Grew up on a farm--thought that trading would be easy. 25 years later, I'm still learning new stuff! Most stuff in the books is junk! You have to make whatever system you are trading your own and learn not to try to predict where the market is going--react to what it is telling you. It is like a ballroom dance and 'you' are not the lead! Good luck!
Started with the books, clarified by asking questions on msg boards. Then picked up a bit from a couple of chatrooms. Then from reading others' strategies on msg boards, and finally some official "training" at a prop. I've learnt quite a lot about trading, except the most important thing - how to make money. Well, that's not entirely true, I did make half decent coin back in '02, but ended up giving more than half back. Then I quit. The thing about trading is that a lot of the things you learn aren't really "true". At least not in the way that things are "true" in, say, physics, where once you've learnt them, the truth doesn't change. What you learn about making money in trading can become obsolete very, very quickly.
I couldn't get hired by anyone but after interviewing with a options trading company from Chicago, I decided I wanted to be a trader of some sort. Somehow got in touch with a prop office in Florida who promised me the world and the best training any where. I graduated, picked up what little I had and moved. I take my series 7 and finally am able to go live, so I go ask my boss for some advice. He puts his hand on my shoulder in a real fatherly way and says, "Trading is really easy, you just buy the strong stocks and short the weak ones." I think to myself, no problem, I can do that. He hooked me up with a sweet (sarcasm)high/low ticker and I easily made $100 my first day trading 100 share lots and then promptly lost money the next 32 trading days. Everytime I asked for help, I got the same reply, buy strong and short weak. Needless to say I didn't last too long there. The other dozen guys I started with were all out of trading within the year. The best thing I learned there was what kind of trader I didn't want to be. I didn't want to accept that losing is part of the game and by watching several people get blown up there, I learned not to hold a losing trade just because its down. Those guys also showed me the difference between profit and loss is patience because none of them had any.
Self taught. Read hundreds of books, tested thousands of things. Found an idea in an old book, it looked very simple and when i tested it over last 60 years data it was very profitable. But I had to be convinced to trade it because it looked so simple and looked like waste of all my education and knowledge so far.
School of hard knocks (although it felt more like the school of torture at times). Anyway the secret to sucesfull trading is learning how to trade size not being right. You only a small consistent edge in this business and you can make a lot of money if you are patient enough.
"It`s funny because it`s true" Homer Simpson Did all the wrong things first and second times around. Did the opposite of everything I did the first two times around the third time and Bingo! i.e adding to losers, trading too big, catching the falling knife or shorting into strength...""shivers"" Before I put a trade on I say to myself. "SW, you cant admit when something is not working are you adding to a loser?" "SW your ego is way to big for your ability, with this trade are you trying to pick a top or bottom?" "SW, is your total exposure on this pos more than 1%? Cause you what happens when you trade to big dumbass." "SW, do you have an exit strategy?" So far it works for me.
I learned in Mountain View, California. http://maps.yahoo.com/maps_result?addr=&csz=Mountain+View,+CA&country=us&new=1&name=&qty=