The 5 Steps of becoming Successful Trader

On october 2005, our friend, diallist has posted a very thoughtful message about the life of trader. The message was indeed very useful..

Any new trader should really read it and try avoiding most of the mistakes highlighted there & try to gain upperhand on the things to be done....

here are the link to the 5 step of becoming successful trader http://www.forexfactory.com/showthread.php?t=3156

many of us has voted, in that thread regarding our own hierarchy of trading life.

2 years later, how you compare yourself since your last vote ?

Do you still consider your self in the same spot as when you first cast your vote?

do you consider yourself raise up in the steps,

do you consider yourself declined in the steps ?

Its almost been 2 years for me. I started reading and learning about forex in Nov 2005, and opened a real account in June 2006. At that time I was in Stage 1.

Now, a little less then 2 years, 2 real accounts blown, and numerous demo accounts, I would like to say I am on step 4. I have been doing better then breakeven consistently, but on demo . Plan on having my third account by Nov-Dec of this year.

xenjin

how much leverage do u use for ur trading ?

I have been trading for 3 1/2 year, yet not blown any accounts yet, why i ask u about leverage is that i have traded with high leverage without really thinking i use kof the risk i was taking. Leverage now is 5 and i still think its to high, my goal is to come down below 3 and most of the times trade 1 : 1.
basic is that i can then trade lets say with a 1% stop en my equity balance on a pair like eurusd and thats round 100 pip if i some day get enough cash my target is to trade for a living but it will target for a HUGE acount

revoke

When I started out, I was using too much leverage 200:1. But I have turned it down a bit since then...its 50:1 now. I cant go lower...with 5:1 leverage, you would need $2000 just for margin to trade 1 mini....

Also post these two staments conspicuously.....burn them into your mind.

The first, biggest and worst enemy of any trader is his/her own opinion about where the market is going.
The next biggest enemy are opinions of friends and brokers about where the market is going.

60% of my loss is because of the Red
20% of my loss is because of blue
20% because i gave up my system, & let fear&greed gain control of me.

the funny part is, I read the 5 step before i trade and say nooooo that wont happen to me, ........ well... its funny when think about it back.

90% gain when I trade happily&calmly.... so must be alert & learn the chart, well with good screentime.

I dont think a 200 pip loss can wipe me out? 50:1 lev with a $2000 account. Lets say your trading 1 mini...that would mean $200 loss. Thats 10% of your account.

I am not sure how to calculate leverage...I just look at it as having more margin avaliable to me. Let me give you an example of what I was doing with my previous demo account:

Account balance: $1000
Position Size: 1 mini
Hard Stop Loss: 20 pips
Currency: Eur/Usd
Any position I would have, the maximum I could lose is $20, which is 2% of my equity. Of course if I had another lost, it would be more % of my equity or I could always reduce my position (Oanda allows micro-lots).

With this example, I am not sure how 5:1 leverage could help me. In fact, it wouldnt really matter if my leverage was 400:1 or 50:1. I always considered leverage as having more margin to trade, not having a larger position in the market.

Please correct me if Im wrong.

Sorry I am mistaken. This is also not the thread to discuss it.

the steps dialist posted doesn't apply to everyone :

hence i dun vote

ahh..... probably yes..

I really don't see leverage as being a problem as long as you add it into you MM strategy. The problem comes when you don't or ignore your MM strategy.

I found the money management the hardest thing at first. Like you guys I let greed get the better of me. 2 years ago I didn't know about this forum unfortuantely.. but back then i was probably 3.. now I am between 4 and 5. Almost 5, but not quite. When i started over three years ago, I started with demo accounts and did truely awful. I kept losing, I was greedy, felt that I had to be in the market all the time or I was missing out. It took me a long time, but I am very different now. I stay out of the market until my strategies give me the setups I seek. Sometimes the market doesn't provide them, I now have the discipline to stay out, sometimes even for a couple of days if neccesary. I always think being out of the market is always a much better option than being in a bad trade.

I focus on keeping risk very low at all times, never risking more than 1% per trade. Providing I am disciplined and patient with my trading, I don't see the 1% loss as a bad trade as I know I did everything right and I remain confident that in the long term I will come out on top. The biggest mistake I made at first and I think many make is the overtrading scenario. I think all traders do it at first.

Can someone please point me to the page where I can read the actual 5 steps? Thanks.

http://www.forexfactory.com/showthread.php?t=3156