Hello guys, I'm a new member here, I've been lurking for the past few days, great material on this forum. Finance student looking to begin paper trading this summer to develop consistency, system and experience. Anyways, what are the most successful trading methods that you guys have experience with or that you tend to hear about? Daytrading is the craze in the novice community of course, but I personally do not believe in paying massive commisions...here is why: In order to even cover the expenses you have to do better than great..you have to be pretty extraordinary to cover the expense and ALSO make a good living off of daytrading. Personally, I have the patience to stay in positions for several hours, days, or even a few weeks. And I love patterns...always been very receptive to this kind of thinking. So realistically, what are some of the best options available that fit that time frame, yet do not go in the investing catagory.
The Logical Trader by Mark Fisher Techniques of Tape Reading by Vadym Graifer Two books (IMO) that sum up market mechanics pretty good. Read and get some chart time. Test ideas objectively and define any perceived edges (the hard part). Good luck
I think that this also depends on your account. If you have a $ 5,000 account and hold swings for 2 weeks with a 10% return and risk all (which I not recommend at all) this makes you $500 for those 2 weeks and if you do again $1,000/month which is still subject to taxation...to grow an account exponentially very fast I recommend intraday trading on low prices stocks, as they you you the most volatility.
In my humble opinion the best trading style/method is 100% dependent on the individual. When you are first starting out you should try them all (on sim) in order to do a little self discovery. Some people do well with very short term trading while others may find swing trading best suited to their personality.
that's true but still with the example given this would be the only option to turn this into a living- you can also invest into bluechips reduce your risk but be happy with a couple percent over the year.... I think this is on point...do what you like not what you think would make the most money..you will always be better in something you like as in something you are forcing yourself to I think.
Appreciate the time you guys took to respond. OK so let us make a few assumptions: 1. Very undercapitalized account (Even though I will be Paper trading at first, the capital I will have when I finally start trading $$$ will surely be less than $10k....As such, I will also undercapitalize my Papertrades in order to learn how to generate account growth and to manage risk. 2. I prefer not to mess with fundamentals too much, sure maybe listening to economic predictions and such but I'm not going to be super heavy into the balance sheets and statements..it's just not for me. Although,I will certainly be willing to take a look at times. 3. Discretionary Trading only....I have no experience in programming/coding and am not a high level mathematician. 4. Few hours, days, week, timeframe. I guess I can do smaller timeframes, but I would do this only to grow account and then at a certain point switch to the ones i mentioned. 5. I want to trade for a living, and a good one at that. Eventually build a business around the skill. What are your guy's thoughts based on that? Is intraday trading still going to my best bet in order to grow an account?
Intraday is hardest. Lower R/R ratios with no margin for error. Precision is critical Considering your capital and that you want to make a living with this, I think Swing is a good starting point to get your feet wet. High level math not necessary to make money. Programming not required either. I hire people to do this. I only focus on research and execution. You need to always be one step ahead in this game. Start with a foundation and build structure. Be prepared for major knock backs. Trade small if you can't stomach them. Your health comes first
Profitlocker, appreciate your feedback brother. As far as account growth, what are some of your ideas on that...because surely, unless i raise capital from others, I'm going to need to aggressively grow my account in order to make any returns I make meaningful. Also, is my idea on papertrading an undercapped account a good one?