Beginning Day Trader - Where do I start?

Doogie,
What I'm doing works quite well. Why would I change it?

 

Believe it or not this web site is most likely the best place to start...the vast wealth of knowledge here is extensive...read the many posts here and you will learn a great deal...the posts range from starting in trading to complex issues concerning trading. In addition, there is information on books, brokers SEC and on and on and on....take the time to research all the present and old threads here...if you do and if you go about it logically, you will be off to a great start...moreover, all the warnings and things that you should not do are posted here...so my advice for a good starting place is to research all the old, present and ongoing threads here...arrange them into categories that suit your needs and derive a plan for the future that is rock solid.

 

I agree with much of the wise words given here and have also found this site excellent for advice and links to good info.. have been trading a few months now and it is SO hard! But then it is also great fun too... I don't know if I will succeed in the end, but I do know I can't imagine a better more enjoyable way to make a living.. except perhaps finally writing those best selling novels whirling around inside me.. but I think I have a better chance at this!

I still only trade 100 shares and am in no rush to increase until I have proven that I can gain consistently... then I will stair step up 100 at a time and maybe one day.. the dizzy heights of a 1000.. or not... The main aim when beginning seems to stay in the game long enough to learn how to trade well, not to make money.. as someone has already pointed out.

My first month trading I did really well.. in june.. hardly a down day and up 26% for the month.. only been downhill since then! Very hurtful coz I was starting to think I was a genius.. now I know better of course! Suddenly what worked did not anymore.. scalping became a disaster for me.. level 2 became a quagmire of conflicting signals.. I had to start learning... read, study, research.. well that didn't work much either.. and while I admire the excellent pyschological advice in many books.. it simply does not work while you have the negative expectancy system that I developed!

I found MTrader good for learning and use IB of course.. am not adjusted right for following anyone tho.. but allen's technical stuff has proven useful.. slowly.. After flailing around for a while with wildy fluctuating results on the exciting volatile stocks like qcom, vrts and the dreaded ebay I have now fallen back to the good ol QQQ.. and am now concentrating on them.. establishing a line of defence around steady restrained trading.. trying to learn one stock well and apply whichever technical indicators seem to work best.. alongside a hopefully growing insight..

This is working ok now.. have restricted the number of trades I do(cheap commissions can make you trade like a demented flea) .. applying more patience in choosing entries.. have become inflexible in my application of stops (more vital than words can prove).. stopping trading when I reach a daily target.. and am slowly feeling like I am getting somewhere again.. main problem lies in not being able to hang in long enough with winning trades.. too quick to take profits.. practice practice practice..

Sorry for rambling on, but I trade from rural west of Ireland and may be the only daytrader in the whole place for all I know.. so I find it helpful to read the posts here and feel that others do exist elsewhere! My best advice.. move to western europe.. forget the early mornings and trade at a civilized time of day!

All the best

 

Yeah Neil, isnt it great to have worktime from 3:30 PM till 10 PM... oh, I forgot you're in a 0+ timezone so its 2:30

 

Neil

A very level headed approach. Hang in there.

 

Neil,

What kind of an internet connection do you get out there in rural Ireland?

 

MGochuico,

AAAintheBeltway gives good advice. Read, papertrade, use direct-
access broker, start small. And remember, probably one of the hardest and most important aspects of trading is to control your emotions and don't let your emotions control your trading.

Kojak

 

Quik, I think you mean Toni Turner for the second book.
About the first one, do you mean Elder's "Trading
for a Living", or "Trading in the Zone" or some other book
by Mark Douglas? Just trying to clarify. Great advice in
your post.

-v

 

Thanks to Nicodemus and Magna for your support.. is very encouraging

Neo.. yes it is great to start trading in the afternoon and have the market go on until 9.00pm (for me) of course you don't get to go out much in the evenings but hey I live in the middle of nowhere anyway!

AAA etc.. we still don't have asdl anywhere in ireland but they have recently rolled out a renamed isdn service (pretending it is state of the art) so that is not too bad.. works ok most of the time. Cable is out of the question since I am in the countryside and not sure how good it is in the city anyway.

A point to MGochuico... I know it is possible to lose everything you have but a more important fact is that it is also possible to lose MORE than you have got.. avoid using margin.. many people would not agree with this and urge the benefits of being able to trade with more money than you actually possess.. a recipe for enhanced wealth.. or misery.. your call..

Also, many old hands in this game on the tv are commenting that this market is just about the hardest to trade they have ever seen.. I take solace from that as it helps to explain how flipping hard it is right now to judge any direction for more than a few moments.. maybe any of us new traders who survive this can look forward to a golden age in which our hard won experience pays off and we can pick nice juicy setups like ripe cherries off the branch... well I can dream..

All the best from ireland