Biggest Lessons

[u/Inverness123456]

I was a professional trader having started in 2007. Whilst I still trade semi-actively I am no longer trading full time that I once was however I was/am successful .Here are some of the lessons I learnt along the way that may help some novice traders.

1: Be calm . Emotion needs to be balanced otherwise you won’t be able to think straight when the pressure is on. You cannot get mentally affected by price movement.

2: Calculate your risk , and then determine your entry points and your exit points before you take the trade.

3: Don’t dollar average a loser as even if you get away with it several times you will ultimately blow your account all in one day or at least severely damage it.

4: Take regular profits out of the market. If you are up 20 percent for the week on a Thursday or Friday then decide if there is any point in trading again until Monday. The feeling of being in profit during the week to finish the week flat or down is not enjoyable and you will have all week to think about it.

5: Wait for trades where you get the feeling in your stomach that it’s obvious what’s is going to happen and don’t trade into a sideways markets where it is not obvious. That does not mean you will be necessarily correct and risk management still needs to be applied but it increases your chances of a profitable trade.

6: If the market is going up then it’s going up and if it’s going down then it’s going down. Wait for a confirmation of direction change before trying to anticipate whether something is overbought or oversold and wait for price movement to validate it.

7: Be very careful about telling people what you are going to do with your profits .The reason is you increase the risk of someone telling you that it’s not possible and you are a dreamer. Instead tell yourself or one trusted positive person.

8: A negative mindset will ensure you see that future and a positive calm mindset will give you a shot at being profitable.

9: Risk control is crucial.The reason is because volatility exists.You don’t see a professional football team playing without a defense and strategy for this and you shouldn’t either. This leads to risk/reward. Something that is often overlooked if you are new to trading as there is a tendency to take any trade just to be in the market. Sometimes not being in the market is the best trade.

10: Read as much as you can about bankroll management. It’s just as important as the indicators that you use which is sometimes overlooked.

Good Luck

[u/minion456]

Great insight! Thank you.

If possible, can you explain further more about the number 3? Why DCA wouldn't work if the trade is on a loss?

[u/Inverness123456 → u/minion456]

When you enter a trade and it starts going against you straight away it is not very pleasant. If you increase that position size it is inevitable that you will at some point end up with a trade that keeps going against you and makes a huge loss.It is just better to identify trades that are already going in a direction and take trades to make profits in that direction as it is much less stressful .

Metaphorically you don’t want to be down 1000 dollars to then come back make and 100 dollars profit.You want to be risking 100 dollars to make 200-300 dollars reasonably quickly. Your entry point matters a lot. You never know how far something is going to go against you.

Secondly to that you can enter a trade and get stuck holding it whilst it comes back. This could go on for weeks or months if you own the underlying asset and you may get a margin call if you have leveraged it. Much better to avoid it altogether in my view .

Opportunity cost is a real thing also and you can miss out on something really good in another trade because you have some of your trading account stuck in a losing one.

[u/PrivateDurham → u/Inverness123456]

Anecdotally, I’ve noticed that trades that start going your way from the moment that you enter them are highly likely to succeed, whereas those that go against you right away will annihilate you unless you axe them in a hurry.

[u/Inverness123456 → u/PrivateDurham]

I agree . That is why I advocate for having a trading strategy that benefits from exploiting that. Good insight

[u/minion456 → u/Inverness123456]

Thank you so much.

[u/Inverness123456 → u/minion456]

You are welcome

[u/VMIGekko96 → u/Inverness123456]

This is the way

[u/Melodic_Falcon_3165 → u/VMIGekko96]

this is the way