0Posted by Michael Glass on March 2, 2012 at 5:49 pm
Trading Blueprint
for New Traders
If I was at the beginning again at trading, I would emphasize that trading is like a business. Thus, you need to treat as such by creating a business plan or in trading, a trading plan. So here’s my trading blueprint for new traders.
Start off by understanding your strengths and weaknesses. In your contact, you discussed wanting to trade futures. They are great advantages to the futures market. My favorite is leverage, but with the advantage also comes greater risk when mismanaged. So, make sure the market you want to invest in matches your strength and weakness. Make sure you have a firm understanding of how money (capital, commissions, profits, losses, etc.) works just like a business needs to know assets and liabilities.
Then, you need to address the type of trader you want to be. By this I really mean a day trader or end of day trader. Even as a day trader there are different styles based upon the timeframe you want to watch the market. The longer the timeframe, the bigger your stop (the amount of money you can afford to risk) needs to be. This is very important and goes back to understanding the money.
Third, you can look for specific trading rules/strategies. You need to have a specific set of criteria that you follow. Only when those settings are matched will you enter a trade. This is all about being a disciplined trader instead of an emotional trader. If A, then B. If C, then D. Very specific. Make adjustments to the rules only when the market tells you to (which is when you start to see it not working).
Practice, Practice, Practice. Then Document, document, document. See what works. See how it affects cashflow. Document. Remember, it’s a business, not a hobby.
It’s only at this point that you can think about risking live/real money. Start small to get the feel of what it is like to make and lose money. Then go back and really make sure your rules, strategies, cashflow, risk tolerance still are the same.
Of course, I highly recommend getting a coach to help guide you through the process, but if I were at the start all over again, I would definitely treat it more like a business and not just a hope I would be successful.
I hope this helps. Feel free to contact me if any additional questions. Remember, there’s potential to both make and lose money.
Watch the video below to learn if You are Prepared to Trade
0Posted by Michael Glass on November 22, 2011 at 7:05 pm
How to Develop
Your Premarket
Routines for Trading
In our previous post, we discussed the importance of developing trading routines. A Trading Routine could be considered a checklists you create to help you become more productive and more organized. Trading routines can also help you maximize your Return On Investment on each trade. In the end, we hope the routines outcome will produce habits of success.
We also described the three important routines every trader should develop: PreMarket, Intraday and AfterMarket. Today, we are going to focus in on how to develop a PreMarket Routine for Trading. Your routine should help you accomplish the following tasks:
Getting yourself up to date on the market; • Assessing your portfolio;
Getting ideas as to what stocks might be ‘hot’ that day;
Knowing if your positions have any new news that could cause volatility;
Being ready to trade when the market opens at 9:30 AM EST
Developing your pre-market routine is crucial to your success as a trader. Pre-Market routines help you locate new trading opportunities and plan your day so that you are not spending market hours devising new strategies but rather using your resources properly and following through with trading plan. Watch the video below for more resources on how to develop your premarket trading routine.
0Posted by Michael Glass on October 29, 2011 at 11:06 am
Weekend Stock Market
Technical Analysis
Trading Plan
Here is our Weekend Stock Market Technical Analysis Trading Plan for Saturday, October 29th. In each video update, we attempt to identify high probability trading setups for the next week. We also look at the key market moving events of the past week including the Eurozone increasing its bailout package over 1 Trillion dollars. We then pull up the charts to identify key technical analysis price levels for the S&P 500. We then look to see if some of the market leaders are pulling the market higher or lower (Apple, Amazon, Google, Goldman Sachs, Netflix and Priceline). We also try gain insight to the market’s future direction by looking at the charts for The Dollar, Gold and Crude Oil. Finally, in our education spotlight, we continue to look at what separates winning and losing traders. Today we look at the importance of developing a process for filtering your trades and using dual timeframe agreement for confirmation.
0Posted by Michael Glass on October 8, 2011 at 7:04 pm
Weekend Stock Market
Technical Analysis
Trading Plan
Here is our Weekend Stock Market Technical Analysis Trading Plan for Saturday, October 8th. In each video update , we attempt to identify high probability trading setups for the next week. We also look at the key market moving events of the past week including the better than expected September Employment Situation. We then pull up the charts to identify key technical analysis price levels for the S&P 500. We then look to see if some of the market leaders are pulling the market higher or lower (Apple, Amazon, Google, Goldman Sachs, Netflix and Priceline). We also try gain insight to the market’s future direction by looking at the charts for The Dollar, Gold and Crude Oil. Finally, in our education spotlight, we look at one of the most important facets of developing a trading system, the required motivation to stay focused and disciplined to follow your trading plan every day.
0Posted by Michael Glass on August 13, 2011 at 3:12 pm
Developing a Trader’s Mindset
Interview Series
Part 4 – Peter Reznicek
Shadow Trader
I am often approached by new traders looking for advice on how to change their trading results. My response is usually about the fact that trading alone is pretty easy. The hard part to trading is developing a trader’s mindset. It is often said that over 80% of all day traders fail.Anyone can go out on google or visit a local Barnes & Nobles and find a book or website on the latest technical indicator or trading system. However, what separates those traders who can go out consistently and make a profit in the stock market and those who are losing everyday is the ability to not only recognize opportunities in the stock market, but to be in full control of your emotions and make proper decisions about what they perceive may happen.
New traders are using in search for the Holy Grail. They are looking for the magic bullet that will instantly change their trading results over night. In the book, Trade Your Way to Financial Freedom, Dr. Van Tharp described the Legend of the Holy Grail as the ability of a trader to manage the internal struggle between profits and losses. Not an indicator, not a guru, not a trading room, but the ability to control your emotions on your wins and your losers.
Developing a Trader’s Mindset is the key for both new and seasoned traders to become profitable. A Trading Mindset helps you to not only recognize candlestick chart patterns as they develop, but it also helps have the discipline to wait for the pattern to confirm. It helps you to trust your proven trading system because you have backtested the setups. You know that you can have a positive expectancy about your trading results. So, I decided to go out an interview some of the traders who have impacted my trading results and share them with you all.
In our fourth installment, I had to great pleasure to speak with Peter Reznicek, better known as The Shadow Trader from Think or Swim. I have been a big fan of Peter for years. I began listening to him via Think or Swim from the beginning. He has an excellent knowledge of the market and a great ability to teach and trade at the same time.
ShadowTrader’s entire suite of services are designed with the serious, active, equity and FX trader in mind. Whether it’s a trade from our Swing Trader, FX Trader, or Pairs Trader, or a live real-time call in our Professional Traders Squawkbox, ShadowTrader delivers it with defined stop, defined target, and defined entry. ShadowTrader consistently relays more vital market information in real time than any other service on the web.
All shadowtrader products are FREE! You can access the Squawk Box live every trading day from 9:15am to 4:15pm EST on the thinkorswim by TD Ameritrade platform
