TOTW If you could go back in time, what trading advice would you give yourself?
MistakesWereMade
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Invest in yahoo, google, msft, wmt, fb & bitcoins!
tar
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1- Lower your expectations ( 100% monthly ) , 10% monthly is hard enough . And you wont make money the first few years .
2- Don't ever use an arbitrary fixed tight SL , ie: 20 pips !
3- Take what you read in forums like T2W with a grain of salt . And don't spend much time here .
4- Don't look for something called "edge" .
2- Don't ever use an arbitrary fixed tight SL , ie: 20 pips !
3- Take what you read in forums like T2W with a grain of salt . And don't spend much time here .
4- Don't look for something called "edge" .
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darktone
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Id take myself to the pub.
Youre probably not gonna like this, but trust me, I am you, theres noone on the planet whos a keener interest in your best interests.
What youve been rewarded for in school / life so far wont help you much in the market. Just take my word on that.
The journey will be easiest if you get a good understanding of psychology first. This is 90% of it. Having the tools to manage your head, from here it will be easier to accept that the market is:- Ever changing / uncertain/ it can truly do anything, at any time.
You will also be mentally free to explore the methods that 90% of the participants would walk by, deem untradeable / impossible. The damage that the market can do to you pails in insignificance in comparison with the emotional damage, conjured up by you, for you. Trading can be stressless, its a choice, your choice.
With regards to method. Ignore like the f**king plague mainstream thinking regarding method! Aim to make it flexible and focus on what you can know.
You can know:
The trend
The extension from average price
Your size (risk)
You cannot know:
The top / bottom
What the market will do next
Its easiest to align yourself with the big picture. Within that framework, aim your efforts at the absolute extremes, to operate at prices that are in your favor, be it entering, exiting, at loss or profit. Always consider seriously your role in the market at that moment. (Id detail a simple method and outline the import parts of psych)
So,, whaddaya think? Actually, one sec,,, im gonna get that drink!
lloydbee
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Nice response I think, there's so much crap drummed into people about trading is this, trading is that in a nutshell you're saying (to me) just 'be a trader'
What advice would I give myself? keep my money and don't pay that large company to teach me to trade
Don't listen to the so called experts and definitely not the media.
Most importantly don't go living the lifestyle till the account is a lot larger, stop spending and carry on accumulating.
Well, fairly new on here.. But the advice I'd give myself:
- Don't bother with signals or trying to follow trades other people post up. They are almost always wrong or such little potential for upside it kills you.
- You will blow a few accounts after you move from the demo account but don't get too stressed
- In relation to the above, don't over trade. My biggest problem was putting on too many trades and trying to pyramid this cost me thousands particularly when shorting, I would make 100% return and get greedy then blow it all.
- Learn to wait for an entry, yes the market will go down but if you don't have a solid entry it'll probably go up and take out your stop before it goes down again
And probably loads of other things, not selling my Bitcoins last July is a big one though!
- Don't bother with signals or trying to follow trades other people post up. They are almost always wrong or such little potential for upside it kills you.
- You will blow a few accounts after you move from the demo account but don't get too stressed
- In relation to the above, don't over trade. My biggest problem was putting on too many trades and trying to pyramid this cost me thousands particularly when shorting, I would make 100% return and get greedy then blow it all.
- Learn to wait for an entry, yes the market will go down but if you don't have a solid entry it'll probably go up and take out your stop before it goes down again
And probably loads of other things, not selling my Bitcoins last July is a big one though!
BSD
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That's really it in a nutshell !
Only thing I'd add is you need to have complete and total commitment to results and belief in yourself. Also straight out of the psychology department.
Many people, if they were completely honest, don't really have a firm belief that they will ever make more than they lose from trading. With that mindset it's, just like the other way round, a self-fulfilling prophecy.
I would slip myself the winning lottery numbers, which would render my efforts to make trading a viable income source unnecessary. On a serious note, I would have told myself to forget the conventional path to trading and instead focus on my own research.
evertontrader
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Always follow the market, never trying to predict, you can't.
Anyone who tells you they can forecast the future with high probability... is delusional.
Anyone who tells you they can forecast the future with high probability... is delusional.
Wicked_Daddy
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I would tell myself the same thing I tell myself every day before I turn on my system:
You can do this. You have made profitable trades and you will make profitable trades today by being disciplined, focused and confident in your system.
I've read here about the impossibility of success as a retail trader. I refuse to believe it. I've read about how indicators are junk but I use 2 in tandem and they work very well for me. It's not the indicator that fails, it's the trader who doesn't use it correctly. Every losing trade I've ever made has been due to MY failure to SEE what is happening and interpret what I see without emotion and speculation.
I would forgive myself for making many newbie mistakes that came from thinking there must be a magic formula to beat the market. I would tell myself the answer is in my own hard work and dedication to learning and practicing.
But again and above all, I would tell myself that making a comfortable living as a full time trader is possible. Sure, perhaps only 5% or 10% actually succeed - then do what it takes to be in that group.
I made the decision years ago to go full time, with not enough money and enough raw fear of failure and desire for freedom to work at it relentlessly. I did tell myself I could and would succeed and never looked back. It was that or end up broke, hungry and homeless. It can be done and I start each day with that belief and the goal to prove it true once again - one win at a time.
You can do this. You have made profitable trades and you will make profitable trades today by being disciplined, focused and confident in your system.
I've read here about the impossibility of success as a retail trader. I refuse to believe it. I've read about how indicators are junk but I use 2 in tandem and they work very well for me. It's not the indicator that fails, it's the trader who doesn't use it correctly. Every losing trade I've ever made has been due to MY failure to SEE what is happening and interpret what I see without emotion and speculation.
I would forgive myself for making many newbie mistakes that came from thinking there must be a magic formula to beat the market. I would tell myself the answer is in my own hard work and dedication to learning and practicing.
But again and above all, I would tell myself that making a comfortable living as a full time trader is possible. Sure, perhaps only 5% or 10% actually succeed - then do what it takes to be in that group.
I made the decision years ago to go full time, with not enough money and enough raw fear of failure and desire for freedom to work at it relentlessly. I did tell myself I could and would succeed and never looked back. It was that or end up broke, hungry and homeless. It can be done and I start each day with that belief and the goal to prove it true once again - one win at a time.
terriegym
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BSD
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That is a GREAT post !!!
Very inspirational.
It's absolutely all between the ears.
terriegym
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Especially this bit, sounds like conversations i have with myself!! keeping the focus on pennies filling up a jar rather than £10 notes flying away in the wind!
evertontrader
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Sorry but all this "retail traders don't succeed" nonsense is quickly forgotten when you know how to make money. Wanting to be in the "successful 10%" should not be your goal... instead simply try forgetting all this rubbish and promotional spin. The people who make these statements don't make money or understand speculation... they are marketing people. IGNORE SUCH NONSENSE.
You need to get past this stage in the journey and do not brainwash yourself to think that "hard work" or "not giving up" will make you any more profitable than the average neophyte, this is very dangerous. Don't be so foolish as to think other people don't work as hard as you, instead you need to work smarter, i.e being more pragmatic. Sir Isaac Newton was a genius by all standards, yet he worked extremely hard with his genius mind to turn base metals into gold... and with all that hard work and genius... he did not succeed in his task. Think about this, dedication and intelligence is not enough, you need something else..you need to be pragmatic through experience.. you need emotional intelligence!!!
To win, you have to MATURE, you have to reset your expectations of success so that you can get past all the retail trading deception, it's poison. You need to accept that a consistent annual return between 5%-15% is excellent, anything above is exceptional. Don't believe me? then look how the most successful hedge funds in the world performed last year
These funds out do you in every department, markets knowledge, information access, risk management, talent, time, capital base, and commissions!!! but yet the RETAIL trader marketing sets the highly unrealistic expectation that you can double your capital in minutes/days/weeks.. well yes you can.. just like you can on a streak on roulette.. but we know what follows shortly after... greed & ruin.
The formula is simple.... get the execution skills, grow your capital base, journal your entries, set realistic expectations, manage your risk and YOURSELF. If you can do that, you're on the path to success in speculation.
-----
That's what I wish I would of told myself when I started trading.
Good Luck to you all!
You need to get past this stage in the journey and do not brainwash yourself to think that "hard work" or "not giving up" will make you any more profitable than the average neophyte, this is very dangerous. Don't be so foolish as to think other people don't work as hard as you, instead you need to work smarter, i.e being more pragmatic. Sir Isaac Newton was a genius by all standards, yet he worked extremely hard with his genius mind to turn base metals into gold... and with all that hard work and genius... he did not succeed in his task. Think about this, dedication and intelligence is not enough, you need something else..you need to be pragmatic through experience.. you need emotional intelligence!!!
To win, you have to MATURE, you have to reset your expectations of success so that you can get past all the retail trading deception, it's poison. You need to accept that a consistent annual return between 5%-15% is excellent, anything above is exceptional. Don't believe me? then look how the most successful hedge funds in the world performed last year
These funds out do you in every department, markets knowledge, information access, risk management, talent, time, capital base, and commissions!!! but yet the RETAIL trader marketing sets the highly unrealistic expectation that you can double your capital in minutes/days/weeks.. well yes you can.. just like you can on a streak on roulette.. but we know what follows shortly after... greed & ruin.
The formula is simple.... get the execution skills, grow your capital base, journal your entries, set realistic expectations, manage your risk and YOURSELF. If you can do that, you're on the path to success in speculation.
-----
That's what I wish I would of told myself when I started trading.
Good Luck to you all!
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P
postman
That is a GREAT post !!!
Very inspirational.
It's absolutely all between the ears.
"What you believe is going to happen happens".
So if I believe the Dow will go up 500 points today it will happen?
Do I need to believe really hard, or do I need a special gemstone, or just a pen and paper for 'cosmic ordering' ?
I believe your going to respond saying that I have opened your eyes and that phrase "What you believe is going to happen happens" is pure nonsense.
tar
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+1
BSD
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"What you believe is going to happen happens".
So if I believe the Dow will go up 500 points today it will happen?
Do I need to believe really hard, or do I need a special gemstone, or just a pen and paper for 'cosmic ordering' ?
I believe your going to respond saying that I have opened your eyes and that phrase "What you believe is going to happen happens" is pure nonsense.
Haha mate.
http://www.trade2win.com/boards/general-trading-chat/203114-self-efficacy-true-key-mint.html
I don't think you'll find anyone exceptionally successful who didn't start out with a firm belief in self efficacy.
Maybe that's no guarantee of making it some will argue, but what is a guarantee is that without believing that yes you can, you'll never make it big.
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