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The 5 Steps to becoming a trader

  • #21
  • Oct 23, 2006 6:19am Oct 23, 2006 6:19am
i'm probably at step 3 with demo account. but when it come to my trial live account, i went back to step 1 . is there any good method for lack of confidence training?
  • #22
  • Oct 23, 2006 6:25am Oct 23, 2006 6:25am
Quoting dutdot
i'm probably at step 3 with demo account. but when it come to my trial live account, i went back to step 1 . is there any good method for lack of confidence training?
Aside from growing some balls? Trade with money that you wouldn't care about loosing. Consider it a tuition payment. Trade micro lots with a small account balance, say $500 - $1000. Have a good money management plan. Don't look at the profit/loss, look at the trades. Figure out what you did wrong, and figure out what you did right. Keep going from there, concentrate on making good trades, not money. You'll do fine, eventually. It takes time, yo.
So far so good.
  • #23
  • Oct 23, 2006 7:40am Oct 23, 2006 7:40am
Neat, I forgot all about this subject. Looks like I have moved up a few steps since I voted. As a genuine step 5 trader, I can honestly say this process is spot on for accuracy.

For all you ones and twos, just keep churning through the stages and eventually you will get there. Luck be with you that it goes by quickly.
  • #24
  • Oct 23, 2006 8:55am Oct 23, 2006 8:55am
Quoting paul2
Aside from growing some balls? Trade with money that you wouldn't care about loosing. Consider it a tuition payment. Trade micro lots with a small account balance, say $500 - $1000. Have a good money management plan. Don't look at the profit/loss, look at the trades. Figure out what you did wrong, and figure out what you did right. Keep going from there, concentrate on making good trades, not money. You'll do fine, eventually. It takes time, yo.

I agree that gonad cultivation is a good tip for any trader, but I disagree with your tuition idea.

(this is actually something I wrote in another thread about the same idea)

The whole "tuition money" theory, putting money into an account and figuring you will probably blow it is a sure path to eliminating yourself from forex. LEARN! Although you will learn more later when you open your real account you shouldn't open an account with the attitude that you probably will lose it.

Forex is so much about attitude. I have some local friends that also trade, and when we sit down together and I ask them about why, for example, they closed this trade at this time and they reply with something like "well I was just getting a little scared" or "I figured I'd just close it now and lose less" or some other silly, reactive, emotion response. Protect your money - always. That doesn't mean you won't ever be down on a trade or that you can't ever lose but it does mean that if you blow your account you screwed up. More than likely you didn't learn that much either. I know a guy who paper traded for 6 months, had some erratic success, quit his job, bought 5 monitors and put 25K into a real account - 3 months later its all gone. What did he learn? Hmm probably 1. that its easier to lose money in forex than it is to make it and 2. that forex isn't for him. When you fund your real account, you should be more sure of your plan and your discipline than just "oh well, I might blow this, if I do then it'll be tuition, haha" you don't have to blow loads money to learn forex, dispite what so many "gurus" will try to sell you.

IMHO, If you are still demo trading you are not really on the board yet as far as this little "trading rubric" goes. First one on there should be demo=zero (but its a necessary step i believe)
  • #25
  • Oct 23, 2006 10:38am Oct 23, 2006 10:38am
Quoting nevermore
I think the author`s name is Jared F. Martinez of markettraders.com also the author of "The 10 Keys to Succesful Trading" dunno 4 sure...
You may be right as he went through it in his mentorship class i took (and greatly enjoyed and profited from!). For myself i can say that thanks to my trading mentors and those in the PF i have had my "Aha Moment", though i'm still more in the level 2 mode at times due to my nearly unquenchable thirst for knowledge (in all areas of life not just FX). I've found this trait to be a drawback at times as it can lead to paralysis of analysis. I'm happy with my trading goals and timeframe of 5 years to find myself at a place of Unconcious Competence and have determined this is just one of those university graduate studies that's gonna take some time.

: ) Thom
  • #26
  • Oct 23, 2006 10:50am Oct 23, 2006 10:50am
Quoting diallist
I left of the name of the author of this piece by mistake. If anyone knows the name of the true author, please let me know and I'll add it here. Thanks and sorry for the confusion.

Dial

It is taken from 'The way of the warrior trader' by Richard D. McCall.
The book is about a modern approach to the psychology of the samurai. It deals very little with real trading situations, which left me at first a little disappointed, anyway it makes for a refreshing read and undoubtedly teaches a lot about commitment and perseverance.

Happy Trading
QG
  • #27
  • Nov 9, 2006 8:18pm Nov 9, 2006 8:18pm
Don't know who's the real author is but I was reading a book about investing and the author talks about this "Stages of Learning" like he says where he mentions this exact four stages with different words. He is Mark Tier and the book is "The winning investment habits of Warren Buffett & George Soros".

Thanks Dial and FF for the info you provide us.
  • #28
  • Nov 10, 2006 11:35pm Nov 10, 2006 11:35pm
Good thread. I'm somewhere between 2 and 3. I've found something that's working and it suits my style. In a few more months i'll know for sure.
How you act is more important than how you feel.
  • #29
  • Nov 11, 2006 2:59am Nov 11, 2006 2:59am
I think I'm at somewhere between 2-3, but my trading and psychology is more like at 4.I've been live for about 1 weeks with a $1000 mini account and my first couple trades I was +$50, but the next 6 positions which are still open I'm -400 pips and I'm not flinching at all.I do believe I will be the winning
side, it will take some sort of catastrophic events to liquidate my postions.Even it does then I know that I can never be 100% right and can accept this as the nature of trading and still come back for more till I can perfect my skills. So can anyone tell me where I''m really at . I think it helps that I'm already successful before I got into this business because I got all this money that I can afford to lose.So despite being just 3 months into the business I've have mastered what others find hard to do.My philosophy is even if I end up with +$300 in my account by the end of year I'd still be happy because I know banks or mutual funds won't even do that for me.
  • #30
  • Nov 11, 2006 12:21pm Nov 11, 2006 12:21pm
Great article, yours or not, I enjoyed reading it, and found that it described my habbits a lot.

I will take my dear time b4 opening a real account, as much as I would like to right now, I do not feel like that I am even close to knowing what I am doing...
Steve
  • #31
  • Nov 11, 2006 12:39pm Nov 11, 2006 12:39pm
i'm kind of between 2 and 3.

2.5!
  • #32
  • Nov 11, 2006 12:39pm Nov 11, 2006 12:39pm
Quoting btran28
I think I'm at somewhere between 2-3, but my trading and psychology is more like at 4.I've been live for about 1 weeks with a $1000 mini account and my first couple trades I was +$50, but the next 6 positions which are still open I'm -400 pips and I'm not flinching at all.I do believe I will be the winning
side, it will take some sort of catastrophic events to liquidate my postions.Even it does then I know that I can never be 100% right and can accept this as the nature of trading and still come back for more till I can perfect my skills. So can anyone tell me where I''m really at . I think it helps that I'm already successful before I got into this business because I got all this money that I can afford to lose.So despite being just 3 months into the business I've have mastered what others find hard to do.My philosophy is even if I end up with +$300 in my account by the end of year I'd still be happy because I know banks or mutual funds won't even do that for me.
Sounds like you've got your head screwed on right, and are going in the right direction!

Yes, a $300 profit after a year is a 30% increase. Far better than you can get elsewhere. Yours is a healthy way to look at it. Higher returns than 30% are available in forex, but you have shown wisdom in realizing you have to walk before you can run. I hope to see you around the forum for a good while to come!

Dial
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  • #33
  • Nov 11, 2006 12:42pm Nov 11, 2006 12:42pm
Quoting PipSteve
Great article, yours or not, I enjoyed reading it, and found that it described my habbits a lot.

I will take my dear time b4 opening a real account, as much as I would like to right now, I do not feel like that I am even close to knowing what I am doing...
Good decision Steve! Get a solid skill set down and gain confidence in demo first. When you are ready to go live, it is much easier to make the transition these days by starting off live with only one micro lot or smaller. Keep up the good work Steve and you'll do just fine.

Dial
sxaxlxvxaxtxixoxnxbxyxgxrxaxcxexdxoxtxoxrxgx
  • #34
  • Nov 26, 2006 9:24am Nov 26, 2006 9:24am
I was just going through some older articles as Im currently very bored. I figured I would bump this as it is extremely accurate. I'm actually shocked at how so many different traders can progress through the same steps. If you trade forex, you should read post #1 of this thread.

Thanks Dial.
  • #35
  • Nov 26, 2006 10:27am Nov 26, 2006 10:27am
there are dozens books on psychology of trading out there, and every pathetic "trading veteran" is trying to sell you such zen pathway illumination bullshit trading religion, at least aas introduction, I don' t believe in any religion but I have my own system of beliefs, I did't have patience to read all that crap through the end and i get upset in the first moment when I hear someone preaching and trying to "teach" a method; i prefer to stare at a dead chart than to read a book on trading theory and illumination teachings, I don't believe in methods and I don't follow them as discipline but only my own methods stemming from my own correspondencies, I only give good credit to a person who shows a technique from his heart not to the one who gives a moralistic theory squeezed by forcing his brain, and I don't believe that I can learn anything from anyone in the first place other than by my own experimentation as nothing is to be learned unless you really did know that already;
"Everybody needs money. That's why they call it money" - Danny De Vito
  • #36
  • Nov 26, 2006 6:48pm Nov 26, 2006 6:48pm
Wow! I can't beleive how accurate this is. It has given me some valuable calrification as to where I am in this game. The first 2 competencies described exactly what I have gone through over the past 3 weeks.

Anyway I think this should be a sticky in the Beginners section.
  • #37
  • Edited 11:04am Nov 27, 2006 10:29am | Edited 11:04am
Hello everyone, I really liked that article. The sagacity (is that a word?) and the tranquility of the author really makes me look forward to becoming a trader. I keep restarting the demo account and quit after a while because it seems like I don't know squat about reading the market. and it seems overwhelming how many indicators there are. what I liked about this article is that if I'm reading it right ... says that money management is almost more important than finding a killer system? (maybe I'm wrong). I did read Dials thing in the past about money management. and I'm thinking of just using moving averages and risking no more than 2% of my principle using 30 pip stop losses. I just have a few questions about:
- what time period should I look at?
- when do I know when to take profits? because I want to look at when the moving averages cross, but I can't sit by my computer all day and wait for them. I also tried doubleing the pips of the stoploss, I think I read somewhere that if I have half losers and half winners, and if the profit taking trades are 2x the the stop loss then I should be good. problem is I rarely see that happen. and if I do, it seems like it's because it was shooting up and I usually feel like I should have held on longer. any suggestions? I am using oanda demo account.

I appreciate any help. Thanks.
  • #38
  • Nov 27, 2006 1:24pm Nov 27, 2006 1:24pm
hey rchurro,


a quick answer to your questions:

1st-the longer the time frame the more reliable it is, and easier to read

2nd- This is a question that I'm trying to solve for myself. I do think that exp. has alot to do with it.

Good luck and take care


Rsq955
  • #39
  • Dec 15, 2006 12:08pm Dec 15, 2006 12:08pm
I have just joined FF & was going through the labyrinth of threads posted here. The info in the article struck a real chord in me. I was wondering about taking those Forex Training Courses before entering the trading field. Being broke, I couldn't afford 2 pay 4 them. But after joining FF, I feel I have found my ALMA MATER. Thanx 4 the EYE-OPENING article Diallist Would love 2 see more such articles in the future.
  • #40
  • Dec 15, 2006 4:28pm Dec 15, 2006 4:28pm
Quoting forexnovice
I have just joined FF & was going through the labyrinth of threads posted here. The info in the article struck a real chord in me. I was wondering about taking those Forex Training Courses before entering the trading field. Being broke, I couldn't afford 2 pay 4 them. But after joining FF, I feel I have found my ALMA MATER. Thanx 4 the EYE-OPENING article Diallist Would love 2 see more such articles in the future.
when i started trading with forex, I actually opened an account with Forex.com so that I can take thier online 'courses' for free. Waht bunch of garbage! It's the most useless information I have ever seen. And if I didn't open an account with them, the course would've cost some money!

After learning about money management and risk, i decided to go with oanda and it has been good since then
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