Trading and Investing in any financial market is a life skill that anyone can learn. Developing your skills over time in several key areas as well as a determination to succeed, focus, and discipline, anyone can be taught how to trade successfully.
To become a truly successful and consistently profitable trader several key skills are required to master and constantly evolve your trading skillset.
1. Analytical Skill
One skill every trader needs is the ability to analyze data quickly. There is a lot of math involved in trading, but it is represented through charts with indicators and patterns from technical analysis. Consequently, traders need to develop their analytical skills so they can recognize trends and trends in the charts.
Reading trading charts, candlesticks and indicators is only one side of the coin.
2. Research
Traders need to have a healthy thirst for information and a desire to find all the relevant data that impacts the securities they trade. Many traders create calendars of economic releases and set announcements that have measurable effects on the financial markets. By being on top of these information sources, traders can react to new information as the market is still digesting it.
Over-analysis with too much data can also plague a trader new to a market. Finding legitimate and reliable sources of information is key to your analysis and data research capabilities before ever executing a trade.
3. Focus
Focus is a skill and it increases the more traders exercise it. Because there is so much financial information out there, traders need to be able to hone in on the important, actionable data that will affect their trades.
Some traders also focus on the types of securities they trade so they can deepen their understanding of a specific sector, industry or currency to the point where it becomes a competitive advantage against less specialized traders.
Most of the required skills are learned, and with a bit of effort, traders can improve their analytical capacity, research abilities, focus, control and record keeping.
4. Control
Hand in hand with focus controls and, specifically, self-control. A trader needs to be able to control their emotions and stick to a trading plan and strategy. This is especially important in managing risk by using stop losses or taking profits at set points.
Many strategies are designed so the trader loses a little in bad trades and systematically gains more on good trades. When traders start to get emotional about their trades—good or bad—strategy goes out the window.
5. Record Keeping
One of the most important keys to trading is record keeping.
If a trader records the results of his or her trades diligently, then improving is simply a matter of testing and tweaking strategies to find a successful one. It is hard to show real progress if you aren't keeping accurate records.
