Information overload

[hagadol]

Imformation Overload

I have spent the last few weeks looking at many books, websites and newspapers, trying to educate myself before getting going with some stock trading.

What are the essential daily newspapers / websites (to update through the day).

I can see that I need to narrow down what I am taking in as there is an information overload out there !

 

[TBS]

Hi hagadol,

Before you even consider finding the epic code for a stock have you formulated your trading strategy?

Do you know what products? what time frame? entry criteria? exit criteria? how much you are willing to lose per trade? howmuch physical time you have to give to trading?

Would you class yourself as FA, TA, Value, Swing, Intraday, Scalper, EOD?

 

[hagadol]

I have not got to the point of working out what sort of trader I am yet, I am sure that will take my weeks of research and education.

I think I could spead this process up if I streamlined the information I was following (newspapers and web sites).

I assume the FT is the first paper to read, though what couple of websites are the best to see updated news, through the day ?

I have been favouring Yahoo Finance and reuters websites.

 

[bonsai]

I have not got to the point of working out what sort of trader I am

To know what sort of trader you are, you need to know your own personality. You may think you are trading the Markets, but you are actually trading your own personality.

"If you don't know who you are, the Stockmarket is an expensive place to learn."

It may well be worth working on this before anything else,imo

 

[DaveGos]

Hagadol

With 20/20 hindsight the one thing I wish I'd thoroughly understood before I risked a cent in a trade was risk.

The main elements that impact upon risk are:

The Risk to Reward ratio i.e the amount that is at risk if the trade goes against you against the target profit. This ratio should be no less than 1:2.

The amount of capital at risk from the trade, As a day trader I would not risk more than 0.5% but for longer term trading this would need to be larger, the figure most commonly quoted is no more than 2%

The percentage of winners any system you use delivers, and provided the Risk to Reward ratio and capital at risk are correct then you can profitably trade with a system that delivers more losses than winners.

Trust me on this, understand risk, I wish I had earlier it would have saved me thousands

 

[TBS]

I have not got to the point of working out what sort of trader I am yet, I am sure that will take my weeks of research and education.

Yes, probably.

I think I could spead this process up if I streamlined the information I was following (newspapers and web sites).

No, you need to forget about financial information for the moment, it isn't going to help you at this stage

I assume the FT is the first paper to read, though what couple of websites are the best to see updated news, through the day ?

I have been favouring Yahoo Finance and reuters websites.

Personally I think the FT is the worst finacial nespaper in the world - but then thats me!

Start with the absolute basic question - How much time can you devote to physically trading, and what time/times of the day is that. Remember to take off things like work, time with the family, hobbies, rest & relaxation etc.....

Thsi will at least give you some idea of what markets and time frames are available to you.

 

[Nephin]

DaveGos,

ref Risk/Reward ratio - forgive a basic question but......

How do you know where your target profit will be - this always confuses me??

Thanks

Neph

 

[DaveGos]

Nephin

I can only really comment from an intraday perspective where generally speaking you use the nearest Support or Resistance as the target.
Recently, following the posts by Gray1, I have been using VWAP as a target following a buy or short utilising his VWAP trading strategy.

 

[Dow Dog]

I can see that I need to narrow down what I am taking in as there is an information overload out there !

Simply select 2 or 3 ( at most ) daily reports which are of good quality and easy to read for you. You shouldn't need to spend more than 15 minutes each day updating yourself.

I just skip read the financial reports and pick up what I need ( or want ) to know in a matter of seconds. Most of it is irrelevant anyway.

 

[CityTrader]

Re: Imformation Overload

What are the essential daily newspapers / websites (to update through the day).

The FT should be required reading every morning. And ( believe it or not) possibly the best market report is in The Guardian. The Daily Mail is also quite widely read for it's market report.

 

[TraderPattern]

I have not got to the point of working out what sort of trader I am yet, I am sure that will take my weeks of research and education.

Don't be disturbed if it actually takes you months or years to discover what kind of trader you are. Discovering what kind of trader you are is as close as most people will get to discovering WHO they are.

 

[spreadbet]

Information Overload

Hi

Sounds to me as though you need to bring a structure into your learning. I am assuming you know little or nothing about technical analysis. It might be a good idea to start with this subject. Why not take a look at The Society of Technical Analysts (STA) website.

http://www.sta-uk.org/

You may wish to join and embark upon a career in TA. If you don't wish to join you could follow their syllabus as it is listed on the site.

Hope this helps a little.

Cheers

spreadbet

 

[hagadol]

Thanks for the info.

What about web sites to follow thorugh the day ?

 

[spreadbet]

Try Yahoo, it's very basic you can however undertake a limited amount of TA. First you must acquire the knowledge. Purchase a copy of Technical Analysis of the Futures Markets by Murphy. It's a book which will put in place a solid foundation for you to build upon

Cheers

spreadbet

 

[Dow Dog]

Discovering what kind of trader you are is as close as most people will get to discovering WHO they are.

Spot on

 

[bottomdollar]

Hi Hagadol
I know what you mean about information overload.. there are so many ways of trading.. I spent a year researching (and testing on the live market) and read/researched to buggery until my brain almost melted and dripped through my nose.
Anyway, every morning I look at finance.yahoo.co.uk to see what's happening with the UK market.. look at the news before open.. what is the sentiment etc. Look at the FTSE, what has it been doing.. which sectors are doing what etc. Then come afternoon (if I have time cos I'm working a 9 to 5 job), I'll look at CBSMarketwatch.com to see what's happening with the US market.. get a feel of what could be happening.
That's the news bit.. I also have some core stocks which I look at primarily on the UK market and see what they are doing.. and for these I'll initiate a positional trade if I see a signal.
However, positional trading isn't as exciting as intraday on the DOW so I'll try that too and see how I do..
And that's me!