Thanks for asking and for reminding me! I have been trading for about a year, lost all of my trading capital though foolish plays like Bre-x and tech stocks and short term options.
The lessons I learned is to go to cash at the end of every day and don't chase a stock down! If a position is moving away from you get out! Even if you have to place a market order!
I sleep better knowing that if the market tanks or rallys I will be ready. The market will always provide opportunity.
I bought AMAT at $36 only to watch it drop to $26 in one week, INTC at $95 down to $68, ADPT at $37 to $18, APM, WDC, RDRT, QNTM, ASND. Get the picture? Averaging down is for losers!
Listen to Irby and others, "watch the tape, learn how a stock moves". Fancy RT software won't help much, Dr. Elder says, it actually allows you to lose money quicker! You must learn to crawl before you can walk, before you can run in a race . Buy the best walking/running shoes you can now afford. A goal as a new trader should be not to make big money but to learn the business without losing too much money! Learn to trade well, not make a killing.
I am watching the tape 15 minutes delayed and for free! quote.com Plug in your favorite trading stock, pay attention to the indexes - those are RT and free also! Trin and Tick are equally informative.
IMO, cutting back on your fixed costs is important, when overhead costs climb a trader feels pressure to pays his bills and perhaps take on undue risks, "Just one more quarter point and I'll take profit...." Henry Ford cut back on a couple of bolts and his accountants thought it was no big deal.
Set modest goals, 2% / week is 180% / year. A $20,000 cash account, fully margined, would provide an income of $72k /year. I don't know about you, but where I come that is a decent living.
I am no expert in this business, but I am a professional in how to lose money, now I am an amateur in how not to lose money. <gggg>
I have been self-employeed, part owner in a very successful brewpub, lost it all to circumstances beyond my control. My wife had to support us on 1/4 the salary that she had before we relocated to start the brewpub. I am a loser! So was A. Lincoln. A new trader is better off reading his biography than books on trading!
I bought all of Jeff Cooper's stuff with software indicators and SuperCharts. Does it work? Sure, in trending markets. I recommend just SuperCharts, (not familar with Metastock). Study the indicators that are included by Demark, Larry Williams and Expert Analysis. That's all Cooper does anyway, reading HLOC bars.
Welcome to SI, stick with carefully chosen threads. Few people are succesful traders.
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