First Steps First - A Detailed View
1) - Get yourself a Professional Trading Platform to work with.
This Platform will be by your side throughout your Trading Career, day after day it will be there to help you take your money home with you. There is NOTHING worse than getting screwed by your broker, on fills or customer support, or whatever - It´s the last thing you need when you are trying to take money from the market consistently.
We have a few recommendations in this area, and there are a lot to chose from. Always best to chose one which allows papertrading upfront we think, so that you can use it and get a feel for it before you fund it with real money. TOS is a great option.
2) - You MUST learn the BASICS.
Don´t open your platform and expect to be able to competently use it. These Software Platforms can be intricate and need some getting used to. Use the Platform for some trades with paper money, and above all go to a basic site and get some basic trading training. Find out what it means to GO LONG, to GO SHORT, find out what the BID is, the ASK, to FLATTEN, to REVERSE, the SPREAD, LEVEL 2, find out how the market basics work - These are all expressions you may already know, if not, get to know them & MORE - This is as basic as it gets !
There are some excellent free resources here which can get complete beginners started off on their learning process.
3) - Learning the right MINDSET.
Trading can be an extremely POSITIVE experience, it can also shred you to pieces - These emotions can change within the blink of an eye, literally. Take this part very seriously and use whatever works for you to remain positive and focused on the job in hand.
4) - PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE.
You MUST NOT put hard earned money on the line before you know the basics and can "efficiently execute trades" - We simply can NOT stress this point ENOUGH........ Although we are not fans of PaperTrading, you must utilize this at first while learning the bare basics and getting to grips with basic trading.
PaperTrading is a different game to Live Trading with real money. The emotions are different, the fills and pricing are different, the level 2 access is different, the whole scheme of things is different - You can not duplicate Live Trading Results whilst Paper Trading, and this is why we are not big fans for the long term. However, a paper account is very efficient at helping you to learn the software and get to grips with the basics, for instance the execution process for opening and closing of trades - You must know your way around your platform before you use real money, don't try going on a limb or you could see your account diminish extremely fast.
Also, please remember, if you can earn money PaperTrading it does not necessarily mean that you will earn money with a Live Trading Account (and if you lose money on Paper it does not automatically mean you will lose money with a Live account either). Because of many factors it is simply not the same for monetary results, but after a short space of time a Paper Trading Account can teach you many things about trading and how to execute flawlessly in any given situation - It is a MUST for this execution practise.
You should Paper Trade until you are extremely confident that you are ready to move to real money, this can be as long as you feel comfortable doing so - When you can competently use your Platform and you know the Basics, you should move on to a Live Account as soon as possible, as there is no substitute when learning to take consistent profits - A paper account is simply not realistic enough when you are learning to consistently profit from the markets. BUT then, start small, as small as you can and make consistent small profits before moving on - This use of real money will stir emotions in you every time, however small at the beginning. This can be difficult with Futures Trading as a minimum is 1 contract which can move extremely fast, you may want to get your head around basic Stock Trading (with 100 shares, or even less) before moving to the Futures Markets - You could trade the indices via ETFs, but this there is a further lesson to be learned with these Financial Instruments - One step at a time is best.
NEVER TRADE WITH SCARED MONEY - Scared money is money that is going to go to the market.
Having a plan and knowing your entry and exit points are extremely important, and revolve around you being able to flawlessly execute your trades precisely. Once you have your trading Platform all set up and you know how to use it properly, to place your orders, set your stops, know how to flatten or reverse a position, then you are ready to start getting a plan of how you are going to attack this so called Stock Market. The best way to do this in our opinion is to utilize a Mentor, one who is proven and can show you the way to plan and execute your trades on a consistent basis. Lets move on as you are now set up with your tools, and ready to go.
- Follow the below links to get started now - Either BACK to recap, NEXT to move on in our recommended direction for the best learning curve, or chose an independent link..............
The Basics | Mindset | Trading Platforms | I´m Set Up - Lets get to The Reviews | Resources - Books and DVD
