We read so much about how to trade, the right and wrong way to do it. We judge ourselves based on other people’s perception of what is right. One that gets under my skin is this whole notion that the only really reliable way are the higher timeframes because they produce the most dependable signals. Says who? Newbies get caught in this destructive belief and make a decision on the type of trader they want to be based on what they read. Without first exploring the various possibilities for yourself how can you possibly make an informed decision about your trading style?
Everything that you are doing right now is correct. Everything that you think is wrong with your trading is not true. I am here to tell you that you are already on the path to success! If you are not profitable at this moment then excellent you are learning how not to do it. You are doing what every successful trader before you has done and that is making mistakes and learning your own lessons and I believe that the only lesson worth learning is the one you have taught yourself. In that way you will find your own path.
I started my journey jumping from method to method and making so many mistakes that I got to a place where I felt truly lost and beaten, a place where I thought that profitable trading is impossible. What I didn’t realise at the time is that I was already on the path to success because I was not following in anyone else’s footsteps. When there is no path it means you are making your own.
I enjoyed reading this. I agree with you when you said: [B]“You are doing what every successful trader before you has done and that is making mistakes and learning your own lessons and I believe that the only lesson worth learning is the one you have taught yourself”[/B]. When it comes to forex trading, experience is the best teacher. When mistakes are made in trades, it is better to find out the cause so as to avoid repetition.
I liken trading to the yellow brick road. It is a long long arduous road with lots of nasty horrible obstacles along the way and the emerald city seems nowhere in sight. Keep moving forward, never stop, never look back, learn a few things about yourself along the way , and with sheer bloody mindedness and a touch of insanity, one day you will get to the place you want to be.
What you said Grant rings true for my situation. My husband is a longer term trader and he taught me to trade…now you would think that I would have ended up trading the same way…why wouldn’t I? He taught me, he is successful, but the style didn’t quite fit my personality. Although I use higher time frames for s & r my trade duration is usually between 10 minutes to 5 hours , or overnight sometimes.The way we manage our accounts is also different. But lo and behold I found success also with my style of trading. He did not try to tell me to trade in any other way than the way I felt comfortable with. And if my husband isn’t going to tell me what to do and how I should do it then I’m sure as hell certain that nobody else is going to tell me. I have found that doing everything…including my other occupation…in a little insular bubble of slight insanity and ignorance…has been the key to my own personal success. Hard work too of course .
Accept peoples advice, be thankful for it …most advice is well intentioned… but be certain to forge your own path. Never let other peoples limitations become your own limitations.
Another quote from your favourite author
“I have no use for people who have learned the limits of the possible.”
This is all valuable debate, there really is no ONE right way and no ONE wrong way to trade. Every successful trader is by definition following a unique path, and he/she is the one who hacked it out of the jungle.
“Success” is a very personal definition. But all the wrong ways to trade all have one thing in common - they all wipe out your account. While there are multiple ways to be successful, the only way to lose this game to to get knocked out of it. What is it that empties accounts? - risk. So we need to spend as much effort and care on planning for losing trades as we do on trades we expect to win. Its is the exit that counts, not the entry. Start coming at the game from the stop-loss, not the profit target: aim to not lose, not to make mega-bucks: play to stay in the game for ever, not to win it today and retire.
Says people who don’t quite appreciate the significance of charts being fractal?
Says people who have a perhaps slightly narrow perception of “dependable signals”, typically connected with their unexamined, underlying (mistaken) belief that win-rates rather than expectancy are what really matter?
A touch of insanity is an important ingredient. I dream of the day I have my castle perched on a hilltop, surrounded by gloomy weather and lots of lightning where I can manically laugh whilst plotting to take over the world. Im not sure which came first in my case, the insanity or the trading.
Sounds like your husband is a good mentor. He gave you the space to explore for yourself. Well done for finding trading success!
1st of all, traders need to build up their own trading strategy and pan! Then they should follow their trading rules very tightly! That’s the right way of trading! On the other hand, depending on others trading strategy or system is a wrong approach! Trading skill development is a long term process, it may take long time to absorb.
I agree. The type of trading I’d call right is the one that brings profits with which I am content. Beyond that the details are different for everyone - whether they prefer technical or fundamental analysis, whether they scalp or maintain long-term positions, and so on and so forth. If it works and one is content with the results then that’s all that matters.
How would you describe the trading way of a Newbie who has no well strategized trade plan to make profits and to minimize risks; a newbie who trades against the direction of the trend? Right or wrong way?
Not possible to say, just from that description: there are certainly newbies who concentrate on identifying and trading reversals (one of them started a thread here only the other day, and what he was doing certainly sounded “right” to me, and actually [I]very[/I] sensible indeed, compared with what many do).
It is true that mistakes comes, but what I would not agree with is that fact that there are no mistakes in the market, that whether you go wrong or not you are right. I don’t agree here, because no matter what we do we still get bad trades sometimes.
Even experienced traders make mistakes…
if you break it down, some would argue as long as its doable on your mt4 platform then there is no wrong to it, well yeah surely, but, there can be mistakes and mistakes that would cost us dearly, i would say weigh in your options and think before you act, thats why it takes a good number of years in experience to be able to say that one is good at what he does…
Forex is a business where we have to need the knowledge, experience and skills in order to do this business with right way and if we will do it with proper way then surely we can earn reasonable amount, doing blind this business which is wrong way can cause the reason of failure.
What is the right way? You can do forex in thousands of methods and all of them may be right, if you are making money consistently, you can’t say a particular method as wrong, if the doer is making consistent money.
I agree with you Alex Cook and I want to add that a strategy that other trader used will not be profitable to all the traders as well. Every person acts with different thoughts, so a trader must identify which strategy suits better to its own preferences.
Such a nice thread! I think that the right way is by making mistakes. Who will teach you better than your own mistakes? There is no wrong strategy or a plan, there is only not well made plan or strategy. Take other people’s advices and suggestions but add your own individuality so it can meet your needs and goals. Combined with your mistakes it should help you grow faster.
I really like your spirit sebastiano. Everyone has a slightly different approach to their trades, its not something you can buy off a shelf and trade successfully out of the box.
Mistakes is a bit strong though, it suggests poor planning or misunderstood principles or carelessness. Experiments is a better word, do you think? You just have to make sure your experiments don’t cost too much.
I have found that doing everything…including my other occupation…in a little insular bubble of slight insanity and ignorance…has been the key to my own personal success. Hard work too of course .