Learn the basics like on the babypips website about charting. Second dont listen to so called trading gurus in any books any videos. Its what set me back the most. Others mentioned similar here. But its actually true. Since trading is such a personal experience which needs to fit your psyche. Only the basics you need to understand which mentioned here in posts before too. Then its up to you to find the market that fits your style. Analyze it to pieces. Know it inside and out. Newcomers as myself thought it would be a breeze its not. You need to know the market you like 110% . To keep on trading to get that charting time. Its very similar how you train AI deep training. Our minds work the same it appears. We need alot of time so it gets deep into our minds the charting and how it works. Some say we need at least 1000 hours in any field of practical experience to be called a pro. Same goes for the training. Reading 1000 hours books vs actual experience when it comes to trading is night and day. Find the edge, know the market, know the basics, have discipline, never give up and dont believe in trading gurus when they say. You must invest in order to become good at trading. Getting the strategy setup using demo is the most important. Since in live trading the strategy you use should be so deep into your spine. You shouldnt even flinch from emotions you get. So if u just jump into live trading without years of practising on paper demo yea good luck. Some say better to start with penny trading than demo but tbh demo is the same emotionally if not you can tell yourself so. Edit: To above poster that says we need 20 years or 10 years experience. Maybe was like that in the 80s. But now it can go alot faster since more effective methods to train and so many training platforms we can get for free and backtesting. It can easily be chopped in 1/4 of that. This is what I meant by my post. Dont listen to anyone as if they are 100% correct since each got their own experience their personal view, and their own age base their opinions on that and demographic. But generally it does seem a few years is needed for sure if one practise alot that is and very intense to even start live trading. If one just do it as some little hobby that could actually take 5-10 years .
You need to develop a trading system, backtest it, backtest it even more and then demo test it irl and only trade it irl when it's been proven profitable in your backtesting AND demo testing irl. Backtesting and demo testing will be your only ways of trading your system without losing money. You need to be patient otherwise you would be testing your system with your money if you promote your trading system to trade it irl too soon.
Failed traders end up in 2 places. 1) Extrovert failed traders end up in Youtube/Tiktok 2) Introvert failed traders end up in forums like this. 9 out of 10 people you see on this site make $0 dollar from trading. Most of these failed traders will give you vague answers. Google "babypips course" which is free. After you finish the free course then move to videos/books. For free videos this guy is great, youtube.com/@DayTradingAddict Book try Understanding Price Action: practical analysis of the 5-minute time frame by Bob Volmon. Availble for free on scribd.com Good luck.
First you have to clarify what you mean when you use the term day trading. The narrow definition refers to trading strategies that are always opened and closed within the same day, meaning that you never hold positions open overnight. But some use the term in a broader sense that includes swing trading, which refers to strategies that may held open for several days or even longer, e.g., several weeks or several months. And then you have to choose what you are going to trade, because the learning process and the resources that you need are very different depending on whether you are trading stocks, options, futures, forex, or... something else. Are you in the USA? The products available to you vary widely depending on where your account is located. It is extremely difficult for a retail trader to make money in pure day trading, where you never hold anything overnight. You are competing with market makers, hedge funds, banks and other institutions that have far more capital than you could ever dream of, and they have access to tools, data and other resources that you could not possibly afford. It is not a level playing field. In the USA, if you want to do serious day trading in stocks or options, you need to maintain a minimum account value of $25K in order to avoid restrictions and limitations on your account. This capital requirement does not apply to futures and forex accounts.
In one recent thread, @zghorner advanced an argument that with very, very few exceptions, any retail trader who consistently makes serious money either had a strong background and experience in the finance world before they began trading, or had substantial wealth before they began trading (or both). The thread is here: https://www.elitetrader.com/et/threads/who-are-some-legit-retails-that-made-it.376297/ The amount of capital that you start with can make a huge difference. If you start with $250K that you really can afford to lose without seriously fucking up your life, and you do not have to work full-time at another job to pay your bills, you are going to have a very different experience than someone who is starting out with $25K and still has to hold a regular job. It certainly doesn't guarantee that you'll be successful. But you can afford to make more early mistakes and still remain in the game.
This is the kind of honesty I am looking for! How has your success been? Did forums like these help you become successful?
I do have my account in the US and if I did have the initial capital to start would you recommend stocks and options? I have done some long term trading and am more familiar with stocks. I have always been curious about options and have obviously heard of futures and forex but never knew if those were the fields I should be focused on.
%% Jack Schwager top trader books; looks like you are color blind, so better use hollow candles or mountain/barcharts. 200 dma may help, i usually use red for that one .Learn to invest also, that way if you lose like 80% or more of daytraders/no problem..................................... Candle chart or any charts mean not much\ just a picture of price.
Good Morning Redsthenewblue, The best advice I can tell you is this : 1. Open a chart, does not matter the bar type or period. 2. Stare at the chart. 3. Click buy button when you think you can make money. 4. Click sell button when you think you can make money. 5. Do this XX to XXX times a day. 6. Never ever buy trading books or trading videos courses or look for trading ideas online. Note: I am a consistent unprofitable ES trader., for now. My comments are only my opinions only. Please think of my trading advice and comments the same way you think of bubble gum on the baseball field, useless and tasteless, and possible not worth a penny with a hole in it.
You are from Southern Cal so you do have an advantage if you day trade US stocks or index. Market opens at 6:30am, you can get up, trade, or practice trade, for a couple of hours and still have time to get ready for work. After work, you do your homework, review your morning trades, determine what you did wrong, make adjustments, prepare for the next day's trades. Rinse and repeat day after day.... Also, be ready for a lot of discouraging outcomes. If you can survive all the disappointments, you can become a real trader.