Transition from Beginner to Pro Trader. How?

Quote from ePandit:

What do you think a newbie should do to trade like a pro?
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We see so many of these kinds of threads here at ET, and yet I can't remember the last time someone did what I would do in this situation - post some of my trades and get analysis on them. After all, understanding your losing trades is the main thing that will improve your trading. I wonder why so few people are willing/able to post their trades. You say you have read a lot of books and spent a lot on systems. This means that you have a fairly clear idea of the different types of trading strategies available to you. I personally doubt that reading more books is going to help you. Why not tell us what you were doing, including the total equity and size/trade and post some entries and exits along with the reasoning behind them. Include as much detail as possible. I suggest starting a new thread if you want to do this. Call it 'Help with trade analysis'. Be very concise and leave out the fat - just the facts. You will get some noise but you will also get some great feedback.

I am guaranteeing you one thing - the reason most guys look for help here but don't end up doing what I described above is that they can't. In fact, they don't have a clear idea what their strategy actually is.
 
Being a pro also requires a certain psychological mind set. The good news is that you can learn it, but this also takes time. Usually this takes a couple years to acheive so getting started on it sooner than later is a good idea. Maybe start with a book like Think and Grow Rich and then work your way into other trading related psyc books. For suggestions, click on the Books section of ET.
 
Well, don't expect a newbee to trade like a pro in a few months. The pros in each field have put a lot of effort into their business. Here are a few suggestions:

1. Have a proven, profitable trading system which you can trade with, mentally and financial,

2. Build up your personal and professional discipline, execute it like a machine,

3. Repeat step 2.

:p
 
bingo. imo, becoming a professional involves being able to have the discipline to manage risk (iow, control your emotions), and while you do not have to be a mechanical/system trader (i am not, for instance), you HAVE to be a disciplined trader : stick to your stops, follow your rules, etc.

stop looking for the next magick indicator (tm), and CONTROL risk.

it is not frigging rocket science.
 
This months Fortune issue had an interesting article titled Exellence. They talked about the idea of the "Ten year rule", in that it is a rough estimate of the minimum time it takes to become "world class" in many activities. The biggest take away was that it will take time and hard work no matter what it is you want to accomplish. I'd recommend reading it (it's probably short enough you can just read it at the rack without a purchase).
 
This may be the same article:

http://tribes.tribe.net/ernstfuchs/thread/530b25e5-1644-4b99-b31d-f8125b8016c1

I like this paragraph, especially the last sentence:

"Ericsson argues that what matters is not experience per se but "effortful study," which entails continually tackling challenges that lie just beyond one's competence. That is why it is possible for enthusiasts to spend tens of thousands of hours playing chess or golf or a musical instrument without ever advancing beyond the amateur level and why a properly trained student can overtake them in a relatively short time. It is interesting to note that time spent playing chess, even in tournaments, appears to contribute less than such study to a player's progress; the main training value of such games is to point up weaknesses for future study."


Charles
 
Quote from CharlesTrader:

This may be the same article:

http://tribes.tribe.net/ernstfuchs/thread/530b25e5-1644-4b99-b31d-f8125b8016c1

I like this paragraph, especially the last sentence:

"Ericsson argues that what matters is not experience per se but "effortful study," which entails continually tackling challenges that lie just beyond one's competence. That is why it is possible for enthusiasts to spend tens of thousands of hours playing chess or golf or a musical instrument without ever advancing beyond the amateur level and why a properly trained student can overtake them in a relatively short time. It is interesting to note that time spent playing chess, even in tournaments, appears to contribute less than such study to a player's progress; the main training value of such games is to point up weaknesses for future study."


Charles
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Charles, nice artcicle, thanks.
 
Quote from whitster:

bingo. imo, becoming a professional involves being able to have the discipline to manage risk (iow, control your emotions), and while you do not have to be a mechanical/system trader (i am not, for instance), you HAVE to be a disciplined trader : stick to your stops, follow your rules, etc.

stop looking for the next magick indicator (tm), and CONTROL risk.

it is not frigging rocket science.
More...

this post hit the nail on the head. as soon as i quit looking for the perfect system/indicator and focused on risk management is when i really became a trader. you have to BE a trader if you want to make money at this game. finding the best methodology/indicator will get you nowhere. if you want success the order is 1.BE 2.DO 3.HAVE. most people get too caught up in having the best system instead of being professional traders. i realized that i would never make it working for a firm if i couldnt control my risk.
 
another great quote about trader evolution

1) first you learn how to lose money
2) then you learn how not to lose money
3) then you learn how to make money

most traders stay at 1) and then eventually quit
 
Quote from MaxLD:

ePandit,

You didn't mention, nor is it really any of our business, how much of a trading account you have to work with. My point is that you may have unrealistic expectations of how much gain you might achieve with regard to your beginning balance.
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I normally trade just 100 shares...I never did anything over 300. Trade small at first. If you cant make a dime with 100 shares, you wont make 100.00 with 1000 shares. Profits will be small at first, but one good thing to do, which I did not hear anyone say on this thread so far is to keep a journal of all your trades.

cm69
 
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