Kiaora Chirag, You won't go far wrong if you follow the advice of War Eagle at the start of the thread and Steve T. You'll make plenty of mistakes for sure but if you initially trade small and sensibly ramp up as your account grows they won't hurt you in the long run. All the best
"This demo enables you to test the functionality of our live Marketmaker® trading software. For 14 days you will have full access to: Real-time pricing on all instruments offered Risk free demo trading with a virtual $10,000 demo account Real-time breaking news from Dow Jones & expert analysis from IDEAglobal and Multex (Reuters) Multiple online order types including Market, Stops, Limits and OCOs" I guess it's only a 14 day trial now, I have a spreadbet account with them. I trade futures at a prop firm for a living but I use it for punting on stock moves when bored but the charting package is great. I use CQG at work but for a "free" download I was impressed.
90-95% of people who try this fail. If you think you can be one of the 5% or so who make it, good luck. Just a thought blackguard
Check out this site http://www.woodiescciclub.com/index.html They have several live chat rooms, and lots of resources. And it's all free.
c.chugani, good luck on your aspirations. Many have been down the path you're seeking and there are many successes. Pursue them relentlessly and never, ever give up. All the books listed pretty covers everything you need to "learn" intellectually. Don't get caught up in being "perfect", there is no such thing. You can paper-trade for decades, but it will make no difference in actual results. That's because the primary hurdle, and perhaps what sets apart the 5% who win from the 95% who lose and give up, is emotional control. It's how you FEEL and RESPOND to the markets that'll predict your sucess or failure rate. Fear, greed, ego will do much more harm to your success than any amount of intellectual "smarts". And your emotions will vary based upon the amount of money you have at stake. With zero down in paper-trading, it's a piece of cake to follow the basic strategies and win. With $1mil on the line, suddenly the game looks a lot different and you'll find yourself with sweaty-palms and self-doubt. It's taken me over 10-years to learn the ruthless mechanical trading mentality. While I had the technical skills down to turn $1k into $250k in less than 3-years in the stock-market, the ego and greed had me lose a big chunk of it. Now that I'm into futures & options, the gains are even faster and I have no qualms about cashing everything out instantly. When in doubt, cash-out. Better to hold cash than a losing position. Sorry for the long-winded diatribe, bottom line is, get your feet wet! Read the books. Paper-trade only a couple of months to learn the basic strategies. Work on the emotional control and you can only do that with real money in the real market. Good luck!
I just dont understand all the skepticism and negativity related to earning your monthly expenses out of trading.. ..is it that tough to make 3k-4k a month in the long run? Please note I am talking about doing so in 4-5 years time, not from the get-go. I believe that a good educational background, knowledge of the markets, a suitable trading acct/volume and MOST IMPORTANTLY- self discipline and control would do the trick right? Most of the worthy professions nowadays involve some kind of risk and sacrifice to a certain degree.. Whether it is becoming an airline pilot or brain surgeon, for example. And even then, no one can guarantee you job security and financial success/independence. So why only the negative bias towards trading? Just wondering.
The reason there's so much negative bias towards trading is that the business of trading has very low barriers to entry as oppose to other business ventures, anyone can deposit 2-3K and start trading, and most of those think that they can just make money right from the start. In other words, most people come to the markets with no knowledge and very high expectations, after all how hard can it be buying and selling stocks/futures/options all day. Not even for a minute do they think that trading is no different to any other business venture, probably even tougher as this business is extremely competitive. In fact, becoming a successful trader is no different to becoming a successful pilot or brain surgeon....granted, trading is no brain surgery, but ask anyone whether they think that one can become a successful brain surgeon by reading a few books and they would tell you that you're nuts! However, when it comes to trading people have a completely opposite view. As a result, when a newbie comes he/she usually gets a lot of negative comments from people who have some experience and who have already realized that trading is not as easy as it seems to outsiders.
Well Ching Chung, passion, huh .. passion, jeez, the big signature of the loser. Passion .. find a girl or a dog, pal.
C. Chugani, I think it helps to test trading methods using your computer. Learn a programming language and write trading programs. Personally testing trading methods helped me a lot. I find to trade in a meaningful way I must trade with conviction - that sense of knowing what to do. The sense has to come from within me. No book that I remember reading gives me that sense of confidence. The only way I know to develop the skill is to personally develop and test trading systems.
I've got a library of books, cd's, dvd's, courses etc. etc. Don't know if I use 1% of them although they helped me on my journey. I'd agree with most of the above and add if you can watch live traders, their screen shots, the indicator set-ups, trading styles and theories, entires and exits, timeframes, chart styles, workspace arrangements, target setting and stops, all in real time - copy, adapt, find what suits your personality and risk profile, add your own twist - then you are ready to start. Woodies was mentioned as an eg. I'd also suggest dacharts.com and Ensign have a free EChat you can download and see traders live posts and you can pm them and some you can voice chat to. Copy and test in a simulator. When you are consistant invest a small amount. Finally, make up your own mind on what to trade and how to do it. What ever way you approach it, there's plenty here to tell your approach is crap. When you make it work, very few will be holding your hand. You have to pay your dues in this business, and I think you have the right mindset to really succeed. We wish you good fortune.