There is another reason to do as calibertrader suggests - you know who is for real and who is not. There are 12000 members here - I guarantee you that of those 12000, something like 200 to 500 are professional traders. Of those, maybe 200 - 300 are making money. How do you tell the frog from the prince? You can't, inspite of the fact that 8000 of them sound like they know what they are talking about. Many people here will tell you that a prop/prof firms are churn shops. Perhaps some of them are, and that is part of learning this business - separating the shit from the diamond. But one thing that is certain - everything you will see and hear and feel there will be real - unlike here. Elite is a fine traders board - perhaps the best in the world. But IMHO, unless you already have some experience, it will be super inefficient learning the art and science of trading here. At a prof/prop firm, you can't hide behind a handle and spew out advice if you constantly get smoked. _IF_ you are lucky enough to go into an office with genuinely profitable traders, and hopefully they have an atmosphere that encourages constant learning and group work, if I were you I would do everything in my power to join one of these firms. Listen to calibertrader - he knows of what he speaks.... nitro
OK, LongWayToGo, stop whining. Accept the fact that you haven't worked hard enough. Still, I'll start a new thread tomorrow when I can to answer all your questions. You're still unacceptable as a trader. Edit: Actually, I'll answer one question about starting all over again and stuff. I'll do the same thing. I'll study hard and gain enough knowledge to come up with a hypothetical concept and backtest them. Continue to think and test. Then I'll get doubts through real trading or system statistics and continue to make them better while trading. LongWayToGo, if you still come up with these freagin' whine, stop trading and seek for another career. Re-invent the wheel? Sheesh, do you know what the wheel is for trading? Don't requote other's words.
Gann, At the risk of sounding like the ET police -- why do you find the need to be sooo damn arrogant and offensive toward LongWayToGo? I just read some of the clarifications that he just made with his last post and he seemed genuine, humble and honest. The man is simply looking for a finger pointing in the right direction. Commisso
I'll make this simple. What do you need? Knowledge? Edge? Psychological Aspect? Monetary Aspect? Define. Based on what you claim you don't have an edge. Then come up with a concept. Breakout? Moving Average? Stochastic? What do you feel comfortable following? Moving Average? ADX? Chart pattern like Head-n-Shoulder???? What kind of condition and/or combination of conditions seems to work? If you don't have any of that, then start looking.
Long Way 2go, Maybe this will be a bit more concrete : One of the first thing you have to think of is money management. Let's say you have 25K to learn to trade, you will not allow yourself to loose more than 500$ per week. In the worst scenario, this will give you the capital to trade (discounting the PDT rules) for 12 months. (500$ x 4 weeks x 12 mth = 24K) This means that if by Tuesday, you're already down 500$, you will not trade for the rest of the week, only watching the market, and think why you've lost. By limiting your loss, you give yourself TIME to learn the trading, absorb the pain and knowledge, discover yourself, and mature as a trader. Bottom of the line, it's really school of hard knocks, but you could cushion yourself so the the knocks are not too painful to take. Please, before thinking of making any money, think on how much you could afford to loose now. The gains will come by itself further down the line. Cheers !!!