The secret to successful trading?

Trading Discussion
1

Hello traders,

I have been listening to a few interviews

with traders on Aaron Fifield’s channel

https://chatwithtraders.com/podcast/

and what struck me was how all of these

traders, a lot of whom had no schooling in

economics and were just ordinary people,

had one common quality: the ability to

identify a way to trade that was very specific

and be able to repeat that trading over and over.

The topic of undercapitalisation came up

several times, across different interviews,

and I think that it is a huge issue for newbies…

Another topic that came up from several traders

was how most of them took years, an average of

three to five years, to start getting good at trading,

and how most of them experienced significant losses,

especially (but not only) at the beginning of their trading.

I would encourage anyone to go and listen to these

interviews, either via the above link or through the

Chat With Traders channel on YouTube…

Happy trading.

2

If you dig a little deeper you’ll also discover the majority of them didn’t/don’t overcomplicate their approaches & they didn’t/don’t think too much!

Thinking too much f*cks up most amateurs, that + having lemonade pockets & champagne tastes. A lot of those guys also got lucky more often than most other folks too & a lot of that was down to having sufficient dosh to keep them afloat until they got lucky again, certainly long enough to realise their approaches actually returned positive expectancy.

3

Agree 100% … They do not deny that they got lucky… Nicola Duke, Dan Shapiro, Adam Grimes, they all had their ups and downs (to name a few from the series)… All show that strategies take a while to develop (even simple ones) and that when market conditions change you may even have one or two losing years as you try to adapt… None of them got rich quick, and a lot of them had to work normal jobs for years to pay the bills… These are stories that open your eyes to what it takes to become profitable, the hard work and the emotional, personal, and financial hardships they went through…

4

Interesting observation, there.

I’ve always thought that successful trading is more about doing relatively straightforward things [I]very[/I] well and [I]very[/I] consistently and [I]very[/I] repeatedly than about doing very difficult or complicated things.

5

not really important how you do it. everyone has his/her own way. the only secret to suceffull trading is to earn more then you loose. to sum it up in the most simplified sentence.

6

Quote of the month!!!

7

10000% agree…try to minimise rules or,at least automate them as much as possible to save time in thinking…and become a machine in entering / exiting trades with zero,emotion and again without to much thinking or time wasted

It’s also important to read the market …if you can see what’s happening it can save you a fortune in wasted trades hitting your head against brick walls

And vice versa …you could spend 7 hours grinding out a few pips verses identifying that perfect 20 minute spell when the market opens up the coffers

N

8

The main thing to focus on is the time aspect. The amount of time it took to get “profitable”.
The reason why 99% of people who trade FX will fail is because they are looking for shortcuts and a way to print money. Trading doesn’t work that way.

It’s almost like, the harder you look for a shortcut and a lazy way to trade, the more money you’re going to end up losing. And, the more effort you put into being disciplined, respecting the learning process, and trading with a professional mindset the more money you’re going to make- over time. Realizing that when you step up to the plate, you’re trying to hit singles the majority of the time, not put the ball out of the park.

9

Absolutely, Jake! There is no short-cut to trading profitably, it takes time and hard work (and, as you said

before, adaptability).

What one of the ‘Chat with traders’ interviewees was saying also links in with what you said here, namely

that trading is not something like sports, or music, where the more effort and hard-headedness you

apply the better you become at it! You may REALLY WANT to be successful at trading, but the market

may not care at all how many hours you spend in front of the computer… It is not a linear journey, and

for this reason all the people that want to ‘be full-time traders’ think that by having more time to trade

they will automatically become more profitable… The reverse may well come true…

10

Chat with Traders is an excellent and FREE podcast. You have these experienced traders sharing their knowledge for free. It’s priceless. I always download MP3s and listen to these interviews while traveling. Kudos to Aaron for making an excellent resource. :smiley:

11

Agreed 100%!!!

12

My secret is to trade with low risk in trading and a good plan . I try to trade with just 1% to 2% risk . I experience one take risk easily but in bad markets he can loose much amount when he is unable to adjust trading according to market situations.

13

Never invest in Forex more than you can afford to lose. Don’t invest other people’s money, especially if they’re a loan. Don’t repeat the same mistake over and over – if a strategy doesn’t work, then it doesn’t work – look for another one.

14

Yeah, unless and until you don’t have enough confidence in your trades, never trade with large amount. First you need to practice your trades with small amounts.

15

Maybe the exact opposite, actually: probably better not to trade with a large amount unless and until you [B][U]DO[/U][/B] have enough confidence in your trades, really? :wink:

16

Indeed, we can say that good money management is the secret to successful trading. If you are meddling with you risk amount per trade, then you cannot make progress with your trading.

17

In trading there isn’t one secret to doing it well.
It’s a hard skill that has many aspects to learn and master, once you’ve mastered all these you’re still susceptible to losing money.
It’s important to find a metric for measuring success other than the money you make, many people get lucky and make a killing in a short period of time, only to lose that money just as quickly if not faster.
Sometimes people make a huge amount over 2 years and feel they are successful, then they lose it in a month or less.

Game is hard. Keep learning and always be afraid.

18

You said right that money management is key point that pays an important role in success . If a trader knows how he has o use his capital and how to manage trading he can do good in trading. I must say without money management no one can be successful.

19

Really a food for thought, being simple is the key to success in the market. I will do well to check out that link myself.

20

The true secret.
Never give up. Once you do that, your chances of success drop a little bit. eh! maybe down to zero! :26:
The next true secret.
Go learn something NEW today!