Well I never tried to trade anything else. Just a few stocks. I ve spoken with quite a few professional traders that do make a leaving out of trading and what they ve told me is that trading is like a profession. Eg you cant be a doctor or lawyer without studying for 4-5 years first medical/law school and practice and then starting earning money. And I m not the kind of person that quits easily just because something is tough. I really appreciate all of your answers but before I base on them (and all of them the same logic like "dont waste your years on trading". 4 years without success are far too much) I d like to know how many years you re trading and if you re on the winners side. Please don't take this question wrong. I know its a personal question but I m sure that this topic will definitely help other traders as well in the future. I d really appreciate any answers.
Here is my take: Success in the FX market is not easy however if you want it bad enough you will find a way. Trading daily charts works for me as I do not trade full-time and have a day job. I started off trying to trade lower timefrmaes while working, its insane and you will have endless frustrations. Remove all indicators and trade just daily bars, as easy as that. Do that on a demo for a year and Im sure you will have a different story to tell.... I love trading and want to transition to full time in the future once I have built my stake to a bigger level but believe me, fighting the noise on lower timeframes in FX is for losers who are just looking for action, some can do it but sooner or later the stress and exhaustion catches up with them.
So, you`ve come to a forum in order to ask for advice about whether it is worth continuing on this path or if you should give up. You are frustrated and tired of having nothing but losses and depression to show for after all your efforts. That is perfectly understandable and we`ve all been there more than once. I will neither encourage or discourage you to continue, although I should probably discourage you as the odds are against you. Most of us pursue trading out of the erroneous belief that it is an easy path to wealth, but it does not take long until we are greatly humbled and realize that this is possibly one of the most difficult tasks any human being can undertake on his own. Why is it so difficult for a neophyte to succeed in this business? I can think of a multitude of answers here, but leaving the complexity of the market itself aside, one of the biggest challenges for the serious student is that he have pretty much no idea where to start and he is essentially on his own and left to the wolves who will devour him without mercy. Sure, a google search reveals hundreds of books, courses, mentors, scams and schemes that promise riches with the only purpose being to feed on the naivety of the neophyte and parting him from his money. These guys make a lot of money because every day there are thousands of new losers hopefully entering this business. Perhaps he receives anonymous advice on internet for free that seems very clever and genuine, only to discover it`s a dead end after a long period of study. There is also a myriad of ways to make money in this market, so there is not one right way to do it either per se. Is it any wonder that a neophyte can spend years going in circles without nothing to show for it but confusion and losses? What is the use of spending thousands of hours studying crap? And even after discovering something that works the amount of study required to achieve success is still tremendous and beyond what most is willing to put in. What most neophytes lack is a true mentor that have walked this path and actually walk the walk, not just talk the talk. Very few receive access to this as successful traders are rare and those who would like to mentor are even more rare. What`s not rare though, is vendors and educators who wants your money and will not hesitate to tell you lies. I don`t know anything about Sam Seiden, but it sounds like another scam to me. Anyway, I`m rambling here. What I can tell you though is that there are people who spent far more than 4 years before figuring it out. Marty Schwartz consistently lost money for 10 years until he got his act together. There are also people who spent far more than 10 years and are still losing, so one needs to remember that as well. Some things to consider for you. Do you like your day job? Have you bet everything on trading and abandoned other opportunities in life? Will you pursue another full-time career if trading does not work out? I think these questions are of essence for your decision. Either way I will advice you to take a long break from trading and see if you still feel hungry. If you have a good education and a good job that you like, I do not see any harm in continuing to studying the markets part-time, but have a long-term perspective and realistic expectations. If however, pursuing trading is done with a large cost and leaving other opportunities behind, I would seriously reconsider it. Do not risk any more money until you really feel that you understand what the market is telling you and you have developed a method with a proven edge from backtesting and forward testing on a simulator. Good luck!
many thanks once again for your answers. Well yes internet is full of scams and I ve tried so many. Its so easily to get scamed. I do not blame my self. Anyway if someone has to suggest anything really honest and reliable so I can continue my trading education it would be nice. Eitherwise I think I should create an educational service as well! In my journey I ve found many successful traders but noone had time for teaching. Only few emails/advises. All of them gave me the same advise as Laissez Faire did: I need a successful trader to teach me how to trade. But its almost impossible to find one. Especially in my country (I m from Greece... yea yea I know.. we re destroying capitalism).
Honestly, I am quite new at trading, but my gut instinct tells me that self-doubt is lethal. Look back at your own posting history. You asked this same question a couple of years ago. As I say, I am new at this, but ... just a thought.
Trading is hardcore...... It will test you with every new trade, every second you are in the trade...... If you want to succeed, you must do everything on your own. Forget all the books and seminars and stuff in forums, you have learned --- and start to think for yourself and analyze the markets. 1. You must becom a scientist, to research the price behaviour. 2. you must create trading plans. 3. you must backtest your plans, with over hundreds of examles. 4. you must trade them in real time. 5. you must always learn your own rules and try to understand them. 6. you must start to trade with your own real money. 7. you must face the greed and fear, what comes, when you trade with your real money. 8. you must master the discipline quest. 9. you must train yourself everyday. pschological and strategies backtesting. 10. you must feel good about it. 11. you must understand you are now a constant money making trader. 12. you must make money and safe money. This is hardcore !!! If you start now, doing this fulltime, it will take you easily another 4 years. Thats my way, its the only way. Good luck
Actually, I did not quite say that. I merely stated that the neophyte who does not have access to a successful trader to guide him - which is the case for most retail traders entering this business - will invariably spend a long time going in circles. Personally, I must have read over 100 books the first years and spent most of my time on garbage, but by then I started having a real clear idea of what was authentic and worth spending time studying deeper in order to become successful in trading. I have learned a great deal from traders that I perceive as successful, both from ET and books, but I have never seen their account statements so I am very skeptical of any advice that I receive and I don`t take anything at face value. Actually, I do not believe anything anyone tells me unless I can test it, verify it and understand it for myself. If someone I perceive as successful, calls for a 20-point ES rally by end of the day, it does not matter to me if I personally see a short based on my analysis. That is the place where you need to arrive. You must be willing to be a contrarian and trust only your own analysis and method. The only way you can do that is if you have worked with it for thousands of hours and proved to yourself that you understand what it is you are doing. A mentor can be a great guidance and help the trader cutting corners by steering him in the right direction, but he can`t teach anyone to trade. Every trader needs to find his own way. Now, please be warned, you may get a lot of willing mentors who PM you offering their services. Recognize them for what they are.
Wanabe traders (that would be me) should watch that movie, Tin Cup, paying particular attention to the scene where the soon to be girlfriend arrives to her golfing lesson with a bunch of gadgets that are supposed to help her swing.
Here's all the advice you need. No one can do it for you. Once you grind out 1, 2, and 3 for a year or two (or more), you then get to face the Mount Everest of 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8, at which point if you follow 9 diligently, 10 will follow naturally and lead you to great success.