The learning cycle for a newbie trader

[RichardK]

My personal favourite:

Loose a Heap of money

Break Even

Make money.

[mach.25]

Originally Posted by RichardK

My personal favourite:

Loose a Heap of money

Break Even

Make money.

Hi RichardK
Not sure if this is some language problem or whether this was some sarcastic dig.
If it was don't bother to post you waste your time and others.
If it wasn't sorry that I have taken offense it may be some language thing.
Just for the record I came out even on the NASDAQ only because I had to maintain a minimum equity balance because of margin rules. Thank God.

Now I look at things very differently thanx to people like MickMason FXsniper BobNat Simspeed and a host of others.
For the record before I enter a trade I calculate my RR must be 2:1 or no go.
I place stops at logical places like fib retracements previous high or low etc and allow enough room to move tipically 30 pips as I trade on a 15min chart. I also use larger timescales to ensure that I am trading with the longer term trend not against it. For this I use 89SMA and 144SMA on the 4H confirm on the 15min and use the 5min for entry/exit.
I trade breakouts and fib retracements thanx to MickMason on his excellent thread and to all the others who added to it. (Wow opened my eyes and made sense!)
I use 3 lots on my demo account and take 2 out at the 161 fib or at S/R level and let the 3rd ride if possible. I just use a mini only for real and ensure that the signals are as rock solid as possible........
Great Plan? It is when it works and only possible due to helpful informative posts by experienced Traders. It takes a lot of time to write the posts label the charts etc and take the time to reply to questions from people like me.
Thanx again to all who do post charts and take the time critique
Any I have rambled on for long enough. Here is my last win. I will post more of my charts but more likely the losers as I will learn more from the losses than the wins. And I don't have enough to brag about anyway. But I liked this one a lot because it went to plan.
I still do more dumb things than good.
Sorry about the messy chart I will concentrate more next time. It is the first one I have tried.
Good Trading.

[T4fast]

Originally Posted by correl

20 GOLDEN RULES FOR TRADERS

I stopped at # 1 ,
and .

the chart already knows (e.g. bollinger bands contract), but news will tell which direction, and the chart wont let u to catch the monkey from its tail !

[thesupereader]

SimSpead touched an other aspect of trading, you have to have a close reign on your emotions and feelings. A trader who gets upset because he lost a trade and tries to "get even" is asking for trouble. Also trading when one feels down or any disconfort. I am not here to advertise or advocate, but the best book on the subject is: The Disciplined Trader: Developing Winning Attitudes by Mark Douglas.

I hope it helps guys.

[bobnat]

Mach,

You're right, it does take a lot of time and effort to post charts and explain what we do. That's why it isn't done a lot...the returns don't really match the effort. It's really heartening, and satisfying as a teacher, to see someone actually put it into practice. Keep up the good work.

Nat

[mikejody]

Hello new friends,

I enjoyed this reading. I am in stage 1. Barely. I can hardly crawl. So, how do I go from beginning crawler stage to running? Does it just take time to grow, or can I somehow bypass all the pain of thinking I have the right system, only to lose pip after pip on it, then switch to another and do the same thing?

Any advice for a newbie?

(P.S. the good thing about being so young, is that I still have ears to hear and don't think I know it all--yet!

[insomnec]

Hi Mikejody,

Didn't the parents say to the kids: "Better leave home WHILE you STILL know EVERYTHING"?

But jokes aside, its a well known mistake to switch systems if they don't work out straight away...



"Trading is all about probabilities"

[CaptNemo]

Try the simulator at www.tradingsimulatorsoftware.com. I cam across it while brousing the SW forum. Pretty neat. I guess at $10 per FX symbol, tick data it self is worth it.