At least you're doing things the right way around: saving seed money, gaining emotional maturity and an awareness of the psychological nature of trading. Now you just need your strategy, and experience with real $ on the line. Unfortunately most newbies start with strategy, and forget about the other parts until they blow up. I think you will be one of the relatively few who make it.
Siwash, I think you have a better than average chance of succeeding. You are obviously self-critical which is one of the most under-rated skills in a trader. I'd imagine you will have one of two problems (or both)...let me know if I'm off base. 1. You won't have a system to trade. I'd suggest you just watch one market (I'd recommend the ES or NQ) and try and get a 'feel' for how it trades. See what sticks out and grabs your attention. Nothing really beats the experience of living the markets - reading the tape. 2. You will have a problem executing the trade (either getting in at all or getting out too early when it starts going against you). You seem to dislike taking risks (as evidenced by your holding off on trading a few years back). That is a good thing from a risk control POV but to be a trader you have to sort of ENJOY taking a risk, to be a little bit of a gambler. Finally, I'd recommend not doing the bonds...I find it is one of the most difficult areas...probably just me. Start with something like the YM ES ER2 NQ. If you are holding positions overnight...I'd do the ES due to its liquidity. Have you read Market Wizards...I found it to be very helpful in formulating a trading approach. It's a great way to read about a lot of different ways of trading and finding the one that fits your personality. Hope this helped, good luck!
Some people here poo-poo paper trading (like reading an army manual in your living room vs. being in Iraq), but I think it is an excellent place to start and test your systems. Speaking of which, develop a system first...don't f' around hoping to fall on an awesome system. There are a bunch of well developed systems already out there and some will work for you and others won't. I would open a paper trading acct and try to be as faithful to your system as possible. If you can go a yr on it profitable, then I would step up to a small acct. If your system still is profitable on the small acct after a yr or so. even with the crappy fills and commission costs, then I would just keep growing the account and watch the money flow in as commissions become less of an issue. Good luck.
Paper trading should ALWAYS come first. People without an edge will lose their money, small OR large account. If you cannot make money papertrading, you certainly will not do so with a small account
Hi guys, Out of town on my BlackBerry, just a quick note to say thanks for the encouraging words, I was expecting some of the famous ET Flames. LOL There seems to be some solid advice and I will dig in when I get home! Siwash
Well I've spent the last month researching alot of the old and current threads here and on other forums, boy it sure was a different place 5 or 6 years ago...anyways It seems to me that the type of system that suits my personality best will be a discretionary method using S/R, Pivots and price action..with a longer time frame to start,intraday swing. Market profile has always made sense to me and I have decided to follow that route as well as reading Wycoff to see what he has to offer. So to that end I am studying Dalton's MoM and have ordered his new book as well. I am also considering taking the short course on AMT from Don Jones at Cisco. I've been doing alot of searching for broker platform and data feed. Ninja with Zenfire looks good, I like the analytics and stats that come with ninja I may do Aspen for data, I know ..oldschool!!! I have a few days off in September and have found a couple of good trading plan templates so I will be spending a few days writing a business plan. I appreciate all the feedback from you guys,it's very encouraging Cheers, Siwash
ET is a sandstorm, always blowing stuff in your eyes. I learned a lot from the videos at INO TV back when they were investor flicks and there is lots of great education at the exchange sites typically...... I doubt that any kind of positive thinking can make up for lack of knowledge...... in fact a famous trading psychology coach said that most of the people that need his services don't have an edge!!
While I totally agree I can also see why people put down simulators. I think it all depends on the traders mindset when they start out. If a trader starts out clueless and over confident I can see how a simulator would while helping a little in the clueless department will probly ruin their risk management. The OP though seems to have their head on straight and should absolutely start in a simulator. No reason to lose some of your stake just to find out you have absolutely no edge. I do notice though on boards that pyschology and the business plan has become the new search for the holy grail...An edge and the business plan are both pretty useless without the other.
Thanks for your input,pretty interesting comment above... I don't know if I think of Psych, and a BP as a Holy Grail but it seems like a good place to start. Seems to me the best edge is knowing what not to do...as they say a smart man learns from his mistakes and a wise man learns from the mistakes of others..