Looking for advice for new traders: What is something you wish you knew when you started that you picked up along the way? What is the best platform to use for trading/papertrading? Thanks in advance!~!
That markets are almost never rational. That confidence is an emotion that gets in the way of trading. That the odds are against you because of commissions. To never micromanage trades. Paper trading never comes close to the real thing no matter how long you practice for. Best demo Zen-Fire with NinjaTrader. It is full real time with full capabilities as a paid version just with simulated/paper orders.
Markets are always rational. Price is your friend and it is the 'Open Sesame' of the successful trader. Confidence is important as you establish success in any successful way of trading where you come to depend on a reliable methodology. Commissions are incidental and a very small cost of success. You micromanage trades when you use a fast or fairly fast chart where you are playing the small gyrations as you build your net gains within an overall swing, the day being made up of swings, open to close, in a volatile and liquid market (eg CL)
Never said to not trust the price just dont trust the why. Oil's pricing has no rationality to it what so ever. The laws of supply and demand do not exist. Every week they release oil numbers saying there is a surplus of oil for the week. The market will push the price up 1-2%. But it you are talking about day trading, then you shouldnt even worry about the why just trade the price.
Use stop-loss as a safety fuse to protect your account from draining out should fast and adverse price movement unexpected happens. Regard stop-loss as a safety fuse for your electric system in your house. Take full use of the stop-loss feature, particularly that resides at the broker's server, not on your computer. This gives you a peace of mind on your open-position, particularly when your computer is off / down or your internet connection is down. If you are not sure of the price level to put for each trade, at least put it a long distance away from the minute price fluctuation, and only then use mental stop-loss to monitor your open-position.
Learn that this is wrong: "Commissions are incidental and a very small cost of success." The reality is, that trading costs are a huge problem for scalpers and a real cost of others seeking small gains. Also learn that "the market is NOT always rational."
This is a very good point. Stop-loss is not always the most efficient way to exit a trade but you want to have one in case a rare large move happens (or, indeed, you get disconnected).