Greetings ET. I don't know if I am allowed to post this kind of topic in this forum but I sure would like to try, as I do not really know where to start my journey. My name is Dennis, living in Sweden. I'm 22 years old.. But I hope it's never too early to start thinking about this kind of life. I'd rather invest the money that I used to spend on cr*p, and this I will. I wonder if it's possible for me at my young age to start daytrading. I have been interested of this for a very long time, I've done some trading with demo accounts on different sites. My main goal right now is to learn as much as possible from books, webinars, seminars, forums and every other source available. Maybe even lucky enough to have a chat with a successful trader.. Do you guys have any tips or anything? Point me in some sort of direction. I've had a hard time all my life and I believe that has given me an advantage in a way that is hard to explain.. But I am always fighting for my dreams and I've fought to get through my life so far and this has made me dream a lot bigger and my vision is what keeps me going every day. I don't expect making a fortune fast, I wanna do this because I actually think it is fun, I love math and numbers and I've been taking a few courses about daytrading. I'd also like to mention that as for now, I don't have the academic background to pursue the university degrees of economics and finance.. But I can spend 8-10 hours a day studying this at home, if it's what it takes. I have heard of turtle trading so it should be possible for me to learn how to become a successful trader without attending a bachelor or masters program. But I can study at home and I will read all books neccessary. Really, I'll do everything that I can! So yeah.. Where would you start, if you were me? Best possible way to start the journey into becoming a successful daytrader (and also a long time investor). Thanks in advance, and sorry to all the administrators if its not alright to ask for this kind of help. My apologises. Best of luck to everyone! Regards, Dennis.
Just a couple. There is a boatload of negativity on this site. As long as you are aware of that in advance, you will be able to get lots of little nuggets of valuable info. EMG will probably respond to your inquiry with his typical BS. Put him on your ignore list before he has a chance. There a few people to follow closely. (I'm not one of them. I post a lot of sarcastic crap) Nodoji (Hi Donna!) Lescor Dustin Redneck Szeven ...and many more. Some don't really post much anymore, but their past posts contain some valuable info. For inspiration, go here and look at Szeven's post: http://www.elitetrader.com/vb/showthread.php?p=770572#post770572 And then here: http://www.elitetrader.com/vb/showthread.php?p=1728994#post1728994 Good luck.
The ACD thread is good, as well. http://www.elitetrader.com/vb/showthread.php?t=170318 I read Mark Fisher's book, and it's very intriguing. Not really my style, but the math makes sense. Maverick74 runs the thread. Very smart dude.
I'm very bored in this cold Wisconsin winter, and could post stuff all day. But other perspectives might be good.
Hi Dennis, at 22 you are really at a good time to start. I began a few years younger than you during college, before the internet came into existence and changed access to market information and to markets themselves. There wasn't much thought of daytrading back then; the transaction costs were too steep and the retail people had to work with delayed data and calling in orders to a broker. I did read as much as I could about the stock market and a positive of that era was that there wasn't the huge trading education industry that you see nowadays. Here are just a few thoughts: 1. Dispense with any notion that daytrading has any special significance. It doesn't. 2. Focus on stocks and the trading of short-term cycles which is sometimes called "swing" trading of stocks. 3. For a solid grounding, get a copy of William O'Neil's 24 Essential Lessons and read it thoroughly from cover to cover. 4. Get a copy of his How to Make Money in Stocks and go to the end of the book for the 18 Common Mistakes. Make a table of where you are with respect to each mistake listed and periodically update the table. 5. For the nuts and bolts of a stock trading method, get a copy of the following Jack Hershey documents: (1) Building Minds for Building Wealth, and (2) Putting the Pieces Together. Study the details until you understand the selection criteria and the timing method. If you need or want examples of the learning process of others, they are available on this site as well as other places on the internet. 6. Find others to collaborate with in person. I know it's difficult, but sometimes you come across experienced traders in unexpected places. A girl I was dating introduced me to her father who had built up a two million dollar stock account. He watched the market from his office in his family diner that he told me was losing money. 7. Give yourself plenty of time to learn. My first forays into the market were unsuccessful. I chalk it up to a lack of knowledge, skill and experience but also to the fact that I was using scared money. It took over 10 years after I made my first stock purchase (Lamson and Sessions on the NYSE) before I made any real money. About 8 of those years I didn't trade but just studied on the side as I finished my formal schooling and prepared for a profession. Do not hurry. 8. Starting young is a great thing but you have to want it and then you have to give yourself a chance to succeed. Recently a couple of 24-year-olds that I play chess with asked me about trading and I gave them the basic picture without going into details. I said there's a great advantage to being young with very little money and they should look at it as a 10-year project, like becoming a GM in chess. One of them said "ten years?" and the questions stopped after that point. I don't expect either of them to become a grandmaster either.
After looking at previous pages, he was a beginner here as well? "I'm new to trading" or something like that was written by Szeven earlier. Do you have any idea what kind of market he started in? Thanks once again, take care!
Edges are all over the place. Books and web sites show you high probability price action setups and the high probability conditions under which to trade them. dbphoenix is giving away edges all over ET. What you'll be fighting as an aspiring trader is yourself; most of things you've been conditioned to do to be successful in life are detrimental to consistently profitable trading. For example, successful traders accept unprofitable trades without fear or concern, knowing that unprofitable trades are absolutely necessary for the profitable realization of an edge.
Thank you so much! I'm currently taking a class about trading and this is what the bigger part of it is about.. Learning that the biggest challenge for me is to overcome my own feelings and thoughts and always stick to my plan and trading system. Never let my feelings control my actions when I'm on the market. I am planning to start with E-mini S&P 500. Trading one contract a day until I've doubled my capital. Then increase to two, and continue. This is what my teachers recommend me to do at least. I will finish my course tomorrow and starting to read "Developing a plan" then trying out the market with a demo account. And while doing this I will try my best to find a copy of William O'Neil's 24 Essential Lessons, How to Make Money in Stocks and Jack Hersey's Building Minds for Building Wealth and Putting the Pieces Together. As I live in Sweden, I am unsure that we have these! Thanks again for all the great tips! Dennis