I'm so green, I know nothing about money, other than reading 1 or 2 rich dad poor dad books. My goal is to become a day trader, and a damn good one. I'm not interested in becoming a good trader so I can boast about it. I'm not doing it for any reason other than I like a good challenge and i like money. I played poker on the internet for a living for a while, so I know all about the psychological grind. I know I need to study a hell of a long time before I actually invest any money in anything. So, please point me to a place i can learn the basics of money, investing, trading, etc. whether on this website or another. Thanks! Rookie55
Well good luck. Trading for a living is a tough gig, but there are some great resources on this board and others. Read, study the markets, find something that works for you, and stick with it. One piece of advice: Trading is not about making money - it's about not losing it. A proper system is one that is hell bent on managing losses (there will be lots of them)....take your time and don't rush... Good luck.....
Why not? What is it that I need? If there are any other newbs like me out there, I just found this article which is a good primer on basics. http://www.daytraders.com/day_trading_information.html
risk management. you play poker, so you should have a cursory understanding at a minimum of game theory, risk of ruin, etc. you know to push the edge you have, and if you manage risk and wait for opportunity, you do fine there is a saying - first you learn how to lose money, then you learn how not to lose it, then you learn how to make it. you have to do 2 (not lose) before you can do #3 and if you do #2 with any reasonable sort of edge, 3 will take care of itself a GOOD trade mentor is worth every penny. so are a stable datafeed, etc. there is no barrier to entry in this field , except for the amount needed to open an account. no first year tennis player is gonna play against boris becker, but on his first DAY trader is trading against some of the cream of the crop, in whatever market he chooses to trade. have a business plan, and study your losing trades as well as your winning trades.
Thanks whit. In poker 90% of all players lose money in the long run due to other players having more skill, and the rake the house takes. Is this similiar to day trading? Are most traders bad, and the good traders capitalize on their mistakes? Or is that not a good analogy?
to some extent, yes. trading is not a zero sum game, like poker (except in options, forex and futures). so, it is not true, as in poker, that every dollar in your P&L comes from somebody else's loss. but with shorter timeframes, to include daytrading, it approaches the appearance of a zero sum game, since people are just gaming each other by flipping shares back and forth. but TECHNICALLY, it isn't regardless, you can look at commissions as similar to rake. i am sure you will find that, with a discount brokerage, commissions are a much smaller piece of your profits getting eaten up than the rake charged by an online poker site, let alone a casino. I was a successful online poker player up until my state made online gambling a C felony, and then I quit. later, congress passed legislation on it as well (but not making the mere playing of poker a felony, like my state did). the similarities between the emotional states, and emotional mistakes you make in trading and poker are quite noticeable. in poker, you go on tilt. in trading, you do too - doubling down on a bad position etc. BAD IDEA your poker experience should give you a good background to start. most traders don't fail because of analytical issue, they fail because of emotional issues - failure to understand risk control, money management and PSYCHOLOGY just as psychology is a hyoooge aspect of poker, it is in trading. understanding how the losing trader is thinking at any given time helps you be on the right side of the price action
Not disagreeing to disagree Whist, but almost nothing out there is zero sum...poker, commodity trading..whatever... Why? The rake...Brokers & casinos (in this example), for the most part, always win. That's what keeps it from being zero sum.. But as Whist said rookie...protect what you have...that's what's important. Good friend of mine once said, and there are those who may disagree, but the most successful traders are also professional cowards. Not to say you shouldn't be confident. just don't be over confident, even when you are running black... Ever go on a rush at the poker table, and you are really stacking chips...only to go cold and you give back all your profits and then some in half the time? That's what the markets can and will do if you aren't careful.... But be aware that the markets are bigger and more complex than we can ever understand, and they can act irrationally much longer than you or I can stay solvent..