New kid on the block :)

[NoviceTOP]

Hi Guys,

Complete newbie here! (Hence the user name)

Bit of background I am 24 years old, left school at 16 with no qualifications went back to Dublin now back in the UK running the UK office of a tech start up. Have experimented with a few other investment options – I have a few BTL houses back in Ireland.

I am determined to start trading, I know this is a very long journey but it is one I am going into and I am totally prepared to put the hours/ hard work in to achieve my aims. I intend to start by trading in the morning/evenings as I work currently 9-5.

My question is could anyone suggest what I should look to consider trading? Stocks, Futures or Forex etc? Which one would most suit my situation?
Once I have identified what would best suit me to trade I plan to dedicate the coming months researching all the options?

Apologies if this has come across as a “Career advice” post but we are started some where

Any replies or constructive criticism will be incredibly appreciated!
Thanks,

TOP

 

[Mat_Corp]

Hi Guys,

Complete newbie here! (Hence the user name)

Bit of background I am 24 years old, left school at 16 with no qualifications went back to Dublin now back in the UK running the UK office of a tech start up. Have experimented with a few other investment options – I have a few BTL houses back in Ireland.

I am determined to start trading, I know this is a very long journey but it is one I am going into and I am totally prepared to put the hours/ hard work in to achieve my aims. I intend to start by trading in the morning/evenings as I work currently 9-5.

My question is could anyone suggest what I should look to consider trading? Stocks, Futures or Forex etc? Which one would most suit my situation?
Once I have identified what would best suit me to trade I plan to dedicate the coming months researching all the options?

Apologies if this has come across as a “Career advice” post but we are started some where

Any replies or constructive criticism will be incredibly appreciated!
Thanks,

TOP

Hello Hence,

Welcome to Forex world.
So first what I would advise to you, type in google "babypips" start from there.
After that trade in demo account, and when you will feel yourself ready - begin to trade real account.

Good luck

 

[timsk]

Any replies or constructive criticism will be incredibly appreciated!

Hi TOP,
Welcome to T2W,

I don't doubt that the advice offered by Mat_Corp above is written with the best of intentions. However, it's poor advice IMO. This isn't 'forex world' - it's T2W! There is an automatic assumption these days that all newbies will trade forex. Very sensibly, you haven't made that huge decision yet. Quite right too. There is really no point in going to sites like BabyPips unless and until you've decided that the forex market is the right one for you. Even then, be aware that BabyPips is heavily biased in favour of all things forex without spelling out its many disadvantages.

The novice trader wanting to learn from scratch will get a far better grounding in the topic of trading here on T2W than they will on BabyPips - or most other sites come to that. Start by checking out the links to the Stickies and FAQs contained in the welcome e-mail you received when you joined. If you no longer have it, click on the second link in my signature. Regarding your specific question about which market to trade, check out this FAQ; Which Should I trade - Stocks, Futures or Forex etc.?
Tim.

 

[NoviceTOP]

Thanks for the replies guys, out of interest why is it assumed that beginners trade forex to start with?

At present I would only be trading in the evenings (maybe mornings) does that rule Stocks out?

 

[timsk]

Hi TOP,

. . .out of interest why is it assumed that beginners trade forex to start with?

Because the forex industry has done a great job in convincing novices that it's the easiest market to trade and that fortunes can be made for 'working' just ten minutes a day. If that were true, why would anyone even consider trading any other market. Needless to say, it's utter bollox!

At present I would only be trading in the evenings (maybe mornings) does that rule Stocks out?

It depends on the type of trader you are - or want to become - i.e. day trader, swing trader or position trader. If you propose to swing trade using end of day data, then you can do your market analysis in the evenings and set pending orders to activate (or not) when the markets open the following day. There are many advantages to doing this, most importantly it forces you to think long and hard about where - and why - you want to enter and exit your trades. You are less likely to trade irrationally and emotively on the spur of the moment.

If you want to day trade, then this will be tricky to do with U.K. equities unless you can trade in the mornings. You could trade U.S. equities because the time difference means that the NYSE and Nasdaq are open until 9.00pm U.K. time. The last two hours (7.00 - 9.00pm) are good to day trade.

Once you know the type of trading you want to do and the market you want to trade, you then need to consider the most appropriate financial vehicle. That means will you trade actual shares (if you opt to trade equities) or a derivative product such as spread betting or CFDs? That's a rhetorical question for now - first decide on the amount of time you want to devote to trading, as that will largely dictate the type of trader you will be.
Tim.

 

[Anon1]

Hi NoviceTOP,

firstly @ Timsk - 10 minutes a day working on Forex is way too long. You can do a 5 minute course now and be up and running with no more than 2 minutes a day. Only 89 copies left though so get in fast.

@ Mr Top,

Your background sounds very similar to mine. I have only ever specialised in property and the financial markets. Due to my time constraints at the beginning of my working life I started out investing in company shares buying and selling on a weekly basis. This was difficult at the time (although I didn't now at the time if that makes sense) as I only had either the FT newspaper with yesterdays close prices or up to date (15 minute delay) teletext. Now we have the ability to trade with our phones so can be kept up to date (its never been so easy to trade). If you are looking at a low risk strategy then a few percentage points lost or gained on equities is a potentially good starting point for you, more so on blue chip stock. Especially if you are looking for depressed prices.

Regards,
Anon

 

[AllDayHolds]

If you are still not sure what market to be trading, that usually means you have not done enough research. Take the extra time when you are not working to find out what market you like and most important, what makes the most sense to you. Don't feel forced into a type of trading that isn't conducive to your personality. That's just a recipe for disaster. When you find the market that looks the most attractive, then dive into it more and find out the strategy or strategies that make sense and show potential. From there, then worry about the time constraints.

 

[NoviceTOP]

Thanks for all the opinions guys, I think the take home message from this is get reading and learn!

Back to the drawing board for me, I have ten days off coming up so I'll knuckle down and get learning. Thanks again.

 

[arigoldman]

Hi and welcome, don't stop learning.