TOTW If you could go back in time, what trading advice would you give yourself?

[malaguti]

Don’t go buying any “proprietary” indicators
Don’t pay for any courses
Don’t listen to anybody be that free or paid for advice, they don’t know anything more than you
Concentrate on longer term frames until you have that sussed.
Don’t look at Elliott Waves, they are all wrong
Don’t let anybody manage your money or make trades for you
Don’t buy a canned system,
Don’t use specialised software
Stay away from anybody who states the words “for traders, by traders”
You don’t need to scan for loads of opportunities, you just need one opportunity
Concentrate on one market but diversify. You can use different sectors

Do, look at non-time based charts as soon as possible
Shop around brokers, once bitten run a mile and don’t go back
Make as many notes as possible. Keep a journal.
Keep a log of all your trades, all your analysis. It’s a learning process
Backtest as much as possible, then forward test and then trade on demo. The markets aren’t going anywhere.
Learn to define the trend without indicators
There is no such thing as overbought or oversold
Once you have a winning system, keep with it and don’t tell anyone

 

[Mr. Charts]

Spend less time on t2w

 

[Mr. Charts]

Only kidding, Sharky

 

[Trader333]

Don’t listen to anybody be that free or paid for advice, they don’t know anything more than you

Based on this sentence does that mean we should ignore the advice given in it then ?

 

[darktone]

What!, you guys are nuts!
Id see myself at christmas 94. Id hand him the case and tell him hes to open an account with CMC. First trading day in 95 hes to call the dealing desk and tell the motherf.... Nice man on the phone "Long, all of it, Nas100, no stop, limit 4700". Id show him the gun, then leave. :cheesy:

 

[Daniel Lummis]

Id tell myself to stay away from the one to ten minute time frame patterns. Only use them to gain a better entry.. Not much below the hourly really gives reliable signals

 

[alexlab]

I would say to myself :
Trade demo for a while
Have a plan follow the plan
Don't overtrade, get away from the computer after a big loss
Don't try to trade 20181 differents pairs,commodites and indices
Candlesticks on mt4 often suck, make sure the candle you see is the same for those with a better platform
Make it simple

Thanks to those who are trading profitably to share their mind on forums
regards,

alex

 

[Marmany]

Advice

Like so many things in life e.g:
Skiing you need to lean into the valley rather than into the mountain
Golf the harder you try to hit the ball the worse the outcome - a smooth controlled swing is the answer.

Key elements of trading are contrary to human nature.
People always focus on profits but control of losses is far more important in ensuring long term success.
Take a statistically valid number of data points, ie at least 100, and none of the myriad of published indicators has better than 51% success rate in predicting the direction in which the next bar on the chart will print. However it is possible to use them to determine with great accuracy, in the time frame under analysis, what the market is doing at the close of the current chart bar( trending up, down, reversing or consolidating) . If this is contrary to to the requirement needed for your trade to be profitable close it.

 

[VielGeld]

"Tuition's going to be expensive, but you deserve it because you won't learn otherwise. Ain't nothing I can do about that."

 

[TwinToWin]

Advice to self:
Trade as small as you can until you show reliable results
If you want this to give an real alternative income then do the donkey work and read up now while you have time. Family will reduce all spare time but for good reason!
Connect to a trader network (t2w) it will highlight how little you think you know.

 

[dr.blix]

If you aren't really giving it your full attention then switch off your computer.

 

[Pat Riley]

If you aren't really giving it your full attention then switch off your computer.

Aw, this one caught me straight in the chops. I don't give advice easily cos most of the time me advice is about as useful as anyone else's - i.e. sh!te. But listen mates I do have a genuine one for yas, if you want to give anything your full attention, switch off your computer. And your phone. And the TV. And the radio. Basically, everything electronic - switch it off.

These days, the river of information runs broader and wider, but not so deep. That's the problem. Nobody stops to think, quietly, any more.

 

[RStu]

Do not waste my time on the extensive study of Technical Analysis and the implementation of any indicators for trading any instrument, currency or asset class. Realize early on that directional trading and predictions of direction are a 50/50 proposition.

 

[Sigma-D]

I'd tell myself not to waste my time and money. That I will never get rich or even breakeven as a retail trader. That if I really want to trade, find out what it is about it that I find so attractive. If it's the lure of easy money and a relaxed lifestyle - ask myself, just how likely is that as it is an extremely rare combination. If I'm drawn to the coloured squiggles and charts then find a paid job that involves coloured squiggles and charts. If it's the concept of being involved in global commerce then re-train in a field which will provide me an outside chance at least of entry into a professional trading environment. If it's the thrill of a punt and the ego gratification of the occasional win then bet on the horses. Their form is a lot more regular than any financial assets and it's own slightly less rigged than the financial markets. There's no spread and with in-play betting, you probably have a far greater chance of hedging your exposure than in any financial market.

I know I'm not alone as I am a member of the set of retail traders who expend hours and hours of effort without any glimmer of finding a way that works consistently. I appreciate there is within that set a wide spectrum of intelligence, experience and capitalisation levels and the majority purely statistically are never going to make it in any endeavour. But there are, also equally probabilistically, a small number who could, who have the wherewithal but never make the connection.

It's a fools paradise and if you've any sense Sigma-D, you'd look elsewhere for your edge in life - if you actually have one. But even giving myself that advice right now, I know I'm not going to take it. What is the source of the blinding stupidity that drives us on when it's as clear as day to all around us, and even to ourselves in our rare moments of real honesty.

 

[postman]

1. Go for it, you will never be happy working to make someone else richer.

2. Take your time.

3. Here is all the maths you need to understand.

 

[postman]

Sorry

4. You snooze, you lose.

 

[aag100]

CUT LOSSES EARLY!
still a difficult thing to do but i certainly dont let them run into the hundreds any more.
you constantly read/hear the professionals say this but as a newbie you cant appreciate it.you think if i cut a loss at 20 points,then another at 20,and then another.....
what you dont realise is that you shouldnt have been in those trades in the first place.

 

[Pat Riley]

3. Here is all the maths you need to understand.

\I've yet to see a reasonable equivalent for this compounding formula for losers.

To paint a more likely picture, by the time you get to half your original capital, what do you need to do to make 1:2? And what do you get from this? Half what you wold have got with your original stake. What about 1/10th of your original capital? Yeah, a 1:2 gives you 1/5th your original risk as profit. You have to make twice as and and 5 times as many winning trades respectively to get back to where you started. You're not going to do it, are ya?

 

[Pat Riley]

Right. I've got an early meeting then off ta the airport for HK where I hope to be able to convince the good people of HK that democracy isn't that more democratic than they've already got. Bit silly fightin for somethin you've already got. And they'll only end up pissin off Xi. Ya don't want to be doin that now.

As an exit brief, NY is in fine form and we're not taking a massive course change just yet. Me ambassador has been a jewel and I'm sorry to be sayin goodbye to her. Can't say I've seem more of NY than before, but I've certainly seen more of her than I thought I would. And that's a grand thing.

Bless the good people of the US.

 

[kimo'sabby]

This week's TOTW poses the question, 'If you could go back in time, what trading advice would you give yourself?'

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