Certainly no lack of responses....Thanks alot for the recommendations. The desire and ability to be self taught would be a given in this endeavor I would think. The process of being self taught is to gather as much information about your subject as possible, winnow the chaff, then try to absorb the rest, lather, rinse, repeat. I'm in the gathering phase. Your point about the time involved is understood and espoused by more than one individual on this forum. I've read some of Schwager and O'Neill, and have more of both I haven't read, I'll look at them again. I will either paper trade or make minimum real trades until I'm consistent. I'm working at it pretty much full time right now which has brought consistency to the forefront. I would like to have an income source from trading but I'm not worried about it. If I reach the realization that the time is not well spent I will drop it. I did not start this with the expectation of such a long time learning the ropes but I have the time and a very active lifestyle has left me with certain physical limitations, so I think it is worth a shot. Boredom is the real enemy, I'm too fiscally conservative to blow my savings. "You can run me, you can starve me, you can beat me and you can kill me. Just don't bore me." Gunny Highway Thanks again for all the input.
The best teacher is experience. Open an IB account; fund it with 25k; trade with TINY size(i.e. 5-10 shares). Get use to being uncomfortable while trading. When you have something to lose you will learn the quickest. Evaluate your trading at the end of each week. Once you begin to get comfortable with the 5-10 shares; double it. Repeat. I trade for the sport of it as well; once you get good, the money is just a nice bonus.
this is a very valid point.....i am 62 years and have been day trading for 12 years now.....day trading or any trading is not exciting and a lot of time must be spent not doing anything. sometimes after 4-5 hours at the computer i find it very difficult to stay awake....i trade forex because of the long hours it offers; but that is an advantage as well as a disadvantage:it is difficult at my age just to stay alert.
i understand that much of what I and others have said may not be encouraging but if you want to make a little money on the side and at the same time get the joy and satisfaction of trading,then i may make a suggestion. Al Brooks says novice traders should only trade H1 H2 L1 L2 and not anything else. I am a novice trader even though i have day traded for 12 years and i think i am going to take his advice mainly because i have lost a lot of money and I like you, just want to do something productive with all the spare time i have. i think you will be interested to take this further but just confirm
IF you do decide to trade, trade ONLY with a portion of your INCOME never savings trading is vast field and i have spent 30 years learning all about it. but not many people want to devote so much time so take a simple concept and become expert in it.
why not fund tiny size like 200 usd in a forex trading account if that is too big you can start with 10 usd i trade with 5 usd very often
thank you but what on earth can you trade with 5 usd only forex not equities,not cars not petrochemicals not steel not cotton
i trade only my income...i have a lot of fun but i lose only what will come back next month. i think you have to be very clear what you are doing
It is clear I underestimated the amount of time that learning to day trade will take, even with my existing knowledge of longer term trading. Not just from what I'm hearing on this forum but my experience so far as well. It does pose an interesting challenge and I will continue my efforts using very small trades and paper trading to test ideas or theories. I will enjoy the challenge of learning something new and difficult. Thanks again to all that have responded, I'll be lurking here on ET somewhere and you will probably hear from me again if I have something intelligent to add or ask. Cheers, AB