Bit of a noob question - But what exactly does trading involve?
bangkoker
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I've recently become interested in trading but after taking a peek at these forums it's put me off a bit with the alien terms being thrown around. But can someone please give me a detailed summary of what it exactly involves?
Thanks
I would just read some more. All the information is readily available. Really if you aren't prepared to research it yourself, then you are in danger of just deciding to pay for a course with someone. There are loads of beginners threads on here where you will pick up the basics. If you can't understand it from them, you would probably be better off spending your time pursuing something else.
Good luck:clover:
Masquerade
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It's generally just clicking buttons.
shadowninja
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If one million monkeys clicked all over a trading platform, one of them might turn £10 into £1,000,000. Now, if I could just buy monkeys at 10p each, I'd break even.
For 95% of traders it involves hitting your head against a brick wall repeatedly until it really hurts.
Then you give up, or you carry on hitting your head against the wall until you eventually get fed up of bleeding money. When you are nearly dead you might have had enough of it and either give up or start changing your ways...
and if you change your ways and are at the top 5% of traders you just might make 1-2% of any money you are happy to risk for each trade you take. (thats not including your losing trades)
So after all this effort, hours and hours of time, loss and pain you might if you are lucky make £1.50 for each £100 you are happy to risk in an account.
If you are still interested then welcome to Hell and enjoy your stay!
Then you give up, or you carry on hitting your head against the wall until you eventually get fed up of bleeding money. When you are nearly dead you might have had enough of it and either give up or start changing your ways...
and if you change your ways and are at the top 5% of traders you just might make 1-2% of any money you are happy to risk for each trade you take. (thats not including your losing trades)
So after all this effort, hours and hours of time, loss and pain you might if you are lucky make £1.50 for each £100 you are happy to risk in an account.
If you are still interested then welcome to Hell and enjoy your stay!
Last edited:
megamuel
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Trading, in it's simplest form, is the buying or selling of an instrument with the aim of closing the trade for a profit. The instrument could be shares in a company, currencies (forex), commodities (oil, gas, sugar, wheat, gold, silver etc.), or even things like interest rates, bonds, indices etc.
The idea is to identify when an instrument is over or under priced. When you consider how many people are doing this around the world you will get some idea of how difficult it is. What is going to set you above everyone else? This is when your quest for an 'edge' begins my friend.
What is an 'edge' you ask? You will hear this term a lot on this forum and its meaning is often debated. My interpretation of an edge is basically: A positive expectancy. I.e. A strategy/system/technique that over time wins more than it loses. This doesn't mean you have to have more winning trades than losing ones, you can have more losers so long as the winners are bigger than the losers.
Some people take many years to develop an 'edge', most give up before they get there. I've been interested in the markets for nearly 3 years now. I do not yet have an edge in the markets but I believe I am getting close. Do you have what it takes to dedicate many hours each day to studying the markets - Learning all the terms you don't understand, learning what drives the markets, watching price charts, analyzing everything you see? On the negative side it could take you years, you might not even get there. On the positive side, if you do get there, the rewards can be great.
Don't let me put you off, it can be a great hobby. Just remember - most hobbies cost money! If you want to make money you need to treat it more like a business. If you want to give it a shot then I suggest you take a look at the 'First Steps' Section of this forum. Then you could maybe open up a demo trading account. This trades pretend money - risking real money would be pointless right now. I recommend a MetaTrader 4 Demo platform. Pretty good and easy to use. You can get to looking at charts and figuring it all out. Just remember there is no Holy Grail. You have to accept that you will have losing trades. Good luck, you'll need it!
Sam.
The idea is to identify when an instrument is over or under priced. When you consider how many people are doing this around the world you will get some idea of how difficult it is. What is going to set you above everyone else? This is when your quest for an 'edge' begins my friend.
What is an 'edge' you ask? You will hear this term a lot on this forum and its meaning is often debated. My interpretation of an edge is basically: A positive expectancy. I.e. A strategy/system/technique that over time wins more than it loses. This doesn't mean you have to have more winning trades than losing ones, you can have more losers so long as the winners are bigger than the losers.
Some people take many years to develop an 'edge', most give up before they get there. I've been interested in the markets for nearly 3 years now. I do not yet have an edge in the markets but I believe I am getting close. Do you have what it takes to dedicate many hours each day to studying the markets - Learning all the terms you don't understand, learning what drives the markets, watching price charts, analyzing everything you see? On the negative side it could take you years, you might not even get there. On the positive side, if you do get there, the rewards can be great.
Don't let me put you off, it can be a great hobby. Just remember - most hobbies cost money! If you want to make money you need to treat it more like a business. If you want to give it a shot then I suggest you take a look at the 'First Steps' Section of this forum. Then you could maybe open up a demo trading account. This trades pretend money - risking real money would be pointless right now. I recommend a MetaTrader 4 Demo platform. Pretty good and easy to use. You can get to looking at charts and figuring it all out. Just remember there is no Holy Grail. You have to accept that you will have losing trades. Good luck, you'll need it!
Sam.
timsk
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Hi hahnwest,
When you first registered with T2W, you should have received a welcome e-mail with 3-4 links to some Stickies and FAQs which address the very question you pose here. Did you not receive the e-mail or, if you did, did you not follow the links for some reason?
Tim.
When you first registered with T2W, you should have received a welcome e-mail with 3-4 links to some Stickies and FAQs which address the very question you pose here. Did you not receive the e-mail or, if you did, did you not follow the links for some reason?
Tim.
