Advice please!

[boxersam123]

Hey,

As you know I am new to Trading.

I am from a totally different field (construction), I know very little about stock trading,trading,sb,etc.

I am attending my 1st sb seminar this week.

I am 31 and I have decided this is going to me my next career move.

I have money to invest, so I thought sb, just to get the hang of it.

My questions are.

How long will it take me to understand the markets/jargan?
Is there a course I could take?
Is it possible to start now at my age?
Is SB the best way to start?

Thanks for your time.

 

[tomorton]

If you're wishing to be a freelance trader from home, age and lack of experience are no deterrent. However, Return = Capital x Time x Risk. If you want big Return in short Time, and you don't have big Capital, you would have to take big Risk. The usual result of this is to get wiped out: getting wiped out is the only way to lose the game, there are a hundred ways to win, but you have to stay alive long enough to find one that works for you personally.

My advice would be start with very very small positions - learn, test, refine and try again. Aim only at not losing big each trade. Only when you are a consistent winner, increase your position size.

 

[tomorton]

In answer to your specific questions:

The mechanics will come to anyone in a year or two, an intuitive feel for market behaviour could take many years beyond that

Yes, but most of them are a less valid education than actually trading

Age is no barrier if you're not looking for salaried employment

SB is a good place to learn the mechanics, but don't confuse its ease of execution with ease of making a profit: its very useful for learning the mechanics at very low cost, and how to make a profit in a falling market.

 

[montmorencyt2w]

And not to sound unduly pessimistic, but realistically, one has about as much chance of becoming a millionaire at this game as by going into acting. It happens but there are more starving actors out there than actor millionaires.

On the other hand, one might become proficient enough to land up in the trading equivalent of weekly rep or regular voiceover contracts. That may be good enough for many.

 

[Claudia123]

Good advice from both above.

Don't bother with SB seminars better of sticking your travelling costs into a mini account and learn the hard way. All they will do is show you big offices and tell you how much you can make. It's not the real world but very impressive so it makes you go home and stick a load of $ into an account.

The real world is sitting in front of your screen for hours and hours and reading and reading and reading and learning and losing. Losing is the cost of your education.

Open a demo with at least 3 companies see which platform you feel comfortable with. But be aware that trading on a demo is so much different to trading live.

Good luck

 

[boxersam123]

Good advice from both above.

Don't bother with SB seminars better of sticking your travelling costs into a mini account and learn the hard way. All they will do is show you big offices and tell you how much you can make. It's not the real world but very impressive so it makes you go home and stick a load of $ into an account.

The real world is sitting in front of your screen for hours and hours and reading and reading and reading and learning and losing. Losing is the cost of your education.

Open a demo with at least 3 companies see which platform you feel comfortable with. But be aware that trading on a demo is so much different to trading live.

Good luck

Thanks for your reply Claudia. Research is key then. How would I find out technical words though if I never come across them. Does that make sense? I have had an account for a month now but never come across technical words. Just buy and sell at the moment lol.

I am with Capital/Cmc/IG all have different pro's and con's.

I have just purchased The Financial Spread Betting Handbook: A Guide to Making Money Trading Spread Bets, hopefully this will help.

 

[shatztrader]

Hey,

As you know I am new to Trading.

I am from a totally different field (construction), I know very little about stock trading,trading,sb,etc.

I am attending my 1st sb seminar this week.

I am 31 and I have decided this is going to me my next career move.

I have money to invest, so I thought sb, just to get the hang of it.

My questions are.

Is it possible to start now at my age?

It could be difficult for you from what I sense, that you have already a comfortable life and career as such. Trading could be a hard work and a commitment for many years. Complicated complilation of hunger, coolness, clear state of mind, resilience, self reliance and self confidence. The amount of capital you bring into it does not work in your favour, as you might as well give out all very fast.
If you however decide to go for it, bare in mind that this path will take you on a bumpy ride through uncertainty, self discovery and you might not come out of it the same way you ve been before.

I wish you very good luck

 

[timsk]

My questions are.
How long will it take me to understand the markets/jargan?
Is there a course I could take?
Is it possible to start now at my age?
Is SB the best way to start?

Hi boxersam123,
Welcome to T2W.
I have a favour to ask you - and any other new traders who may be reading this. Can you tell me please, are you aware of the red link at the foot of the page entitled 'Trading FAQ' under the blue heading 'New To Site?' If yes, have you looked through the FAQs and not found answers to your questions or did the answers fall short of your expectations in some way? Any other 'first impressions' of the site (I'm not looking for compliments by the way) and how we can make it better would be much appreciated.
Thanks,
Tim.

 

[boxersam123]

Hi boxersam123,
Welcome to T2W.
I have a favour to ask you - and any other new traders who may be reading this. Can you tell me please, are you aware of the red link at the foot of the page entitled 'Trading FAQ' under the blue heading 'New To Site?' If yes, have you looked through the FAQs and not found answers to your questions or did the answers fall short of your expectations in some way? Any other 'first impressions' of the site (I'm not looking for compliments by the way) and how we can make it better would be much appreciated.
Thanks,
Tim.

Sorry, I posted it here in SB,impatiantly. Then I looked and found what you are talking about, but I thought I would let it run see if I got any different opinion.

Thanks and sorry Tim.

p.s I am at a crossroads in my life, and I am willing to put all my time into this venture.

Hopefully it will work out,construction has run its course with me. I need to break out now or I fear I never will.

Thank you

 

[everyonerich]

what if i tell you trading is harder than your construction job?

 

[TomTom]

Some thing to consider Boxersam

I made 12k on my first days trading then to loose 24k the next day and it was like that for many years.
Been broke & wiped out more and 4 times.
After many years of experience and knoll age with commitment I now earn some good money out of this business.
However the stress and hassle with the loss of earnings in the early years in conjunction with the losses several hundred thousand pounds one has to consider was it worth it ?

I was one of the lucky ones and managed to pull through.

You have a very long road ahead.

My advise is to get some experience with small amounts of cash before making the jump.

Now i can live and work any where in the world to suit my life style and always have money in my pocket. I and others like me did not get to such status with out much pain and torture.

What ever you do take advice from here and good luck.

Tom

 

[N Rothschild]

1-2 years MINIMUM

 

[boxersam123]

Now i can live and work any where in the world to suit my life style and always have money in my pocket.

Good stuff! I'm really pleased it worked out for you. Sounds great!

I'm not completely giving up construction, I'll work the 2 together and WILL trade small at 1st.

Hopefully one day I can trade like you.

 

[gle101]

Good stuff! I'm really pleased it worked out for you. Sounds great!

I'm not completely giving up construction, I'll work the 2 together and WILL trade small at 1st.

Hopefully one day I can trade like you.

If I were in your shoes I would pay special attention to risk and money management. I consider this to be the most important factor of trading. This simple rule can save you a lot of heartache as you start up learning this business. This insight usually comes after a few years of trading, and as TomTom correctly states, probably after one have burnt the account several times.

 

[Jack Hughes]

Try paper trading for about a year first, then you won't have to lose money to discover that umpteen indicators, 'systems' and 'strategies' won't work.

 

[TomTom]

Boxersam,
So you are going to do a bit of construction and a bit of trading ?
I are not i a postion to tell you what to do, but it has to be one or the other, or have a very tight risk managment process.

 

[gle101]

Trade with with a longer time frame (days or weeks), swing trading could work just fine. I see no need to quit your job at this stage.

 

[boxersam123]

Boxersam,
So you are going to do a bit of construction and a bit of trading ?
I are not i a postion to tell you what to do, but it has to be one or the other, or have a very tight risk managment process.

Thanks for all advice.

Construction is my main job(pays the bills,feeds the wife and kiddies). I am Big boss so I can access a computer during work hours as well as evenings.

Risk and Money manegment is on top of my to do list, thanks

 

[montmorencyt2w]

While agreeing with Claudia about SB seminars, if you find you do end up going to any (it's sometimes useful to know the enemy a bit better), make sure you ask them some searching questions about whether they actually want you to win or not. See if they give you a straight answer (and can answer with a straight face).

More generally:

You can sometimes be "right" and the market can sometimes be "wrong" but no matter how "wrong" the market may be, never forget that it can always, and assuredly will one day, kick you hard in the teeth, at a time when you least expect it and can probably least afford it.

 

[boxersam123]

While agreeing with Claudia about SB seminars, if you find you do end up going to any (it's sometimes useful to know the enemy a bit better), make sure you ask them some searching questions about whether they actually want you to win or not. See if they give you a straight answer (and can answer with a straight face).

More generally:

You can sometimes be "right" and the market can sometimes be "wrong" but no matter how "wrong" the market may be, never forget that it can always, and assuredly will one day, kick you hard in the teeth, at a time when you least expect it and can probably least afford it.

I asked this question to CMC ^^ The guy said, For everyone who "wins" someone loses, so they hedge the money that way! Only when the market crashes hard and every one short sells thats when there is a problem!