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 sand -- they were mine.

They still are!



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

All I can say is that I am also struggling to learn this trading lark and although i would be happy to pay a legit mentor for mentoring, i find they are mostly scams.... better off investing in books and doing it the hard way - i.e reading, studying and 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 and preparing to sign their resignation leters from their day job. take it easy and 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 and 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 and pretending to be a mentor and making loads of money out of people like us is another business. infact all you need is a website and a pretty darn good opinion of yourself and presto - thou art a mentor.

All I can say is that I am also struggling to learn this trading lark and although i would be happy to pay a legit mentor for mentoring, i find they are mostly scams.... better off investing in books and doing it the hard way - i.e reading, studying and 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 and preparing to sign their resignation leters from their day job. take it easy and 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 and 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 and 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 and me.
bye

I think the key is to treat it like a hobby. play the demo over and over and 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 and 'gut feeling'. as a lawyer, i spent 12 years in education and taking courses, but nothing preparred me for the first day i had to stand up in front of a judge!

pk

[MickMason]

Originally Posted by Persiankiwi

courses are great, but nothing beats experience and 'gut feeling'. as a lawyer, i spent 12 years in education and taking courses, but nothing preparred me for the first day i had to stand 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 hand? After, he may have been able to give you some constructive criticism and 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 and 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 and an honest mentor will give his candid 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 and not the few hundred bucks you pay him.

A genuine mentor won't mind you being suspicious and 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 and 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 and not just take it on face value.


Mick

[Persiankiwi]

Originally Posted by MickMason

A genuine mentor won't mind you being suspicious and 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 and 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 and 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 and motives on the faceless internet. I would love to meet people and 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 and have a lasting (positive) effect on their career. but on the net everyone professes to be an expert and you can not sortthe wheat/chaff - analogy. I am bombarded with adverts and emails trying to sell me books, cd's and courses, anything from $50US to £5,000. I would be more than willing to spend this money just to sit beside a city whizz for a day and 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 and high risk. at 14 years old i was making £1,000 plus a month. but then came the crash of '87 and i walked away from the stock exchange with serious losses. I knew the business and had a feel for the market and 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 and 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 and i also have the illness of letting losses run (with considerable prayer), and 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 and just do a quick scalping trade for the hell of it. that usually sets the emotional rollercoaster going and is a great way to ruin an otherwise potentially profitable day.

it is difficult to concentrate on a single system. you see something happening and suddenly you get the urge to jump in. you take the jump and 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 and 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 and 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 and i walked away from the stock exchange with serious losses.

At least you walked and didn't jump! I remember the news around that time, Richard Quest (big smile and 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), and 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 and just do a quick scalping trade for the hell of it. that usually sets the emotional rollercoaster going and is a great way to ruin an otherwise potentially profitable day.

it is difficult to concentrate on a single system. you see something happening and suddenly you get the urge to jump in. you take the jump and 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 and 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-impaired 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 and 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, and some slant the wrong way altogether!

Have fun!

Mick

[pipspicker]

hey mick,

Are you just trading based on fibs? I live in London and 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 and 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 and 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 and 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 and go searching the net for another $50,000 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