Is it necessary to have a mentor?

[Persiankiwi]

Originally Posted by Trader01

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I am one such trader.

Self-educated.

No mentor.

But each book I read the author was granted the permission by tacit consent to be my mentor for the duration.

After scores of books there was only 1 set of footprints in the s -- they were mine.

They still are!



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I have noticed that Forex trading is one business pretending to be a mentor making loads of money out of people like us is another business. infact all you need is a website a pretty darn good opinion of yourself presto - thou art a mentor.

All I can say is that I am also struggling to learn this trading lark although i would be happy to pay a legit mentor for mentoring i find they are mostly scams.... better off investing in books doing it the hard way - i.e reading studying generally falling asleep on the charts.

Although i am yet to make dosh i get the feeling too many people come piling into this thing expecting mountains of cash preparing to sign their resignation leters their day job. take it easy realise thatthis is just another job. albeit a good one if you get it right. but think of all the explaining you will have to do to your partner kids if you blow the family savings on what many may claim is 'gambling'. It may not be gambling per se but it aint far off.......

pk

[benfaid]

Originally Posted by Persiankiwi

I have noticed that Forex trading is one business pretending to be a mentor making loads of money out of people like us is another business. infact all you need is a website a pretty darn good opinion of yourself presto - thou art a mentor.

All I can say is that I am also struggling to learn this trading lark although i would be happy to pay a legit mentor for mentoring i find they are mostly scams.... better off investing in books doing it the hard way - i.e reading studying generally falling asleep on the charts.

Although i am yet to make dosh i get the feeling too many people come piling into this thing expecting mountains of cash preparing to sign their resignation leters their day job. take it easy realise thatthis is just another job. albeit a good one if you get it right. but think of all the explaining you will have to do to your partner kids if you blow the family savings on what many may claim is 'gambling'. It may not be gambling per se but it aint far off.......

pk

Hi
I totaly agree. You have to dig it out your self all thiefs are around ready to fool you me.
bye

[Persiankiwi]

Originally Posted by benfaid

Hi
I totaly agree. You have to dig it out your self all thiefs are around ready to fool you me.
bye

I think the key is to treat it like a hobby. play the demo over over over ad infinitum.....

only enter with real money if you really think you can do it otherwise it will get very depressing.

courses are great but nothing beats experience 'gut feeling'. as a lawyer i spent 12 years in education taking courses but nothing preparred me for the first day i had to st up in front of a judge!

pk

[MickMason]

Originally Posted by Persiankiwi

courses are great but nothing beats experience 'gut feeling'. as a lawyer i spent 12 years in education taking courses but nothing preparred me for the first day i had to st up in front of a judge!

pk

That's a good analogy so would your first appearance have been any easier with a more experienced colleague beside you holding your h? After he may have been able to give you some constructive criticism tips on ways to improve future appearances things you may not have noticed yourself or know how to improve.

To help overcome some of the psychological emotional hurdles of trading like any business there are 'tricks of the trade' a good mentor can be worth their weight in gold I think the secret is finding a good one.

Not everyone is cut out for this game an ht mentor will give his cid opinion of your potential they don't want to waste their time or your money the kudos for a mentor is the success of a student not the few hundred bucks you pay him.

A genuine mentor won't mind you being suspicious asking for real-time proof of his ability in fact he expects it. He needs you to have total faith in what he tells you to do the only way to achieve that is by him gaining your trust.

Of course there are rogues in this business it's up to you to satisfy yourself that the service you're buying is the real deal not just take it on face value.


Mick

[Persiankiwi]

Originally Posted by MickMason

A genuine mentor won't mind you being suspicious asking for real-time proof of his ability in fact he expects it. He needs you to have total faith in what he tells you to do the only way to achieve that is by him gaining your trust.

Of course there are rogues in this business it's up to you to satisfy yourself that the service you're buying is the real deal not just take it on face value.


Mick

Thanks MIck

quite true a mentor can be worth his/her weight in gold etc.... But it is not easy identifying people motives on the faceless internet. I would love to meet people be in a position to weigh them up at face value but that is not possible in these days of super technology. It would be fab if you could work with or for someone who knows the ropes. i can teach a trainee lawyer heaps have a lasting (positive) effect on their career. but on the net everyone professes to be an expert you can not sortthe wheat/chaff - analogy. I am bombarded with adverts emails trying to sell me books cd's courses anything $50US to £5000. I would be more than willing to spend this money just to sit beside a city whizz for a day watch but that wont be happening so lets keep it realistic.

when i was a kid i used to account trade on teh london stock exchange. in those days it was barely legal high risk. at 14 years old i was making £1000 plus a month. but then came the crash of '87 i walked away the stock exchange with serious losses. I knew the business had a feel for the market was considered a real winner at the time. but a very bad experience drove me away - i.e the crash of '87.

Now more mature with the scars of adulthood i am looking to re-enter. but this time on the Forex. So far I am not doing too well but frankly I have not been giving it the attention it needs. Because it's demo trading I have a tendency to take risks that i would not take in real life i also have the illness of letting losses run (with considerable prayer) cutting profits short. Precisely the opposite of what i ought to be doing. Also whilst waiting for the markets to move i tend to get bored just do a quick scalping trade for the hell of it. that usually sets the emotional rollercoaster going is a great way to ruin an otherwise potentially profitable day.

it is difficult to concentrate on a single system. you see something happening suddenly you get the urge to jump in. you take the jump zooom the market reverses.

All the mentors talk about discipline. Wow they really got that one right. It takes immense discipline. sometime when in a trade you dont know whether to turn left or right. while you sit there wishingthe indicators your way the market bottoms out a $50 profit transforms into a $600 loss before you can think straight. When the position is going my way i think 'nice lets see if i can get another $10 or $30. When the position starts going the wrong way i am say $100 down the little devil on my shoulder says 'wait a minute mate it's sure to reverse back in your favour'.

pk

[MickMason]

Originally Posted by Persiankiwi

....but then came the crash of '87 i walked away the stock exchange with serious losses.

At least you walked didn't jump! I remember the news around that time Richard Quest (big smile bigger teeth!) going into vivid detail a bit risque for the Beeb at that time

....i also have the illness of letting losses run (with considerable prayer) cutting profits short. Precisely the opposite of what i ought to be doing. Also whilst waiting for the markets to move i tend to get bored just do a quick scalping trade for the hell of it. that usually sets the emotional rollercoaster going is a great way to ruin an otherwise potentially profitable day.

it is difficult to concentrate on a single system. you see something happening suddenly you get the urge to jump in. you take the jump zooom the market reverses.

I think we've all been there it takes an awful lot of willpower giving up smoking was easier. I think you suddenly reach a stage where the penny drops you scald yourself for being so stupid (not you personally I'm generalising!) that's what happened with me anyway. One day I suddenly realised that I must be seriously learning-imped if I couldn't manage to follow a couple of simple rules. When I say to people 'make more than you lose' they look at me as if I'm stupid but when you think about it logically that's what a lot of new traders don't do they win a few quick pips on the winning trades let the losing trades drive a steamroller through their equity it's not hard to see where that's going to end

It's all a learning curve I guess some curves are steeper than others some slant the wrong way altogether!

Have fun!

Mick

[pipspicker]

hey mick

Are you just trading based on fibs? I live in London I would certainly like to have you as a mentor if you can accomodate me. Cheers.

[Persiankiwi]

Originally Posted by MickMason

When I say to people 'make more than you lose' they look at me as if I'm stupid but when you think about it logically that's what a lot of new traders don't do they win a few quick pips on the winning trades let the losing trades drive a steamroller through their equity


Mick

yes agreed but the problem is identifying when a losing trade is a losing trade (as shakespear said or would have said had he had a pc access to Forex - when is a losing trade not a losing trade?)

you're 5 pips up then suddenly you're 3 pips down the devil says hang in there boy it's gonna reverse you hang in there wait sweat it's 6 pips down you know it's gonna reverse then suddenly you're 20pips down you think ooooh that's too big a loss to take let me hang in a bit longer. Before you know it you obliterate a demo account go searching the net for another $50000 of monopoly money to blow.

It reminds me of what one commentator said about George Best last week - "uncontent with having destroyed his own liver he set upon someone else's!"

pk