Hey guys!
I'm new to the forum and new to trading. Like many others, I asked myself the question how long it takes to become a proficient trader. After reading many threads in this forum I realized I wasn't going to be able to get a solid answer so I decided to take matters in my own hands.
I'm going to attemp to solve the mystery and find out how long it really takes. I'm going to document my journey to become a successful trader. If you're an aspiring trader and would like to follow my journey you can do so at www.opstrader.com
Here's the introduction I posted on my website along with the posts for my first week. If you have any suggestions please reply to this forum or shoot me an email to [email protected]
Thank you and I hope you enjoy it.
INTRODUCTION
Hi! I’m OPS Trader and I’m fixing to embark on a journey to become - hopefully - a successful Options trader. I’m starting this project in hopes that it will help in some way all those aspiring to become full-time traders, part-time traders, or those simply looking to have some fun paper-trading Options. I’m in my early 30’s and I hold a BBA in Management from the University of Texas. I’m lucky enough (or so I’d like to think) to make a steady six-figure income working in the Oil & Gas industry, but I’m always on the look for new ways to make extra money, and while I’m not planning to become a full-time trader, I do hope to become a proficient trader.
I first learned about derivatives in my early 20’s when I took an Investment class at the Austin Community College. While I didn’t care too much about stocks and bonds, I was completely fascinated by options and futures. I believe it is the complexity behind them what makes them so fascinating. Unfortunately, back then I was not prepared to tackle such an intricate subject. It wasn’t until a couple of months ago that I decided to take an introductory class to options and futures offered by the University of Texas. It only covered the basics but it certainly helped me to get a broader perspective of the subject.
As you can see, my experience with derivatives is close to none. I’ve never done any kind of trading and that includes paper-trading. Yet, my ultimate goal is to create a step-by-step guide on how to become a competent options trader. Such guide will only cover the necessary steps to get to that point. To become a proficient trader is going to be up to you. You can teach a person how to fly a plane in a matter of days, but it certainly takes longer than that to do a heroic landing on the Hudson River. That being said, I will document every single book, article, and website that I read; I will record the time spent on doing such things, and I will provide a weekly summary of the concepts and strategies that I learned.
Keep in mind that this will only be a guide for you to use to learn on your own. It will give you an idea of how much time and effort it really takes to become a proficient trader. Hopefully, this guide will positively encourage those willing to learn and discourage those thinking they can learn on the go trading with real money, which they might, but I think that could be a costly endeavor. Nonetheless, I think it’s worth mentioning that I’m not responsible for any losses you might experience after following this guide, but I do hope to be partially responsible for your success. Once again, I will provide weekly updates of my progress so make sure to keep up with my website and follow me on Instagram (opstrader).
Note: While I’m not necessarily a Math guru, I did take some advanced Algebra classes and Introductory Statistics classes while in College, therefore, some of the concepts might be easier for me to understand compared to those with no Mathematical background. You can find free college level courses on these subjects at ocw.mit.edu , www.khanacademy.org and www.edx.org
Week 1
This week I’m going to focus on mastering the basics of Options. I’m going to study the contents in lesson 1, watch the videos several times, and find a way to assess myself to ensure I’m truly making progress towards my goal. I spent about 3 hours finding these resources, so hopefully that’s 3 hours you can better utilize learning the contents rather than searching for them.
In case you didn’t notice, mastering this portion of the guide is my first goal. How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time. If you try to accomplish too much at one time you might get overwhelmed and give up. You need to have short term and long term goals. My ultimate goal is to become a proficient Options trader, but for now, mastering this section is my goal, which in turn it will allow me to make progress toward my long-term goal.
Once I come up with a realistic way to assess my knowledge I will post it here. Like many of you, I have other obligations and I can’t devote entirely to learn about options, which I believe is actually good because is going to give you a more realistic idea of how long it really takes considering that most people needs to make a steady income elsewhere and can only do this on their spare time.
I’m guessing is going to take me between 5-7 days to truly master the basics, but like I mentioned before, I’m going to take time measurements throughout the entire process so I can give you a solid number. For example, 3 hours on Monday, 2 on Tuesday…for a total of 15 hours a week. I hope some of you guys get started at the same time so we can compare our progress and eventually come up with the average time it really takes to become a successful trader.
Good luck everyone!
OPS Trader
Lesson 1 - The Basics
• What are Derivatives?
Start with the following video so you can get an idea of what derivatives are and how they work.
• Hedgers and Speculators
Although I’m going to focus on Options, Futures are also financial derivatives, therefore, some of the videos you’re fixing to see are about futures but most of the concepts in the videos also apply to options.
Go to http://www.cmegroup.com/education/interactive/intro_to_futures/start.htm and click on “Launch Course”
Watch these sections, “What are Futures” and “Who trades Futures”.
• OTC v. Exchanged-Based Markets
Watch these two videos to understand the basic differences between Exchanged-based markets and Over the Counter (OTC). The information is the same for the most part but the videos complement each other.
• Learn the Basics of Options
Read the following brochure from the CME Group http://www.cmegroup.com/education/files/options-on-futures-brochure.pdf
Go through the Options Institute tutorials “Options Overview” and “Introduction to Options Strategies” http://www.cboe.com/LearnCenter/Tutorials.aspx
Now that you’re familiar with the main concepts and the vocabulary, watch this tutorial about derivatives http://www.cmegroup.com/education/interactive/webinars-archived/overview-of-derivatives.html
Along with these online resources, I will be using Fundamentals of Futures and Options Markets by John C. Hull. This week I will be focusing on the following chapters:
Chapter 1 – Introduction
Chapter 4 – Interest Rates
Chapter 9 – Mechanics of Options Markets
I'm new to the forum and new to trading. Like many others, I asked myself the question how long it takes to become a proficient trader. After reading many threads in this forum I realized I wasn't going to be able to get a solid answer so I decided to take matters in my own hands.
I'm going to attemp to solve the mystery and find out how long it really takes. I'm going to document my journey to become a successful trader. If you're an aspiring trader and would like to follow my journey you can do so at www.opstrader.com
Here's the introduction I posted on my website along with the posts for my first week. If you have any suggestions please reply to this forum or shoot me an email to [email protected]
Thank you and I hope you enjoy it.
INTRODUCTION
Hi! I’m OPS Trader and I’m fixing to embark on a journey to become - hopefully - a successful Options trader. I’m starting this project in hopes that it will help in some way all those aspiring to become full-time traders, part-time traders, or those simply looking to have some fun paper-trading Options. I’m in my early 30’s and I hold a BBA in Management from the University of Texas. I’m lucky enough (or so I’d like to think) to make a steady six-figure income working in the Oil & Gas industry, but I’m always on the look for new ways to make extra money, and while I’m not planning to become a full-time trader, I do hope to become a proficient trader.
I first learned about derivatives in my early 20’s when I took an Investment class at the Austin Community College. While I didn’t care too much about stocks and bonds, I was completely fascinated by options and futures. I believe it is the complexity behind them what makes them so fascinating. Unfortunately, back then I was not prepared to tackle such an intricate subject. It wasn’t until a couple of months ago that I decided to take an introductory class to options and futures offered by the University of Texas. It only covered the basics but it certainly helped me to get a broader perspective of the subject.
As you can see, my experience with derivatives is close to none. I’ve never done any kind of trading and that includes paper-trading. Yet, my ultimate goal is to create a step-by-step guide on how to become a competent options trader. Such guide will only cover the necessary steps to get to that point. To become a proficient trader is going to be up to you. You can teach a person how to fly a plane in a matter of days, but it certainly takes longer than that to do a heroic landing on the Hudson River. That being said, I will document every single book, article, and website that I read; I will record the time spent on doing such things, and I will provide a weekly summary of the concepts and strategies that I learned.
Keep in mind that this will only be a guide for you to use to learn on your own. It will give you an idea of how much time and effort it really takes to become a proficient trader. Hopefully, this guide will positively encourage those willing to learn and discourage those thinking they can learn on the go trading with real money, which they might, but I think that could be a costly endeavor. Nonetheless, I think it’s worth mentioning that I’m not responsible for any losses you might experience after following this guide, but I do hope to be partially responsible for your success. Once again, I will provide weekly updates of my progress so make sure to keep up with my website and follow me on Instagram (opstrader).
Note: While I’m not necessarily a Math guru, I did take some advanced Algebra classes and Introductory Statistics classes while in College, therefore, some of the concepts might be easier for me to understand compared to those with no Mathematical background. You can find free college level courses on these subjects at ocw.mit.edu , www.khanacademy.org and www.edx.org
Week 1
This week I’m going to focus on mastering the basics of Options. I’m going to study the contents in lesson 1, watch the videos several times, and find a way to assess myself to ensure I’m truly making progress towards my goal. I spent about 3 hours finding these resources, so hopefully that’s 3 hours you can better utilize learning the contents rather than searching for them.
In case you didn’t notice, mastering this portion of the guide is my first goal. How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time. If you try to accomplish too much at one time you might get overwhelmed and give up. You need to have short term and long term goals. My ultimate goal is to become a proficient Options trader, but for now, mastering this section is my goal, which in turn it will allow me to make progress toward my long-term goal.
Once I come up with a realistic way to assess my knowledge I will post it here. Like many of you, I have other obligations and I can’t devote entirely to learn about options, which I believe is actually good because is going to give you a more realistic idea of how long it really takes considering that most people needs to make a steady income elsewhere and can only do this on their spare time.
I’m guessing is going to take me between 5-7 days to truly master the basics, but like I mentioned before, I’m going to take time measurements throughout the entire process so I can give you a solid number. For example, 3 hours on Monday, 2 on Tuesday…for a total of 15 hours a week. I hope some of you guys get started at the same time so we can compare our progress and eventually come up with the average time it really takes to become a successful trader.
Good luck everyone!
OPS Trader
Lesson 1 - The Basics
• What are Derivatives?
Start with the following video so you can get an idea of what derivatives are and how they work.
• Hedgers and Speculators
Although I’m going to focus on Options, Futures are also financial derivatives, therefore, some of the videos you’re fixing to see are about futures but most of the concepts in the videos also apply to options.
Go to http://www.cmegroup.com/education/interactive/intro_to_futures/start.htm and click on “Launch Course”
Watch these sections, “What are Futures” and “Who trades Futures”.
• OTC v. Exchanged-Based Markets
Watch these two videos to understand the basic differences between Exchanged-based markets and Over the Counter (OTC). The information is the same for the most part but the videos complement each other.
• Learn the Basics of Options
Read the following brochure from the CME Group http://www.cmegroup.com/education/files/options-on-futures-brochure.pdf
Go through the Options Institute tutorials “Options Overview” and “Introduction to Options Strategies” http://www.cboe.com/LearnCenter/Tutorials.aspx
Now that you’re familiar with the main concepts and the vocabulary, watch this tutorial about derivatives http://www.cmegroup.com/education/interactive/webinars-archived/overview-of-derivatives.html
Along with these online resources, I will be using Fundamentals of Futures and Options Markets by John C. Hull. This week I will be focusing on the following chapters:
Chapter 1 – Introduction
Chapter 4 – Interest Rates
Chapter 9 – Mechanics of Options Markets
