PitBull said:
How are you trading the US markets, full / part time?
Started off swing trading, in the evenings, some months ago, then dabbled with options. I would guess like most others it's a bit of a journey finding what trading styles and strategies you're comfortable with.
My psychology appears to be more suited to intraday so, as a contractor, I had the luxury of being able to afford to break off work for a few months and try it full time, that's what I'm up to now, trading US.
Expensive 3-day courses with 20 other people are, in my opinion, good for learning the basics but you need a way to take the extra step you just won't get in those sessions. Also, what I learned in the seminars I could have easily gleaned from books, a much cheaper method!
The coaching sessions have improved my knowledge exponentially, it took me quite a while to catch on that the best way (for me) to learn was to sit one-to-one with real traders. Although their primary skills are not in training, you can glean enough to make a significant difference to the way you view and deal with the markets.
A few of weeks on, I'm breaking even which is still frustrating but can look back on even the last week's trading and realise how much I've progressed. Hopefully this week I'll start to see some return on all the investments! If not, my next (and probably final) approach, will be to spend a day with a successful trader, me commentary trading and them pointing out anything that might need correcting in my approach.
If that doesn't work, back to contracting but I really don't fancy having to put on a tie again!
Sorry for the long-winded post but I really do want to emphasise that the emotional bit plays a much larger part than you can imagine, even though everyone tells you when you start. Log your trades, do the analysis afterwards and learn from your mistakes. I've made enough mistakes so I should be a genius soon!
Good luck
DD