How to make money trading

I agree with original statement , hard to imagine anyone from Wigan making money, or someone who lives in a bungalow for that matter.
 
Yeah, you should :cheesy:

They say 90 pct of retail traders fail. So it is possible, just difficult.

Books are the best place to start, I always recommend "Trade your way to financial freedom" by Van Tharp. In fact I'm thinking about emailing him for a commission as I've recommended it so many times.
 
Surely confidence is a prerequisite to do anything well?

Yes, of course it is. Confidence is top of the list as a trader.

See the signal. Know that it is familiar. Feel good about. Trade it..!

The only four sentences you need from Van Tharp!

www.chart-workshop.de has good technical charts. The software Teletrader has the best charts. Can even get volume on FOREX markets..
 
Yes, of course it is. Confidence is top of the list as a trader.

See the signal. Know that it is familiar. Feel good about. Trade it..!

The only four sentences you need from Van Tharp!

www.chart-workshop.de has good technical charts. The software Teletrader has the best charts. Can even get volume on FOREX markets..

To each their own of course...but is it not possible to win just by doing this:
See the signal. Trade it.

assuming they are your own signals. Feeling good and familiarity and lack of confidence will not affect the outcome of the trade. If you let any or all of those 3 dictate whether or not you take the trade you seriously limit your chances of suceeding. Emotionless trading works.

That being said, Van Tharp is excellent reading.

Peter
 
To each their own of course...but is it not possible to win just by doing this:
See the signal. Trade it.

assuming they are your own signals. Feeling good and familiarity and lack of confidence will not affect the outcome of the trade. If you let any or all of those 3 dictate whether or not you take the trade you seriously limit your chances of suceeding. Emotionless trading works.

That being said, Van Tharp is excellent reading.

Peter

I AM GLAD TO SEE THERES SOMEONE INTELLIGENT HERE!
WHEN I STARTED TRADING MY MOST REPETITIVE FAILURE WAS THE LACK OF CONFIDENCE, I WAS BRILLIANT SAYING TO WHERE A SPECIFIC MARKET COULD HEAD INTO THE NEXT HOURS, BUT I NEVER FOLLOWED IT, DUMM ME (n)!
ACTUALLY I AM SO CONFIDENT THAT I FOLLOW EVEN ILLOGICAL SIGNALS AND NOT VERY OFTEN THE MARKET GOES AGAINST ME, WHEN IT DOES MY METHOD - I TRUST IN IT - HAS THE WAY TO OVERCOME, EVERYTHING WITH CONFIDENCE....
 
When I moved to systematic trading I saw results I'd never come close to achieving as a discretionary trader. Run winners/cut losers, statistically this works, but in practice it's hard to do. There is something hardwired into humans which makes them poor traders (with some exceptions of course). I knew I didn't have the confidence to trade discretionary so developed models and take the signals I see. Whenever I have tinkered, i.e. not taken the signal, it's cost me money. Whenever I've thought "damn, I should have square up there", a couple of days later the rate has gone much further anyway.
 
When I moved to systematic trading I saw results I'd never come close to achieving as a discretionary trader. Run winners/cut losers, statistically this works, but in practice it's hard to do. There is something hardwired into humans which makes them poor traders (with some exceptions of course). I knew I didn't have the confidence to trade discretionary so developed models and take the signals I see. Whenever I have tinkered, i.e. not taken the signal, it's cost me money. Whenever I've thought "damn, I should have square up there", a couple of days later the rate has gone much further anyway.

I agree with you, each word. These week i made only 800 pips because i didnt trade a couple of days, which is not bad at all, the fact is that if i could automate my method i could be making over 400 pips each day, i get the signals but its hard to follow, anyway i make good enough.
If i knew how to automate my method i would be getting my first million before year end :rolleyes:.
 
To each their own of course...but is it not possible to win just by doing this:
See the signal. Trade it.

assuming they are your own signals. Feeling good and familiarity and lack of confidence will not affect the outcome of the trade. If you let any or all of those 3 dictate whether or not you take the trade you seriously limit your chances of suceeding. Emotionless trading works.

That being said, Van Tharp is excellent reading.

Peter



Sorry, I don´t think I wrote that it is possible to win by applying that criteria?
Every trader knows how it feels to take a hit and that afterwards you are left emotionally hit… Confidence is absolutely necessary to continue taking a position in the market. But you will only gain confidence by researching and back-testing your technique.

As a trader you are faced with making a decision to enter the trade or not to enter the trade. Many intra-day traders will miss good market entry opportunities because they take too long to decide. If you have researched chart techniques and found a good technical set up that fits and suits your time frame and character then seeing a signal to enter the market should make you confident enough to follow the signal without having to think too much about it leaving enough capacity to make the right decision if the trade does not work out.
 
I agree with you, each word. These week i made only 800 pips because i didnt trade a couple of days, which is not bad at all, the fact is that if i could automate my method i could be making over 400 pips each day, i get the signals but its hard to follow, anyway i make good enough.
If i knew how to automate my method i would be getting my first million before year end :rolleyes:.

What kind of annual return are you targeting, and what sort of maximum drawdown does this system give (over the last 5 years, for example)?
 
Sorry, I don´t think I wrote that it is possible to win by applying that criteria?
Every trader knows how it feels to take a hit and that afterwards you are left emotionally hit… Confidence is absolutely necessary to continue taking a position in the market. But you will only gain confidence by researching and back-testing your technique.

As a trader you are faced with making a decision to enter the trade or not to enter the trade. Many intra-day traders will miss good market entry opportunities because they take too long to decide. If you have researched chart techniques and found a good technical set up that fits and suits your time frame and character then seeing a signal to enter the market should make you confident enough to follow the signal without having to think too much about it leaving enough capacity to make the right decision if the trade does not work out.

OK, I agree with this. My opinion is that you DO have to be certain your method works, but not necessarily be confident that a particular valid trade signal will win. I'd rather risk a small loss on a valid setup that I didn't feel particularily good about then risk missing a nice gain because I didn't take the trade. Remember, I do have confidence that over many trades my method is good, so why not take all of the signals regardless of how I feel?

Peter
 
Sorry, I don´t think I wrote that it is possible to win by applying that criteria?
Every trader knows how it feels to take a hit and that afterwards you are left emotionally hit… Confidence is absolutely necessary to continue taking a position in the market. But you will only gain confidence by researching and back-testing your technique.

As a trader you are faced with making a decision to enter the trade or not to enter the trade. Many intra-day traders will miss good market entry opportunities because they take too long to decide. If you have researched chart techniques and found a good technical set up that fits and suits your time frame and character then seeing a signal to enter the market should make you confident enough to follow the signal without having to think too much about it leaving enough capacity to make the right decision if the trade does not work out.

Well yes, i agree with you...., but...
My method is as good that i can follow a signal without thinking twice but before entering into a position i always double check the logic behind the signal.
Lets say i am getting a sell signal at EUR/USD, its level is 1.255, i am sure it will move downwards because my method is saying that, the point is that i dont feel logic to sell at that level, so i better wait the pair to go down and then i can wait for the reversing signal and then i get in without thinking twice.
I am not a bull or a bear, i am trend chaser, but basically there must be a logic to enter into a position, now lets say i got in and it went against me then i have some procedures to recover that position and i know i will, simply i dont know how long could it take or if i will have to assume a loss at some time, so double check and try to find the logic behind each trade, well in my case i am not in the hunt of 10 pips i try to get 30+ pips at each trade.
 
My friend.
Your parents were wrong.
That sermon described the overall life in these world.
80% of animal pups will not reach 1 year of life, 40% of professionals will have a very good job when they reach seniority, the rest will die or fail.
20% of world population belongs to middle class and only 5% of world population is rich or extremelly rich, the rest are poor even in countries as USA, UK, France, Canada, Italy, specially in those countries.
So, if your parent were rigth i just wonder why the hell you were born if statiscally you were condemned to pooberty since you were born?, these sermon is - in my opinion - a very good justification for mediocrity, a very good reason not to figth, a very good one to spend saturday afternoons sitting at a sofa drinking beer and watching tv, we are humans and we have to figth for something otherwise we are death.
 
The reason 80% of traders lose, 15% make a living and 5% are super rich has nothing to do with the strat they are using, has nothing to do with what moving averages they are using it has everything to do with their approach to money. The best guys don't care, that's it DON'T GIVE A CRAP. There will be a sliding scale from top to bottom of the guys who hold money in least regard to those who hold it in most regard. The guys at the top don't care, the guys at the bottom use gocompare.com

Saying that the best traders "don't care" is just misleading. The best traders have a system and understand it, and realise that on occasion there is drawdown. They will approach losses with equanimity, which is to say they understand that "it happens".

To say that they "don't care" is slightly ludicrous. In fact they care about every single trade, but know that some (or maybe most) will be losers.

Imagine if a very good trader messes up an order, or skips a signal because he is hungover, and it costs money ---- do you seriously think he simply wouldn't care?
 
I've thought of an analogy. Imagine Jude Law is in a fashionable bar in Manhattan, and starts chatting up an attractive lady, with the intention of getting to know her better. He knows that she MIGHT say no, but, even if she does, there'll be someone else with whom he can try his luck. He isn't put off or disheartened by rejection because he knows he'll eventually pull.

For the average punter trying to chat up, e.g. Sienna Miller, they will approach her with hesitation (when she appreciates boldness). Upon rejection, the average punter then retreats into his shell and momentarily gives up, before moving onto a less desirable specimen. His approach does not have positive expectancy.

Now, does Jude not care that he was rejected by the first lady? Of course he does. But he is well aware that his "system" has positive expectancy and thus persists with it, knowing that in the long run he will succeed.

Back to trading, I would say that the best traders have belief or a system in which they trust, and are able to cope better with "rejection" (losses) than the average/poor trader, who is more likely to change system/abandon. So they DO care about money, but don't get too stressed or panic when they are in drawdown.
 
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