Hey Everyone, All this don't pay or take training talk is quite dangerous advice to some people. I think to make a blanket statement that no one should take training courses before trading is absurd. Everyone comes into trading as a beginner and has to learn at the bottom. I know I made some terrible mistakes in the beginning that maybe a class or a mentor or a trading partner could have saved me from. But, when I started over 15 years ago, there were just a couple books on direct-access trading and the "expert" was the guy sitting on the computer next to you that had been there for a whopping whole year who hadn't blown out his account yet. There is so much more available for the aspiring trader today than when I was beginning. I wish I had the resources that traders have today to get into the business although I think the business of trading is more difficult today than it was when I started. So, the question about training comes down to each person on an individual basis. It is just wrong to throw out a blanket statement that no one should go through training or god forbid actually pay for training. Let's say my neighbor comes to me and tells me that he is going to quit his job and be a trader. I know he knows very little about trading but he is under the impression like everyone else that it is easy to make a couple grand from the markets every day. I would first try to talk him out of it and give him a dose of hard reality. He says he is going to do it anyway and asks me if he should take a training class for 5K and trade with his remaining 20K or just start trading with his 25K without training. If he won't take my first advice then I would tell him to spend 5K on training knowing that he really doesn't have a chance without it and realistically has very little chance with it. However, during the experience he will learn much more with the training of 5K plus 20K of losses than he would learn with just 25K of losses. However, let's say a savvy trader with a good track record and tight risk management and position sizing rules asks me if he should take a training course. I would tell him to not waste his money and trade it all in the market. So, it really comes down to each trader on an individual and what they need. If they need training, then they need to find a good program for the lowest price possible. Too bad you won't find much positiveness on the Elite Trader forums as 98% of posts are disgruntled, angry traders. There is tons of free stuff on the internet and books are relatively cheap. The most important thing to get is a trader who knows more than you that you can go to with questions and can analyze your trades on an objective basis. That was the one thing I did have with the manager at our office. He would sit me down and show me the mistakes I was making in my trading which helped me more than any book or class I ever took. Each person should make their own choice about training and stop making ridiculous blanket statements for everyone else. Just like in trading, what works for me won't work for you and what works for you won't work for me. I truly believe that everyone in the end must develop their own trading strategy that fits their own trading personality. If they can get some help along the way, take it.
Maybe I am just too old but I have seen hundreds of people come and go in this business. I do agree and even pointed out there are so many more resources available to traders now then when I started. Having someone who you are accountable to is the most important thing in trading the first couple years. Someone that will yell at you and rip your head off when you trade like an idiot. As I said before, that helped me more than anything else. It is very similar to losing weight. There are thousands of books and programs that teach you what you need to do. There are thousands of gyms with all the equipment you need to accomplish your goals. However, 90% of all gym memberships go unused and I'm sure everyone reading this has hundreds of dollars in unused exercise equipment in their basement/garage. Yet, studies show that having a partner or personal trainer makes a huge difference statistically in weight loss comparisons. You don't need to necessarily spend any money at all to get a partner/trainer/training, but it is necessary. I would advise people to try to get as much as you can for free. Find yourself someone to trade with and make yourself accountable to them. Ask them to knock you over the head when you mess up and let them have access to your trades. And just like losing weight, it is going to be much harder and take longer than you expected.