Hey, Checkout I believe proper education is the main reason people succeed in this industry. So yeah sorry upfront, this thread might get a bit long, but I promise I’ll cover some good angles and give you a full roadmap if you’re a beginner wanting to get into the game. 1 (pick your major) First, you can’t do anything serious without setting a goal. So you’ll start by skimming through this book to figure out what you want (stocks, forex, derivatives, bonds, whatever). Here’s the name: The Economist Guide To Financial Markets 7th Edition Think of it like a high school student picking a major to shape their future path. 2 (what is the market ?) Alright beast, you picked your goal? Cool. Now it’s time to understand how markets actually work. And by that I mean learning what’s happening behind the scenes. For this, you’ll use books called market microstructure. These books explain the types of orders, the players in the market, why they participate, who the brokers are, the types of brokers, why they provide these services, what exchanges are, how they operate, and the key pillars behind any exchange. Now yeah, most of these books are pretty old but that doesn’t mean they’re useless. Markets always have core principles that don’t change. So you’ll learn those solid foundations from the books. For the stuff that’s outdated, that’s where AI comes in — just ask it anything, big or small, and you’ll get the latest answers to help you stay up to date. The book you need is: TRADING AND EXCHANGES: MARKET MICROSTRUCTURE FOR PRACTITIONERS And the AI tools I personally recommend from experience are: ChatGPT Perplexity Imarena AI Once you’ve got the foundations down, you’re ready to learn analysis methods. You’ve basically picked your major (your chosen market) and learned the basics of how it works, so now it’s time to explore types of analysis. 3 (technical analysis) There are tons of types, but the ones most retail traders use are either technical analysis or fundamental analysis. Let’s start with technical analysis. Here’s what you’ll do: go to the International Federation of Technical Analysts (IFTA) website. Look up the program called Certified Financial Technician (CFTe). You don’t need to enroll, just check out the curriculum. You’ll find a bunch of books listed in the order you should study them. That gives you a ready-made roadmap for learning technical analysis. 4 (fundamental analysis) Alright, done with technical? Want to go fundamental? Cool, let me share my personal magic trick for mastering economic analysis. First, a heads-up: most fundamental analysis books are pure economics college-level stuff, full of heavy math, which is probably not what you want. So I’m giving you a book that explains the basics of economics without heavy equations (if you can add, subtract, multiply, and divide, you’re fine). The book is: Practical Macroeconomics for Non-Economists 1st Edition This will be your foundation, covering the key theories, the different kinds of economic indicators, and major historical economic events. Also, this book is very up-to-date so don’t worry about outdated info (I get your concerns). After learning the fundamentals, you’ll need to know how to read actual economic reports (yeah I mean the full reports, not just the headlines you see on Forex Factory). Just go to : Secrets of Economic Indicators, The: Hidden Clues to Future Economic Trends and Investment Opportunities: Hidden Clues to Future Economic Trends and Investment Opportunities (3rd Edition) This book will teach you how to handle economic reports, especially US reports, but it also touches on European, Chinese, Brazilian, Indian reports, and more. 5 (some notes for you) Before I wrap up, here are a few important notes: 1) The market microstructure book isn’t very up-to-date, so you’ll need to put in extra work using AI to stay current. 2) The economic reports book includes some reports that have been discontinued, so you’ll have to do a bit of Googling as you study to figure out what to skip. 3) Finally, I know this probably isn’t what some of you expect. A lot of people think when they enter trading they’ll be dealing with flashing numbers, constant “ping ping ping” sounds, people shouting loudly, but honestly, that’s not the reality — or at least not for you as an ordinary trader. That vibe only exists if you’re a pro working at an investment firm doing high-frequency trading. As a regular retail trader (some even call you a gambler), the stuff I wrote here is what you’ll actually need. You don’t need anything else (and yeah, as a gambler… ha ha, sorry). 4) One last note — after all this, you can enroll in the CFTe program, and if you’re dedicated and study well, you could even get certified as a financial technician (which honestly I don’t personally believe in, by the way, but hey, some people want the certificate). That could help you kick off a professional career in the field. But remember, as long as you’re making money, you don’t need a fancy paper to hang on the wall. 6 (The end) If you need help with anything I mentioned above, just ask me and I’ll reply in the comments. And don’t worry about the other types of analysis — you’ll learn everything you need if you follow the steps in that thread. Thanks to anyone who made it to the end. I know I talked a lot, so forgive me. I just hope those who truly want to learn can benefit from this thread. Goodbye folks. — Ahmad (alsaadi1ahmad)
You can't help all people. Teaching, motivating, inspiring, guiding is kind of a lost cause. Most human beings are born with a certain fixed, rigid, personality. Strengths and weaknesses, Pros and Cons. Everyone has an ideal path, purpose, destiny here on earth. Know your place in life and excel there. Because that's the only way you're going to survive in this life alsaadi1ahmad
Yeah I know that, but honestly we all started the same way — and I believe some people deserve a little of my time to write a thread that can help them get started. Also, I see so much scam and nonsense every time I open YouTube, Instagram, or any social media. Since I hate falling for that stuff myself, I really don’t want good people like me to fall into it either. So I decided to help — just with one post. And honestly, there’s no harm here. I’m not asking anyone for money or anything in return. Plus, the market moves because of the crowd — the more good traders there are, the more chances the other good traders have to profit (self-fulfilling prophecy, haha). But I respect and appreciate your honest opinion, thanks for sharing it my friend.
no, its not just for hft also for retail traders but the difference is that retail traders are not supposed to go deep into the mathematical models that high frequency traders use like queueing models latency models or markov models they simply dont need them they can just focus on the parts that help them understand the market without all that complex stuff.