Learn How Candlesticks Are Formed
A candlestick chart reflects a given time period and provides information on the price's open, high, low, and close during that time. Each candlestick symbolizes a different period.
Here are the main 4 elements of a candlestick:
Body
The body is the major component of a candlestick, and it's easy to spot because it's usually large and colored.
Within the interval, the body informs you of the opening and closing prices of the market. The open will be below on a green candle. The reverse is true for a red candle. The market declined during the time, thus the open is the top of the body and the close refers to the bottom of a candle.
Wick
The wick is the line that extends from the top to the bottom of the body of a candlestick.
The upper wick emerges from the body's top and indicates the greatest price achieved throughout the time. The lower wick commonly referred to as the tail, is at the body's bottom, marking the lowest price.
Open Price
The initial price exchanged during the development of a new candle is represented as the open price. If the price begins to rise, the candle will become green and the candle will turn red if the price falls.
Close Price
The closing price is the most recent price exchanged during the trading phase. In most charting systems, if the closing price is lower than the open price, the candle will turn red by default. The candle will be green if the close price is higher than the open price.
High Price
The highest price exchanged throughout the time is shown by the upper wick or top shadow. Its absence indicates that the price at which the asset opened or closed is the highest traded price.
Low Price
The lowest price exchanged throughout the time is shown by the lower wick or low shadow. When there is no such lower wick or shadow, this indicates that the price at which the asset opened or closed is the lowest traded price.
Hey traders, let me know what subject do you want to dive in in the next post?
Trading Psychology
Ask yourself this questions before investing money in any coinHow to DYOR? Quick guide
90% of the time, the market is in a condition of uncertainty, which necessitates analysis. Before any investment, you need to ask yourself the question "is it worth it?" or "why can this project be profitable?". And, in order to fully comprehend the project, I've compiled a thesis list of questions that you should always ask yourself when conducting your own study.
We always begin at the project site.
There, you will be welcomed with a brief summary of the project, so be sure to read the Whitepaper/Docs to learn more.
At this point, you should ask the following questions:
What exactly is this project?
What is the point of it?
What possibilities does the project offer?
What are the project's RoadMap plans?
Next, you must determine who is the success guarantee:
What sources of funding aided the project?
What are some examples of these funds' success?
Will the funds be interested in the project's and the token's subsequent development?
It is also critical to assess the hype surrounding the project as well as the audience's involvement. Be cautious and double-check official sources. The more successful the initiative, the more scams will surround it, and you will be added to various groups where they will offer to send money. Don't fall for these ploys!
How active are the project's social networks? (Telegram, Twitter, Medium, GitHub, and so on.)
How involved is the team in social media support?
Is there a program for ambassadors?
Nodes (do they update and function properly)?
We assess other initiatives' trust and application.
How many other projects have already offered assistance?
How can they be of assistance to one another?
Check out the feedback from partners on our pages (after all, you can merely tag that Solana supports you, but they have no idea).
Check out the social subscription networks of notable people for this project. A nice technique to keep an eye out for such "friendships" on Twitter.
Avoid anonymous teams and projects that do not identify their developers or team at all. Admins or project members will never send you a personal email offering to acquire their tokens!
From a personal standpoint, would you trust these guys with your money?
What country does the team represent?
What projects have the team members previously worked on?
How interested are they in the project's progress, or do they prioritize obtaining funds and creating the token?
We assess the demand potential and the technological quality.
What competitors are there already?
How popular is the competitor's technology?
How much more advanced is our technology?
It is critical to understand which and how many tokens will be available for purchase on the listing, therefore we investigate the unlocking / vesting periods for each item. You can calculate the approximate capitalization at the latest sale price and assume the expected price pressure after receiving the number of tokens available at the time of listing.
Why is a token required?
How will the token be put to use?
To whom are tokens given?
How many tokens are there in total?
How much does the team own?
How many tickets were sold in the Seed and Private rounds?
What price did you enter these rounds at?
What are the terms (locks, vesting)?
How many tokens were given out to society?
How many tokens will be given out as rewards?
How many tokens will be sold during the Public Sale?
What networks is the token compatible with?
What kind of liquidity will be available as a result of the listing?
Following that, we went out to compare the data to the projects of competitors. We will be able to estimate the growth potential in this section.
And now that you've gone through all of the questions, you've decided to put money in this project:
We decide when and under what conditions it is best to deposit money.
We investigate the terms of selling.
We consider the format as well as the sales platform.
We research the platform from which we intend to make a purchase.
If the sale is not at a predetermined price but on Balancer or Mesa, we consider the token's fair price.
If the sale is in the form of a lottery, try opening multiple accounts to maximize your chances of winning.
Consider the averaging method on the listing depending on the condition and format of the transaction.
Examine the project's scheduling carefully; otherwise, the funds in the project may be frozen for an extended period of time.
At the outset of the voyage, you must determine a reasonable price and set profit goals.
In the event of failure, you must plan ahead of time to make up for the loss.
Divide your sale into various objectives, the first of which is the return on your initial investment.
Conclusion
Furthermore, you may always avoid conducting your own study by reading other people's pre-written project assessments. After all, they could simply pay for the review in order to attract money and then dump it on you. As a result, there is no place in the cryptosphere without DYOR.
You make all of the decisions.
You must also accept responsibility for the outcome.
Make sure to pay attention to money management and dangers.
Do not put more than 5% of your deposit into a single project.
How to Spot Reversal Of Bullish Or Bearish Trend- Elliott Wave Dear traders,
In this video I want to look at some basics of Elliott Wave analysis and how to spot top/bottom or reversal of a trend. There are specific patterns that can help us define useful set-ups for potential trade idea.
Hope you will enjoy the video.
The Biggest Mistake Novice Traders Make When Learning To TradeI wasted a lot of time from years one to four in my trading career.
Being scammed led me to decide to create my unique trading strategy. I used the course material I bought and google to do so. It worked but after years of pain and suffering. If I had continued searching for a legit trading coach, I would've succeeded much quicker.
But I'm grateful because I learned a valuable lesson, which is to always...
Start By Mastering An Existing Trading Strategy Before Creating A Brand New One.
Ignoring this advice, especially as a novice trader, will stop you from succeeding on time.
For that reason, trying to create something new that you don't have experience with is useless. Because it will waste the mental energy and time you need to master what you already have to move forward. Thus committing to grasp the details of a trading strategy will save you from mental battles that hinder your growth. You'll also free up time to develop the following key ingredients for trading success:
1. Trading and Risk Management (Business) Plan.
2. Risk Management edge.
3. Psychological edge.
4. Journalling Habit.
With that said, let me show you how to flourish as a novice trader, below.
Find a legitimate trading coach with a proven track record.
Having a professional trader coaching you through your journey will make it a bit easier and more fun.
But there aren't many legitimate professionals who will make that possible. The industry has a lot of scammers who only make money from selling courses. That's not a problem though as there are traders who live off trading. Your job is to find them.
How?
Do research before buying a course:
1. Pick 2-3 traders you perceive as legitimate.
2. Check if their course will help you develop the 4 ingredients for trading success.
3. Check the coach's Trustpilot for course/community reviews.
4. Do research by contacting people who have bought it.
5. Ask for the coach's trading (Myfxbook) statistics.
6. Join their free communities to ask questions.
Once you’ve found your perfect match, focus on studying and mastering his/her course material till you become a profitable trader.
And while doing that teach other people your skill for free. This will quicken the process of learning, understanding, and mastering. After that form new trading strategies to maximize your gains and sell to other people for extra cash.
Following the advice above, will save you years of pain and suffering in exchange for fun years of rapid growth and success.
So trust the process and you’ll make it.
What Kind of Music Do I Listen When Trading and Why?Hello traders
For being a profitable trader, I thought long and hard about optimising all areas in my personal life (workout, sleep, nutrition, meditation, ..) but also enhancing any outputs putting my brain in a deep relaxed mode when trading.
If it can make me a better trader, I'd do anything (including nootropics).
I'm not letting anything out of my control - I want to maximise my profits and for that I had to acquire a deep understanding of how the body/brain works from a physiological perspective.
Music has long been known to have an effect on our mood and emotions.
Many people find that listening to music can help them relax and unwind, while others use it to help them focus and concentrate on tasks.
This is especially true when it comes to trading, where making quick and accurate decisions can be crucial to success.
So, what are the best types of music to listen to while trading?
First, let's look at some of the potential benefits of listening to music while trading.
Music has been shown to have a positive effect on the brain, with some research suggesting that it can improve focus and concentration, as well as reduce stress and anxiety.
This is especially important in the high-pressure environment of trading, where making the right decision quickly can be the difference between success and failure.
In terms of the specific types of music that are best for trading, it ultimately comes down to personal preference.
Some people may find that fast-paced, energetic music helps them to stay focused and energised, while others may prefer slower, more relaxing music to help them maintain a calm and clear mind.
Additionally, some research suggests that instrumental music, without lyrics, may be more effective at helping people focus than music with vocals.
One thing to keep in mind is that the volume of the music you listen to can also be important.
If the music is too loud, it can be distracting and even stressful, while music that is too quiet may not provide enough of a benefit.
Finding the right volume level for the music you are listening to can take some experimentation, but it's worth it to find the right balance.
Ultimately, the best type of music to listen to while trading is the type that helps you focus and concentrate on the task at hand.
This will likely vary from person to person, so it's worth experimenting with different genres and styles to see what works best for you.
Whether it's fast-paced electronic dance music, soothing classical music, or something in between, the key is to find the music that helps you stay focused and calm while trading.
For me, I often go with instrumental yoga-style very chilled music.
There are tons of those on Youtube and Spotify.
Not because it's my preferred kind of music but because it's relaxing, calm me down.
Let me know in the comments what kind of music you're listening (if any) when trading.
I wrote tons of other useful FREE articles here: www.tradingview.com
Thanks for reading
Dave
Forex Market: Who Trades Currencies & Why
The foreign exchange or forex market is the largest financial market in the world – larger even than the stock market, with a daily volume of $6.6 trillion.
The forex market not only has many players but many types of players. Here we go through some of the major types of institutions and traders in forex markets:
Commercial & Investment Banks
The greatest volume of currency is traded in the interbank market. This is where banks of all sizes trade currency with each other and through electronic networks. Big banks account for a large percentage of total currency volume trades.
Central Banks
Central banks, which represent their nation's government, are extremely important players in the forex market. Open market operations and interest rate policies of central banks influence currency rates to a very large extent.
A central bank is responsible for fixing the price of its native currency on forex. This is the exchange rate regime by which its currency will trade in the open market. Exchange rate regimes are divided into floating, fixed and pegged types.
Investment Managers and Hedge Funds
Portfolio managers, pooled funds and hedge funds make up the second-biggest collection of players in the forex market next to banks and central banks. Investment managers trade currencies for large accounts such as pension funds and foundations.
Multinational Corporations
Firms engaged in importing and exporting conduct forex transactions to pay for goods and services.
Individual Investors
The volume of forex trades made by retail investors is extremely low compared to financial institutions and companies. However, it is growing rapidly in popularity.
There is a reason why forex is the largest market in the world: It empowers everyone from central banks to retail investors to potentially see profits from currency fluctuations related to the global economy.
What do you want to learn in the next post?
Fall of USD as Global Reserve CurrencyIf you give someone a button to print money, they will press it
1,400 years ago the Roman republic inflated its currency until its empire collapsed
USD used to be backed by gold, but that ended in 1971
This allowed governments to print endless money
Hyperinflation is just a matter of time
The US government learned to overspend and print the difference
The debt is now $31 trillion and $100 trillion in liabilities
The only way out is printing more money
But destroying the savings and hard-earned tax money of citizens
Global reserve currencies change every 90 years
So, Monetary Switch is inevitable
Checkout Venezuela's 2013- mid-2020 Inflation data
The paper that is used to print a dollar is not actually worth a dollar.
The paper does not have value, it simply represents the value. It is not money because it holds no individual value.
To take it a step further, dollars are actually the OPPOSITE of value.
Dollars are debt. A dollar is a PROMISE to pay back debt. The U.S. is over a trillion dollars in debt. A trillion is “1” followed by 12 zeros. It’s a thousand billion. A trillion seconds is 32,000 years. A stack of $1 bills would be 68,000 miles high. So how do we pay back such monumental debt?
Taxes. It’s painful, but it’s obvious.
So, the dollar is the PROMISE of the U.S. government to pay back over a trillion dollars of debt by taxing its citizens. And, to kick you while you are down, the debt is still growing.
The dollar is actually debt.
That is why the smart rich don’t work for dollars, they work for assets like BTC and GOLD
Thank You for Reading. Like and Share!
How To Stay Motivated When TradingHello everyone,
Trading can be a challenging and often unpredictable pursuit. It’s easy to get discouraged and lose motivation when faced with setbacks and losses.
But, with the right mindset and strategies, you can stay motivated and on track to achieve your trading goals.
1/ Set clear and specific goals.
It’s important to have a clear idea of what you want to achieve in your trading.
Set specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART) goals that will keep you focused and motivated.
For me it was, with my previous job I was making X USD per month, I want to make that money (after taxes) off my trading.
Which meant, making 2X my income assuming a 50% ish tax rate (20% VAT + 33% tax on capital gains)
I don't agree with those recommending to leave your 9 to 5 jobs if you make X USD with both your trading and your job.
To keep things equal, you need to make 2X USD off your trading
2/ Create a trading plan.
A well-crafted trading plan can help you stay disciplined and on track.
Your plan should include your goals, your strategy, your risk management rules, and your expectations for your trading performance.
Journaling everything is important, I wrote an article about it here:
I also journal how I slept, how I worked out, what I ate, what went well, wrong and why.
It helps my brain registering that going to bed at 8:30 pm is optimal for me, working out at 10 am is perfect for me, etc...
3/ Stay focused on the long-term
Trading can be a roller coaster ride, with ups and downs.
But, it’s important to stay focused on the long-term and not get too caught up in short-term fluctuations.
Keep your eye on your goals and your trading plan, and don’t get sidetracked by short-term distractions.
Seek out education and support
Trading can be a lonely pursuit, and it’s important to surround yourself with like-minded individuals who can provide support and guidance.
Join a trading community, attend webinars and seminars, and seek out mentors who can help you stay motivated and on track.
Most trading communities are created by gurus who never traded in their life.
They don't even take the trades they're sharing to their paid subscribers.
If you're joining a trading community, make sure to fact check everything...
Which is hard to asses because even a trading report can be photoshopped
Celebrate your successes
Trading can be a frustrating and stressful pursuit, and it’s important to take time to celebrate your successes.
Acknowledge your wins, no matter how small, and reward yourself for your hard work and dedication.
This will help keep you motivated and focused on your goals.
Whenever I make my weekly USD goal, I celebrate with a restaurant
When I reach my monthly USD goals, I treat myself with a 2-3 days holiday somewhere nice
Conclusion
By setting clear goals, creating a trading plan, staying focused on the long-term, seeking out education and support, and celebrating your successes, you can stay motivated and on track in your trading.
Keep pushing forward, and don’t let setbacks and losses discourage you from pursuing your trading dreams.
You got it guys!!!
PS
I wrote a lot more FREE trading educational content you'll maybe enjoy too
Dave
Why I'm Trading With The Trend and I'm not A ContrarianHello traders
1/ Trading with the trend, also known as trend trading, is a strategy that involves buying and selling securities in the same direction as the underlying trend in the market.
This is in contrast to trading against the trend, which involves taking positions opposite to the direction of the trend.
The first one for me is easier on my mind... I don't like trading like Michael Burry front-running everyone months/years in advance and being double digits percent negative PnL during that period.
I don't like it because it's draining, uncomfortable, unpleasant and I become an awful human being mean with everyone....
I've been journaling my trades for a decade, and read trading journals of hundreds of traders...
While TikTok/Instagram teaches us we have to be contrarian and goes against the crowd.... our brains aren't wired for it... maybe because we're social creatures... who knows.
I really don't "care" of being among the first ones on an investment/trade opportunity.
I'm here to make money, it's a marathon, not a sprint.
What I share is personal of course but I'm sharing it because I manage a community of traders and I'm speaking with them, they're sharing with me their feedback.
Even trading intraday against the trend, I'm not profitable - I'm just not made for that, I accepted it.
Most of my contrarian trades are losers
An important caveat though, for investing, when you see a security down 60/70/80/90% and the company behind keeps printing cash like crazy and the fundamentals are still great, I would invest SPOT for a long-term trade.
I wouldn't do it with derivatives due to trading fees to pay every day.
2/ There are several reasons why trading with the trend is generally considered more profitable than trading against the trend.
First , trend trading allows traders to capitalise on the momentum of the market.
When a security is in an uptrend, for example, it is likely to continue to rise as long as there is buying pressure.
By buying into the trend, traders can take advantage of this momentum and potentially profit from the upward movement in the price of the security.
That's how I designed my trading method, first we let a bigger timeframe signal being displayed on candle close, then we enter in the lower timeframe signals in the same direction.
Second , trend trading can help traders avoid false breakouts.
A false breakout is when a security breaks out of a trading range, only to quickly reverse and move back within the range.
Trading against the trend can often result in traders getting caught in these false breakouts, resulting in losses.
By trading with the trend, however, traders can avoid these false breakouts and potentially profit from the continuation of the trend.
Third , trend trading can help traders manage their risk.
When trading against the trend, traders are essentially betting against the market, which can be a high-risk strategy.
By trading with the trend, however, traders can reduce their risk and potentially improve their chances of making profitable trades.
In summary, trading with the trend is generally considered more profitable than trading against the trend because it allows traders to capitalise on the momentum of the market, avoid false breakouts, and manage their risk.
By following the direction of the trend, traders can potentially improve their chances of making profitable trades.
Thank you for reading
Dave
7 Stages to Financial Freedom and How You Can Get There
Today we will discuss the stages you go through to reach freedom and how you can achieve it with awesome thinking models.
The journey to financial freedom includes seven stages.
1. Clarity
This is the stage where you are clear about your current financial position and where you want to be.
2. Self-sufficiency
This is the stage where you can bear all your expenses by yourself. You are not dependent on anyone for your survival. This also means you earn enough to sustain your expenses.
3. Breathing room
This is the stage where you have saved enough to sustain yourself for a couple of months, even if you lose your source of income right now.
4. Stability
This is the stage where you have paid off all your debts and you also have a saving to sustain you for at least 6 months in advance.
5. Flexibility
This is the stage where you have saved enough money to sustain yourself for two years in advance.
6. Financial independence
This is the stage where your money earns more for you. It’s when you have enough investments and savings that the return you get is enough to sustain your expenses without working. At this point, you work on something because it’s your hobby, and not to earn money.
7. Abundant wealth
This is the stage where you have accumulated so much money that you would not be able to spend all in your lifetime.
But how do you progress through these stages and achieve financial freedom?
Here are some awesome thinking models you can use to head towards financial freedom.
1. Time is more valuable than money.
2. Compounding can help you achieve it earlier
3. Make money with a side business
4. Learn to sell stuff
As it should be your ultimate financial goal, it is never enough to talk about achieving financial freedom. I wish you luck, dear traders.
Hey traders, let me know what subject do you want to dive in in the next post?
Expectations and TradingExpectations and Trading
When you trade, you look at chances that either come true or don't. You can't expect or demand anything from the market or from other people who take part in the market. No one owes anyone anything in this world, and trading is no different.
In trading, you have complete freedom of expression; you can do almost anything and however you want. This freedom will show you how irrational people are and how they can't just control their thoughts, feelings, and actions.
All traders lose money because they take too many risks and don't have enough self-control. How long does it take for a trader to lose control of himself? A feeling of being left out It all starts with the idea that money has been lost. This feeling is exactly what makes people want to take more risks.
You open the chart and see that the price of your favorite asset has been going up for more than a day. Then you start thinking about how much you could make and where you could spend that money. This makes you want to buy an asset with a larger volume so you can make more money. You make a trade that is set up to have the best possible outcome, but you have no idea or acceptance of the possible consequences.
Revaluation
Take a look at what you have done so far. Are you ready to put everything on the line? If the answer is no, you should ask yourself, "Why do I want to put everything I have at risk?" Most likely, you feel this way because you want to make a big change in your life. But do you really know what's at stake?
"Filter of perception" or what are the risks of expectations?
What happens after you have set up the expectation that the trade will go well for you? When you go into a trade with more money than you need, you somehow set yourself up for a good result. Your mind starts to ignore information and signals from the market that don't fit with what you already think, as if you were wearing blinders. You won't know for sure how this filter works until you close the deal and stop having false hopes.
Is trading something that everyone can do?
Trading is not something that everyone should do. To get good at this craft, you have to work on yourself all the time, get over your emotions, control your thoughts, and question your own decisions while always following the rules. Don't give up on trading if you think it's not for you. You can be successful if you only do what you really want and work to improve yourself and show off your inner potential.
What is it to trade?
Trading is a game of chances, and you should have the right mindset for it. You shouldn't feel bad when a stop loss happens, because if you use a method that has a certain chance of working, you know that in the end, you'll still have made money. It's just a matter of time. You can survive and put off the so-called "trader's cycle" only if the trading process makes you feel good.
System trading
System trading means that you only make a trade under a certain set of rules. Your system could include chart patterns, candlestick formations, indicators, a certain astrological date, and more. No matter what, it's important that the chance of success and the risk vs. reward are both high. As soon as you make your own trading system, start keeping a trade diary, write down the rules of your trade, and answer when you enter a trade, you will be in the big leagues of traders, and nothing can stop you from making money on the market. If you stick to your own rules, you'll be happy with both your take profit and your stop loss, knowing that you did things in a planned way. It is not your fault that the stop loss worked or your credit that you got a take profit.
Worry and concern
Before making deals, many traders are afraid and have doubts. These feelings are bad for you, so don't give in to them. They will only get in the way. You might be scared to open trades because the amount of money you risk in each trade is too high. Let's draw an analogy. You and a friend make a bet on the flip of a coin. The coin is strange, so it comes up heads 70% of the time. If it comes up heads at least once, you lose. If it comes up heads twice in a row, you win. Can it happen that heads come up twice in a row by accident? What's four? Yes, it sure can! Your task is in increasing the number of coin flips to win the bet as often as possible over time. The same is true of the business you do. When you act in a systematic way on the market, you might get four stop losses in a row. But at the same time, you shouldn't lose a lot of money that will change the way you live. One to two percent of your capital is the best amount to put at risk in a single trade. Getting a stop loss only won't throw you off your emotional balance and let you fall into the "trader's cycle" if you have so much used volume. If you don't think this is enough, ask yourself, "Is the goal of your trading to try to increase the size of your capital no matter what, or to keep it and grow it?"
How often you trade ?
Overtrading, which leads to "trading burnout," is not a small mistake made by new traders. Your job is to wait in a humble way for a new system to set up on the chart. You don't have to look at the chart every ten minutes. Instead, decide on your own what timeframes you will use to trade, and keep in mind that the longer the timeframe, the more reliable the signal.
Take profits and stop losses in a row
The most important thing to remember is that you must keep acting according to your trading system, no matter how many stop losses you get in a row, and you must keep not acting against your trading system, no matter how many take profits you get in a row. The market can be irrational, and technical analysis may stop working at those times, but that doesn't matter. What matters is whether you are acting in a systematic way and whether you are in control at this moment. We can get several stop losses in a row if we only follow our trading system, but we don't have to worry about losing a lot of money or feeling bad about ourselves because we know that over the course of a few years, we are statistically certain to succeed if we trade on system entry points that have a 70% chance of working out and a ratio of possible profits to possible losses of at least 2:1, which guarantees us a profit even if we lose.
Conclusion
Real traders trade probabilities based on market signals in the moment instead of building expectations, because they know that expectations lead to unfulfilled expectations and missed opportunities. You can only make money with a system, self-control, and time.
Trading with 0 stress👉So you see a trading opportunity. It looks like a fair setup. You get confirmation to enter, but you hesitate. You're afraid of losing money, or you have some anxiety that keeps you from pulling the trigger. This is a problem that almost all traders face at some point in their trading career. I too have suffered from fear of losing money and this problem has led to other mistakes that have stopped me from executing my best trades. Today I share my process of what I did. To reduce my anxiety while trading and the actual steps I took to improve my trading execution.
❓ Do you think the color of the candle affects you while trading? Of course it does. Feel free to tell me if this sounds familiar in the comment section. You enter a long trade expecting the market to go up. You gain a few %, then the price turns against you and forms a red candle. And you start watching the movement, especially each candle pointing down. And you focus on the red color of the candle.
😱You get more and more anxious. When another red candle forms. This was a big problem for me in my early years. I closed my trades after a few minutes. When I saw more red candles below my entry point. The solution to overcome this is simple:
🧨 Change the color of the candles to one color. This way you will only track the price and its range.
Let me ask you, which of the texts on the screen is the one that is easier to read? The single colour or the multi-colour? There is a phenomenon in psychology called visual perception. Your brain is always looking for patterns in commerce. If you use multi-coloured candles, you reduce your ability to recognise patterns. Let me repeat that. Your brain is looking for patterns, and one of those patterns is similar colors. Colors affect your brain, your emotions, your feelings. Your psychology, potentially your trading ability. To trade best, you need to trade in a neutral, unbiased state of mind. I've bought in the past because of fast moving red or green candles, I've made bad trades, both on entry and exit. If you get anxious during an open trade, use candles of the same color. So try this simple tip to reduce your reaction to price movements. Change the colour to anything but not to red. Blue or green, yellow or white candles. Just stay away from red and give me a feedback in a week or so. I find myself calmer using a single color for the up and down candles. Maybe this little brainstorming session will help relieve some of the anxiety.
👉 Here's another situation. You see a long opportunity. The price is around the key level and you need to decide. You pull the trigger at, say, $50. You say to yourself, "Wait, I'll wait until... until the market drops a few cents. The market drops to $50.02, but you're still waiting. And then the market goes back up to $50.10 and... you say to yourself, I'm not getting in now. That's a worse price than five minutes ago. I'll wait until it goes down again. And of course the price never comes back. It goes up without you. And now you're frustrated because you anticipated the move, but your perfectionism... prevented you from pulling the trigger. Fear of losing money and perfectionism can lead to irrational behavior, overanalyzing, overthinking and slowly draining your mental energy.
🟢 One of the problems I personally struggled with was. That I wanted to be perfect in my trades. I was looking for the perfect opportunity. You know, when you enter and the price never goes against you, not even one %. Being a perfectionist in trading is stressful and always being on the edge doesn't help you make good trading decisions. In most cases, when you are waiting for the perfect entry, you realize you just missed a big move. Trying to time your entry precisely, at the entry point, is a foolish undertaking. Perfection can be your biggest enemy in trading and can cause you a lot of stress.
🟢 Here's how to reduce that anxiety. Use ranges instead of exact prices. As a day trader, you will not be able to track price movements every minute of the day. That's why you should use price ranges instead of exact prices. This gives you some flexibility. And of course you still need to be strict with yourself when executing your plan. Good traders are vigilant, yet patient. When a lineup they've been waiting for pops up, they grab it without hesitation. But until that time comes, they won't budge. The price fluctuations that lure other traders. They choose to reserve energy for what they are prepared for and ignore everything else. They don't chase the market, they let the market come to them. The opposite of this is forcing trades. You know the feeling when you wait for a trade, see some activity, and pull the trigger early. You force the trade. I did that almost every day.
🟢 Here's the solution. Stop using market orders and use limit orders instead. Basically let the market come to you. Once you have selected the assets you want and done your analysis, you need to determine the prices where you will buy and sell. Your goal is simply to buy and sell at the best possible prices, and use your research to identify reasonable prices in advance. Not only will this help you get a better deal, it will also help you avoid emotion-based trading. The simple solution to reducing stress and anxiety is to only act when the conditions are what you expect. Letting the market come to you is a difficult but valuable skill to learn. So forget market orders and use limit orders. This will reduce your emotional involvement and prevent you from making bad decisions.
🟢 If you want to reduce stress and anxiety while trading, you should switch to higher time frames. This will allow you the time needed to make informed decisions. I know you will find it difficult at first, but you will continue to struggle with anxiety and stress until you make the change. If you are feeling nervous and afraid of losing money, I highly recommend trying the higher time frames. Again, this transition to higher time frames is difficult and most traders are reluctant to switch. But you need to change your environment if you want better trading performance. If you trade in an environment like the 1-minute or the 5-minute chart, you risk the risk of market noise. True, higher time frames don't offer trading opportunities with as much speed, but the signals generated are more reliable and have a much higher chance of working. Better to trade a handful of good quality trades. Rather than trying with many poor quality trades. Daytrade trading is exciting, but it also requires you to monitor price movements for many hours. Most daytrade traders initially like the excitement and moving on lower time frames, but it's only a matter of time before they experience mental burnout, and once mental discipline is exhausted, greed, frustration, anger and impatience will bring bad trades and send you into a dangerous state of mind from which it is difficult to recover. So move into higher time frames. You'll only spend a fraction of the time in front of the charts, and you'll be at less risk of burnout. After a while, you'll find that it becomes much easier to work with a cool head while maintaining mental and emotional discipline.
🟢 How often do you enter trading? The setup looked great, then the price went straight away to your stop-loss before it got to your take profit level without you. Without profit, this is probably the most frustrating scenario many traders face on a daily basis. Because you fear losing money, you tend to use small stop losses. You don't want to make a mistake and try to keep your losses small, but keeping your levels too close to the entry candle is a recipe for having your account cut to pieces. A tight stop relies on you having very precise, near-perfect entries, and we've already talked about perfectionism in trading. If you repeatedly see your stops being hit regularly before the price turns in the original direction, it is very likely that you have placed your stops at levels that other traders use, especially if you trade on obvious price movement patterns. My advice is to start trading with a wider stop loss and a lower position size away from the entry. The position size you use should be small enough that neither a loss nor a gain will affect your mindset and ability to continue trading, only then will you really focus on proper execution.
🟢If you are trading the markets with your hard-earned money, but you don't know what your trading strategy is and you don't trust your market analysis skills. You probably shouldn't be trading with a live account. One of the biggest reasons why you are nervous and afraid when you trade is that you will lose your money because you don't trust your own trading skills. You may not have learned a trading strategy. You do not have a trading plan, you do not keep a trading diary. You are simply not prepared to take risks. Real money at risk in the markets. That is why you feel fear when you trade. Basically, trading anxiety comes from not knowing what you are doing. I have talked many times about the value of a trading log. The key is to use your trading log to keep track of when you are at your best and when you are at your worst when it comes to your trading and your emotions. I pay close attention in my trading diary to times when I make mental mistakes, such as not trading a good trade when I know I should. When I am afraid of losing money or avoiding a good trade, I look for triggers and patterns. Was I confused? Did I make that mistake in a particular market situation? Do I have certain feelings and emotions from previous trades? These are the intangible factors that you need to track in your trading log.
🟢 Most traders are fixated on short-term results. They make money by pressing a few buttons and don't pay attention to the process that makes it possible. They make mistakes, learn from them, and correct them over and over again. Everyone thinks about winning, but few think about the benefits of losing . In my experience, most wins are directly attributable to a big losing trade that I learned from making money in the past. As a trader it makes no sense if you don't understand why/why you can't repeat. Similarly, losing money is a valuable experience. If you understand why you lost. Paradoxically, you cannot understand why you win. Without first understanding how you could have lost in the same situation. So change the way you think about losses, because they will show you the direction of repeatable victories in the future.
If you've already lost, at least don't lose the lesson.
Take care my friend and have a good trade!
Institutional / Smart Money Vs Retail Psychology + Rules🎃 Many people approach technical analysis thinking that it is the first and most important thing to learn, which in reality should be the last. It is essential to first understand that trading psychology and risk management is the MOST IMPORTANT factor when trading within the market. Even if you have a strong technical analysis (which can never be perfect), you can still lose if you have poor risk management. You can lose even more if you are not patient enough and trade EMOTIONALLY.
🎃 The sad reality is that many professionals who have been trading for years still haven't realized this. I hope this little post will shed some light on advanced and novice traders. Every day I witness traders who make money and don't know why, or lose money and don't know why. One of the things I always like to advocate is that it is better to know why you lost a trade than not to know why you made money on a good trade. These are realistic expectations of the market, there is no simple magic spiral in technical analysis .
🧠 1.) Time frames: institutions (fund managers, funds, banks and whales) think in long time frames and monitor price action based on this (Years, Decades) small investors, retail traders monitor things in low time frames (Minutes, hours, days)
📜 Rule: always zoom out to higher time frame
🧠 2.) Objectivity: Small investors quickly switch between optimism and pessimism because of current price movements and news in the media. It can be a bull market one day and a bear market another day for a small investor. Institutional investors are not sentimental, they assess the growth rate of the market sector, the total market size available, the adoptation/acceptance, the growth of the network, the analysis of revenues (to predict profitability years and decades in advance). If an institutional investor reaches a conclusion, they hold it until the underlying financial situation changes.
📜 Rule: Follow the price not the news
🧠 3.) economic power: Small investors usually have limited money to invest, so they often resort to leverage, which typically results in full liquidity. Therefore small investors (who do not like to buy spot because it is not "cool") can easily be "thrown out" of trading because of the unlimited losses from leverage.
There is a reason why 90% of retail traders lose money.
Institutionalists brazenly exploit those with few resources and fear. Institutional investors have access to billions of dollars worth of resources and have teams of quantitative/statistical experts who control the automated trading algorithms.
📜 Rule: As long as you are not an expert, buy in Spot
🧠 4.) Influence: Institutional investors have deep pockets and can influence the general sentiment of the market through the press (news, social media and interviews). Institutional investors influence the news that small investors read. Institutionalists are well known for advertising higher prices for retailers to "buy at the top" to avoid FOMO (Fear of Missing Out). They are also notorious for creating tremendous market fear (FUD - Fear Uncertainty and Doubt), which encourages retailers to "sell at the bottom".
📜 Rule: You pay the price for FUD & FOMO!!
🧠 5.) Behavior: Institutions actively participate in futures, options and derivatives markets. Both actively benefit from short-term price cycles as well as longer-term accumulation strategies. Small investors tend to think in short time horizons. They are sophisticated, financially strong and have expertise. Institutions make money by attracting retail investors into the market (via FOMO) and then liquidating their positions (via FUD). In the market, one person's loss is another person's gain.
📜 Rule: News is usually wrong!
👉 Adoption stages
Many people misinterpret the exponential adoption process from a forward market perspective.
In short: You've probably heard the ingenious question that a scientist found that a lily started growing in a pond and doubled in size every day, then after 30 days covered 100% of the pond. Which day will it cover 50% of the lake?
The answer is on the 29th day, as it doubles in size every period. The lake goes from growing 50% to 100% when it doubles in size.
It is interesting to note that on day 28 the lake covered only 25% of the sample and on day 27 it covered 12.5%. It is therefore difficult to understand the exponential growth.
Your Uniqueness in the MarketTake a look at this chart, or any chart of your choosing, and tell me what you see! Not just the technical terms and the direction of the market but explain what you are seeing, thinking and feeling as you read the market data from start to finish.
If you got the responses from twenty different people, you'd receive twenty different perspectives with twenty different interpretations. Some of them overlapping in their theories and explanations while others violently contradict and oppose each other. The beautiful thing about trading is that we all at one time or another are correct. "Correct" being that their was a legitimate opportunity to place a trade and make money based on your unique perspective of the information.
The difficult thing in trading is really understanding what we see and perceive in all of the market data. I want to emphasize... The difficult thing about trading is in truly understanding how we see and interpret market data in our own unique way. Some people see long, while others see short, and depending upon the system; on any particular trade, on any particular day, both sets of people are correct.
All systems have winners and losers, its an unavoidable fact. The acceptance of this fact will help you understand that you don't necessarily need to go searching for someone else's way of trading, you only to need gain a thorough understanding of how you view things. What resonates with you and your uniqueness? Maybe its moving averages and RSI, maybe its price action and support and resistance, or maybe its simply the day of the week at a specific time. When you start to unpack your way of making sense of the market you can find your unique way of operating in it.
If success in the market was primarily based on technical skills, and the use of tools, indicators, and spreadsheets. There would be a lot more profitable traders. Trading attracts some of the most brilliant minds, intellectual beasts, and academic rockstars, and yet over 90% of traders fail and are unsuccessful. You yourself, as you read this may realize you are a brilliant person yet you struggle to stay consistent with your trading. The answer to your problem is not solely in the technical skill, its likely hiding in the unexamined parts of your personality.
If you know this, then you also know that awareness and application are two totally different things. You can be aware that you have a personal problem with following a trading methodology but feel totally powerless in correcting it. My question to you would then be, how much time have you spent experiencing your own unique style of trading? Stop fighting your nature, and embrace your expression.
There are market fundamentals and market basics that every trader needs to understand.
Price Action
Structure
Trend
Risk
Beyond this your style of trading is likely a combination of many different skills that you've accumulated from various sources. The important thing for each trader is to understand which skills resonate most with them. Which skills fit your unique market perspective. Which skills can you use to build a system of trading that allows you to account for the mixture of wins and losses, while keeping you in an optimal mental space, so that you may execute on your level of understanding.
I think the challenge for every trader, is to take the time to identify a purpose in their trading. To understand why it is that you feel drawn to embark on such a challenging task. Those traders who stick with it, and generate some answers to these questions will have taken huge strides in understanding how the market serves as mirror. Reflecting back at you, the potential for you to fulfill your desires coupled with everything that you need to work on, and improve upon, on a very personal level.
If you don't come from a trading and investing background, either from family ties or academia, then all of this becomes even more important. Self- taught traders need to understand their uniqueness in the market. You are the most important part of your trading system. It would be crazy not to give yourself the time and attention you deserve.
Happy Trading!
Be Aware of Those Cognitive BiasesHello everyone
Cognitive biases are a common phenomenon in the world of trading, where the pressures and potential rewards can lead even the most rational individuals to make irrational decisions.
These biases, which are essentially mental shortcuts or errors in thinking, can have a significant impact on a trader's decision-making process and ultimately their performance.
One of the most common cognitive biases in trading is the confirmation bias , which is the tendency to seek out information that confirms our existing beliefs and to overlook or dismiss information that contradicts them.
For example, a trader who believes that a particular stock is undervalued may only focus on news and data that supports this belief, ignoring any information that suggests otherwise.
This can lead to a distorted view of the market and ultimately to poor decision-making.
Another common bias is the overconfidence bias , which is the tendency to overestimate our knowledge and abilities.
This can lead traders to take on more risk than they can handle, as they may believe that they have a better understanding of the market than they actually do.
This can be especially dangerous when combined with the confirmation bias, as overconfident traders may be more likely to ignore warning signs or contradictory information.
The sunk cost bias is another common cognitive bias that can affect traders.
This is the tendency to continue to invest in a losing position because we have already invested a lot of time, money, or effort into it.
For example, a trader may hold onto a losing stock for too long because they don't want to admit that they made a mistake or because they believe that the stock will eventually bounce back.
However, this can lead to even greater losses, as the trader may be better off cutting their losses and moving on to more promising opportunities.
Cognitive biases can have a major impact on a trader's performance, so it's important to be aware of them and to take steps to mitigate their effects.
One way to do this is to develop a trading plan that outlines specific rules and criteria for making decisions, rather than relying on gut instinct or emotion.
This can help to keep traders focused and disciplined, and can prevent them from being swayed by biases.
Another effective strategy is to regularly review and reflect on your trades, looking for patterns and identifying any biases that may have influenced your decision-making.
This can help to improve your awareness of your own biases and can enable you to make more objective and rational decisions in the future.
For that, not only I journal daily my trades but also the emotions I felt when I took those trades.
Overall, cognitive biases can be a major challenge for traders, but by being aware of them and taking steps to mitigate their effects, traders can improve their performance and increase their chances of success in the market.
Thank you for your reading and support as always
Dave
DEMONS OF TRADING | Don't Think Like This
Have you ever wondered what helped all those professionals of Wall Street become successful? You will be surprised, but the key to their reached heights is hidden in their mistakes. Yes, that is right. Most professional and successful traders made many mistakes before they got to the top.
Making mistakes is ordinary and sometimes even necessary because you learn when you make them. The crucial point of this idea is never to repeat those mistakes because some errors may cost us a fortune. That is why we gathered 10 most common trading mistakes to prevent you from faults and losses.
Little preparation
Entry to the Forex market is relatively easy, so people have a light-minded attitude towards trading knowledge. Beginner traders, especially, think that theory is not a big deal, and they will be able to build it up without a peep. However, it does not work this way.
Miscalculating the risk/reward ratio
For some reason, many traders believe that higher win trades are more profitable than lower ones. Sometimes, this idea even gets paid off, and due to blind luck, trades, where the potential risk exceeds the reward, benefit. However, in most cases, such trades are a sure way to lose money in the longer term.
Avoiding risk management
Risk management should be the core of your trading because it helps cut down losses. Trading without risk management is like skydiving without a parachute.
Neglecting market events
Relevant market news is essential as economic events influence the direction of trading during the day. So, if you are not aware of the financial reports or earnings, you might skip the volatility.
To win the game, you need to develop your thinking and how you participate in the game. You are in a market trading against professional traders. Your goal is to think like a professional. That is the only way to survive in this game.
Please, like this post and subscribe to our tradingview page!👍
The Power of PRICE ACTIONHello traders and future traders!! I know there is a point in the trading journey where you have so much information that it gets confusing, and you try to apply everything that you have read, but price action strategies shows us how simple are the markets and how easily we can interpret one without using tons of indicators, but just the price movement. Here are the 3 main advantages when it comes to price action trading and the reasons why this type of analysis is so powerful in many trading strategies.
If you see any other advantages, but also disadvantages, leave a comment and let's discuss!
The 3 Kinds of Trading Pains You Need to KnowHello everyone,
I identified early 3 kind of pains when trading/investing
Pain of missing out
How disheartening to get out of a trade and see it progressing way further leaving us with only a fraction of what we could have made.
Took me some time to make peace with the fact that banking a piece of a whole move is OKAY.
Capturing 20, 30, 50% of a trade is OKAY.
You know why? It's still more than any loss and obviously more than 0.
Pain of losing money
Basically, it's when we're either wrong on the trade direction or trade timing (= when the candles will go in the expected direction).
I feel it's more painful to lose gains aka some $$ we earned than losing some of our initial capital.
Our brains are wired that way.
It's pretty challenging psychologically to gain something and then losing it.
Think about your past romantic breakups, when you lost your sport trophy because the adversary team outcompeted you, when you give a candy to a child and then take it back... (don't do it, it's mean ^^)
Recovering from a catastrophic loss took me multiple months - I was disgusted of trading - I didn't want to open my trading terminal anymore.
I ended up blaming everyone (the market, the broker, ...), then decided to crawl my way back up trading demo and with small position sizes again.... same as a beginner should do.
If you lost money due to that FTX scam, I can relate to how you must be feeling.....
Assessing counter-party risk is complicated, especially when we see institutions, senators investing into our broker....
The only hedge for that is paying ourselves often... I do it every week... my gains (if any ^^) are safer on my bank account rather than on any broker.
Pain of being "inexperienced"
Being inexperienced is the psychological state of not thinking in a rational way anymore and letting our emotions leading our actions.
Typical scenario: we receive "easy" signals and we didn't take them because we were fatigued or furious because we lost taking previous signals with the same system.
Assuming an overall profitable strategy, not respecting the signals from your trading system leads to missing out on gainers and losing money (ending the day/week with a net negative P&L)
Respecting your signals WILL NEVER be easy .... but.... it's the less painful choice as the alternative is wasting your money, your time and your energy.
Conclusion
The pain of losing money is greater than the pain of missing out.... by far....
That's why, most profitable traders burnt 1 or more trading accounts, of course involuntary, and learned that essential lesson the hard way.
Once we feel that pain, we don't want to feel it anymore ever..... and we take a lot of actions such as journaling, meditating, sleeping/eating well, working out to shut down our "monkey brain" acting based on emotions
The Iceberg Illusion: The hidden logic of success
We often get mesmerized by someone’s above the surface success and don’t factor in all the below the surface opportunity-costs they paid to achieve that success.
This is the ‘iceberg illusion’. It’s been a fav analogy of mine for years. And yet, this just might be a better visual for sport than the ‘iceberg illusion’.
You see… the hyper focus on outcomes is one of the biggest failings (or façades) that comes from social media. It creates a false impression of what leads to success.
We see the success, but not the work that went into it… The unseen hours, necessary failures, setbacks, crises of confidence, the not-now’s (to the countless asks), the loneliness, the late nights and early mornings; and, all the wobbling that comes before the walking—much less running.
There are no shortcuts. There are no overnight successes.
The iceberg doesn’t move quickly. It’s not sped up. It just moves consistently; at often a barely discernible speed.
What do you want to learn in the next post?
HOW TO MANAGE YOUR EMOTIONSHello everyone! One of the most important , and in the same time, one of the hardest aspects of trading is the ability to manage correctly your emotions and leave them aside while trading. So how can we manage our emotions in stressful situations? Here are some tips that every trader should consider when starting trading:
1. DO NOT ACT ON ANGER: every time you feel strong emotions, hold back and revisit your trading plan, is your move aligned with your initial plan or are you acting on irrational emotions? One of the worst things is to take a position based on anger after a loss in order to recover the losses. Take a deep breath and rethink your decision!
2. DO NOT FALL IN LOVE WITH YOUR POSITIONS: we all want to always be right, but sometimes we have to accept a bad position and close it. It is common to fall in love with our positions and hold it out of hope that the market will switch, but involving emotions just blow the account, stick to your plan!
3. ESTABLISH SOME TRADING RULES AND KEEP A TRADING JOURNAL: setting your own rules of trading and risk management is crucial for a profitable account. No matter what you hear from others and how good a position may look, if it is not aligned with your rules, do not take it! Moreover, do not change a strategy after some losses, stick to what you have learnt and planned, keep the information in a trading journal and plan your next moves based on you learnt from it.
4. TAKE A BREAK AFTER 3 LOSSES IN A ROW: it is natural to have a bad day, but when this happen do not become over emotional and over trade, but rather take a break and wait for a new and fresh trading day. Strong emotions will ruin any important decision, no matter the context, so try to avoid them.
5. SET TP AND SL AND TRUST YOUR JUDGEMENT: after establishing your trading plan and risk management plan, in order to stick to your risk to reward strategy, you have to use Take Profit and Stop Loss orders, and trust your judgment and the market. No matter what happens, this helps you have a clear forecast of your account, without blowing it. Also, avoid getting greedy and secure your profits with take profit order.
6. LOWER THE TRADE SIZE: if you feel overwhelmed by the risk on each trade, and out of fear you make irrational decisions, try to lower the trade size to what feels comfortable with you. After doing this, always update your trading strategy!
7. DO NOT GIVE UP! : there is a point when every trader feels like giving up, losing all his faith, but you should understand that this is the normal journey, with ups and downs, and if you do not let yourself intimidated by the downs, the ups are limitless!
Why You Shouldn't Feel "FOMO" AnymoreHello to you my dear TradingView readers,
All the below are based on my preferences, I don't give any financial recommendations and I have nothing to sell you with this article.
I'm sharing content because I see a lot of traders being/becoming broke and I don't want you to be one of them.
One reason I don't have fear of missing out is that after 11 years of trading, I've learned that almost no one in this game keeps the money they've made.
A person's 10 minutes of fame does not excite me.
Usually, I'm right in thinking that they'll end with nothing.
👇 Here is Why 👇
My uncle made a fortune trading stocks during the dot-com boom, so I got into it.
He came up empty-handed.
With cryptocurrencies, I've seen young men turn $1,000 into over $100,000 in a matter of weeks.
They've since lost everything and are now penniless and in debt.
Robert, one of the greatest legends to me in my trading journey, was once up $60 million from trading.
He finished with nothing more than a good story.
I've seen it time and time again.
I'm no longer surprised by the rollercoaster of huge gains and losses.
It is my standard assumption.
I don't want anyone to suffer financial hardship.
Even those who appear to be clueless and act like fools.
The market gives and the market takes away.
It is extremely effective in this regard.
So let me say this: if you've made 100,000% in trading, I sincerely wish you the best.
But if you want congratulations, tell me when you’re retired.
The skills to make money are very different than the skills needed to keep that money.
The latter were more difficult for me to acquire...
If you want me to expand more on that topic, please let me know in the comments section.
I'll keep bringing a few articles like this every week because it helps me clarifying my thoughts AND giving back to the community makes me feel good about myself somehow :)
I intend to share all facets of what makes a fantastic profitable trader and how to attain that status.
This is both the most difficult and the most rewarding job.
Thank you for reading
Dave
Smart Money vs Retail traders (How to Think Like Smart Money)😱 There were a few people there talking about their losses, that they had no idea what to do and I wrote this to them:
It's mostly the fault of mainstream media + youtubers + twitterers etc. It's really easy to communicate the simplest approach that everyone understands and subscribes too. Note that if everyone is on the same side... Usually most people are wrong. They take past events too much at face value. But the market is constantly changing. Its to buy on the upside and not during pullbacks + HODL HODL HODL. With that said they really have no idea where they should get out and get in. That's fine by the way. News can be picked up by any of us from the news portals. They don't inform anyone about the negative side of things. It's a tough place to be and you can't take it half as seriously as it is communicated. Unless you are an investor (REAL) you are looking at the market long term. A multi-year perspective. Of course it doesn't pay off here either. The crypto market is still pretty damn small. No one is too late. Now most of you are losing time, but everyone has to start somewhere. I was in the same situation in 2017. I was drowning. Now I'm still looking at these corrections from + xxxxx% profit. Unfortunately we have to give ourselves time in the market and endure pullbacks of -20-30-40-50-60% to see 3000% profits. Realizing upwards during the upswing is not a bad thing. For me, a huge part of my strategy is to have a lot of money on the sidelines. That's why. Especially on 4H trend changes I sell everything that is not bullish. Then I sell others too if they break the trend and just trade.
💡 We are in the best market in the world, but psychologically the hardest market. If you learn to manage these things and use volatility to your advantage rather than your disadvantage, then it's a game changer.
💡 Institutions (fund managers, pension funds, banks and whales) think in long term horizons and monitor price action based on that (Years, Decades) Small investors, retail traders monitor things in low time frames (Minutes, hours, days). Small investors quickly switch between optimism and pessimism based on current price movements and news in the media. It can be a bull market one day and a bear market for a small investor the next. Institutional investors are not sentimental, they assess the growth rate of the market sector, the total market size available, the adoptation/acceptance, the growth of the network, the analysis of revenues (to predict profitability years and decades in advance). If an institutional investor draws a conclusion, they hold it until the underlying financial situation changes. Small investors usually have limited money to invest, so they often resort to leveraging, which typically results in full liquidation. Leveraged trades have "unlimited" potential losses, and therefore small investors (who do not like to buy spot because it is not "cool") can easily "drop out" of trading because of the "unlimited" losses from leverage. Think about it... as a retailer, you have your precious and hard-earned money on the line. Do you have time to lose what you've worked hard to earn, or even more? Why can't you accept that this is a profession? We study in university for 3-10 years to get an average salary afterwards. But here we are not willing to spend a couple of years without constantly taking time away from yourself with losses? Levrage are not bad. The user is the dangerous one.
😱 There is a reason why 90% of retail traders lose money.
💡Institutionalists brazenly exploit those with few resources and fear. Institutional investors have access to billions of dollars worth of resources and have teams of quantitative/statistical experts who control the automated trading algorithms.
Institutional investors have deep pockets and can influence the general sentiment of the market through the press (news, social media and interviews). Institutional investors influence the news that small investors read. Institutionalists are well known for advertising higher prices to retailers to "buy at the top", This is the FOMO factor (Fear of Missing Out). They are also notorious for creating tremendous market fear (FUD - Fear Uncertainty and Doubt), which encourages retailers to "sell at the bottom".
💡 Institutions are also actively involved in futures, options and derivatives markets. They all actively benefit from short-term price cycles as well as longer-term accumulation strategies. The institutions are sophisticated, financially strong and have expertise. Institutions make money by attracting small investors into the market (via FOMO) and then liquidating their positions (via FUD). In the market, one person's loss is another person's gain.
💡 There is a learning curve that 90% of your people want to skip and get rich overnight. Unfortunately, this is not reality. Knowledge is incredibly important. If you want to be a doctor, or a surgeon, you don't just walk into the operating room and say give me a knife and I'll cut this guy open and operate him without any knowledge. You really have to know what you're doing. If you're an engineer or you want to be an engineer, without training or knowledge, it would be very difficult for you to build a bridge or a skyscraper. You need the knowledge. If you want to be a teacher, but you don't know the subject matter, it would be very difficult to teach students in a meaningful way if you don't even know what you are teaching. So it is essential to acquire knowledge, but that knowledge has to come from the right people. So mentoring is also vital. Everyone must also understand the psychological aspects of investing and trading. Because a lot of people lose money in the financial markets. Not because they are stupid, but because their emotions get the better of them. Focusing on learning is incredibly important, it changes your life. Of course, this doesn't just apply to investing and trading. It applies to everything, which is why the financial markets are so incredible in their ability to create meaning in life, if people are open to it, and if they don't focus too much on money, then money will simply be the result of doing things the right way. Over time, if you do things the right way, you will become rich, you don't have to become a millionaire overnight. If you want to do that, you will probably lose all the money you put into the hands of institutions that want your money, want you to be captivated by a fantasy world.
The reality is that you need the knowledge to fight the big players and win.
💡Self-control is also a must. All wealth will pass without self-control. Self-control makes you keep the money you earn. There are many examples of this among people who have won huge amounts of money without earning it. For example, people who win lottery. These people basically give back all the money they made because they didn't really earn it. A lot of times, the money they didn't earn is put back. When you earn money with self-control, you never have to give it back! It is yours and will continue to grow.
💡 The key is to get off your ass and get moving. Remember these things and you'll be fine.