I'm new, need help please?

[MeNewTrader]

I'm new, need help please??

I've always been interested in trading and sent for some info which I received recently. I've read some of the literature - Ok, I'm sure your wondering what info I've received! It was from Vince Stanzione - wished I've have found this discussion board before I ordered it as I'm just after reading some reviews about him here ( Anyhow that would just be my luck, paying out almost £300!! Ok, I'll give over (lol)
I'm a little unsure of some things. I'm thinking of opening an account with IGIndex after I paper trade. I have a switch card/bank account with quite a bit of savings, should I use this account or what is the best way to start off??
Finally, is the key really to study charts etc and to place a stop/loss controlled risk bet? How long should charts be studied for?
I hope I make sense and hope someone will be able to help me. Many thanks for reading this and any other info would be much appreciated in getting me started!!

 

[Finlayson]

MNTrader,

I should get yourself a personal plan first, so u know what style of trading u would like to get involved in i.e time scale, part time/full time, Future's/stock's etc.

trading is a big 'can of worms', if that is a good description, there are lots of differing styles, methods etc. Decide how u want to get involved, if u dont already know, then it will be easier to track down the relevant information that will be pertinent to your goals.

Jay

 

[kevin546]

Get Elder's book 'come into my trading room' to develop a complete plan. Although you will need to experiment to find what suits you best but the book will be a great help in considering a complete plan.

Also get a charting book one that covers the basics in most areas is by Murphy ' Technical analysis of the financial markets'. Then practise on free sites. Try trading through a simulated programme to test your style and then trade as low as you can go until you feel you have found your edge then trade at 1 - 2% risk of your total capital on any deal. If your capital increases overtime then you have made it.

But it is not easy so do get the books rushing in without being prepared you will just lose money and time.

All the best

Kevin

 

[Rognvald]

MNT
You say you have a sufficiency of savings - you do not mention whether you are in a job or wish to trade full time eventually. Either way be prepared to spend quite a long time familarising yourself with the various types of instrument you can trade, the risk levels you will tolerate and the timescale you wish to trade in.

Read as much as you can - there is a lot of free stuff on the web. This includes information on trading methods, technical and fundamental analysis and and a number of sites providing free and basic charting facilities for a wide range of instruments. The various exchanges around the world have very helpful sites. A book or two is an economical way of appreciating the necessity of planning and discipline - I have found Trade your way to financial freedom by Van K Tharp and Tradingfor a living by Alex Elder very helpful. Try to be as systematic and disciplined as you can and record your increasing knowledge as you go along. There is an enormous amount of helpful information available on this site and many members are generous with their expertise.You will probably wish to tap into this and it is well worth doing so
Good luck
Ron

 

[MeNewTrader]

Thanks to everyone for your helpful replies. I am currently unemployed so have plenty of time to familarise myself with trading. I would eventually hope to trade full time. kevin546 can you tell me a few free sites where I can practice on??

I really have alot to learn yet and so far finding these boards a great help! Thanks again

 

[juanbyte]

Try

http://www.capitalspreads.com/frontend/capital/public/home.aspx

and open a free demo account

 

[FTSE Beater]

Hi MeNewTrader

Welcome to Trade2win

Finally, is the key really to study charts etc and to place a stop/loss controlled risk bet? How long should charts be studied for?

Have a read through this thread Basics of Trading It's a very basic introduction to trading, but it deals with stop-loss and money management - which most will agree is the key to trading

With regards free websites to practise on - if your trading UK shares then the T2W competition is the most realistic simulator I have seen. Before trading with real money, spend a bit of time paper trading to get a feel for the markets. There's no point putting money at risk to find out you don't like a certain way of trading.

Feel free to ask as many questions as you need to

 

[madasafish]

City Index have a trading simulator..

free
http://www.cityindex.co.uk/home.cfm

 

[grubs50]

U can try www.tradindex.com simulator too , very basic but good for beginners' discipline cos u won't be able to amend ur stop loss as soon as u enter a trade............. and continue paper trading for as long as u need , wait till u r very comfortable with the concept of trading b4 dabbling into it................as a relative novice , myself, i can assure u that this a very good site so don't feel embarrased to ask any question, no matter how silly u think it is.
I wish u the best of luck.

 

[alanb41252]

A Prayer book might come in handy !

 

[rossored]

Re: I'm new, need help please??

I've always been interested in trading and sent for some info which I received recently. I've read some of the literature - Ok, I'm sure your wondering what info I've received! It was from Vince Stanzione - wished I've have found this discussion board before I ordered it as I'm just after reading some reviews about him here ( Anyhow that would just be my luck, paying out almost £300!! Ok, I'll give over (lol)
I'm a little unsure of some things. I'm thinking of opening an account with IGIndex after I paper trade. I have a switch card/bank account with quite a bit of savings, should I use this account or what is the best way to start off??
Finally, is the key really to study charts etc and to place a stop/loss controlled risk bet? How long should charts be studied for?
I hope I make sense and hope someone will be able to help me. Many thanks for reading this and any other info would be much appreciated in getting me started!!

My suggestions would be buy one or two books or beg/steal/borrow them from anyone you know with similar interests. Save your money for trading because unless you're extrememly lucky, that money will be spent "educating" yourself in the best possible way : By placing losing trades. You will rapidly learn when to buy/sell and when not to!

As regards stoplosses, they are essential, whether you are trading futures/stocks/indices via direct access or spreadbet/cfd's.

And yes, the best way is to sit down, immerse your head in books/charts and practice real-time trades on simulators like the other members have mentioned.

Oh, and there are better brokers than IG imo. Probably finspreads : tighter spreads, and its possible to play with tiny amounts of money for the first few weeks. Make sure you have a deposit account, DO NOT open a credit account.

All the best

RR

Edit: some other useful websites for learning the basics:
http://www.decisionpoint.com/
http://www.incrediblecharts.com/technical/trading_basics.htm
http://www.stockcharts.com/education/

 

[madasafish]

try reading:
http://www.dacharts.com/articles.php
http://www.dacharts.com/systems.php ( I recommend the 2 X system
http://www.enthios.com/primer.htm

 

[timcatapult]

MN Trader.

You have a lot to absorb me thinks before you even start paper trading.

A suggestion start with products, try and understand theory and practise of buying shares, then move on to Spread Betting, then CFDS and futures. Then perhaps look again at those from a fundamental and technical aspect. During this time you will begin to understand your own character and personality and what products might suit you and your funds/cash management. When you have started to understand the advantages/disadvantages of the products start paper trading.

One of the big problems you will find is there is just too much information available and you will need to FOCUS.

Remember 'a fool and his money are soon separated' to many opportunities to buy so called education.

Read this site regularly - to my mind 'a fountain of information'



Good luck

Tim

 

[twiggytwo]

What ever you do make sure when you trade with real money it is MONEY YOU CAN AFFORD TO LOSE. The money I put in any of my dealing accounts is dead as far as I am concerned.Never use money you need to live on! If you do you will be too emotionally involved to make rational decisions.

 

[kevin546]

MNT

You need to do an great amount of research and to find out a bit about yourself, which will become apparent when you eventually start to trade. When you have understood what you want to trade, the method you chose to adopt and the time frame you wish to trade from then you can consider taking the plunge.

The free sites I mentioned related to practising your charting progress (they are not real time and to begin with I would learn the daily time frame). www.bigcharts.com, www.advfn.co.uk, www.iii.co.uk can be used you may need to register but there is no cost. These are ideal for basic charting especially if you are not looking to daytrade from a real time chart. You can still view the intraday charts at the end of the day fr a comparison.

There are a number of delayed real time US charts but I am not up to date on these as I concentrate on the FTSE index.

Good luck

Kevin

 

[Vernon]

Kevin546,

You and me seem to be concetrating on the FTSE and as I am a newbi who is only just opening an account then perhaps I can learn some things from you, originally I had researched swing trading, but more recently intraday seems good, anyway perhaps you can make contact and let me know. Regards Vernon

 

[peedee]

One of the main questions which you should ask yourself MeNewTrader is are you genuinely interested in trading? or is it just a bit of a whim ...? The advice you can get on this site from some of the more seasoned traders is just as good as any information you will find in any book, but personally and this is only a personal point of view the more time paper trading the better! I did read on this site that it should not be uncommon for a novice trader to paper trade for at least twelve months ( to get a feel for the markets ), the point i am trying to get across is, it takes time at first. Goodluck! PeeDee.

 

[kevin546]

Vernon

I am no expert all I can say is that you need to establish for yourself what style of trading you are most comfortable with and then the time -frame that best suits you. If daytrading try not to use to many different signals and keep it simple. Establish the best signals which return a profit more often than not and stick with that set-up. Then when you see a single you know what to expect from it and all you need from your trading at that point is the discipline to repeat the process whenever your signal presents itself.

Thats one part the other is to establish a complete trading plan, how to manage risk control emotional trading and a stop policy. If you are starting out then I would advise you to put Dr Alexander Elder's book 'come into my trading room' on your present list to Santa. You will find it a good read and will help develop your whole approach to trading. There are examples of trades but these tend to be from a daily chart than intraday but they are explained and swing trading or trend trading apply just as well to the intraday position as they do to the longer one. Its how you manage your trading that is important. There is no one specific signal that provides us with the holy grail of trading. Very successful traders have given there own systems to others to try only to find that the results were not as good as they should have been. That is why you need to find something that works for you and gives you an edge.

Kevin

 

[oatman]

You won't get a feel for the markets by paper trading. When you've taken your first loss, then you'll understand what it's about. I believe you're better off trading in small amounts once you've decided on your medium and style.
There's nothing like that sickening feeling in your stomach when you "forgot" to put your stop in and the market's in free fall :cheesy:

 

[alanb41252]

I tend to agree about paper trading. You can paper trade for ever and never learn what it actually feels like to take a hit.

As soon as you put real money into play the feelings are completely different and your behaviour can change markedly if you do not exercise rigid discipline.

Everything learnt from paper trading can be thrown away in a split second of indecision, indiscipline or a moment of madness.

Better to get trading for real asap in my view but for small, small money.