Financial Advice Blog

The most successful floor traders are those that have the most experiance, this is no coincidence at all and should be a pointer for those who aspire to become a good trader. Day trading can be likened to being a sportsman, such as a golf pro or tennis champion, you need to be trained and in good physical shape. Skills are required which must be developed over time and practiced until they become 2nd nature. If you want to learn about trading indicators you must be prepared to put in the effort. Here are some of the key skills that you must develop as a trader.

1. Technical analysis can be used for futures as well as regular stocks, options and bonds that most people trade. This can give you a large edge over other traders who have not taken the time to study the charts support and resistance areas, trendline and patterns. Learning technical analysis is really a must do if you want to trade futures successfully.

2. This is a very simple point but is very important, always have your trading plan prepared before you enter a trade, never try and create it on the fly, you will be much too emotional. Make sure that you have both an entry and exit point in your plan.

3. Keep your trading losses small!, this is the one thing that every trader must do if they want to stay in the game for a long time. By doing this you will preserve your trading capital allowing you to trade another day. Your small wins will compensate your small losses allowing your big wins to give you an overall profit

4. Over trading is a big mistake that a lot of amateurs make. Professionals tend to be more patient and wait for the better opportunities to come along, this is called cherry picking by some and takes both patience and discipline. These are essential skills that you must develop.

5. This is a big day trading tip, it is important that you track all your trades and review them to see where you are making the mistakes. This is quite hard work, but this is what separates the professionals from the amateurs. Unless you do this you will keep on repeating the same mistakes. The best way to do this is to keep both a daily and weekly log.

6. Only trade when you are physically and mentally prepared. This is sometimes overlooked but is very important. Do you think a golf star can win a game when they are tired and mentally not focused?, it’s unlikely. Being prepared means getting a good nights sleep, having your trading station and charts well prepared before the market opens, taking the time each day to review your trading plan and rules. Finally it’s important to have the mental frame of mind and confidence that you are going to be successful today in your trading.

7. If you are a new trader take the time to paper trade until you are very confident that you are going to make money. You will know when you are ready because you will start to hate paper trading knowing that you could be making real money profits on a consistent basis.

Remember that the markets only trend for about 20-35% of the time, the rest is either sideways or very choppy, if you want to trade EFT successfully you must be fully prepared when the opportunities arise.

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