5 Steps to Becoming a Consistently Profitable Trader
PHASE 1: “INNOCENT AND INNOCENT” This is the first step when you get into trading. You know trading is a good way to make money, because you have heard a lot about it and about millionaires… Unfortunately, just like when you first started driving, you think it is easy – after all, you realize how hard it is… Markets go up and down… what is the secret – find out! Unfortunately, just like when you first got behind the wheel, you quickly realize that you have no skill at all. You trade too much and risk too much. When you open a position and it goes against you, you jump out and open another position opposite, and it goes against you… and so on and so forth… You may have some initial success, which is actually quite bad because it tells your subconscious “oh, trading is easy” and you start risking more. You want to make back what you lost and start “doubling” every time you trade. Sometimes you win, but more often than not you are bruised and hurt, losing big. You forget that you have no trading skills. This phase usually lasts a few weeks, and the market often changes quickly and you are sucked into phase 2.
Resistance. Support. Whether it’s sideways or trending. How volatile it is. Key moving averages. Overbought/oversold zone. Whether it’s under accumulation or distribution.
A successful trader is a very realistic person. He knows his capabilities and limitations. He sees what is happening in the market and knows how to deal with it appropriately. He analyzes the market carefully, sees himself correctly, and makes a feasible plan. A professional trader will avoid being influenced by illusions.
Stock speculation is clearly the most exciting game in the world. But it is not for the stupid, the lazy, the emotionally unbalanced, the intolerant of great pressure, nor for those who want to get rich quick. These people will die of poverty. Jesse Livermore.
90% of trading problems can be solved by getting more disciplined about taking only great risk/reward ratio trades and staying calm throughout the process.