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Newtraders

Blowing up accounts can be a good thingIn this screencast I show some of my positions which are mirrored on my live account. I say that blowing up Tradingview paper accounts is a good thing. The present account has not been blown up for about a year, which is much better than before. I used to blow up an paper account every 3 to 6 months before. It's a very safe space to gain experience, to fail repeatedly but learning from the 'punisher' (the markets). I show a couple key positions and how I thought about them. I assert that a bit of common sense is useful when you know the characteristics of the instrument you're exploiting. But learning how each instrument tends to 'behave' can only be discovered by spending time and interacting in the markets. So I don't trust Wall Street - at all! I'll tighten my stops more aggressively if I'm in a very favourable position. Same for Yen pairs and Gold. USDJPY is relatively tame compared to other forex pairs just from my experience on 4H time frames. I'm delighted to point the way for new traders. PM me questions if you wish but I don't give advice, sell signals or courses/services, or give hot tips. I believe in facilitating new traders to discover their own best methods which match their individual psychologies.
OANDA:US30USD
by Captain_Walker
21 lessons learned (educational)This is what I have discovered over the last 4 years. It is not advice for anybody. If you identify with some of it, fine. If not, leave it alone. Share your own lessons learned. 1. If I'm on the right side of the trend, it is my friend - else it is my foe. 2. Stalk and plan ahead 90% of the time but trade 10%. 3. Do not chase. 4. Appreciate the power of chart patterns, especially head and shoulders pattern. 7. Markets often disrespect Fibonacci. 8. The RSI is useful at times and dangerous at other times. 9. Always have a sensible stop-loss based on the ATR or an indicator based on the ATR. 10. Study different instruments across all time frames - they have very different 'personalities'. 11. Manage emotions. My true enemies lie within me: fear, greed, revenge and hope. 12. Avoid the news - except for geopolitical or macroeconomic events. 13. Avoid hot tips, signals, courses and following people who set themselves up as gurus. 14. Prediction is nonsense. 15. Confirmations are myths - instead assess probabilities based on the overall behaviour of the market or instrument. 16. Learn from mistakes - even if repeated. 17. Discover and avoid internal psychological biases. 18. Get enough sleep. 19. Get it wrong up to 70% of the time, but limit how wrong - I accept that I'm a loser most of the time. 20. Break the rules a minority of the time. 21. Adapt to changes in the markets.
BITSTAMP:BTCUSDEducation
by Captain_Walker
99% of day traders consistently lose money (educational)In this screencast I present results of a scientific study carried out on day trading, in the Taiwan Stock exchange. I explore some volatile instruments that some day traders may get stung by. The results of the Taiwan study are shocking. Disbelief leads people to argue that 'that's in Taiwan - so what?'. However the results are informative of cognitive and behavioural characteristics of day traders, more widely. Even if the results are 50% applicable outside of Taiwan, they are seriously worrying. For those interested in reading the study, Google: "Do Day Traders Rationally Learn about Their Ability". So, what does it all mean? For me it means: 1. That the knowledge, skill and experience required to be consistently profitable are extreme. 2. Day traders are most at risk of burning their accounts and departing never to return. 3. Even seasoned traders are at huge risks of losing money. 4. It isn't about methodology - it is about 'individual trader psychology' New traders need to be very cautious in following experts. A fair few of seasoned traders have set up training programmes, from which I suspect they make more money training, than in trading. Hard evidence on that is of course not easy to come by. But it's not me just saying so - a handful of true experts out there have said similar. [ For the avoidance of doubt, I have committed never to sell anything to new or seasoned traders. What you see is what you get. I do not need anybody's money. ]
BITSTAMP:BTCUSDEducation
by Captain_Walker
Self-discipline - what's that?Whilst I am on a roll, I'm pushing out loads of questions and thoughts that have occupied me for the last two years. All this is well ' Beyond Technical Analysis '! In too many trading/training videos out there, I've heard the words 'discipline' and 'self-discipline'. These are so commonly used words that many take their meaning for granted, or as something very elementary. I know - because I was one of those people who thought I knew what the words meant. However, there is also a thing called self-deception which works against self-discipline. Self-deception at its heart, is the ability of the mind to justify anything! Quite simply - it's dangerous. The Collins Dictionary defines self-discipline as, " controlling of oneself or one's desires, actions, habits ... .. the act of disciplining or power to discipline one's own feelings, desires... with the intention of improving oneself. " It's easier now to see how this connects to trading environments. A sound trader needs a lot of personal self-control over actions, habits, feelings and desires. I add 'thinking processes'. Certainly there must be a routine that improves one abilities, as the markets are not static. Their behaviour changes so one needs to improve to match those changes. The obvious question for many (especially new traders) is, " How do I become more disciplined? " I'm afraid there is no magic formula that I can prescribe. I can only share a few personal experiences that drove me to become more disciplined. It's like a weird sandwich: A firm and unshakeable desire to make myself consistently profitable. Pain i.e. painful mistakes. Non-acceptance that if others could do it, I couldn't. Pain drives people - let's not debate that. By pain I include from the worse kinds of suffering to the more subtle kinds. One can include things like frustration, anger and disappointment. Pain stood like a distasteful filling between the two sides of my sandwich. I just couldn't ignore it. If I wanted to make this thing right I had to fix the pain; all sources of it. I was/am my own pain. My enemies arise from within me to cause me pain. My mind plays tricks on me in trading environments. To deal with the sources of pain I had to deal with my own mind, else just give up. I'm no quitter! So whilst I do not claim near-perfect discipline now, I have been addressing the trickery of my own mind - those inner enemies - that thwart my thinking processes. After all, if I don't the whole sandwich (three bullet points above) become nothing - and I'd have to join the 90-odd percent of people who give up on trading in the first couple years. Am I saying that pain is a necessary ingredient for everybody to reach a greater self-disciplined state? Well yes I am! In every walk of life people have to suffer some sort of discomfort in achieving their goals. If you wanted to become a top-rated lawyer, you would have to suffer the 'pain' of years of study, and the trauma of being beaten in court rooms. If you want to get to the North Pole on foot, that involves pain and personal sacrifice. But nobody gets to the North Pole alive, with poor discipline. I shan't go on to mention other areas where people suffer extreme discomfort in order to achieve their goals. If there are take away points to consider, traders should to find out what they are about and anchor themselves on what they want and what they won't have. Then, systematically whittle away at all obstacles by robust self-refection. It takes time - and bargain for pain! Do the time - take the pain. Don't blow up a live account.
Education
by Captain_Walker
new trader GBPUSD 1.3384 shortMade this trade with speculation that GBPUSD is short, however trade is going against me at the moment. I utilized my strategy of creating a range between my blue and red levels, and encapsulated within them speculated inside of the shorter timeframes. Although the trade is going against me, I am using risk management that is proper and comfortable for my trade style. I am considering switching back from my new style/experiment from intraday back to a more swing trading style and larger timeframe - as this style is causing me stress along with college.
Short
by wtpWTP
new trader possible several intraday captures using flowHave bias on several possibly intraday captures for the EURUSD; as I suspect price is ranging between my levels indicated in blue and red. this is because price may be ranging between the two, and using my current methodology aim to exploit and capture price fluctuations at low risk and gain moderate at at best, high returns. I believe there is a short opportunity as the overall momentum trend line is heading downwards for either intraday or more long duration trades. Furthermore, as many traders state the trend is your friend, although being creative with your own ideas, it is good to utilize what works.
by wtpWTP