I lost my job approximately two years ago. It was never a dream job but none the less it provided a nice income for me and my family. During those twenty five years in distribution I always aspired to be a successful day trader. The first part of retirement on a mediocre income was spent riding my new Harley, traveling, taking care of some projects and a little R & R. As the newness wore off of my new found freedom I began to think more and more about my life long passion of being a trader. Six months ago I leaped into the markets having read many books thinking I was prepared to work a few hours and day and secure a handsome reward. Little did I know or understand that there are sharks, ready and prepared to take advantage of a newbie like me. Having lost 25k in six months, 10k in one single trading day I realized how little prepared I was for such a venture. There I was beaten, demoralized, humiliated and very angry with myself. It's enough to make a grown man cry! Since that time I have recognized the need for more professional education. I have read many great books, forum articles and previewed Pristine's and The Trading Authority's materials on mastering the market. Oh yes, they make promises that if you follow their system you'll be successful however there is no independent materials to review quantifying their actual proclaimed abilities. Quite frankly, I'm stuck! Afraid to pull the trigger on new trades or invest in expensive course materials without knowing for sure that I am on the correct path. Understanding educational resources are a multi billion dollar per year industry, are there really any out there who have my interest at heart. Is it really possible to make a comfortable living in day trading? Who can assist me or guide me to the help I so desperately need? Which course should I take? Are some people just not cut out for this business or if my intuition is correct have I just not secured to proper education? I like to trade primarily emini's. Have I now paid my tuition to the markets or am I beating my head against the wall for nothing? I probably have thirty investing in the market books. As I reflect back upon those books I've realized how similar most of them are and consistently say basically the same thing. If you use this indicator with this you'll be successful. Do the authors of these books really secure income from trading or from writing books? Upon exploring the web for information I found subject matter that was never even mentioned in these books such as price being the leading indicator, support and resistance, pivot points, tick and trin indicators, importance of prior day open/close in emini's etc... So now as I explore everything new I can find I wonder if I am missing anything else. My wife and I are in our upper fifties and she will lose her job in twelve months. We reside in Indianapolis Indiana. We will need additional income if she were to retire or drastically change our life style. I still have some capitol to work with and enthusiastically desire to reach my goal of being a successful profitable trader. I have successfully accomplished every goal I have ever aspired too in my life. Can you recommend an educational resources that would prove beneficial for me or possibly forward this to someone who can assist me? Any words of wisdom pertaining to any subject matter contained herein would be greatly appreciated. Metoo, humbled!
In my very humble opinion, you might think about this: Buy "Reading Price Action Bar by Bar" by Al Brooks. Read it till ya breathe it. Do what Al says as close as is humanly possible. Page 118, then page 302. Start on the NQ on SIMULATOR with 1 contract. Make SIM Money. Rinse and Repeat.
Sir You want some help⦠and youâve written a book asking for itâ¦. And frankly half the stuff youâve written has nothing to do with trading I am not predisposed to answer every question youâve posed but here are a few âfood for thoughtsâ Take the investing books and trash em â then FORGET everything youâve readâ¦.. More education will not help â hereâs how to trade in a nut shell Price going up â go long Price going down â go short Exit when appropriate â either at a lose or profit (You will have both) Your job (single goal) needs to be figuring out how to be, think, and act â like a trader Furthermore â based on your post you are not humble, and you really donât know what it means to be humble as it relates to tradingâ¦. Yes you lost some money ⦠well welcome to the clubâ¦. However if you stick it out and eventually make it you will know what being humble really means You stated you've been successful at most everything youâve triedâ¦. âMost everythingâ (I am surmising) has been against other people â Trading is all about âYOUâ You will either trade with you â as your biggest obstacle, or â you â as your greatest ally⦠(I realize this statement probably doesnât make sense â but it will eventually, and when it does then you are on your way to successful trading) BTW â You are asking to come into our playroom â come on in Iâll take your money in a heartbeat (sounds like Iâm an ass doesnât it â Please realize this is exactly what youâll face if you want to trade) but also realize I AM deadly serious â I will take your moneyâ¦. I trade for a living â taking other folkâs money is what I do â and I never look back Your first step Get a grip on the reality of trading Get a grip on yourself, on your ego, on your preconceived notions about trading Get a grip on risk manage Get a grip on the market (and the ârealâ why it does what it does) And be prepare to work you ass off getting these Then you may make it⦠or not⦠But right now you have way too many useless notions about trading One final note â The monetary tuition required to learn this â will be every dime you have â unless you get your head around this stuff⦠If you ask âspecificâ questions â you will get more response â but be forewarned even some of those responses will be of no use Respectfully and humbly RN
If you're interested in learning how to read markets I would highly recommend Jim Dalton's educational services at www.marketsinprofile.com. He uses Market Profile as a tool to understand markets and the behavior of the different timeframe participants in the marketplace, but he also focuses on market logic and self-understanding, which is critical to successful trading. Jim's ability to read the markets is simpy uncanny. Jim has over 30 years of trading experience and the things that he teaches usually flies in the face of conventional trading wisdom. Note that they offer a trading education that takes time to master because they will teach you to adapt and trade under all market conditions. In addition, they don't call out trades or teach "gimmicky" and "tired" trade setups like fading the value area. However, he does analyze markets before they unfold on a regular basis. Their trading approach can be applied to any market in any timeframe. Markets in Profile offers a 12-month self-study Cognitive Learning/Continuous Educational Series (CL/CES) program that includes 3 course booklets, 22 commentaries covering specific topics, 3 webinars per month, and a weekly newsletter that provides an analysis of the S&P, Crude Oil, and the Bond markets. They also provide intensive seminars. I think it is a solid program that is well worth the money ($2650). I am currently a delighted client enrolled in the 12-month program and have also attended one of their intensive seminars. Terry Liberman, Jim's business partner, can provide an overview presentation on their services, if you're interested. I think you will find that the financial investment is very reasonable to learn from a respected trader and market profile authority in the industry. I would recommend starting with Jim Dalton's books and enrolling in the CL/CES program if you think that his methodology suits you. http://www.amazon.com/Mind-over-Mar...=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1248319182&sr=8-2 http://www.amazon.com/Markets-Profi...=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1248319182&sr=8-1 Hope this helps, Antonio
RN makes some good points particularly regarding determining what you need to in order to trade successfully. True genius is simplicity! Why do you feel that you need to day trade as opposed to short term swing? You are going to see offers for systems, TA exponents, PA, and every other person pushing their barrow, hell you will probably hear from Jack Hershey. The sooner you realize that the vast majority are lost, the better off you will be. Nobody here including myself will give you a system that is guaranteed to work. It's a long hard road, one place to start might be PA simply to get a basic understanding of how the market moves. PA alone is not the answer( get to know the market nothing more) just a means to begin building the first step. Other parts of the answer are probably in your 90 books, when trying to pull relevant information to apply from them always remember the KISS principle! Good luck on the quest Regards Johno
Now that is usefull information. Price action bar by bar, support resistance. The problem with most books, they preach indicators. I was spoiled. Back in the dot com era I cleaned up making for more profits than I lost this time. Those days are gone. There's a new game in town. Thanks for your help.
Sorry, but this sounds an awful like a commercial. If I were the original poster (OP) I would not be rushing out to buy this stuff. You will likely wind up not making money from this, or 99% of the other gurus & advisors. It is never nearly that simple.
No need to apologize TraderZones. It does sound like a commercial, but that wasn't my intention. I just wanted to provide information about an educational service that I use and have a positive experience with. I think that I suggested in my post that the OP get more information before making a decision and that it wouldn't be an easy path to successful trading. So on those two points, I think we're agreeing. But I do think that many can benefit and learn a lot about trading from Jim Dalton.
Redneck Trader: Thanks for the kick in the arse!!! Wanting to day trade like I have been is like living in a dream world. After all you can't have as many losses as I've had in such a short period of time without totally lacking basic trader skills. After all I did say I wanted to be a trader,did'nt I?. Risk management is paramount. As I reflect back I basically gave that money away. Hah, you probably got some of it but good luck getting any more. I think your saying day trading is like a dog fight, correct? Bite or be biten! Yes, I've still got the teeth marks but they are beginning to heal. Daytrading is the oposite of investing. There are no mutual funds investting in the stock your in pushing it into a parabolic move to the sky. I need to man up and get a grip. This is about ME! Not poor old me. You would make a great mentor. Now my question is do you beleive the philosophy that price/volume is the leading indicator followed by support and resistance. If not coule you please advise how you view the markets describe the necessary focus of my attention. I appreciate your input,Sir!