Day trading Starting Steps???

hey hows everyone doing. I dout any of you remember me, i posted here a while back, im 17, and want to be a day trader, all of your knocked me into reality of day trading, and iv been learning more and more since then.

What im doing right now is this.

Through CIBC, i opened a Mutrual Fund account. how it works is I pay $1400 a month into the account with CIBC, and in 15 years of i get $500,000. If i pay 300 a month i could reach $500,000 in over 30 years, and so on and so on. To open the account i paid $500.

Untill then i want to make money as a day trader.

Ok, Can someone list the steps i must take, like what were the steps all of you took to become what you are today.

Whats the first thing i have to do, 2nd thing, and so on.

SO what sould i be doing right now, besides LEARNING my ass off, like what is my FIRST step.

Any help would be fantastic.

Take care everyone

-Adam

 

Buy this book/cd rom tutorial...... Martin Pring's Intro to Technical Analysis. I found that hearing it and reading it at the same time helped stick it in my brain. The info within is fundamental to trading.


http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0070329338/qid=1023323186/sr=2-2/103-0665760-7187005

Good luck.

 

WATCH THE MARKET MOVE ALL DAY LONG EVERY DAY FOR MANY MONTHS.

AFTERWARD STUDY FOUR MORE HOURS EACH DAY EVERY DAY FOR MANY MONTHS.

then, MAYBE, you will understand.

 

If I am 17, I would start trading with what I have now and make all the trading mistakes now when the stakes are small. Hopefully after a few years of work when I have a larger stake I won't repeat the mistakes I have made earlier.

Personally, when I started trading while working a full-time job 20 years ago, I lost money consistently. Now, my trading is a lot better.

 

Thanx for the comments guys.

So what should my first step be then, besides learning.

SHould i open an account with an online broker and start trading with what i have right now?????

Thanx

 

you better find someone that knows how to trade and watch for at least a few months before you give your money away.....

 

by afterward, i meant after the market closes the study begins. in other words, put in 12 hour days for an eternity.

 

Here's my advice:

1] Read everything you can get your hands on. Read and read. Books, magazines, websites, etc. Try and distill every book into a few paragraphs after you read it. Also look at each books bibliography to get ideas on what else to read.

2] Start paper trading long term (weeks) based on what you have learned. Evaluate your trading and see what you have done right/wrong.

3] Start to shorten your trading time frame but never stop reading/learning and evaluating your trading.

Remember that you've got your life in front of you, take it slow.

 

Thank you for the great advice guys.

Just a question out of the blue. What kind of $ figures do day traders make. Like if you become 100% dedicated to day trading, what is a yearly income, as a ball park figure????

 

Adam-

Don't get exactly what you mean about asking everyone here. . ."So, What's the first step?"
Slow down scooter! Did you not realize that you already took that "first step" ALL by yourself??

You decided you want to daytrade = step 1.


Although, and here comes the I'm older and wiser than you bullshit. You really have no *uck'n clue what you are asking for. Trust me when I say this to you now. Mark it on your calendar, enter it into your palm, write it down. .just remember it. I care enough about your request to shoot you a straight answer. I don't need to know how you came to the conclusion you want to trade for a living. Read an article, saw a movie with Michael Douglas, doesn't matter.

You have it in your head for now that you want to make a living from the markets.

As smart ass as this is going to sound you will never get any better advice. If you don't have one already, go out and get a minimum-wage job that has you working the maximum amount of hours you can possibly fit into your schedule. This job should be very labor-intensive and you should feel completely drained mentally and physically by the end of your work day. If at all possible this job should make you feel slightly demoralized on a daily basis as well. Once you have your first two-week pay check in hand, run to the bank and cash it immediately.

Here is the test: With that money in one hand and a lighter in the other you'll know what to do. If you cannot do this, don't bother daytrading. However, if you burn every last bill you will know you have what it takes. Examine carefully and never forget how you feel at that moment or even hours or days later.

You will be repeating this pattern with your daytrading account so many times that it will dwarf your 2-week paycheck in comparison. So much so that it will seem laughable to you that you felt any emotion at all burning that fist-full of hard earned dollars.


I'm going to take the other side of this trade and bet you can't do the above.

So, with that said your choice is plainly obvious as you mentioned it yourself. Stick what little funds you have in a discount retail brokerage and Invest your money. Work the money in the account aggressively. If you are at all capable of creating profits in your account, then keep pushing. Keep working toward the goal of amassing enough capital to open a real trading account with a 25k barrier to entry.

If you get to that point you may never be a great or even successful daytrader.

However, I would bet heavy on you that you would not blow out your account.

At this point you would have a chance at determining whether you can sustain yourself or not.


Know as much as you possibly can about yourself before you ever place that first trade, then brace for impact because you might find yourself meeting the real you.


all the best-


momo