To be able to do trading for a living is a dream of countless part-time traders. One only has to look at the numerous seminars, training sessions and trading bush camps these traders attend to understand how intensely they want to do this. The lifestyle of a full-time trader looks so perfect: you never have to leave your desk, never have to face an angry boss. You can take leave whenever you want. You determine your own salary.
It doesn't have to stay a dream forever. There are a couple of things you need to keep in mind before you will ever be a successful full-time trader though.
The very first thing you have to understand right from the start is that you will not be trading against other traders. Neither will you be trading against the market. You will be trading against yourself Your own strengths and weaknesses will go with you into trading and determine whether you are successful or not.
What exactly does that mean? It means that you can study all the rules, you can intellectually know the right thing to do in every possible set of circumstances. But if you have a tendency to hang on to losing trades in the hope that they will turn around, you will lose money time and again.
The same is true if you do not develop the discipline to let a winning trade ride - to allow it to reach its full potential and make some serious money. Selling winning trades the moment they have made a little money and staying in losing trades forever are the two major causes of failure for newbie traders.
You second important step will be to decide what type of trader you want to be. A day trader, a swing trader or a longer term trader. Day-trading is extremely alluring. You can start with little money, and you can sometimes make a lot of profit in one day. Statistically it is however much more difficult to predict the market movement for a share or a currency during the next 8 hours than to predict it for the next year.
You also need to make a decision about the market instruments you want to trade in: currencies, shares or commodities. Each one of the above require a slightly different approach and different skills and tools. Share trading necessitates that you get familiar with the companies involved. Study their financial statements and their competitors. With commodity trading and currency trading you need to get familiar with the factors that influence the prices of that commodity or currency.
Of course you will also need the right set of tools. The first and most important tool is yourself. Be prepared to spend some money in getting yourself equipped to do the job. You have to be able to read financial statements and interpret charts. You have to know what technical indicators are and how to use them to try and predict market movements.
You also need to sign up with a service that can provide you with the latest market prices for the instruments you have decided to trade in. You get free services that supply delayed prices - that is fine if you do swing trading, but if you are doing day trading you absolutely need live prices.
Trading for a living is a noble dream. To make it more than a dream, you need to be able to control your own trading weaknesses and you need the proper tools. You also need a lot of determination and just a little bit of luck... - 31876
It doesn't have to stay a dream forever. There are a couple of things you need to keep in mind before you will ever be a successful full-time trader though.
The very first thing you have to understand right from the start is that you will not be trading against other traders. Neither will you be trading against the market. You will be trading against yourself Your own strengths and weaknesses will go with you into trading and determine whether you are successful or not.
What exactly does that mean? It means that you can study all the rules, you can intellectually know the right thing to do in every possible set of circumstances. But if you have a tendency to hang on to losing trades in the hope that they will turn around, you will lose money time and again.
The same is true if you do not develop the discipline to let a winning trade ride - to allow it to reach its full potential and make some serious money. Selling winning trades the moment they have made a little money and staying in losing trades forever are the two major causes of failure for newbie traders.
You second important step will be to decide what type of trader you want to be. A day trader, a swing trader or a longer term trader. Day-trading is extremely alluring. You can start with little money, and you can sometimes make a lot of profit in one day. Statistically it is however much more difficult to predict the market movement for a share or a currency during the next 8 hours than to predict it for the next year.
You also need to make a decision about the market instruments you want to trade in: currencies, shares or commodities. Each one of the above require a slightly different approach and different skills and tools. Share trading necessitates that you get familiar with the companies involved. Study their financial statements and their competitors. With commodity trading and currency trading you need to get familiar with the factors that influence the prices of that commodity or currency.
Of course you will also need the right set of tools. The first and most important tool is yourself. Be prepared to spend some money in getting yourself equipped to do the job. You have to be able to read financial statements and interpret charts. You have to know what technical indicators are and how to use them to try and predict market movements.
You also need to sign up with a service that can provide you with the latest market prices for the instruments you have decided to trade in. You get free services that supply delayed prices - that is fine if you do swing trading, but if you are doing day trading you absolutely need live prices.
Trading for a living is a noble dream. To make it more than a dream, you need to be able to control your own trading weaknesses and you need the proper tools. You also need a lot of determination and just a little bit of luck... - 31876
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Tired of scraping by at your day job? Why not get into the stock market and make some real money the smart way... with the guidance of artificial intelligence! More info about trading for a living... Also check the best stock picking software.
