How I Started Trading: Part I

How I Started Trading: Part I

Education First 

In my initial post I shared with you how I ended up with Nate and Investors Underground.  There were other guru’s that I looked at throughout the beginning of my trading career as well as other strategies so what I want to share is my advice on how to get started based on these personal experiences and challenges.  I do want to say for the record that I do not get paid by any of the services that I mention or use.  They are my personal preferences and work the best for me.

First I would have to say that if you are interested in trading because you want to make quick, easy money, you will be one of the 90% of day traders that lose money.  I admit when I first started I thought it would be easier.  I quickly realized that there are several elements to trading that will take time and dedication to master.  So I would say the first step in beginning a career in trading is to truly understand everything that’s involved in it, and I mean everything, before you make the final decision to fund an account.  Before I made the move to where I am now, I had to go through this process.
So what’s involved in being successful in day trading?
• Education
• Dedication
• Patience
• Managing Emotions
There are more but these are the main ones.

Once I understood the demands of day trading, I knew that in order to shorten my learning curve and give myself the best chance of success, I needed to choose 1 of the “gurus” to follow.  Even though I liked Tim Sykes, I didn’t like his trading style.  Well I didn’t like OTS’s and Pink Sheets.  I had done a little research on Nate and his DVD and knew he was into NASDAQ’s.  I liked the feel of trading NASDAQ’s so I knew that was the direction I wanted to go.  I did look at others and did as much vetting as possible for free.  I did not want to waste money to try each of them out.  Most gurus have Twitter, Instagram, and post videos on YouTube.  That is the best way to get to know them and get a feel for their strategy.  That is exactly what I did.  I took advantage of free tours and samples of their services.  I know each person is different and has different personalities so you have to spend some time getting to know them for yourself.  After this tedious process, Nate at InvestorsLive kept coming to the top.  His style seemed to fit my personality.  He made it a point to personally answer emails and not pass them off to someone else.  Coming from a service where you rarely got a personal response from the guru this was a breath of fresh air. So I bought his first DVD and subscribed to his chat.

When you are learning, you must be dedicated to studying and exercise patience.  Also, you only need to follow 1 person and their community .  If you are following multiple gurus who have different trading styles and philosophies you will get lost.  Again, one of my main recommendations is to filter out as much “noise” as possible.  I spent two weeks watching the DVD and taking notes.  I followed silently in chat, watched charts, and tried to connect as much as I could.  I never opened a paper trading account.  I just traded small size when I did trade.  I listened to the chat room moderators and followed them on Twitter.  I felt that if Nate chose them as moderators they closely followed his style and set-ups.

I cannot preach education enough.  I am not just saying that because I am a teacher.  I am saying this because it is a very important element of trading.  It is also a never ending process.  You are always learning.  You have to be dedicated to learning your craft.  This is why I say “EDUCATION FIRST”. Learn how to read charts and identifying support and resistance. Learn how to identify the set-ups. Learn how to find the stocks that are in play by scanning at night and in the morning.  Learn how to become self-sufficient.  You know the old saying, “give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day. Teach a man how to fish and you feed him for a lifetime”.   I want to be the fisherman!

Let’s sum up this blog:

1.Understand everything that’s involved in trading

2. Research the “gurus” and find one that fits your personality.  Make sure the guru is an active part of their community.  Do this before you drop any money into their service.  Make sure it’s a good fit for you then stick to learning from that person and his/her community

3. Make sure you filter out all of the unnecessary noise.  Listening to too many people who follow different gurus will leave you dazed, confused, and broke.  It wasn’t until I chose 1 person, 1 community that my trading success started coming

4. Invest in your education.  Your success in trading depends on it.  Purchasing InvertorsLive’s DVD’s Textbook Trading and Tandem Trader were the best investments I have made in my future.