how do i get in contact with you? i really need mentorship in this.
Did you mean me?! Sorry, only by posting here, and I reply if I think I can help. I have no teaching skills anyway!
My own opinion is that you don’t need a mentor; you just need to learn from some proper books and stop trying to learn from online “information” (you and about a million other people!!).
How many trades do you think you’ve made this year?
i’ve taken about 100 trades this year. this is an estimate.
For me, tightening up risk management and keeping a trading journal helped a lot. Staying patient and sticking to a plan made a big difference. Hang in there!
Sorry, but trading “knowledge” does not equal profitable trading. Profitable trading requires another way of thinking that is counterintuitive and no where near as fun as gambling (what most new traders do).
I wonder how to go from not being profitable to being profitable. The traders that have been in my shoes, how did you overcome this What was the thing(s) that you added or removed that changed the game for you?
The simple answer is that profitable trader brains are wired backwards vs most people. Most people are unable or unwilling to change themselves and a life long way of thinking, which is why so few actually succeed at trading professionally.
Losing traders put all their time and energy on figuring out how to win more.
A losing trader that wants to become a profitable one needs to master minimizing losses while letting their winners / profits take care of themselves. (*see note below)
This isn’t talked about anywhere online because the content creators themselves usually aren’t profitable traders and/or it’s too boring to attract subscribers, followers, views and likes.
For all the young aspiring traders, a content creator’s (social media trading “guru” trying to teach others to trade) primary purpose is to make a living for themselves via entertaining content, it’s NOT to educate you with accurate information that actually works.
Note: experienced traders do focus their attention on squeezing more out of their winning trades but this is an advanced skill to be done only after they have first mastered cutting losers.
6 Likes
Sometimes the “like” button isn’t enough. I just wanted to say how good it’s been to read your posts over the last couple of days. Each point in the post above is an “I should have said that” moment for me. Thank you. 
3 Likes
You flatter me, @Heteroskedasticity 
I’m just another anonymous internet tard that IRL survived the trial by fire we call trading / investing and learned few tricks after coming out the other side. You’re welcome, it’s been my pleasure 
2 Likes
What is being said here makes a lot of sense. Thanks for pointing out as it is. I must confess I was one of the guys that got in the game with huge hopes and targets. Am sure, that on its own contributes to unprofitability as it clouds judgement.
3 Likes
This thread is literally the perfect list of what’s wrong with most beginner traders.
High expectations:
I think ALL beginners start with the wrong expectations.
Everyone here knows that.
I did too.
Then…
Not giving it enough time:
Come on!
Seriously, it’s not about just learning a strategy, it’s not about just learning some rules and apply those.
It’s about experience.
That subconscious knowledge that you build over years of watching the charts, seeing patterns in motion, seeing price action develop, seeing things happen in real time on the chart!
Also…
Couldn’t agree more!
Every trader starts thinking with a fixed daily profit target in mind.
And that’s the quickest way to get disappointed.
After that…
Thinking there’s a special secret knowledge that’s exactly what will make you profitable:
Wait, actually there is!
The knowledge missing is called…
Experience
Literally…
The title of this trade is actually the answer to your question.
Knowing how to trade isn’t enough.
The truth is that a lot of “simple” strategies work well.
I mean very basic price action like engulfing candles or simple support and resistance can work extremely well.
But knowing how to trade those isn’t enough!
You then need the discipline, experience, and consistency to trade well.
In other words…
Give it time.
Don’t look for shortcuts.
It’s NOT about the strategy, it’s about experience.
2 Likes
Have you considered Propfirm trading? Apparently, you can get instant funding and play around with huge margin and leverage it.
hi , i want to start out trading forex xauusd firstly is that a good or bad idea ? secondly i have a million and one questions to ask and where do i get the answers ? any advice would be be gratefully appreciated
many thanks
steve williams
thank you. i really appreciate your comment
I find the volatility in the commodity market like gold too slow for me as a day trader. The same as forex. I’m now focused on indices. Dow jones, Nasdaq and SPY.
yes. I know about them. My 6k account was from a prop firm trading challenge (which I failed miserably on August 30th).
I’ll be going back to demo for sometime (maybe 1 or 2 months) before taking another challenge.
1 Like
Do you realise that a prop-firm “funded” account that’s called a “$6k account” isn’t really anything like a $6k account?
The real account-size you’d be trading after passing the challenge is the maximum permitted loss-limit, so if that’s (for example) $600, you’re actually trading a $600 account even though prop firms misleadingly call it “$6k”, and you need to use position-sizing, risk-management and trade-management accordingly. And not trade the Dow or Nasdaq!
Sorry if I sound disparaging (not my intention!) but honestly you’re still rather a long way from being ready to take a prop firm challenge, and you need to understand that when you eventually get there, you’re going to need a far bigger “funded” account than you expect to have any realistic prospect of averaging $100 per day income from it.
Mate, love the energy and enthusiasm but you’re running 1000 mph in the wrong direction.
Most inexperienced traders (the 95% who lose) don’t understand that their instincts and mentality developed over their lifetime is their biggest obstacle to becoming profitable. Nearly every losing trader thinks the path to profitable trading is “being right” more often, more wins, quicker wins, bigger wins etc because this is what life has taught them. Unfortunately this understanding is dead wrong when it comes to profitable trading.
Remember this phrase:
Profitable trading is about letting the market manage the wins while the trader manages the losses.
Losing traders love to do the market’s job (the fun, i.e. emotional job of winning) while no one does the trader’s job (the boring, uncomfortable, painful side of minimizing losses).
The quicker a trader understands that profitable trading is counterintuitive, the quicker they become profitable (with virtually any trading style and system).
In any case, wish you good luck with your trading.
3 Likes
It’s really good that your focus is narrow, and related. I think that is smart.
If you are not yet profitable, it’s really important to find out why? Most times, getting into a trade is straight forward, but getting out is where the problem exits.
Do you move your stop loss if a trade goes against you? Do you exit a trade at the first sign of trouble, only to see the trend continue well after you got out? Does it sometimes seem like whenever you place a buy order, prices fall, or rise, whenever you sell? Do you sometimes chase a rally and end up overtrading out of greed? Have you ever broken your trading rules?
Consistent profit is the product of a strategy that you know and understand inside and out. Something you have lived with for quite some time and trust, and so you come to know its reliabilities and occasional failings…a bit like a card player. No guarantees, but suddenly, the odds seem stacked in your favour more often then not. It’s that comfort feeling that comes from using the same tools and indicators over and over again, with 80% plus certainty things will go your way. Actually, quite a difficult thing to describe, but you’ll definitely know when you arrive.
What’s your win-lose ratio? Risk-reward? Longest Losing Streak? Largest losing trade? Get to know your strategy inside out, and tweak as necessary, and put the odds in your favour!
Good luck.
checkout fundednext stellar challenge. I enrolled for their 6k challenge.
I thought if I were to pass the challenge, I’d be given a 6k account size?
I have gone through their website and they never mentioned this information you are sharing.
what do you mean by this? i don’t get it.