Quote from jdkgroup:
if these thoughts are true, then what I would like to learn would be:
Specifically how should I search for these edges & patterns?
i.e., Would a mentor be able to tell meâ¦hey, donât use that indicator look at this one, look at this type of volume, look at the vix, check this time of day, watch this market then that market, look at this oversea exchange, read this report, try these different averages & pivotsâ¦â¦â¦.and this is how you find those correlations & exploitable edges
If you are looking for a mentor to tell you how to trade, that might be your first mistake. There are some good mentors out there, but they are better at steering you in the right direction more than saying "here, look at this, when you see that, do this".
You need to look at a mentor more as a coach. He can help steer you in the right direction if he is good. But no matter how good the coach is, he could not make me a pro basketball player. Some things can't be done. But a good coach can take what you have and improve on it.
Read a few books, and take plenty of notes. Then try to make some trades using what you have learned. Paper trading is preferable for some people, others don't like it. If you don't want to paper trade, then at least be smart enough to trade very small amounts, like 1 futures contract or 100 shares of stock.
Trading small will give you the experience you need to learn this business. If you can't get profitable on small amounts you will never get profitable on big amounts. Prepare to spend a few months or years getting to the point where you are ready to trade with real size. It may happen sooner, later, or not at all. But at least you won't blow through all your money before you get this business figured out.
Have realistic expectations. You will not take 25k and turn it into 1 million dollars this year. It will not happen. thats not realistic for anyone with half a brain. Yes, there is a 1 in 200 million chance you can do it, but the reality is that powerball is a much lower probability than trading your way to that amount in a year.
think in terms of percentages, not dollars. It will make it a smooth transition later when you scale up into larger trades. you can stay at 1% a month and up your trade size by 10x and its easier psychologically than going from 10k a month to 100k a month.
Trading in itself is not that hard at all. the hard part is learning the discipline required to become and stay profitable. Thats the part that takes some people years to master. And many take a lifetime and still cannot master it.
Screen time is critical. If you just pick a few markets and watch them and you will start to notice things. Then you make a few trades on what you observe. Its really that simple. Maybe an indicator or two will make it easier in the beginning. Maybe not. It depends on you.
You said you want to know if a mentor could tell you "hey, donât use that indicator look at this one, look at this type of volume, look at the vix, check this time of day, watch this market then that market" well EVERY method ever mentioned works. They might not work for you or me, but they work for someone. You have to find what works for you. Simple is usually better. I have a friend that trades commodities and all he uses is a single moving average. He is not a full time trader, but he makes about 30-50 trades a year and in 2007 he made 23k after taxes on those trades. He couldn't live off that, to him its just extra cash. but if he wanted to he could scale it up and do it full time. For him its free money.
If you still feel you need a mentor, make sure he shows you hard proof of his success. That means trading logs and tax returns. If he won't show you that, it means he is not the person you want to teach you. Any profitable person that will accept you as a student will show you these things. If they won't show you proof, it means they have something to hide.
The most important thing to remember is to treat trading as a business. That means keeping detailed records, and reviewing them. You wouldn't open a sandwich shop or a car dealership and expect to be a millionaire right away. Every new business in the world is a race. A race to get profitable before your money runs out. The longer you can run, the better the chance you will learn what you need to get profitable.
good luck.
