Comment by Honest Sarjono on November 12, 2012 at 5:52am

Hi Oasis,

Keep in mind, foreign exchange - trading is how we managing the risk, so.. not managing the profit. 

Till today, there has been no one  the professors of mathematics can determine the formula to build exactly what position (buy or sell), when, where (at what price) and the target.

Facing the market, it seems more difficult than physics formula for determining the strength and range of a nuclear or NASA to the moon, right?

Yesterday, I have put an example how to manage the risk on my trades http://www.forexstreet.net/profiles/blogs/eur-usd-bearish-and-bulli...

Please don't mind our differences, but my point is how to manage the risk by a factor of fundamental, technical and patience.

Regards

 

Comment by ann watson on November 12, 2012 at 10:41am

Hi Oasis,
sam seiden is very good for supplying great foundation information, i would agree with sam that indicators are not necessary and i would go one step further to say that it clouds your judgement. learning to trade is pretty much like learning to speak a foreign language-it is learnt through repetition, study, repetition, observation until you begin to fit the pieces together and you learn to string together sentences-or in trading--understand the twists and turns and have a gd idea where prices are likely to go and why.

Comment by Peter jcp on November 12, 2012 at 7:21pm

Hi Oasis - your question - "how do I become a better trader ? ". Where do we start as the list of positive tips and things not to do etc is a very very long one. Both Honest and Ann have mentioned some good points and I am sure we could all come up with many more

Trading is like your life - its an ongoing up and down experience and the longer you go on normally the wiser and wealthier you become. Forget the fact that 95% or 80% or just 70% fail - lose money and give up  - that's mainly down to 2 reasons - its either not for them - or they just don't fancy all the study and time needed to get to a really good level etc

I spent my first 3 years frustrated  -ie having the highs and the lows of a few bad losses - and it denting my confidence and mindset. I had always been highly competitive both in sport and business - now I had got to learn how to lose.

It took me another year before I decided to try it full time and give it another 2 years to see how I would progress. Coming up to nearly 5 yrs later I have basically improved every 3 months and got to a great level - and have learned how to lose and just get on with it. For example in October I have had over 50 losing trades - but nearly treble in winning trades with at least 80% of my wins being larger than my loses ( best RR over 10).

You might only want to take 10 trades a month - or you might want to take 100+ - that's up to you and the strategy that suits you and works for you.

But please forget a 100% holy grail - try and get a system that is over 70% successful with targets that give you good RR's - ie stops say 10 -25 pips - targets 30 -100 pips if day trading and then learn as much as you can - spend thousand of hrs watching a couple of main pairs  - live - not back testing etcetc. Study advanced money management - get a good mindset - dont get frustrated - learn to be a loser and smile - and then hopefully every week or month count your money - as you can make great money - but don't expect to become a millionaire from a $5 k in one or two years ;-) - allow - 7 to 10 yrs instead ;-)))

Have a good week 

Regards 

Peter

Comment by Oasis on November 12, 2012 at 8:58pm

Thank you Honest Sarjono, Ann and Peter jcp for responding to my question. I have been trading live for about 2 years but am sane enough to trade micro-lots. Thankfully after my initial 6 months or so when I lost money, I am making very small gains now. I have read a couple of books and have succeeded in controlling the urge to have at least one trade open at all times. This was my biggest challenge a year ago - how to control the urge to pull the trigger without due process.

I am now at a stage when I am patient, spend a lot of screen time, look at high time frames, try to determine a trend, study candles etc. before I click (buy/sell). However I am still not confident after taking a trade and all kinds of doubts set it rather quickly if the trade starts to go against me.

I understand that there is no holy grail - a method that will work at all times, but I do believe that we all need to have at least 1 method/setup that we look for. If when that setup occurs a quick review of risk/reward potential/ a quick decision and pull the trigger should occur. Then I must have the discipline to stay with my stoploss (not move it) whatever happens. If there is any merit in my method, like Peter (congratulations for a good October) the amount of winners will be higher than the losing trade amounts.

Sorry if all this is rather confused, but I am sure all successful traders have been here. I am prepared to pay my dues and learn as I go along, just have not found my right answer yet. In due course I hope that I will.

From time to time I would like to post my charts and look for your opinions to help me continue my quest (to become a better trader). Hope that you all will assist.

Regards 

Comment by Ricardo Kempff on November 20, 2012 at 11:52am

All of it move the markets but to become a succesful trader you must see something else that everyone else is not seeing.

Comment by mario fernandes on November 20, 2012 at 12:28pm

it also toke me some time before I could get the ideas organized in my head. we learn economics, financial analysis, statisctics, mathematichs, currencies and world trade, macroeconomics and central bank policies, tecnhical analysis, artificial intelligence,... how to combine all this knowledge to become a better trader?
I think it is important to know what are you looking for, define a project, explore it with the appropriate tools and try to get the desired results.. if you don't then reformulate the project and start again.
If you want to trade intraday forex markets, the more appropriate tools are technical analysis, computer programming, risk management, and some model building tools like statistics or artificial inteligence.
If you want to trade longer term,like 1 year horizon, you would be better if you combine both technical analysis with macroeconomics.

Comment by Brent Carlile on November 21, 2012 at 2:03am

Hello Oasis,

Markets are driven by sentiment about future expectations, primarily concerning fundamental data such as economic growth, inflation and monetary policy. Technical analysis can explain about 10-15% of market activity/volume in my view. Most retail traders use various forms of technical analysis without enough focus on what actually drives markets as you alluded to cleverly. Professionals become experts at using market sentiment from expectations to profit. My view is that even short-term traders should analyze the global macro environment, not just longer term investors. Just ask a bank or fund trader!

Happy Trading,

Brent Carlile

www.professionaltradingeducation.com

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