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What is the most important question for a new trader?

  • #81
  • Jan 1, 2021 11:38am Jan 1, 2021 11:38am
Quoting alphaomega
Can you write code? Are you a programmer? If the answer is NO then you should approach trading as a hobby and nothing more. Or even better forget about trading and move on with your life to the greener pastures because otherwise you are going to lose your time and money. You need at least basic math skills, coding skills and a solid understanding of statistics and probability theory.
I appreciate all your contributions and efforts into helping people here on FF, the countless hours and brain power you have wasted is incredible, your research into the financial rabbithole is fascinating and I love reading your posts. However I think this statement is irresponsible, not accurate and it is biased on your own personal philosophy and views on how things in the world and universe work, there are many successful traders...many of them actually quite stupid and not very smart that went from rags to riches and continue to be profitable. They found their tiny edge and continue to repeat it, they take losses and wins and are able to enjoy their life without taking trading as 'just a hobby that will eventually lead you no where'.

Furthermore here's a little interesting article that proves its not a dead-end for everybody.

Nine city traders who made £520million in ONE DAY include ex-trolley pusher and man who lives with mum (thesun.co.uk)

"Aristos ‘Ari’ Demetriou, 31, took home £100million after switching careers from collecting trolleys.
He is said to have been working in a supermarket when he saw trader Chris ‘Dog’ Roase, who earned £70million in the coup, driving a flash car.
He asked how he afforded it and they became pals.
The group includes Elliot Pickering, 25, who got £100million but was living with his mum.
Builder’s son Connor Younger, 22, pocketed the same.
The traders, of Epping, Essex, play golf together, watch West Ham and holiday in Marbella along with the others.
Reported ringleader Cockney Paul ‘Cuddles’ Commins, 52, made £22million and son George banked £7million."

Take care
  • #82
  • Jan 2, 2021 3:53pm Jan 2, 2021 3:53pm
Quoting venividivici
{quote}...Furthermore here's a little interesting article that proves its not a dead-end for everybody. ...
There's legal complications here, the lawsuits facing them hint their trading actions may not be clean cut, they're not the only people that trade on oil in the world, but it seems they're the only ones in legal heat.

Trading wise, without knowing their long term performance (or even any other performance other than that day), there's nothing to suggest that their single-day gains are indicative of a profitable trading history and ability, which is what I'd say aspiring traders should focus on, not hoping for lottery style single events. While I don't agree fully with alphaomega, and I'm glad there are new additions to the group of ultra-rich, this to me, still falls under the category of lottery like windfalls, there's no evidence of long term profitability with prudent risk management for traders to emulate.
  • #83
  • Jan 3, 2021 8:19am Jan 3, 2021 8:19am
I asked an experienced trader this same question recently, and he told me that if I was willing to spend the first five years learning how to trade without any financial return, then I stand a chance of being successful. If not, then I should not even begin. I'm hoping I will figure it out sooner than that, but 5 years I guess is normal for other professionals, so I'm prepared.
maximize awareness, minimize fear.
  • #84
  • Jan 3, 2021 11:39am Jan 3, 2021 11:39am
How to not lose.
Without despair & distraught, focus on Patience to FRESH MOTiVES.
  • #85
  • Jan 3, 2021 11:46am Jan 3, 2021 11:46am
Quoting skyf
How to not lose.
Losing is inevitable and must be accepted. Better to say ' how to lose but still win '.
maximize awareness, minimize fear.
  • #86
  • Jan 5, 2021 2:07am Jan 5, 2021 2:07am
Quoting slapstick
{quote} Losing is inevitable and must be accepted. Better to say ' how to lose but still win '.
Totally ! We can only minimise the occurrence and magnitude of losses,can't be eliminated entirely.
  • #87
  • Mar 17, 2021 12:16pm Mar 17, 2021 12:16pm
Quoting Seneca pilot
{quote} I do not code, but I do hire a coder to mine data and build tests. He and I have worked together for nearly ten years. I teach him my methods by virtue of giving him the parameters for my testing and data mining needs. He has told me for ten years now that he cannot code my thoughts into an EA. Your mileage may vary.
How did you go about finding and hiring your coder guy? I'm looking to do the same. Was hoping to find someone overseas to keep the monthly at a decent rate, but I'm having a hard time figuring out where to post something like that.

By the way, nice handle. I'm a 421 driver myself (among others). Cheers.
  • #88
  • Dec 26, 2025 12:30pm Dec 26, 2025 12:30pm
Quoting Degolep
I think this video sums it up nicely about trading fx, stocks... with questions for newbies etc... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kcKkV0idGAs
.... trading truly is not for every one ... Thanks for video
  • #89
  • Dec 27, 2025 6:52am Dec 27, 2025 6:52am
Quoting Seneca pilot
I'll start: Can you sit in front of a computer screen for one to five hours watching price move and not enter a trade if you don't get a good setup?

Absolutely. That’s the mark of a trader who’s serious about longevity, not just chasing dopamine hits.

Think of it this way, the market is like a river. You don’t jump in every time you see ripples-you wait for the right current. Sitting in front of the screen for hours without clicking buy/sell isn’t wasted time; it’s part of the craft.

Patience is a weapon- The ability to not trade when conditions aren’t right is just as important as pulling the trigger when they are.

Overtrading kills accounts- One forced entry can undo weeks of discipline.

Quality > Quantity- One clean setup that fits your plan beats ten 'meh' trades.

Mindset shift- You’re not paid for activity- you’re paid for selectivity.

Most retail traders lose because they feel they must trade. The pros know that sometimes the best trade is no trade. If you can sit there for five hours, watch price dance around, and still walk away flat because your setup never came-that’s discipline. And discipline is what keeps you in the game.
For Gold, NY session offers superior tradability compared to London.
  • #90
  • Dec 27, 2025 7:31am Dec 27, 2025 7:31am
How to find out the trading RDP
Oudel.com
  • #91
  • Dec 27, 2025 4:17pm Dec 27, 2025 4:17pm
I know most posts are 4 years old but ..... no need for a programmer with AI around nowadays.
  • #92
  • Jan 1, 2026 6:32am Jan 1, 2026 6:32am
Quoting Degolep
I think this video sums it up nicely about trading fx, stocks... with questions for newbies etc... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kcKkV0idGAs
Yes, this video aligns with my experience, a few things I can add / clarify:

  1. When he refers to dedicating 2-5 years to learning without monetary compensation, my experience says 2-5 years full time 60+ hours a week, not 2-5 years with a day job. In my case, it took 10 years part time with another day job that paid the bills and then I spent the first year as a full time trader dedicated to focused learning. The first 2 years of full time trading was profitable enough to just pay the bills but not much more. The money really didn't start coming in until my 3rd year full time trading.
  2. As the time aspect above indicates, you need to be well capitalized. It takes a lot of money to get through the learning phase and there needs to be enough capital left over after the learning phase to trade a large enough size and low enough risk / leverage so that profits dwarf living expenses so the trading capital continues to compound.
  3. Living expenses includes taxes. Trading needs to be set up in a way that minimizes taxation and where losses never impact the ability to cover tax and other liabilities.
  4. Successful trading basically boils down to making good decisions and a trader's mind needs to be sharp in order to make good decisions. No one will be there to remind you to eat healthy or to take a break. Therefore a trader must build a process that includes routines to keep his/her mind sharp: rest, sleep, diet, physical exercise etc.

There's a lot more I could add but we'll save that for a later time.

  • #93
  • Jan 1, 2026 6:52am Jan 1, 2026 6:52am
Quoting skyf
How to not lose.
Quoting slapstick
{quote} Losing is inevitable and must be accepted. Better to say ' how to lose but still win '.
Quoting Teotrader
{quote} Totally ! We can only minimise the occurrence and magnitude of losses,can't be eliminated entirely.
Every profitable trader I know is great at managing and minimizing losses. In fact, I'd go so far as to say that a trader that has mastered managing the downside can be profitable with any strategy, where as a trader with the "best strategy in the world" and terrible at cutting losses will be a breakeven trader at best.

One of the best exercises I can recommend for struggling traders is to demo trade with random coin flip entries. The goal is to get into as many losing trades as possible and managing your way out with minimal losses. Pro traders are so good at this, that they can turn losing positions to break even or even small wins.
  • #94
  • Jan 1, 2026 7:01am Jan 1, 2026 7:01am
Quoting Newtrader025
{quote} Absolutely. That’s the mark of a trader who’s serious about longevity, not just chasing dopamine hits. Think of it this way, the market is like a river. You don’t jump in every time you see ripples-you wait for the right current. Sitting in front of the screen for hours without clicking buy/sell isn’t wasted time; it’s part of the craft. Patience is a weapon- The ability to not trade when conditions aren’t right is just as important as pulling the trigger when they are. Overtrading kills accounts- One forced entry can undo weeks of discipline....
Yes, yes, yes and yes. However I would phrase this in a different way:

The ability to read market conditions is 1000x more important than having the "optimum" strategy.
  • #95
  • Jan 1, 2026 9:23am Jan 1, 2026 9:23am
Quoting CoffeeFreak
{quote} The ability to read market conditions is 1000x more important than having the "optimum" strategy.
Couldn’t agree more. A strategy is just a blueprint- but the market is the terrain, and terrain always wins. Traders who obsess over the 'perfect' system often forget that markets don’t owe us consistency; they shift character like seasons.

The real skill is contextual awareness:

- Knowing when a breakout setup has fuel versus when it’s just noise.
- Recognizing the difference between healthy pullbacks and exhaustion.
- Reading liquidity and sentiment like a language, not a chart pattern.

A mediocre strategy applied in the right conditions will outperform a flawless one applied blindly. It’s like chess: memorizing openings won’t save you if you can’t read the board mid-game.

In short, strategy is the vehicle, but market conditions are the road. If you can’t read the road, even the best car ends up in a ditch.
For Gold, NY session offers superior tradability compared to London.
  • #96
  • Jan 3, 2026 4:28am Jan 3, 2026 4:28am
Quoting Newtrader025
{quote} Couldn’t agree more. A strategy is just a blueprint- but the market is the terrain, and terrain always wins. Traders who obsess over the 'perfect' system often forget that markets don’t owe us consistency; they shift character like seasons. The real skill is contextual awareness: - Knowing when a breakout setup has fuel versus when it’s just noise. - Recognizing the difference between healthy pullbacks and exhaustion. - Reading liquidity and sentiment like a language, not a chart pattern. A mediocre strategy applied in the right conditions...
Yes, well said, I agree 100%. Once I was finally able to efficiently read market conditions (road) then I understood how it was possible to trade with virtually any strategy (vehicle).

Today, I differentiate between a pro trader and a struggling one based on what they talk about. Struggling traders talk about strategies, systems, indicators, win-rates, risk-to-reward ratios, controlling emotions etc. None of the pro traders that I know talk about this stuff, instead we almost always talk about market conditions and process, with a bit of managing daily life as a trader on rare occasions.
  • #97
  • Last Post: Jan 4, 2026 12:42am Jan 4, 2026 12:42am
Honestly, I think the most important question a new trader should ask themselves is: “Can I consistently follow my plan even when the market doesn’t go my way?”
You can have a great strategy, sweet setup criteria, and lots of backtested wins, but if you panic, chase trades, or abandon your rules because of a couple of losing days, none of that matters. Discipline and emotional control are the edge — not just understanding price movement.
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