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[kmiklas]

I’ve had this conversation many times.

Here is where you start: Take a good hard look at yourself. WHAT DO YOU KNOW??? Trade what you know!

- Did you study IT and tech? Did your Dad own a convenience store and you did the ordering? Do you love politics? Do you like studying economics and monetary policy? You may not realize it, but you possess valuable information that you can parlay into profit!
- Compare what you know to the 11 S&P sectors and other markets. Noting above examples, they would respectively correspond to Tech (AAPL, IBM, MSFT...), Retail (Target, Walmart), Gold, and Fixed Income.
- Trade the sector you know best! It is a HUGE advantage. You’ll have deep insight into how instruments in that industry move.
- It’s ultimately a game of information, and you have confidential information that is worth a lot... but you must leverage it.

So inventory your knowledge, my friend, and laser-beam focus on what you know.

II. READ NEWS.

From there, voraciously read news in your specialty.

Take positions based on insights in your specialty.

III. TAKE PROFIT.

Easy as 1-2-3. <3

 

[Nobert]

just about the worst indicator

So that means - almost as bad as it gets ;

i see.

Hmnnn, lets say on a scale of indicators, from zero to ten, it (demos) would be ranked at number 3. 3/10 . Just about the worst. Next to the bottom.

So what kind of indicator, you would place at number 5/6 & number 7/8 ?

What would be 10/10 ?

For beginners of-course.

Experienced ones, probably would not use a tool, which is next to the bottom.


Yet some of them , who are trading 6 figures each day (in this forum, no names will be mentioned tho),

find no trouble in having a fair (that's an important word) competition, based on demos even it is as you say,

just about a worst indicator of success & confuses me. Contradicting.

Why SMB Capital finds no trouble in teaching newbies for 6 - 9 months with demos, before giving any real cash. Mystery.

 

[orbit23]

Talk is cheap. You are saying staring at the chart all week wouldn't be a problem. Well why aren't you doing so?

It's very hard to make it without having a mentor that is already successful.

There's a lot of trial and error to come and pain to endure and you still won't know what are you really doing. If i were starting all over again, i'd rather put the effort into finding a mentor, even though i have no idea where and how to find one.

 

[gaussian]

I don't have money to fund big account, but I am 23 and I just managed to get a job where I can save 1500£ monthly, so I am taking this as my "university" where somebody is paying me to learn how to trade. So in 1 year from now on I can start with money about 18000£, maybe you say it is not enough that's fine I can wait 2 years.
Or I was thinking about starting a trading account and fund it every month with this money, what do you think about that?

You can start trading options with anywhere between 2500 and 5000 USD. Yes, this is a small amount but you can also manage your risk better with options. For example, if you are trading with 5000, you should only trade contracts that will cost you a MAXMIUM of 250 dollars - shoot closer to 125 (5% and 2.5% maximum risk-per-trade) respectively. Obviously the more money the better - and with around 7500-10000 you can trade some more interesting setups - naked puts and calls, short strangles/straddles, etc.

as I said there are too many so it is hard to pick one. It all feels like BS to me.. What I found great is TastyTrade but anyway there are many people who are saying TT is BS..

I am one of them that thinks TastyTrade/OptionAlpha/etc are complete BS. There's a good reason: while their educational content (how options work) is typically baseline pretty good their suggested methods of trading are far from optimal. They really only cover short selling, which some accounts can't do, they don't really cover the greeks very well, they don't cover long strategies very well, etc. Both of these educational companies underpin their entire teaching on options expire worthless 70% of the time. While true in the most general sense, short selling options contracts entails risks that you as a trader may not be comfortable with. In general I believe TT is a commission farm no different than every broker on the planet reducing trading fees for things like futures.

My advice for this section is to get an idea of what to do and jump in. There are better books if you browse Amazon's best selling books on options anyway.

Another thing, somebody is saying selling premium is the only way to earn money where other people hate selling and they are saying the only way is to buy premium.

I make a significant chunk of my money on long positions. This is purely tastytrade shill propaganda. It's not black and white and it depends on overall market conditions, the greeks of the contracts you are trading, etc.

Also another thing, should I focus on options only or look for low priced stocks which can be day traded with little money?

If you can deal with expirations options are a better, more efficient use of capital.

It's very hard to make it without having a mentor that is already successful.

Bad advice. You don't need a mentor to succeed. This isn't a kung fu movie.

How many demo/simulated trades/screen time you had - before you lost twice ?

Demos for beginners are just about the worst indicator of success due to execution and lack of mental game preparation.

I will add more to this and say demo accounts only have one purpose - to learn the platform. As far as predictability in trading success demos are worthless - as you said. Playing with monopoly money is a lot different than having your own money out there.

 

[themickey]

Talk is cheap. You are saying staring at the chart all week wouldn't be a problem. Well why aren't you doing so?

It's very hard to make it without having a mentor that is already successful.

There's a lot of trial and error to come and pain to endure and you still won't know what are you really doing. If i were starting all over again, i'd rather put the effort into finding a mentor, even though i have no idea where and how to find one.

Yup, whole heatedly agree, a mentor will inspire you with their knowledge. I was mentored into coding. Invaluable! I'm an old guy and not so long ago dispaired how most likely I would go to my grave carrying all my experience with me. Not so thankfully, younger members of my family showed interest and I mentor them now over the cloud.

 

[soulfire]

Hello Guys,

I am not sure where to ask or who to ask so I am trying this here.

Basically I would like to learn trading and become profitable and create some kind of consitent income. I dont mind if it is going to be in 1 year, or 5 years, I just know that this is something what I want to do and be good at. I have big passion for it and I don't mind staring at a chart all week long and it is so interesting anyway.

I started with Forex, and of course I lost money twice, so I know that feeling when you want to be millionare and then - suprise!

So I strated to learn about options and stocks, I feel more comfortable with this and I thing you have more chances to be profitable than in Forex (I know there is peoplo who can be profitable in Forex or basically everywhere, but I am more intersted in options and stocks)

I don't have money to fund big account, but I am 23 and I just managed to get a job where I can save 1500£ monthly, so I am taking this as my "university" where somebody is paying me to learn how to trade. So in 1 year from now on I can start with money about 18000£, maybe you say it is not enough that's fine I can wait 2 years.
Or I was thinking about starting a trading account and fund it every month with this money, what do you think about that?

Ok and now why I am feeling lost. Because I don't know where to start. There are too many gurus, courses, chat rooms and it seems like if I would try everything, 18000£ would be little money, everybody is just saying they are the best they trading is profitable etc, but of course if you pay 200$ and you have there 300 and more people, you dont really care about your trading, maybe I am wrong and you can find really good mentors who actually cares about you, but as I said there are too many so it is hard to pick one. It all feels like BS to me.. What I found great is TastyTrade but anyway there are many people who are saying TT is BS..

Another thing, somebody is saying selling premium is the only way to earn money where other people hate selling and they are saying the only way is to buy premium.
Also another thing, should I focus on options only or look for low priced stocks which can be day traded with little money?

So my question to you, to experienced traders who was maybe one day where I am now. Where to start, what books to buy and start my "university", what to learn, what instruments trade, learn everything about options or stocks etc..

I am sure there will be few people who will write - dont trade, you will lose anyway, find something different, GO AHEAD but I will disappoint you, this is my passion, this is my hobby and actually mi biggest dream to become a trader so you will not discourage me from this journey.

Thank you for your time and help.

Dom

The first step is to ask your relatives/friends if anyone trades for a living- this is your best shot at finding a legitimate mentor who would most likely be willing to show you the ropes and share crucial information with you that they wouldn't with others. Self learned trading can take many years of trial and error persistence,research, and patience. If an individual becomes one of the few that succeed and develops a working trading plan, don't expect them to give you the details of their knowledge as it was too long and painful to obtain and they don't want to risk losing their edge with sharing that info.

A relative likely won't just give you their info either, but they will point you in the right direction and should be willing to look at your work and help you from taking too many loops in the hamster wheel going nowhere.

If you don't have a relative/friend that successfully trades, then you are likely going to have to figure it out on your own- the hardest path that many attempt, but few achieve.

I am sure there will be few people who will write - dont trade, you will lose anyway, find something different, GO AHEAD but I will disappoint you, this is my passion, this is my hobby and actually mi biggest dream to become a trader so you will not discourage me from this journey.

I don't believe this is your true passion. You most likely have a "passion" to "get rich" from the comfort of your home. The majority of us have a "passion" to become rich but the key is having a true passion in doing the work involved to achieve success.

You are here asking for help in how to proceed when we live in the best age of our lives in having knowledge available at our fingertips via the internet. A person with a true passion to learn about trading doesn't post messages asking for help on where to begin- you dive in and start researching and reading about the topic on your own and you can train on a sim account that won't cost you anything before you start putting real money on the line.

You say there are "too many" books, guru's, chat rooms, to figure things out on your own. That's a cop out. A "passionate" person is willing to dive in and do research on all the available info and start making decisions on what sounds legitimate and what looks bogus. There is a wealth of free information that you don't have to seek paying anyone for their info. You just have to get in there and do the grind work of research and experimentation until you start honing in on a style you feel works for you, then start focusing on developing a trading plan for that style.

There are no easy shortcuts to success. That fact that you asked a basic "Where do I begin?" question when you could have just googled that question or searched for similar questions on this site that have been asked and answered time and time again means you want to be spoon fed rather than do the "drudgery" of monotonous research on your own. A person that has true passion is eager to work every step of the plan and not be bored. A person with true passion loves the journey as much as the intended destination and doesn't try to skip the grind work because they know it's necessary to achieve their goal.

 

[padutrader]

If you do not, don't pay for training.

yes i agree

i payed for a lot of books.. when there was no internet.....20- 30 years ago

now there is enough on internet free

 

[padutrader]

The first step is to ask your relatives/friends if anyone trades for a living

if you can find someone it is fantastic
i

 

[padutrader]

That's a cop out.

you could do it on your own..

but i think you have to learn all the rubbish first......

and if you want to be a pro you have to be an amateur first

 

[MattZ]

So what kind of indicator, you would place at number 5/6 & number 7/8 ?

What would be 10/10 ?

For beginners of-course.

I am truly trying to answer your question, but I am not sure if you mean "technical indicators" or as in what is the "indication" of success. here is what I said again: "Demos for beginners are just about the worst indicator of success due to execution and lack of mental game preparation."

What I meant is that for beginners, whether they are successful in demo or not, it's not an indication of how well they will do in real trading. Now notice I said beginners because I believe that those who have the practical experience and resort to simulated trading have a better understanding of the limitations of a simulated model.

In my opinion, trading is a process of decision making in different contexts with a gain/loss element.
It is very hard to evolve these skills in demos only.