Yes. I am focused on US equities. I am familiar with options and futures and how they work with the market, but only trade equities.
How do you decide what equities to trade? How do you decide when to get long or short? How do you decide the size to put on and when? How do you decide when to exit? I'm not expecting a response. These are very simple questions that I would focus on but these are not simple concepts. Write down a set of rules and read them each morning. Review your trades at the end of each day, week and month. Have fun but treat trading as a business.
Thank you. I will keep this in mind. I hope it’s not too much to ask, but do you have any recommendations for readings that taught you a valuable lesson or gave you some insight into how the markets work on a deeper level?
I learned the hard way. I started on an OTC NASDAQ trade desk while at NYU as an unpaid intern. Then, after graduation, I spent a short time at a retail broker cold calling. I hated that. Left a good job with a 2-year contract at ML, to land on the AMEX floor as a wire clerk for an options broker that executed orders for off-floor traders and trade desks. My boss at the time spent time with me so I would understand options and equities. Understanding and trading are not the same. They then made me a floor broker. As a floor broker for professional options traders, I handled a lot of "not held" spread orders. This allowed me to better understand options trading, At 24 years old, a few months after getting married, I was let go New Year's Eve. This taught me a lot too. I was not fired for lack of performance as I took out 90 % of the orders, did all the morning trade checks and billings. I then borrowed $30,000 from my family to start my BD and start trading. I learned by doing. I started very small. At the time, I was getting my NYU MBA at night next door. I took a class called the pricing of options, futures and other contingent claims. We learned the BS model. From my experience working for an OTC trader, as a clerk, executing broker, and then that class, I learned to make markets in options and I did well for 25 years. I learned a process, I learned to monitor risk and take losses when required. I learned the hard way. So, what would I recommend you read, everything. Listen to everyone. Take what you learn and find what works for you. Sorry for the long answer.
Following up on Morse's post, the best advice I got years ago was to force myself to first focus on one market, and very few instruments. Give yourself the time to drill down and develop expertise in one specific area. Otherwise you'll just be jumping from one thing to another and adding to your confusion.
I’ve read a lot. The Market wizards are a nice overview. But reading makes you better at reading. Seriously ... I’ve not learned anything PRACTICAL from either books or any media. I understand that we seek master to look beyond their shoulders. But it’s a form of apprenticeship. Execution is at the core of the process and feedbacks come as positive or negative. You’ll become a better trader by trading. It’s nice to be curious. You need to tinker with it. A little bit of probability, statistics and programming would be helpful for the hungry mind. But it’s not a prerequisite. Don’t waist your time digging for gold over the internet. There is no truth nor holy grails. Practice makes perfect. Just build, modify, repair and improve your business. Profitability and Risk wise.