I will agree with you that perhaps most choose what to trade/they require income stream and very few others trade for challenge of overcoming themselves and maybe a few of their inner demons-- in the end/rely on other incomes for making their life exist. And just as I started cause it was something to do since I was bored being in the Army and going to college. We all play the game for different reasons.
If you really want to learn how to trade read or listen to trade your way to financial freedom by van k Tharp and don’t put it away until you are completely finished with it. If you are unable to complete the book thoroughly or put off giving it a serious go you may have some underlying psychological issues that may prevent you from becoming a trader.
My nick is helpme_please. I have asked questions on this forum and many elitetraders have helped. Thank you all of you. I have never asked a question like yours which is essentially asking for the keys to kingdom from successful traders. It is a rude question which invites rude but justified replies. Why would online strangers want to give you the keys to their kingdom? Who are you to them? The experts here are already kind enough to give their time to teach us how to fish, we should not be so rude as to ask for their fish. After a person has spent considerable time and money learning how to trade, he should be open to the possibility that he just isn't suited to trading. Look at your own track record and be honest to yourself to find an answer. If you aren't suited for trading, find a proper job and contribute to society in a way which utilises your talents and temperament to the fullest. Don't be a trader/investor because you mainly love the money and little else, because you will end up losing more money. If you aren't suited for trading, be a more useful person by steering clear of trading. Get a proper job and invest passively or hire professionals to manage your money.
OP, In the spirit of Baron responded to this thread https://www.elitetrader.com/et/threads/is-this-what-et-has-become.323091/ I gave you my version of how to learn about & implement stop loss & target 1. Stop loss It depends on the swing of your trade on the x axis whether it's time base, volume base or whatever you are using to fit your risk objective. Beware that stop loss runners are aware of the location of stop loss. They are very obvious on the chart. You should be able to learn to run excel program to determine your instrument's swing statistic. You also should be able to have statistic based on your entry's precision and from those, you better dig deeper on how to improve your entries. *My stop loss is mainly for emergency only like lost connections, exchange shut down, quick swings due to immediate news etc. I day trade CL mainly 6 ticks stop loss & if it hits 3 ticks against me, I'm out. There are people I know who have even tighter stop loss (3 ticks in CL) but they are the true masters. 2. Target In general, target is also depending on your swing strategy very much like stop loss but in the opposite direction with a twist, not as R/R as if market will obey and honor your plan. It just doesn't give a damn about your plan so prepare to adjust. Take what you can when you can. Depending on your strategy, you should be able to read whether at certain area, it will continue or reverse or fix target based on scalping swings. You need to work on this & it will take time. *Some people trade both sides of the market at the same time as runner/scalper & each leg has different target but the stop loss is always the same. Simple trader like me couldn't handle both at the same time so I pass. You also should be able to build a statistic table of how good your exits are & reevaluate. Best way to do is find some free program like OBS to record your trading session & replay it to learn. I purposely write like this so if you want to learn you have to search for it. All the keywords are there for you to work on it. Good luck.
Your question is too great. This is like asking how to do a backflip on a dirtbike. Pros can do it somewhat easily nowadays. However, it relies on so much. You have to build every skill beneath it first. Posture, throttle use, balance, proper lean, spotting the landing, confidence, etc. I think you have to practice heavily on paper, reflect on every win and loss. Then, come and ask particular questions here. Dont put your life into trading until you already show you profit consistently. Its not going to be a sudden flip of a lightswitch to success
please i know i have to do this and that , and i should all listen and work for it , but before all this matter i have question do you make real living money trading index futures ? its supposed to be yes because i have mentioned in my too great thread ! that only those make money answer it and only those make money from future trading , im not asking the folks that are same as me in the process of learning or just playing to not get bored , thats all matter to me experienced individual answer me without any criticism and big ego , im fine with funny posts as well but i need someone who have done it , i think there is still a members im happy to meet real people here not the one always talk ,im happy the guy succeed