Loser 2 Winner - what changed?

Hi,

For those who have made it or near making it in trading what changed it for you to make you profitable?

Thanks.

The single biggest and most important thing that made my trading fairly consistently profitable was the eventual realization that "indicators" had no part at all to play in my trading decisions.

Other factors that helped me a lot were:-

(i) the acquisition of patience and discipline;

(ii) starting to develop some understanding (mostly from reading 4 or 5 books by Joe Ross) of the interplay between human behavior and price movements in the markets, and the potentially profitable pattern-recognition aspects of that interplay;

(iii) some dispassionate analysis of probability and "the math of trading", particularly regarding position sizes and statistical assessments of one's "edge" (for which I found both Tushar S. Chande's "Beyond Technical Analysis" and Van K. Tharp's "Trade Your Way To Financial Freedom" helpful);

(iv) an appreciation that there are plenty of good, valuable and often reliable technical analysis parameters and techniques available which have absolutely nothing at all to do with indicators.

"Others' mileage will doubtless vary".

There was no real one thing that suddenly made me profitable. But the more I practised the luckier I got

Good stuff. I fully agree most technical indicators make trading hell and majority of successful traders tell them learn price action first then learn TI after if you have the time and knack to

I would add a few things I did not see mentioned so far...

Pay attention to volatile news items. Hold off any new entries until the news is digested. Then decide if you want to take new positions.

Deleverage. As with most new traders, when I started I had no concept of what was too much size for my accounts (demo or live). Now I start my positions at 1:1 to 1:5. And no need to always use ALL available leverage!

Lastly, if you have not already do so, I would recommend opening a small LIVE account with a broker that will let you dial down the leverage (like Oanda) and hook the account up to FF's trade explorer. You don't have to make the explorer public, but the number crunching is done for you. With live money you will have a different mindset. With demo, if a trade blows up, you don't have to care. Keep your toes to the fire with live money and the FF explorer. This will subconsciously drive you to ask the right questions and find the answers you need to succeed.

I guess its EXPERIENCE, having to go through all that nerve wracking exp, swimming through a sea of options, then realizing how important the basics are. but another thing I'd say is learn from other peoples mistakes and build a solid foundation which suits your style of trading. somewhere out there you will find it. sooner or later. (i hope i made sense) best of luck mate!

research

custos nails it.

what changed for me was experience ! .. when you trade for some months you get more experience and when you trade for years you will really be an expert of course you have been commited to it !

As a trader I believe that discipline is the hardest thing to master as it really only pertains to the individual.


Although I'm not an expert, I have been studying the markets for 9 months and thoroughly tested many systems before I actually got a grasp of how the markets move. I am not a scalper as I can't deal with the stress of price going against me and prematurely exiting. I don't have the stomach for it.

Once I started studying individual indexes and trading based off the longer timeframes, Even the monthly candle, I have actually become profitable after many months of blowing up demos.

Stick to the basics and the pips will come.. Hell, my first 3 weeks trading live starting in December 2011 my account is up 850+ pips and 20% up.

Create a trading plan that put the odds in your favor, once you stop chasing your entry is when you start realizing profits.

As I read just a little while ago, a retail trader aims at how much money he/she can make. A professional trader only looks to manage their risk