What I have learnt.......

swissy

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Here is what I have learnt from the perspective of a relative newbie...hope it will be useful to someone out there in a similar boat - take it or leave it as trading is a personal endeavour;

1) Don't rush into buying a library of trading books to start with - most info is free on the net - make the effort to find it.

2) Find a market that you are comfortable with and interested in - only trade one market to start - learn it then earn it.

3) Keep your trading simple, look for the obvious (eg support and resistance in price) and trade on the higher timeframes - this requires patience - unfortunately this has to be learnt and can be a painful process.

4) In relation to the above I don't use indicators - why? because I don't understand them - only use indicators if you can deconstruct them and apply them to your market.

5) Money management will make or break you - but make sure you know your markets foibles and apply an appropriate stop that tells you your trade was wrong, this means you have to be adequately capitalised due to the law of probabilities (there are no certainties in trading).

6) Be persistent - you will know soon enough (gut feeling) whether trading is for you or a fad - trading requires you to be attuned to the market - to do that you have to be thinking about it all the time, running scenarios in your head, thirsting to improve your perfomance and knowledge ie you have to be interested in it verging on obsessive.

Unfortunately I have had to learn the above the hard way - by experience, but I finally have turned the corner and it is possible to do it (though I have doubted myself numerous times). Finally the jigsaw starts to fall in place - albeit a gradual process - almost imperceptible even and you start to become more "skilled" in your trading.

If it is what you really want to do, stick at it and good luck.

Best,

Swiss
 
Well said. I agree with pretty much everything except #1, and even there I largely agree. I would just say that one must remember that time is a cost, so one must consider how much time is spent finding and filtering all the "free" information out there and it's value and compare that against the price of a book, or whatever.

More important is knowing what you need. A lot of time and money gets wasted by those who don't stop to think for a minute about where they are really at in their trading and what can get them to the next level (not the level 5 steps ahead).
 
Swiss, one additional comment if I may ?

If you get stopped out, but the Entry parameters are still valid, don't be afraid to re-enter....

the number one moan from newbies is when they get stopped out only to see the trade take off in their original direction.....a re-entry is only a commission away !
 
Some good words right there. Anyone who becomes successful in trading has to learn the hard way. You don't just buy some system and start making money. It takes a lot of time and effort and most people don't realize it. Although not 100% necessary, I advise seeking out a mentor also. Someone who's views and strategy you can relate to. This has helped me tremendously with my journey as a trader and I would recommend it to anyone.
 
Well written and to the point .
Totally agreed with not buying an array of course and yes most content is available for free .
Demo mode also free more people should spend more time on it
 
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