вівторок, 9 листопада 2010 р.
Master One Forex Trading Strategy at a Time
Forget everything you have learned up to this point in your trading career, because if you truly want to master a new forex trading strategy you really need to wipe the slate clean of all the confusing indicator and software based trading systems you have likely used thus far. One of the biggest problems that plague traders who are trying to adopt a new approach to the forex market is that they seem to bring a lot of preconceived notions and failed trading concepts with them. If you really want to excel at forex trading and adopt a fresh new trading strategy, you need to focus on one strategy or way of thinking and stop allowing previously failed trading methods to influence your current perspective on the market.
• Train your Brain
Learning to master one trading setup at a time will help you properly train your brain to become more disciplined and objective, two characteristics that you absolutely must possess if you wish to excel at forex trading. The process of truly mastering and “owning” one forex trading setup at a time might take months or even years to accomplish, but your chances of making money are increased dramatically by doing so. After you completely master one trading setup you will know almost instantly whether or not your setup is present, there will still be some discretion involved, but owning and mastering a setup means that you have fine-tuned your sense of discretion when it comes to deciding which trades to take and which ones to pass on. Many traders search long and hard for some “holy-grail” trading system that allows them to avoid having to develop their discretionary trading skills, unfortunately for them, professional trading inherently involves a fine-tuned sense of being able to discern between A, B, and C grade trade setups.
The discipline and objectivity that you will require as a result of learning to master one forex trading strategy at a time should spill over into other areas of your trading such as managing your risk and remaining calm and collected. When your thoughts are scattered on multiple trading strategies and (or) you have little confidence in the strategy you are currently using, you are obviously not going to make very wise trading decisions. Learning to master and “own” one forex trading strategy at a time will solve both of these problems because your focus will not be scattered amongst multiple strategies and you will naturally gain confidence in each setup as you master them one by one. Essentially, our goal in mastering one setup at a time is to reduce variables in our trading, many traders do they exact opposite when starting out by actually increasing variables through analyzing greater and greater amounts of technical and fundamental market data. Yet, the reason most traders lose money is not because they aren’t analyzing enough data, it’s because they over-trade, over-leverage, and analyze TOO MUCH data.
• Learn to Think like your Mentor
Obviously, if you are looking for a new trading strategy or mentor, what you were doing before was not working for you. Thus, it is paramount to your success as a trader that you adopt the same trading philosophies that your new mentor or trading strategy teaches, wash your mind of what you have learned thus far and completely immerse yourself in this new approach to the markets. In regards to what we teach here at learn to trade the market, this means learning to master one price action setup at a time, as this is how I initially found success in the forex market and so it is also what I recommend all my students do. As I have stated previously, after you master one price action setup you can move on to master another, until eventually your forex trading arsenal is fully loaded.
• Specialization is the Universal Key to Making Money
What do most people that make a lot of money in this world have in common? What do Tiger Woods and Bill Gates have common? Or how about George Soros and Venus Williams? At first you might say “nothing” besides the fact that they all make a lot of money. But what is the fundamental reason, behind all else, that these people and others like them make so much money while the rest of the world struggles to get themselves out of bed in the morning? One word; specialization.
People that make a lot of money focus in on one thing that they are passionate about, and they do it over and over and over until they achieve the result they are looking for. Simply put, you cannot really make a lot of money at anything in life if you master nothing. All of the people in the above example have literally “mastered” one thing, sure they had ups and downs along the way, but they did not let that bother them, instead they transmuted this negative energy into motivation and pressed on because they believed in what they were doing. Had they got involved and distracted with numerous other side-projects or interests they simply would not have achieved what they did. In forex trading we need to focus on one price action setup at a time and become a “specialist” in it, get to the point where you find yourself being someone that other traders look to for advice on the setup that you “own”. Become an authority on each price action setup before you move on to the next, there is no sense in doing anything half-ass in this world, and trading price action setups is no different.
• How to Master the Setup
Mastering one price action setup at a time is accomplished through literally making it the only setup you think about or look for when interacting with the market. You essentially live, breath, and sleep this one setup until you feel confident you know every angle and condition it can or should be traded in. Keep a trading journal to record under which market conditions the setup excelled in and which conditions it performed weaker in. Find all the information out on the setup you choose and learn everything you can about it. Once you do this you can begin implementing this knowledge on a demo account, only after you master this one setup on a demo account should you attempt to master it on a live trading account. If you find you are becoming consistently profitable with this one setup on a live trading account and you truly feel like you “own” it, then and only then should you think about adding a new setup to your trading toolbox.
• One Setup does not mean One Variable
In closing, a very important distinction to make here is that one price action setup does not only mean entering a trade when you see a well defined pin bar or other price action setup. By learning to master one “setup”, we mean you learn to master trading that particular setup in a particular market context. For example, you might learn to master the pin bar setup in a trending market and only enter or exit at confluent levels within the trend, this is an example of how a “setup” can mean the actual price action setup itself and the market conditions that it is traded in. So, in order to fully master one price action setup you must learn to master this setup in one particular market condition, perhaps you want to master the fakey setup in range-bound markets, or the inside bar in down-trending markets; the totality of the actual price pattern itself combined with the particular market condition you trade it in is what you must master in order to consider yourself a “master” of one forex trading strategy.
If you would like to find out more about my price action strategies as well as my “mastering one setup at a time” approach to the markets, checkout some of the other cool areas of my site as well as my forex trading course.
• Train your Brain
Learning to master one trading setup at a time will help you properly train your brain to become more disciplined and objective, two characteristics that you absolutely must possess if you wish to excel at forex trading. The process of truly mastering and “owning” one forex trading setup at a time might take months or even years to accomplish, but your chances of making money are increased dramatically by doing so. After you completely master one trading setup you will know almost instantly whether or not your setup is present, there will still be some discretion involved, but owning and mastering a setup means that you have fine-tuned your sense of discretion when it comes to deciding which trades to take and which ones to pass on. Many traders search long and hard for some “holy-grail” trading system that allows them to avoid having to develop their discretionary trading skills, unfortunately for them, professional trading inherently involves a fine-tuned sense of being able to discern between A, B, and C grade trade setups.
The discipline and objectivity that you will require as a result of learning to master one forex trading strategy at a time should spill over into other areas of your trading such as managing your risk and remaining calm and collected. When your thoughts are scattered on multiple trading strategies and (or) you have little confidence in the strategy you are currently using, you are obviously not going to make very wise trading decisions. Learning to master and “own” one forex trading strategy at a time will solve both of these problems because your focus will not be scattered amongst multiple strategies and you will naturally gain confidence in each setup as you master them one by one. Essentially, our goal in mastering one setup at a time is to reduce variables in our trading, many traders do they exact opposite when starting out by actually increasing variables through analyzing greater and greater amounts of technical and fundamental market data. Yet, the reason most traders lose money is not because they aren’t analyzing enough data, it’s because they over-trade, over-leverage, and analyze TOO MUCH data.
• Learn to Think like your Mentor
Obviously, if you are looking for a new trading strategy or mentor, what you were doing before was not working for you. Thus, it is paramount to your success as a trader that you adopt the same trading philosophies that your new mentor or trading strategy teaches, wash your mind of what you have learned thus far and completely immerse yourself in this new approach to the markets. In regards to what we teach here at learn to trade the market, this means learning to master one price action setup at a time, as this is how I initially found success in the forex market and so it is also what I recommend all my students do. As I have stated previously, after you master one price action setup you can move on to master another, until eventually your forex trading arsenal is fully loaded.
• Specialization is the Universal Key to Making Money
What do most people that make a lot of money in this world have in common? What do Tiger Woods and Bill Gates have common? Or how about George Soros and Venus Williams? At first you might say “nothing” besides the fact that they all make a lot of money. But what is the fundamental reason, behind all else, that these people and others like them make so much money while the rest of the world struggles to get themselves out of bed in the morning? One word; specialization.
People that make a lot of money focus in on one thing that they are passionate about, and they do it over and over and over until they achieve the result they are looking for. Simply put, you cannot really make a lot of money at anything in life if you master nothing. All of the people in the above example have literally “mastered” one thing, sure they had ups and downs along the way, but they did not let that bother them, instead they transmuted this negative energy into motivation and pressed on because they believed in what they were doing. Had they got involved and distracted with numerous other side-projects or interests they simply would not have achieved what they did. In forex trading we need to focus on one price action setup at a time and become a “specialist” in it, get to the point where you find yourself being someone that other traders look to for advice on the setup that you “own”. Become an authority on each price action setup before you move on to the next, there is no sense in doing anything half-ass in this world, and trading price action setups is no different.
• How to Master the Setup
Mastering one price action setup at a time is accomplished through literally making it the only setup you think about or look for when interacting with the market. You essentially live, breath, and sleep this one setup until you feel confident you know every angle and condition it can or should be traded in. Keep a trading journal to record under which market conditions the setup excelled in and which conditions it performed weaker in. Find all the information out on the setup you choose and learn everything you can about it. Once you do this you can begin implementing this knowledge on a demo account, only after you master this one setup on a demo account should you attempt to master it on a live trading account. If you find you are becoming consistently profitable with this one setup on a live trading account and you truly feel like you “own” it, then and only then should you think about adding a new setup to your trading toolbox.
• One Setup does not mean One Variable
In closing, a very important distinction to make here is that one price action setup does not only mean entering a trade when you see a well defined pin bar or other price action setup. By learning to master one “setup”, we mean you learn to master trading that particular setup in a particular market context. For example, you might learn to master the pin bar setup in a trending market and only enter or exit at confluent levels within the trend, this is an example of how a “setup” can mean the actual price action setup itself and the market conditions that it is traded in. So, in order to fully master one price action setup you must learn to master this setup in one particular market condition, perhaps you want to master the fakey setup in range-bound markets, or the inside bar in down-trending markets; the totality of the actual price pattern itself combined with the particular market condition you trade it in is what you must master in order to consider yourself a “master” of one forex trading strategy.
If you would like to find out more about my price action strategies as well as my “mastering one setup at a time” approach to the markets, checkout some of the other cool areas of my site as well as my forex trading course.
понеділок, 27 вересня 2010 р.
Day trading
The impact I've noticed in futures is not as much as seems to be the case in stocks, but it's enough that the "free money" from scalping is rapidly diminishing. Even if you can out-trade algos, competition from them reduces your execution edge. There is still the riskier money from trading intraday trends and reversals, but that is a lower quality (although more scalable) income stream.
Bottom line - you no longer have a free income boost per annum from picking off stale orders or sitting 1 tick inside the bid & offer. Now your income is *solely* your directional plays. That makes daytrading riskier and less profitable than it used to be.
Having said that, I'm having a decent year with my daytrading, just not as lucrative as before. There's a clear downward trend in the scalping opportunities out there. If you are an experienced trader with sufficient capital, it's probably now more profitable to focus 100% on speculating and investing. And you just improve each year at that, whereas as a daytrader you can't really get any better after say 3-4 years experience. Overnight stuff is easier to monitor, more interesting, and more scalable.
Given that the typical new daytrader does not have the skills or experience to make directional plays profitably, it will be much harder to enter. It normally takes 6-12 months to get decent at directional intraday trading. In the past, you could earn money for those first 1-2 years via scalping, and then directional punts would move up to become 50-70% of your earnings as you gained experience. Now, new traders faced 1-2 years of bleeding instead of steady profits before they pick it up. Most won't have the $$$ or will to survive that long.
Overall I would not recommend anyone go into daytrading now. Learn to invest or learn to position trade instead, those are immune to competition due to recurring flaws in human nature. Unfortunately for the lone wolf trader, it is virtually impossible to invest or speculate by yourself if you are small fry. Even the best can't do much with 10k, whereas in the past 10k was enough to make 1 mill+ in a few years as a good daytrader. So, you need to get into a trading firm nowadays as a noob IMO. That may be irritating, and more difficult to get into, but ultimately it's a faster learning curve to have mentors and colleagues than to go it solo.
Let's face it, scalping was like floor-trading, a profession with a structural edge that paid way more than the skills required to do it were truly worth. It was a perfect candidate for automation. It's not really "true" trading, more like a profitable video game. Overall I don't think I'll be shedding any tears for its slow demise.
Bottom line - you no longer have a free income boost per annum from picking off stale orders or sitting 1 tick inside the bid & offer. Now your income is *solely* your directional plays. That makes daytrading riskier and less profitable than it used to be.
Having said that, I'm having a decent year with my daytrading, just not as lucrative as before. There's a clear downward trend in the scalping opportunities out there. If you are an experienced trader with sufficient capital, it's probably now more profitable to focus 100% on speculating and investing. And you just improve each year at that, whereas as a daytrader you can't really get any better after say 3-4 years experience. Overnight stuff is easier to monitor, more interesting, and more scalable.
Given that the typical new daytrader does not have the skills or experience to make directional plays profitably, it will be much harder to enter. It normally takes 6-12 months to get decent at directional intraday trading. In the past, you could earn money for those first 1-2 years via scalping, and then directional punts would move up to become 50-70% of your earnings as you gained experience. Now, new traders faced 1-2 years of bleeding instead of steady profits before they pick it up. Most won't have the $$$ or will to survive that long.
Overall I would not recommend anyone go into daytrading now. Learn to invest or learn to position trade instead, those are immune to competition due to recurring flaws in human nature. Unfortunately for the lone wolf trader, it is virtually impossible to invest or speculate by yourself if you are small fry. Even the best can't do much with 10k, whereas in the past 10k was enough to make 1 mill+ in a few years as a good daytrader. So, you need to get into a trading firm nowadays as a noob IMO. That may be irritating, and more difficult to get into, but ultimately it's a faster learning curve to have mentors and colleagues than to go it solo.
Let's face it, scalping was like floor-trading, a profession with a structural edge that paid way more than the skills required to do it were truly worth. It was a perfect candidate for automation. It's not really "true" trading, more like a profitable video game. Overall I don't think I'll be shedding any tears for its slow demise.
TRADER WAY
1. We accumulate information--buying books, going to seminars and researching.
2. We begin to trade with our 'new' knowledge.
3. We consistently 'donate' and then realize we may need more knowledge or information.
4. We accumulate more information.
5. We switch the commodities we are currently following.
6. We go back into the market and trade with our 'updated' knowledge.
7. We get 'beat up' again and begin to lose some of our confidence. Fear starts setting in.
8. We start to listen to 'outside news' & other traders.
9. We go back into the market and continue to donate.
10. We switch commodities again.
11. We search for more information.
12. We go back into the market and continue to donate.
13. We get 'overconfident' & market humbles us.
14. We start to understand that trading success fully is going to take more time and more knowledge then we anticipated.
Most People Will Give up at this Point as they Realize Work is Involved
15. We get serious and start concentrating on learning a 'real' methodology.
16. We trade our methodology with some success, but realize that something is missing.
17. We begin to understand the need for having rules to apply our methodology.
18. We take a sabbatical from trading to develop and research our trading rules.
19. We start trading again, this time with rules and find some success, but overall we still hesitate when it comes time to execute. We start trading again, this time with rules and find some success, but overall we still hesitate when it comes time to execute.
20. We add, subtract and modify rules as we see a need to be more proficient with our rules.
21. We go back into the market and continue to donate.We go back into the market and continue to donate.
22. We start to take responsibility for our trading results as we understand that our success is in us, not the methodology.
23. We continue to trade and become more proficient with our methodology and our rules.
24. As we trade we still have a tendency to violate our rips and our results are still erratic.
25. We know we are close.
26. We go back and research our rules.
27. We build the confidence in our rules and go back into the market and trade.
28. Our trading results are getting better, but we are still hesitating in executing our rules.
29. We now see the importance of following our rules as we see the results of our trades when we don't follow them.
30. We begin to see that our lack of success is within us (a lack of discipline in following the rules because of some kind of fear) and we begin to work on knowing ourselves better.
31. We continue to trade and the market teaches us more and more about ourselves.
32. We master our methodology and trading rules.
33. We begin to consistently make money. We begin to consistently make money.
34. We get a little overconfident and the market humbles us.
35. We continue to learn our lessons.
36. We stop thinking and allow our rules to trade for us (trading becomes boring, but successful) and our trading account continues to grow as we increase our contract size.
37. We are making more money then we ever dreamed to be possible.
38. We go on with our lives and accomplish many of the goals we had always dreamed of
2. We begin to trade with our 'new' knowledge.
3. We consistently 'donate' and then realize we may need more knowledge or information.
4. We accumulate more information.
5. We switch the commodities we are currently following.
6. We go back into the market and trade with our 'updated' knowledge.
7. We get 'beat up' again and begin to lose some of our confidence. Fear starts setting in.
8. We start to listen to 'outside news' & other traders.
9. We go back into the market and continue to donate.
10. We switch commodities again.
11. We search for more information.
12. We go back into the market and continue to donate.
13. We get 'overconfident' & market humbles us.
14. We start to understand that trading success fully is going to take more time and more knowledge then we anticipated.
Most People Will Give up at this Point as they Realize Work is Involved
15. We get serious and start concentrating on learning a 'real' methodology.
16. We trade our methodology with some success, but realize that something is missing.
17. We begin to understand the need for having rules to apply our methodology.
18. We take a sabbatical from trading to develop and research our trading rules.
19. We start trading again, this time with rules and find some success, but overall we still hesitate when it comes time to execute. We start trading again, this time with rules and find some success, but overall we still hesitate when it comes time to execute.
20. We add, subtract and modify rules as we see a need to be more proficient with our rules.
21. We go back into the market and continue to donate.We go back into the market and continue to donate.
22. We start to take responsibility for our trading results as we understand that our success is in us, not the methodology.
23. We continue to trade and become more proficient with our methodology and our rules.
24. As we trade we still have a tendency to violate our rips and our results are still erratic.
25. We know we are close.
26. We go back and research our rules.
27. We build the confidence in our rules and go back into the market and trade.
28. Our trading results are getting better, but we are still hesitating in executing our rules.
29. We now see the importance of following our rules as we see the results of our trades when we don't follow them.
30. We begin to see that our lack of success is within us (a lack of discipline in following the rules because of some kind of fear) and we begin to work on knowing ourselves better.
31. We continue to trade and the market teaches us more and more about ourselves.
32. We master our methodology and trading rules.
33. We begin to consistently make money. We begin to consistently make money.
34. We get a little overconfident and the market humbles us.
35. We continue to learn our lessons.
36. We stop thinking and allow our rules to trade for us (trading becomes boring, but successful) and our trading account continues to grow as we increase our contract size.
37. We are making more money then we ever dreamed to be possible.
38. We go on with our lives and accomplish many of the goals we had always dreamed of
понеділок, 14 червня 2010 р.
середа, 9 червня 2010 р.
Hedge fund blog
I've found a good blog about hedge fund issues.
It is worth to read , while starting your own hedge fund
http://richard-wilson.blogspot.com/
It is worth to read , while starting your own hedge fund
http://richard-wilson.blogspot.com/
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