5 Things I have learned in 5 years of trading!

[SimpleMeLike]

Not for the pro shops that have collectively made billions.

But for daily ET posters, yes.

Hello 777,

Yes, correct, the pro shops have people hired to strictly program and test robust algos 40 to 60 hours a week.

The one human trader with family and 9 to 5 job is at a pure disadvantage with very low reward for all the effort.

 

[deaddog]

Good point, one strategy I found really helpful in my early years was to print out examples of winning trades versus the stop out trades and look for differences between each group of charts. I put the stop outs in red binders and the winners in green binders.

Not sure how that helps. Stop outs are a normal part of trading. You didn't do anything wrong being stopped out, nor should you consider it a bad trade.

If you followed your plan and got stopped out, that should be considered a good trade with a bad outcome. If you ignored your stop because of what ever emotion, that should re regarded a bad trade regardless of the result.

 

[KCalhoun]

Not sure how that helps. Stop outs are a normal part of trading. You didn't do anything wrong being stopped out, nor should you consider it a bad trade.

If you followed your plan and got stopped out, that should be considered a good trade with a bad outcome. If you ignored your stop because of what ever emotion, that should re regarded a bad trade regardless of the result.

All very true. My purpose in printing out charts was to help develop the rules to use. Such as differences in patterns that work best vs stop out.

Following rules takes discipline. For example I bought UVXY eod yesterday bc one of my rules for trading it is to buy when it closes down >5% as it did.

 

[deaddog]

Following rules takes discipline. For example I bought UVXY eod yesterday bc one of my rules for trading it is to buy when it closes down >5% as it did.

Do you have a checklist you run through before you enter a trade?
Is it written or just in your head?
On your UVXY trade, what is your exit strategy? The last couple times it closed down it just kept going down.

 

[newwurldmn]

I’m not sure what the point of your story is.

Are you saying that no one can make money trading IC’s? Because Ken Calhoun essentially did.

Are you saying that you are awesome at trading IC’s and your friend sucks at it?

I do not. A short story: I once had a friend who I taught trading wide ICs on indexes. He doubled his money in 3 months' time, mortgaged his house and started thinking that living in Caymans is not a bad idea. Noticed how I said "had". In a year, he moved to his ex's basement and since drives a truck to the ex's total delight. The moral is, even something so simple (on the surface) as IC, cannot be just passed to someone. It involves so much more than just clicking, something that cannot be simply taught.
Just my 2 cents. Love the topic!
Cheers!

 

[HolyGrailSeeker]

If you can survive, you can make money in the long run. It is a marathon rather than a get rich quick scheme (although there's a real possibility to make a fortune quickly but dont treat it as such).

Don't kill yourself by YOLOing all in. But then again, dont risk too little that it is insignificant.

 

[diabolique]

If you can survive, you can make money in the long run. It is a marathon rather than a get rich quick scheme (although there's a real possibility to make a fortune quickly but dont treat it as such).

Don't kill yourself by YOLOing all in. But then again, dont risk too little that it is insignificant.

Agreed. Having good risk management along with money management is a must. They allow you to make a good decision, rather than jumping all in and wiping out your account in just a second.

 

[Witorishan]

the main thing that I understood is that you should never give up, even in the worst case scenario, but take it as an experience

 

[sebking1986]

Not sure how that helps. Stop outs are a normal part of trading. You didn't do anything wrong being stopped out, nor should you consider it a bad trade.

If you followed your plan and got stopped out, that should be considered a good trade with a bad outcome. If you ignored your stop because of what ever emotion, that should re regarded a bad trade regardless of the result.

Totally agree with this. A bad trade is one that doesn't align with your trading strategy. Sometimes a bad trade is a winning trade and a good trade a winning one. But take more good trades and you will be better off long term. Variance isn't something we can avoid though. Why people that ask how to avoid losses are missing the point.

 

[Glastonburyk]

1) A broker is not that important. 90% of them are fine so use whatever one you are comfortable with. I use CedarFX as I use Bitcoin to deposit and withdraw and it is very quick, also the tree planting is good. It all helps.



2) Social media “gurus” often don’t actually trade themselves and make their money conning the vast majority of people coming into trading looking for quick cash – don’t get caught out!



3) Nobody can give you a ready-made strategy and then send you off to start making money. A strategy is something personal to you in terms of time, risk tolerance, psychology, speed of the market etc. Take bits from different sources and then take the time to formulate and test your own strategy that fits your own parameters. There is no “one-size fits all” in trading.



4) Trading of any type is NOT A GET RICH QUICK SCHEME! It takes time for the above reasons to first learn the basics and then formulate a strategy, test it thoroughly and implement it.



5) Set achievable goals – when you first start break even at the end of the month might be a great target for you and that is fine. Not losing long term is priority number one to protect your capital. Don’t compare your 1000hrs of practice to another person’s 10,000hrs. Be better than you were 6 months ago and focus on that.



What else have you all learned in your time trading?

I wish I could have told myself to slow down at the beginning. The non linear path to becoming a trader is exactly that. There’s no step by step for many of us and you have to learn what’s useful and not through a lot of trial and error. DEMO accounts exist for a reason!