Mike,
Your thoughtful post begs for a more detailed and lengthy response than I can provide tonight. First, I should direct you to Richard St's excellent reply (#1309) which I agree with wholeheartedly. Pristine [no affiliation, except they've become highly respected professional acquaintances] is IMO the best place in the nation to study stock trading. Greg, Oliver, and Dan are a class act, "the real deal" -- they are focused on earnestly helping and teaching their students (I was one of them, including 1:1 training 5 years back). "Pristine Lite" is a steal at $20/month. Also I'd encourage you to study Jeff Cooper's book, Larry Williams, and many of the other classics mentioned on thread (e.g. there is quite a collection of good books listed, just between pristine.com and intelligentspeculator.com).
I tend to agree that it's best to start with some position-trading experience, of course the problem there is that can be disastrous to the equity curve. So, many choose to start with daytrading or scalping, which in theory at least allows you to tightly control risk (more true after you gain experience, than at the start).
I suppose you think I'm going to tell you that there is no "short cut", no "easy way". To some degree that's true, but as a fellow engineer and pragmatic businessperson, I don't really sense that's what you're after. Rather, what you want is to determine the optimum learning curve to go down, to avoid wasting your time, to avoid spending time in too many dark alleys. That is a good idea which I can relate to, because there are a lot of them in this business! If you take a look at my Bio over on tigerinvestor.com, you can get a sense of the number of false starts and unproductive paths I've endured. That is because by nature, I felt compelled to try virtually every trading style, every market, every indicator, every trading system, every seminar, software package, etc. However, there is an easier/better/more efficient way to learn. My way was the way I "had" to learn, and it worked for me. But, it is NOT the optimum (most efficient) way to learn!
If you can zero in on a trading style that you want to master - and not deviate from that while you learn - e.g. (I would recommend this one) daytrading stocks intraday (no overnights; 5 second to 30 minute holds) - that will simplify your learning curve substantially. Say, leave multi-day swing trading to later, and learn how to daytrade first: save two years. Skip position trading? Save one year. Skip lightning-quick scalp trading? Save six months. You get the idea - focus on one style that fits you, and you can get there quicker. I'm not really recommending that you should start with daytrading; you have to pick what really fits your personality, which can be tough to figure out without substantial "seasoning". If you're short on time, maybe swing-trading or position-trading would be best. This is something to give a lot of thought to.
Once you've identified your style (which can be harder than it sounds), then you want to focus on learning from the best teachers. That's what I did, otherwise you'll have to figure it all out by yourself, which could take as long as an entire lifetime (with no guarantees of success). It depends on your natural abilities, aptitudes, and inclinations.
But any way you go, you have to be prepared for quite a learning curve. Some traders become pretty good after a few months, others (like me) struggle for years before hitting stride. If you are one of the lucky ones and it comes easier to you, if probably means you are pragmatic, don't over-analyze, and are decisive, acting readily "in the moment" on rules and logic learned from others - not of your own invention, or necessarily agreeing with your "gut". Very few of us are lucky enough to arrive in that mode right as we enter this very difficult business of trading!
Anyway not to discourage you, the learning curve to profitability in straight day-trading with Level II can be as short as 2 months for some fortunate individuals. Don't make it more complicated than it needs to be. Paper trade, and trade SMALL at first. Watch your equity curve. And realize, this is NOT a road to quick money and easy riches - it is really a new career. As ISpec says, it's just like any other job, except you pay to come to this one ;)
Good trading, -Steve |
