How to become a stock trader?

My advice:

Read all of Bill O'Neill's books....he gives you a complete understanding of HOW and WHY a stock goes up or down...what signs that indicate this movement....it makes no difference if daytrading or long term investing....what is catalyst to make stock move??...

Watch CNBC...read WSJ...read Barrons...read IBD....read Yahoo Finance...pick a couple of stocks to "paper trade"...stocks do not move by themselves....people move stocks...

DELL is good one to watch....where did it open...watch what it does in relation to overall market...Dow up=Dell up....Dow down=Dell down...same with Nasdaq 100....

GM is another good one....slow and easy....part of Dow 30...

Trading is a very simple business.....too many people try to over complicate it....

TRADING is an ART....not a science....

Fidelity has some good little short seminars on basic technical ideas....clients and potential clients...sign up and go..

Good luck.....PM me if you have any questions..


Steve D
 
If you´re looking for a collegue degree you could go for finance, learn how to manage and diversify a portfolio of investments.

The way I see it, they wont teach you in school anything that´s relevant to trading. However, if you are able to become a succesfull trader on your own and you make yourself a millionare, you´ll need to know what to do with all that money and that´s where school comes in handy.
 
EXPERIENCE,
thats what you need.
just like any other field, or route in life you choose to take on.


you need to love it.

you need to breathe it.

most times you are submersed in this life 24/7.

look at most the men/women here,
we/they practically live virtual lives behind a computer screen,


like the old saying goes when your little:

"you can be anything you want to be, when you grow up"


just APPLY yourself Justin, is what I would recommend.


my guess is 95% successful people in this field came from the school of hard knocks, they lose some money, and are forced to learn the ins/outs of this 'game', or they get crushed, and bank accounts are emptied.

IMO there's no degree you can get to be successful in this line of work,

it just takes experiencing it all, and understanding it.

my2cents
 
justin534

Get a regular job, take up index futures as a hobby. Go modern, be a daytrader yes. Electronic futures are "TODAYS GAME" leave stocks to the old duffers.

I would take a longer address here to say a lot more about the ADVANTAGES of futures in Indexfutures but i am preparing to do battle with the mkts now. later dude.

PS, take a vacation to Chicago and go to the Chicago Board of trade and the mercantile Exchange visitors gallery and get the juices flowing. you can become a millionaire.

PSS< math needed in trading as a regular guy is a myth, leave the arbitrage etc to the institutions. be a regular small fry and you have a very good chance to be a good stock index electronic modern daytrader. ... :) :cool: :D
 
As a beginner I would recommend the following books:

Regardless if you want to trade stocks, futures, forex, etc. these two books would be great primers:

1. Trade Your Way To Financial Freedom by Van Tharp
This book drives home the necessity of using proper money management in your trading because without proper money management you will never make money in the markets for any length of time.

2. Getting Started in Technical Analysis by Jack Schwager

If you want to incorporate fundamentals into your stock swing/position trading (not relevant to daytrading though) where you would be in a position days, weeks, or months, then check out William O'neil's book How To Make Money in Stocks.

Since you mentioned day trading, these two books are good on that subject:

1. A Beginner's Guide to Day Trading Online by Toni Turner

2. Financial Freedom Through Electonic Day Trading by Van Tharp

Also a free day trading room where they teach your their methedology that has over 400 people in their room every day you may want to check out is www.WoodiesCCIclub.com . You will be able to see their charts they have up in real time and be able to hear the moderators.

Lastly, you may want to check out our free traders club meetings that we webcast of our Tampa meetings. You can interact with other traders in the text chat area, see the presenters slides/charts and hear the presenter in real time. Each month we have a different presenter sharing different trading strategies, technical analysis techniques and trading money management. You can find out more about the meeting we are having this month by seeing another post titled Saturday September 23rd Traders Club Webcast under the topic of Hook Up or you can register for the webcast to get the log in instructions and by clicking on the link below:

www.CornerstoneInvestorsNetwork.com/register.htm
 
This type of thread comes up a lot, and since I was in this guy's positions not TOO long ago, I'll chime in here with my advice.

I have a slightly different take on things. I think your chances of really fulfilling your trading potential while trading part-time from you house are slim to none.

If you get an appropriate education and get the right kind of job in finance, you get exposed to the market every day, learning about how bigger players trade, order flow, different trading techniques, etc. Others on here might argue that the kind of trading you'll do on an institutional desk won't fully prepare you for trading off a chart at home, but I can guarantee you it'll better prepare you for it than, say, cleaning pools or working for an insurance underwriter. (Further, it's not like you can't still trade/study the markets part-time.) You'll find you have the chance to learn from people in the industry with all different kinds of trading experience.

Most importantly, you can make a good living while you prepare for independence, if that's what you really want.

My advice is to work hard to get an academic background in programming and some finance. Get a job at a competitive trading firm (not an arcade or prop that doesn't pay a salary) that will expose you to various methods and people. In the meantime, certainly indulge yourself in any part-time trading or research.

When you've done that, you'll no longer need career advice.
 
Quote from Justin534:

I thought maybe a degree in economics but then thought that might be too broad. How did all you get into it?



-Justin
More...

Justin, take a look at this thread I started http://elitetrader.com/vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=69645&highlight=finance , because it may answer your question. "To get into" trading is just something you have to learn by doing. Because as much as the authors tell you to stick to your stops, be disciplined, and all that, is at times much harder than it sounds. If it wasn't for my family sending me money (they dont know most of it goes into my account :D ), I'd be gone long time ago. Get in peoples face...ask questions, piss people off til you get what you're looking for :). Many here would like to see me blow up and quit trading (not gonna happen), but thats what you have to do. Thats cool that you want to be a day trader, but realize that there's much more to it than fast fingers and a head for math. A college degree is great, but no matter how smart you are, or successful in the business world, that doesn't guarantee your success in the market.
 
or u could always join the army read some books, shoot some guns. I hear they have a great exercise program you can even learn a skill/trade
after 2/6 years and your out youl haved some money saved up and your higher education paid for.
 
Quote from ken__0:

or u could always join the army read
More...

Heh. A former trading mentor of mine once told me that doctors and lawyers make the worst traders, as they like to use their intellects and need to be right.

He also mentioned that he's noticed traders who formerly were in the armed forces tend to make good traders, as they can be disciplined in trading a system and not need to ask "why" the market did what it did.

Of course, he's speaking in general, but still, an interesting thought !
 
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