years - are very welcome, but please be aware that this is not the focus of this site or that of its members.

The aim of T2W is simple, we want to unite and support active traders across the globe. To this end we provide a range of facilities that enable our members to communicate with one another, share their knowledge and express their views. Furthermore, we seek to provide educational and thought provoking content to help better educate our members in their trading lives.

You’re welcome to e-mail or phone us via the contact details found on the About T2W page. Alternatively, go to the Contact Us page.

2. Are there any rules about acceptable / unacceptable content and conduct?
Yes!
We have a set of rules (although we prefer to call them guidelines) which, for the most part, are common sense and centre around treating other members with the same courtesy and respect as you would want them to treat you. We request that all new members familiarize themselves fully with the Posting Guidelines

3. Are there any guidelines about writing reviews?
Yes!
Members are requested to follow the simple set of 3 DOs and 3 DON'Ts listed below when writing reviews. Please note that members who post a review that T2W suspects may not be bona fide could be asked to provide evidence to show that it's genuine. Additionally, T2W reserves the right to remove any review that it believes not to be bona fide.

DOs
1. Only review something that you have firsthand experience of and have used yourself.
2. Put yourself in the shoes of the person reading your review. Try to answer the types of questions most people want answers to, e.g. write about: A) quality, performance and reliability. B) ease of use. C) novel features and benefits. D) client support. E) value for money etc.
3. Make your review fair and objective. Just because the product / service didn’t turn you into a star trader overnight, doesn’t mean necessarily that it's of poor quality or has no value.

DON’Ts
1. Don’t post positive reviews for products or services in which you, your friends or family have a vested interest. Conversely, don’t post negative reviews about a company, product or service if you’re a competitor, a disgruntled employee or harbour some other grievance.
2. Only post a review if your experiences are reasonably current. In other words, writing a review about a spread betting company you used five years ago that had wide spreads at the time is unlikely to be relevant and useful today.
3. Normal T2W Site Guidelines apply when writing reviews which include standard ‘netiquette’. Please don’t use abusive language, shout (i.e. type in ALL CAPS) and only post original material based on your own experiences etc.

Please go to the Reviews section to write or read reviews of books, brokers, software, data feeds, events, films, magazines, newspapers, TV Channels and websites. You can list reviews in 3 ways: highest rated, most reviewed and new additions. Be sure to click on 'yes' or 'no' at the end of the review that you read to indicate whether it was helpful to you - or not. If you find a product or service not listed which you'd like to review, contact timsk, Content Manager and it will be added. But be sure to include an URL!

4. What are the main areas of the site? (Home, Forums and Articles etc.)
There are seven key areas of the site, all of which may be accessed via the links running along the bottom of the main red header panel at the top of every page. They are:

Home
This will take you to the T2W homepage from where you can see ‘at a glance’ - and link to - the most recently added content, including:
• The latest article published in the Articles section of the site. (See ‘Articles’, below)
• Featured forum discussions
• The latest reviews of books, brokers, software and websites etc. (See ‘Reviews’, below)
• The T2W ‘Term of the Day’

Perhaps the most popular part of the homepage is the blue panel on the right hand side which is headed ‘Welcome back, [username]’. If you click on your username, you’ll be directed to your ‘User Control Panel’ (User CP), where you can see all the threads you’re subscribed to and the latest post recommendations, both received and given. From there you can update your profile, add or change your avatar and signature, manage your private messages, along with a host of other things. Don’t worry if you don’t know what all these things are – all will be explained!

Also in the blue panel are two very useful links that take you to the heart of the forums: ‘View Threads’ and ‘View Posts’. They are pretty similar and will list all the threads from every forum that is new or has new posts added to it since you last logged on.

Forums
The forums page will give you a complete overview of the forum categories (in blue) and the forums that populate them. There is a brief description of what each forum is about, a link to the most recent post in it, along with statistics about the number of threads and posts that it contains. This is the ideal place to see how the heart of the site is laid out and, if you want to start a thread of your own, which forum would be the most appropriate one in which to do it.

IMPORTANT: Before starting a new thread, please take time to ensure that you do it in the forum that is most appropriate for the topic of the thread. Additionally, to avoid repetition of very similar threads, please make full use of the search facility to see if there is a thread already in existence that would be suitable for your intended post. How to use the search facility to good effect is discussed in detail in the Essentials Of General Trading Chat Sticky.

Articles
While the public forums are the engine of T2W, the Articles section is the jewel in its crown. It is a comprehensive library of articles written by – and interviews with – some of the best know people in the industry, including: Steve Nison, Dr Alexander Elder, Linda Bradford Raschke, Larry Williams, Martin Pring, John Bollinger and William O’Neil – to name but a few. Every aspect of trading is covered, with articles written specifically for complete beginners through to more complex discussions on trading systems and psychology - aimed at more seasoned traders. Roughly speaking, one new article is published every week.

Why not submit an article yourself?
Seriously, many of the best and highest rated articles are written by T2W members! We are very keen to promote 'home grown' content - so please do get in touch. Even if you've only got a vague idea at this stage, why not talk it through with Trader333, T2W Content Editor?

Reviews
Please see '3. Are there any guidelines about writing reviews?', above.

Brokers
Listed here is a selection of preferred brokers which means that if you decide to open an account with any broker featured here, you may benefit from an introductory offer only available to T2W members.

Traderpedia
Traderpedia is T2W’s own version of Wikipedia – geared exclusively towards traders. It’s especially useful for understanding the jargon typically used on the forums. If you see a word or a term you don’t understand, you can use the Traderpedia search facility to find it or, alternatively, click on ‘List all pages’ under Navigation - and all the terms will be listed alphabetically. If you only ever learn what half of them mean, you’ll still sound like an expert to most people!

5. What are ‘Essentials’ and ‘Best Threads’ stickies?
‘Essentials’ Stickies are threads that are ‘stuck’ to the top of a forum index. This means they will always be there for you to view them at any time. They contain information about the forum you’re in that is of critical or ongoing value - hence the ‘Essentials’ name. If there’s anything missing from any of the Stickies that you hoped or expected to find, please contact timsk, T2W Content Manager and, if at all possible, it will be added.

Similar to the ‘Essentials’ Stickies, the idea behind the ‘Best Threads’ Stickies is to have a thread pinned permanently at the top of every forum which contains links to some of the best threads in that forum. Because of the sheer size of T2W, threads that haven’t been active for a while tend to get lost under a sea of newer threads. The links in the ‘Best Threads’ Stickies will save you the hassle of wading through the forum yourself, hoping to find the one thread that’s filled with pearls of wisdom!

6. Is there a reputation system and how does it work?
Currently, the nearest we have to a reputation system is based purely on post count. We are actively looking at ways of introducing a system that reflects the quality of contributions made by members, as opposed to just the quantity of posts. Consequently, we recommend that you assess each member by the merit of their offerings, rather than their status within the community based on post count (e.g. ‘Legendary Member’).

Listed below are the different levels and the number of posts required to move to the next level:
Newbie 0
Rookie 5
Junior Member 25
Member 50
Senior Member 100
Veteran Member 500
Legendary Member 1000

7. What forum tools are there and how do I use them?
Advanced Search Facility
The advanced search facility allows you to search all the forums in a multitude of different ways. Whether you want a list of all the [Best Threads] or to find threads started by a specific member, it’s quick and easy using this powerful forum tool. Details of how to use this can be found in the Essentials Of General Trading Chat Sticky. While you’re there, we’ll also show you how to sort threads according to their ratings, replies or views.

Quick Links
Near the top of each page, below the red header panel, there’s a list of 7 functions. The last but one in blue is ‘Quick Links’. See the graphic, below.



Click on the arrow and a drop down menu appears with 7 options, 3 of which are especially useful and worthy of mention here:

• Subscribed threads
This lists all the threads you’re subscribed to, i.e. threads that you’re particularly interested in. To find out how to subscribe to - and unsubscribe from – forums and threads, go to the ‘Subscriptions’ panel found under User Profile Features

• Trading videos
This is T2W’s own video library and is categorised under headings similar to the main forum headings. Adding a video is easy and is more likely to be seen by more members in this dedicated library than it is anywhere else on the site. Please add new videos to help us build up this great resource!

• FAQ
These are FAQs relating to the website (as opposed to Trading FAQs). Included are the tools that enable you to customise the way you interact with T2W. If you want to know how to do something, then this is the place to go! Click on the FAQ link and this page will appear with 6 category headings with links beneath each one . . .



‘Board FAQ’ is circled, which contains 4 links, the first 3 of which warrant mention here:

• General Forum Usage
This section explains a whole host of useful things, kicking off with what a bulletin board is, how it’s structured and how you can find your way around. This is a must read for anyone unfamiliar with online communities like T2W.

• User Profile Features
This is your public face on T2W. From here you can add an avatar and signature, organise your subscriptions and categorise your PMs. If you’re a grumpy old man (or woman) and think this all sounds too difficult and too boring – prepare to be surprised! Learning about this stuff is dead simple and takes no time at all. Promise!

• Reading & Posting Messages
This explains how to do stuff like make text bold, or underline it or italicise it. It’s a bit like Microsoft Word – only easier. Additionally, at some point you may want to edit a post, create a poll or add a chart to a post. This section explains how to do all these things and lots more besides.

8. How can I contact other T2W members?
For all sorts of reasons, members may wish to contact one another and there are various safe and secure ways of doing this which avoid posting private e-mail addresses on the public forums. If you click on a member’s username in the top left hand corner of their post, a drop down menu will appear with a list of options. In their ‘User Control Panel’ settings, each member can enable or disable options to allow other members to contact them via e-mail or private message (PM). If they’re enabled (either or both of them) they will be listed in the drop down menu. If they’re not, you can click on ‘View Public Profile’ at the top of the list, where you’ll be directed to that member’s profile page. There, you’ll have the option of leaving a ‘Visitor Message’. However, unlike the e-mail and PM facility, this is NOT private and your message may be viewed by other members who visit the profile page. If you wish to communicate privately with a member who has disabled both their e-mail and PM options, we suggest you leave a visitor message requesting that they contact you instead. However, if you do this, make sure your own e-mail and/or PM options are enabled!

You may wish to see if there are any other members in your area. To find other T2W members in a defined radius of where you are, visit the Trader Locator page. There’s sure to be another T2W member closer to you than you think!

9. How do I report a post?
The panel to the left of each post contains a number of icons, including one of a red flag. (See graphic, below.) If you click on this, a new window will open in which you can leave a brief message saying why you’re reporting the post. Please note that the report post facility should only be used to report posts that breach the T2W Site Guidelines. The guidelines are all numbered, so you could simply list the guideline you believe the post breaches. This is useful in cases where the interpretation of the post is subjective. For example, if (in your opinion) a post adds little or no value to the discussion in hand and/or is unconstructive or misleading, you could simply put, ‘In breach of guideline #1.10’. The moderators will then decide whether or not to uphold your objection and, if so, what action to take. The important thing is to make your reason(s) for reporting the post crystal clear, so that the moderators are able to quickly and easily understand your objection to it.



10. Who owns and runs T2W?
T2W is owned by Paul Gould, aka Sharky and has a team of roughly thirty people who ensure the site runs smoothly on a day to day basis. Please go to the Meet the Team page to find out who they all are and what they all do. Broadly speaking, the T2W team comprise of Staff and Moderators. The specific role of each is outlined below:

Staff
The Staff are paid members employed by T2W to perform specific roles such as managerial, advertising or technical work. Some of them work behind the scenes such as EK1, General Manager and Marcos, Tech' Team. Others are more front of house and are active on the forums day to day, e.g. Trader333, Content Editor and timsk, Content Manager.

Moderators
Moderators are unpaid volunteer members who have no vested interest in the site’s finances. They have administrative powers to moderate the forums, which means that they can move, copy, re-name, edit and delete content to ensure the smooth running of the site and that members’ conduct and behaviour is in keeping with the site’s objectives (see #1, above) and the T2W Site Guidelines. Members who transgress the guidelines can expect to be issued with infraction points (a bit like points on a U.K. driving license), which may lead to a temporary or permanent site ban. There are two kinds of Moderator: ‘Global’ and ‘Forum’. Global Moderators have a complete set of permissions, which enables them to moderate all forums. Forum Moderators are restricted to specific forums, as listed on the ‘Meet the Team’ page. If you are interested in the Forum Moderator role, please contact Androosh, Forum Support - for more details.

IMPORTANT: please note that moderators will only ever delete a post (or, very occasionally, a thread) for two reasons:
1. When a post breaches T2W Site Guidelines, or . . .
2. When they are advised to do so by T2W’s legal team, because allowing the post to stand could expose the site to the risk of costly legal action against it.

Every so often, staff and/or moderators will housekeep the threads in the Trading FAQ sub-forum. This means that posts may be edited or deleted to ensure that each FAQ remains concise and on topic.

Disclaimer!
Please note that in order to perform thoroughly and competently any of the roles outlined above; it is not necessary for T2W Staff and Moderators to be experienced and active traders – although many of them are. All of them are appointed according to their suitability to perform their particular role and not according to their experience or profitability as traders.

Just like all other members, T2W Staff and Moderators and are free to post their own personal views on any forum. Their views are theirs alone and not the ‘official’ views of the site or its owner. Please note that their personal views have no greater validity, authority or gravitas than any other member. The exception to this rule is when they are acting in an official capacity with their T2W hat on - which will be self evident 99% of the time.

11. How does T2W generate its income?
T2W is a commercial business and, in order to survive and provide a free resource to its members and pay its staff, it has to generate an income. It does this via a limited amount of advertising and by promoting products and services of selected business partners. This is done in good faith and under no circumstances does T2W recommend companies that it knows or believes to be detrimental to the interests of its members. Conversely, T2W cannot guarantee that buying these products or services will make you a profitable or more successful trader. Please do your own research to decide what is right for you, as T2W cannot be held responsible for any purchase that you may later regret!

12. Does T2W endorse any vendors?
No - absolutely not!
Besides the obvious display ads, there are quite a few T2W members who are also vendors and can be identified as such by the cash register icon beneath their post count. It looks like this (circled in red):



Please note that the icon merely identifies them as vendors, it’s NOT an endorsement of their product or service. T2W does not have the resources to check them out and, as the site is free to join, they could be rogue vendors. If you’re considering buying something from a T2W vendor, you would be wise to conduct due diligence. Start by checking out these two FAQs:
How Can I Distinguish Between Scams and Reputable Vendors?
Can You Recommend a Mentor, Coach or Trading Course?

13. How does one spot experienced, knowledgeable and profitable traders on T2W?
There is no sure way to do this. Furthermore, there are many knowledgeable and experienced traders who don’t enjoy a great track record of profitability. Some members worry about this, but it really isn't a big issue. A football analogy illustrates the reasons why . . .

There are hundreds of thousands of football fans who don’t amount to much on the field but, nonetheless, many of them can explain the off-side rule every bit as well as David Beckham can. Possibly better in some cases! Similarly, it doesn’t require football knowledge to suggest ways in which FIFA could determine whether the ball has crossed the goal line and a goal should be allowed to stand – or not. By the same token, unprofitable traders can offer sound advice and inexperienced traders can have good ideas!

Rather than becoming too fixated on seeking out and only listening to traders who are experienced and profitable, you’ll learn more and enjoy the site more by shifting your focus to being open minded to the ideas and views expressed by all members. It’s what they contribute and how it benefits you and your style of trading that matters, regardless of whether they’re an experienced hedge fund manager or a spotty faced unemployed teenager merely posing as one!

As you spend time on the site, you’ll soon get a feel for the members who talk sense and those that don’t. If you take everything with a pinch of salt and only accept an idea or comment once you’ve verified it for yourself, you shouldn't ever have a problem. For more suggestions on how to evaluate other members of T2W, go to the Essentials Of First Steps Sticky and read the section entitled: ‘SORTING THE WHEAT FROM THE CHAFF ON T2W’ in post #2.

14. How do I get a mini-FAQ added to this sticky?
Lastly, if there is a mini-FAQ that you would like answered in this Sticky, please post it to this thread or contact timsk, T2W Content Manager and, if at all possible, it will be added. Once again – welcome to T2W and thank you for taking the time to read this Sticky.

USEFUL LINKS

If you find other threads, Articles or sites on your travels around the net that are relevant to this FAQ, please add a link to them in this thread, outlining what it is that you like about them. Thanks!

T2W THREADS
How the FAQ Forum Works Sticky
Does what it says in the title and explains how you can contribute.
[FAQ] I’m New To TRADING – Where Do I Start Sticky
If you’re new to trading and suffering from information overload, this thread will help to cut a path through the trading jungle and set you on your way!

T2W ARTICLES
None here? If you find a good one, let us know and we’ll add it!

EXTERNAL CONTENT
n/a

For a new trader a good place to start would be here: T2W Articles: First Steps
and work through the articles from the bottom of the page up, concentrating on the "newbie" type of articles.

hth

EK1

Yes - Forex factory has a good thread called
james16 Chart Thread @ Forex Factory
it also aludes to its' private forum but you can ignore that since there is a vast amount of free material to help you on your way.

A little system for you to think about:

Jankone M5 thread @ Forex Factory

and read this chaps input (Ryanmcd) and comments on James16, Jankones thread and elsewhere.

Search Results @ Forex Factory

Try T2Wins' very own Trader Dante:
http://www.trade2win.com/boards/sear...&starteronly=1

People can add to this short list but I think it may do to whet your appetite. However, don't forget to experiment on demo etc - simply reading will not make you a trader. Above all the one person standing between you and success is yourself.

Hello Good People, I'm a new member, and have been trading for a little while. I'm an ex-academic, and so the approach is slow and careful. I'm not doing badly except for silly mistakes (I made 30 points on a stock recently and left it there only to get stopped based on "letting your winners run" - given the markets right now I should have taken the money off the table, but instead got stopped out). I recently heard a talk by Sandy Jadeja @ City Index (with whom I was quite impressed), who recommended using OCO (one cancels the other) orders so that you can come out ahead no matter which way the market goes. What do others think of this, and how does one make it work effectively?

Hi Doc',
Welcome to the site.

You're question is entirely reasonable - but this thread isn't the best place to ask it I'n afraid. Replies to the FAQs need to be on topic to ensure that the threads stay focused. I recommend you start a new thread in the main First Steps forum where you're more likely to get a good response.

Regarding the sentence highlighted, I'm sure many members will be very interested to hear how this is possible!? I may be wrong, but I suspect you're referring to the practice of moving your stop to your entry point - once price has move a specified distance in your favour. In these circumstances, an OCO order would take you out at breakeven if your pending stop loss order is hit first, or at a specified profit if your pending limit order is hit first. As soon as either order level is triggered, the other one is automatically cancelled from the pending orders folder by the platform software.

A practice closely allied to this is to use a trailing stop. Take a look at this link for loads of threads discussing it: threads about trailing stops
Enjoy!
Tim.

Hi all, I'm pretty new here, too, in terms of my number of posts. I have to say that I'm struggling a little with where to start, too - is it just me, or are a large number of the threads here very long strings? It's as though they are often extended conversations that take place over months, with the 'in' references etc that that brings, which makes it harder to jump is as a newbie. Other fora I have inhabited - including non-Forex ones - tend to go more for shorter, topic-specific discussions.

Anyway, hello all!

(Perhaps should have added, I'm a full time trader based in the UK.)