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Trading Psychology

The reason you are not successful...Hello traders, 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. Yesterday, I posted an article about how to NOT overtrade when you're emotions are running high: Now, I'd like to flip the other side of that coin showing how "overtrading" can be beneficial for beginners to achieve their desired outcome. 🧵 I - Alex Hormozi I discovered this OUTCOME equation thanks to Alex Hormozi on Youtube. He helped me defining clearly with words how to get to the outcome I want. Props to him for being such a wonderful business/sales/marketing/thinker. II - The OUTCOME equation The equation is defined as: VOLUME x SKILL x TIME = OUTCOME VOLUME = number of repetitions SKILL = quality of each repetition TIME = total duration of practicing those repetitions Based in foundational principales The more we do.... the better we get The better we get.... the more we do The longer we do it....the better we get The better we get....the longer we do it The longer we do it...the more what we did compounds on itself (profit, reducing losses, etc) In this way, each of the three feed the others, but it all starts with doing . It's a virtuous wonderful cycle: imgur.com It works for any skill you want to acquire but let's focus on trading for now. After years of trading, any of my trade has a higher quality than my trades from my early days. Why? Because I spent an enormous amount of time trading intraday first with a demo account, and then with a live account trading with micro-lots/micro-pips. Once I got profitable CONSISTENTLY for a few weeks, I allowed myself to increase my lot size slightly. I repeated this cycle made of mini weekly cycles for more than 5 years until I'll reach a capital allowing me to trade the indices futures. III - Why 97% of traders fail at trading The majority of traders lose due to a lack of experience which can only come with taking a lot of trades during an extended period of time. There is no other way.... Forget about getting rich quickly, forget about your 100% automated bots - if such wonders existed, no one in their right mind would sell them and they'd invest everything they and their family own in those magical cashflow generating machines instead... New traders think only a few weeks of practicing is required to learn about themselves and about the markets. Your favorite influencers won't tell you this: trading is very hard, most lose all their money, lose their family, lose their home, lose themselves in the process. The only hedge you have is your WORK.... you can't cheat the GAME.... you have to take a lot of trades for an extended period of time..... And then, at some point, you'll be able to capture more opportunity per trade, to lose less whenever your Stop Loss is hit, to not get frustrated when the price is leaving without you All those skills cannot be acquired in weeks .... One cannot develop character traits required to be a good trader in a short timeframe - talking about patience, discipline and motivated. Motivated too because it's hard to keep one's dopamine level high after some consecutive days of losing Don't cheat the game, it's impossible If you're not profitable yet, forget about leverage please please please please. How many times do you have to get margin called to understand that leverage wasn't invented for you to make money but to depart from it faster. IV - True Effort When learning a new skill at the beginning, everyone sucks. I certainly sucked at it and you will too. THAT IS FINE, THIS IS OKAY, THERE IS NOTHING WRONG How could you not expect to suck at a skill you don't know yet. What I'm saying is unpleasant because everyone wants to get rich quick (me included) My only guarantee to YOU guys is that if you can afford to follow this process with a decent trading strategy and stay consistent, your gains are going to be tiny at the beginning and then PARABOLIC after some time. As the desired OUTCOME is to become richer and/or live off your trading again, this is the ONLY way It's IMPOSSIBLE to suck at trading after taking thousands and thousands of trades. As it's impossible to suck at anything after months and months of constant practice and effort. And you can learn with a DEMO account (risk-free) or with betting pennies per every trade using CFDs or other similar product. If you want to learn how to play piano, if you follow some tutorials on Youtube every day and practice 2-3 hours a day for years, I guarantee you that you'll have an excellent playing level. Stop being lazy, stop cheating the game, stop searching for the way to get rich quick. Accept the magic pill doesn't exist BUT another way that no one is doing will allow you be DIRECTIONALLY RIGHT and eventually reaching your desired OUTCOME. Conclusion I wanted to post this content because this outcome equation is dear to my heart and changed my life for the better I'm literally kicking ass because I outworked everyone I know And now that I'm more skilled than them, I can put off my foot from the accelerator working less than them, making more $$ than them Thank you for reading by dear followers PS To all those in the comments about to tell me they have a magical bot printing $$ for them and their community, I invite you to show me your track records and bank account statements and any proof I could believe you didn't use photoshop on to sugarcoat what the reality is...
Education
by Daveatt
44
Candlestick Analysis - A Classic Way Of Using Candlesticks An overview of Candlesticks A candle represents the changes in price over an interval of time, such as 1 day or 1 minute. The main body of the candle illustrates the opening price at the start of the time interval and the price when the market closed at the end of the interval. The head and tail represent the highest and lowest prices during the interval. If the price closed at a price above the opening price, then the candle is referred to as a 'bullish' candle and if the price closed below the opening price, then the candle is referred to as a 'bearish' candle. The length of the shadows shows how much the price has moved up and down with respect to a candlestick within a specific duration. The size of the candlestick body shows the difference between the opening and closing price and it tells us a lot about the strength of buyers or sellers. Below, the most important characteristics of the analysis of the candlestick body are listed. A long candlestick body, that leads to quickly rising prices, indicates more buying interest and a strong price move. If the size of the candlestick bodies increases over a period, then the price trend accelerates and a trend is intensified. When the size of the bodies shrinks, this can mean that a prevailing trend comes to an end, owing to an increasingly balanced strength ratio between the buyers and the sellers. Candlestick bodies that remain constant confirm a stable trend. If the market suddenly shifts from long rising candlesticks to long falling candlesticks, it indicates a sudden change in trend and highlights strong market forces.
OANDA:XAUUSDEducation
by TopTradingSignals
9
The 12 Days of Effective Trading Learning Hey traders, In this article, we gathered for you 1 2-days intensive trading learning marathon. We hope that it will help. 1 Day: Practice placing support and resistance lines. 2 Day: Perfect placing trend lines. 3 Day: Study candlestick patterns. 4 Day: Review chart patterns. 5 Day: Practice placing fibonacci retracements. 6 Day: Learn about moving average. 7 Day: Master market structure. 8 Day: Watch videos on momentum oscillators. 9 Day: Learn about divergence. 10 Day: Study risk managment. 11 Day: Review fundamental literature. 12 Day: Create a trading plan. Let us know if such a marathon helped you in your journey.
OANDA:XAUUSDEducation
by UnitedSignals
9
How to stop overtrading and get rid of your trading addictionHello traders, 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. Here's how to stop overtrading and get rid of your trading addiction:🧵 I - Define a set of rules The first key to stop overtrading is establishing a set of rules Create a set of rules so you know when you SHOULD stop over-trading. It can be based on $ gain/loss or just the amount of trades taken. Either way, there needs to be a written list you can follow. For example, let's say I want to make X dollars per month with equates to X/20 (give or take) dollars to make in average per trading day. Once for a given day I've reached that goal, I'm stopping myself from trading more. Why? Who here kept trading after making a decent amount of money and ended up losing all the gains? The reason being, we're humans and not naturally wired to trade. After making some money, we all tend to become greedy, taking more risks, also not seeing obvious signs we usually see when we're focused. II - Find a hobby The second key is having a hobby. Something you can do once you've stopped trading It could be... - Working out (I'm working out twice a day for health benefits but also to meditate and to stop thinking about my trades) Of course, as an intraday trader, I'm going to workout whenever with 0 opened intraday trade When I'm invested in SWING trading, I'm taking trades with big enough timeframes so that it's totally fine if I'm not checking the charts for multiple hours in a row - Doing chores Could also be cooking for yourself or your family - Talking to a friend Trading is a passion and if you're passionate about it, your friends will likely want to hear your thoughts about the markets, the trades Of course, don't give them any financial advice :) You don't want to be in a position of recommending or not recommending an action as they may blame you for their losses. Stay neutral, only share what you're doing and why you love doing it - Writing Writing or Journaling helps me clearing As long as you have SOMETHING you can do everyday after trading It should help you out Mine is after 3 consecutive intraday losses, I stop for the session (morning or afternoon) and head to working out, walking, doing anything else other than trading III - Find a buddy I would also suggest getting a trading buddy A trading buddy is simply another trader (or non-trader) that you can talk to throughout the trading day I'm trading with my father and a community of traders, we're talking often, exchanging ideas on whether a setup looks great or not. Not to talk about trades, but more as a mental coach Someone who you can text when you're feeling emotional. And they will tell you to get off the computer. Sometimes we just need to hear it from someone else to actually execute IV - Turn off your computer Lastly, I would recommend turning off the screens. Like literally shutting your computer/monitor off and walking away. You need to PHYSICALLY set yourself apart from the trading scene. Doing this will allow your brain to think about doing something else, rather than trading. Conclusion To summarise: - Have a set of trading rules - Have a hobby - Find a trading buddy - Physically constrain yourself to stop trading after your daily gains or losses have been reached
Education
by Daveatt
137
Probability Is The Name Of The GameHaving a probabilistic mind and approach to trading is one of the hardest skills to master. It goes against our human nature. We're used to having to know what must (or will) happen in any environment to get the outcome we want. If we don't get it, we're able to force new ways to create the results wanted, and usually, we succeed in doing that. To a point where we can replicate the same method used over and over again to succeed in that particular thing. But in trading, that's not possible. We could trade the same strategy that had proved to be profitable for 10 years but still lose money. Which is so damn painful. But for professional traders (like me) it isn't. Because we understand that every trader influences the market price. Every trader's buy and sell order forms a candle pattern on the chart that starts or ends a trend. For example, if 5 traders take sell trades in a downtrend, and 10 traders take buy trades in that trend, a bullish candle pattern usually shows up. It may signal a short pullback before the continuation of the trend or the end of it. We see these as lower lows and lower highs. Being aware of those price movements allows a trader to adapt to market changes. But that's only possible with a probabilistic mind. You can start building it by always looking for "what if scenarios" or "IF and Then scenarios." When analyzing the charts, look for 2-3 different ways that the price will use to tell you when to enter and not. Understand how the bulls and bears will behave; not one of them. Then when planning for the trade, write an IF and Then statement that will tell you what to do. For example, if you're looking for a buy trade at a support level, you write: IF the price bounces off the support level with a bullish engulfing candle pattern, THEN I should buy. You can apply the same strategy in situations where you want to tell yourself to sit on your hands. Once you start applying the IF and THEN strategies, your trading performance will improve. You'll engage with uncertainty flawlessly. Your equity curve will turn from trending down to rallying to the moon. And you'll be much happier and more grateful for being a trader.
Education
by Doji-2k1
The Psychology of The Market Cycle Explained The market cycles can be explained from the psychology side of the average investor. Throughout the various stages that develop in the market, the investor's emotions are also cyclical according to the "mood" of the market. Market movements are explained by the investor when often hope and fear motivate his thoughts and actions and can predict his future actions. Throughout the various stages that develop in the market, the investor's emotions are also cyclical according to the "mood" of the market. The range of emotions ranges from despair to euphoria, and investors usually drive the wrong actions. Awareness of the psychological side of the masses helps to avoid the effects of negative or positive sentiment and remain feckless on the market. In addition, we can also identify a stage or strengthen our position on the state of the market, explaining investors' feelings. Once you understand this chart, you can control your emotions and deal without your hurt and with only your mind. As this market cycle chart is repeating all the time, if you understand where you are located in the graph at any moment, you can take a cold decision of buy or sell a particular asset to maximize gains.
OANDA:XAUUSDEducation
by TopTradingSignals
3
PSYCHOLOGY OF A TRADER | TRADING BASICS Market psychology is the idea that the movements of a market reflect (or are influenced by) the emotional state of its participants. It is one of the main topics of behavioral economics - an interdisciplinary field that investigates the various factors that precede economic decisions. Many believe that emotions are the main driving force behind the shifts of financial markets. And that the overall fluctuating investor sentiment is what creates the so-called psychological market cycles. So, the sentiment is made up of the individual views and feelings of all traders and investors within a financial market. Another way to look at it is as an average of the overall feeling of the market participants. But, just as with any group, no single opinion is completely dominant. Based on market psychology theories, an asset's price tends to change constantly in response to the overall market sentiment - which is also dynamic. Otherwise, it would be much harder to make a successful trade. In practice, when the market goes up, it is likely due to an improving attitude and confidence among the traders. A positive market sentiment causes demand to increase and supply to decrease. In turn, the increased demand may cause an even stronger attitude. Similarly, a strong downtrend tends to create a negative sentiment that reduces demand and increases the available supply.
OANDA:XAUUSDEducation
by UnitedSignals
7
Scaling-in and Scaling-outHello traders, 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. Scaling-in There are times when I will scale into a position. When the price dips into the my Moving Average pullback zone, I'll typically get 25% of my position there. I'll then add a full position if the price dips past that MA Don't add to winners I wouldn't advise adding to winners I would advise adding to losers IF it's part of your plan. Though, most traders adding to losers end up losing more statistically.... then even I don't do it. You should always have a stop in place and get out at your stop (or preferably use our hard exit system) NEVER add to your position after your stop has been hit That's not what I'm advising I always make sure to get in a very small position early in case I miss the real entry. It allows me to still have a decent entry if the price drops lower AND allows me to catch the move if the price decides to rip Alright, let's talk about exits👇 Scaling-out Your exit strategy will ultimately depend on your overall strategy However, for ALL small accounts, I'd recommend NOT to scale. Scaling exits should really only be for accounts that can afford to take multiple contracts (5-10+) Otherwise, it's better off just take 100% off at your first target And I really mean it Remember, when your Stop-Loss hit you take 100% of a loss. This should be obvious.... though I see plenty having multiple Take Profit levels and 1 Stop Loss level And they wonder why they're losing.... mostly because of basic mathematics (literally additions and subtractions). A big loss is very hard to offset with multiple partial profits across multiple trades. If you do have a larger account, here's how I'd recommend setting up your exit strategy IMO, it's best to only have 3 targets/exits MAX. After 3, there's really no need to complicate your trading anymore I'm taking the MAJORITY of my profits out at first target... 80+% of your position Otherwise, I very often end up taking the trades, having a lot of unrealised gains but bringing back home nothing.... which is NOT ACCEPTABLE for me. It's UNFORGIVABLE to earn a decent amount of $$ and letting everything go because I thought the trade should have gone further. I like moving my stop to breakeven after I've taken my first partial After you've taken your first partial, that's when you can leave 20% for runners. You can either take the remaining runners out at your second target or Take half out at your second target and leave 10-15% for your last target The larger your account size, the more targets I recommend you have I also like moving my stops up after each target to make sure the trade doesn't go red Why do I use this scaling strategy? By taking the majority of my size off at my first target, it allows my strategy to keep a decent R/R rate, assuming I move stops to breakeven It also leaves my trading more stress-free since I have less of a position on. Allows for the trade to come back breakeven and I've already taken most off On top of that, I have 20-30% of my position as runners in case this stock starts to explode Doesn't happen often, but sometimes the remaining 20% ends up netting me more profit than the original 80% did. At the end of the day, it's up to you how you want to scale These are the methods I found most effective, depending on your account size and your strategy. Conclusion - As a beginner, I used to stick with 1 TP/1 SL only and that's how I brought home gains - Once my trading account reached the 6 figures threshold, I allowed myself to have 2-3 TPs but I was taking most off the table at the first TP level and automatically moved my SL to Breakeven - Adding to losers (aka the Dollar Cost Average method) also called martingale is a solid way for most beginners to depart from their money quickly - I'll make another article on martingale and why I think it's not for everyone
Education
by Daveatt
28
A Beginner's Guide to Candlestick Charts A candlestick chart is a type of financial chart that graphically represents the price moves of an asset for a given timeframe. As the name suggests, it’s made up of candlesticks, each representing the same amount of time. The candlesticks can represent virtually any period, from seconds to years. While candlestick charts could be used to analyze any other types of data, they are mostly employed to facilitate the analysis of financial markets. Used correctly, they’re tools that can help traders gauge the probability of outcomes in the price movement. They can be useful as they enable traders and investors to form their own ideas based on their analysis of the market. The following price points are needed to create each candlestick: Open — The first recorded trading price of the asset within that particular timeframe. High — The highest recorded trading price of the asset within that particular timeframe. Low — The lowest recorded trading price of the asset within that particular timeframe. Close — The last recorded trading price of the asset within that particular timeframe. Collectively, this data set is often referred to as the OHLC values. The relationship between the open, high, low, and close determines how the candlestick looks. The distance between the open and close is referred to as the body, while the distance between the body and the high/low is referred to as the wick or shadow. The distance between the high and low of the candle is called the range of the candlestick. Being able to read candlestick charts is vital to almost any investment style, learn different candlestick patterns and you will be surprised how accurate they are.
OANDA:XAUUSDEducation
by TopTradingSignals
8
INVESTING VS TRADING VS GAMBLING | Know the Difference Hey traders, In this post, we will compare investing and trading with gambling. 📈Investing Investing is the act of putting money in a financial market with the expectations of a long-term positive return. The investing decisions are usually made using fundamental analysis. The main goal of an investor is to predict the long-term market trends and benefit on them. Professional investing also involves assets allocation and diversification aimed to hedge potential risks. 💱Trading Trading is the process of selling and buying financial instruments expecting a short-term (occasionally, mid-term) profit. The trading decisions are usually based on technical and fundamentals analysis. The goal of a trader is to predict local price fluctuations and catch them. Professional trading implies strict, rule-based actions following a trading plan. 🎰Gambling Gambling is the act of betting on a specific event with the expectations of winning some value. Being completely luck-based, gambling usually involves get rich quick schemes and pursuit of easy money. What differs professional trading and investing from gambling is the fact that professional trading / investing involves objective analysis and strict planning, while gambling remains purely intuition based. Unfortunately, most of the market participants pretend that they trade and invest professionally while acting as gamblers in fact. Remember that long-term, consistent profits can be achieved only with the plan. Your intuition may bring some short-term profits, but in a long-run it will most likely lead you to a bankruptcy. ❤️If you have any questions, please, ask me in the comment section. Please, support my work with like, thank you!❤️
OANDA:XAUUSDEducation
by VasilyTrader
10
How to get mentally prepared every dayYou're trading at a disadvantage without a proper mindset Here's how I get mentally prepared to trade each day: 🧵 Trading stars with your body Recognise that everything in your life connects to trading That means if you want to be disciplined in trading Start... - Eating well and enough - I track my calories and my macros - Working out daily - I work out twice a day because I'm learning high-level calisthenics skills - Drinking a gallon of water a day - drinking more tends to make me eat less junk food - Getting 7h+ sleep - going to bed at the same time every day, taking some supplements to be relaxed + self-massage Those things will translate into high-quality trading as well as put you in the right mindset for everything you want to achieve in life. But let's dive into my early morning mindset routine👇 My mindset routine I have a list of manifestations that I read OUT LOUD every morning Yeah it may sound stupid But it literally works Here's some of what I say: - David is going to CONQUER this day - Sticking to his traits of patience and discipline, David will not let emotions get the best of him - His drive and work ethic will cause him to get ALL of his goals done, no matter what You can make them trading specific or just about life in general I mix in both. The next important key to having the right mindset is Preparation. If you are prepared every morning with a plan... you'll have a lot more confidence coming into the market. The last thing I do to get in the right mindset is put on music This can be a hit or miss but personally, I love trading while listening to music Maybe I should drop my trading playlist? :) Final words To Summarise: - Make manifestations and read out loud every day - Have a pre-market routine - Jam out to some music
Education
by Daveatt
9
The main reason you're blowing up accountsAlmost all blown-up accounts happen quickly Typically from only 1-3 trades There are 2 main causes for this: - Risk Management - Emotions Let's dive into both👇 Risk Management Risk management is crucial to becoming a successful trader The best way to grow an account is to risk the same % of the account per trade I suggest no more than 5%, but the lower the better For example... If you're risking 3% of your account per trade, you have to lose 33 trades in a row.. to blow up your account. That's very unlikely. The reason most traders blow up is because they full port or go all-in on every trade and risk way too much This is the fastest way to destroy your account. ALWAYS risk a small % of your account per trade It not only will prevent you from blowing up... but will also be the fastest way to help you grow your account Emotions The second way is Emotions. Maybe you are using risk management, and are only risking 3%. Then your stop hits and you don't get out And price keeps dropping and dropping and dropping... It will come to my breakeven and I'll get out, you tell yourself But it never does Then once you finally get out, your account is gone. I've done that LOADS of times So how did I fix that?👇 I realised that I wasn't getting out at my stop because I didn't trust my strategy. At the time, I wasn't trading with conviction I'd take a trade because it just looked like price was going to move higher. No real strategy or reasoning for the trade. It's extremely difficult to control your emotions when you shouldn't be in a trade in the first place! Once I noticed this I got a grip on my strategy and really started being strict on my entries After clearly defining my strategy, it gave me more confidence in my setup and my edge which ultimately led to me becoming more disciplined and allowing myself to take the loss. Conclusion So if you're looking to stop blowing up your accounts... - Use Risk Management - Trade with conviction using a clearly defined strategy
Education
by Daveatt
2
Big Bank Imbalance Strategy (Go With The Flow) Example on 1 hour EurChf Chart for Friday ( sell trade, but can do on buy trade too)… its Friday: Don't be greedy). Note the following: 1) Big Banks selling (note large 1 hour candlesticks- on charts)- only people that can do that are big banks and/or institutions (not retail traders). 2) Two areas of sell imbalance (they must be filled with buy either today or in the near future). In all probable's, I would side with today and big banks are just selling to buy back later today - because the big banks do not want many imbalances when Forex is closed (and/or the weekend) 3) Look for a higher bullish LOW and higher CLOSE candlestick for your reason to enter into a long and/or setting up buy trade soon. 4) After the #3 above has happen (wait patiently)- why? because that candle happened at 3:00 a.m. and/or after Tokyo closed and before NY session opened. London session does three more hours of accumulation 1 hour candles (see large bottom & top wicks- both buying and selling pressure)- so all big banks and institutions are happy with the current price at this moment. 5) When NY session opens, what happens? Big banks and institutions are buying (large candles)- your sign to by was actually the 1hour sell candlestick (red) before the large blue candlestick happened. Why? because the big banks and/or institutions are trying to tell you to sell, but you being smart did not fall for that one, right? You said above price action are two areas of sell imbalance that I except to be fill today, so I will plan to buy when that pa reverses and goes north and/or blue above that last red candlestick. *On Chart related to its Friday & both scalpers and/or day traders should not be holding over the weekend. Why? because Forex is closed and when Forex starts back up- their could be small or large GAPS which take you out, which you have zero control over. Trading is 100% on you, your decisions only- control as much as you can- do not give your broker and/or big banks or institutions any more control then they already have in the Forex world. If you are scalping and/or day trading these Big Bank imbalance strategy should be 1:1 or: 1:2 risk reward maximum. You can trade this of course buy or sell on pairs. You need to always use risk management. This trade would have seen you doing a 1:1 RR with 17 pip stop vs 17 pip target. Trading is not about pips that you make, but the risk that you take= PER TRADE.
Education
by Anbat
WHY 95% OF TRADERS DO NOT SUCCEED? The evidence suggests that only a very small proportion of day traders makes money year over year. There are certain patterns which may separate profitable traders from those who ultimately lose money. And indeed, there is one particular mistake that in our experience gets repeated time and time again. What is the single most important mistake that led to traders losing money? Here is a hint – it has to do with how we as humans relate to winning and losing. Our own human psychology makes it difficult to navigate financial markets, which are filled with uncertainty and risk, and as a result the most common mistakes traders make have to do with poor risk management strategies. Traders are often correct on the direction of a market, but where the problem lies is in how much profit is made when they are right versus how much they lose when wrong. Bottom line, traders tend to make less on winning trades than they lose on losing trades. Humans aren’t machines, and working against our natural biases requires effort. Once you have a trading plan that uses a proper reward/risk ratio, the next challenge is to stick to the plan. Remember, it is natural for humans to want to hold on to losses and take profits early, but it makes for bad trading. We must overcome this natural tendency and remove our emotions from trading. That will help you to be a consistently profitable trader.
OANDA:XAUUSDEducation
by UnitedSignals
5
WHY THE RICH GET RICHER The general trend, in a capitalist economy governed by private property, would be for the rich to get richer—for inequality to increase steadily over time. That had been true in the initial stages of industrialization and remains the fact nowadays. One reason: The wealthiest 1 percent put three-quarters of their savings into investment assets. By contrast, the middle class had 63 percent of their assets tied up in their homes, with home equity accounting for about a third since they have large mortgage debt. The differences reflect the greater share of high-yield investment assets like stocks in the portfolios of the rich and the greater share of housing in the portfolio of the middle class. Of course, the rich can afford to lose more—so they can take more risks and make more when times are good. But the lesson is clear: the wealth gap is caused in large part by the investment gap. Some other psychological reasons should be considered as well, they are nicely reflected on the chart above, so spend some time to examine that.
BIST:XAUUSD1!Education
by TopTradingSignals
38
Secret Key to Becoming a Disciplined TraderDiscipline is the hardest trait to become good at in trading. We need it in analyzing charts and news updates as well as being aware of risk management and psychology. It's difficult to keep track of all those all at once. It can overwhelm us to become impatient and not aware of our mental and emotional states. Which results in poor performance. I was in that phase in my life for 4 years straight. No coach was on my side guiding me through the journey. I had to teach myself everything that makes a person become a successful trader. It was tough, especially mastering the mental and emotional side of the game. Not being aware of those two and how to improve them is what led to consistent failure. But when I began studying and applying what profitable traders do to be successful, I became one of them. It was hard though. I had to change my internal monarchy by facing my demons and tearing down old limiting beliefs. I used various techniques to make that happen. The results were astonishing. I became more mindful and self-aware. I understood my emotional nature, which allowed me to be quick to spot and tone down bad emotions. I did the following to achieve that results: 1. Journaling. It is a process of recording the what, why, and how behind the trade as well as your thoughts and emotions before, during, and after the trade. Doing this will keep a record for you to reflect on in the future when you want to improve your performance. That feedback will raise your self-awareness which will protect you from sabotaging your trading performance. 2. Meditating. It is a mental exercise that trains the brain to be mindful and self-aware of your emotional triggers and behaviors that disrupt your performance. Moreover, it will allow you to improve your focus levels for a trading session. So, every day, sit quietly on your chair with your back straight and your eyes closed, then focus on your breathing pattern for 10-15 minutes. 3. Breathing. I know you can breathe, but I bet you that your breathing is incorrect. Most people breathe through their mouths, which is wrong because the air doesn't get to the brain. The air we breathe through our nose releases certain chemicals in the brain that makes it awake and calm. It also does other things in the body that helps control it when fight/flight emotions trigger. Breathing techniques allow us to gauge those triggers during the trading session. Thus, whenever you tap into a negative state, stop and sit back on your chair, then do the following 4-7-8 breathing exercise. Inhale on the count of 4. Hold your breath on the count of 7. Then exhale on the count of 8. Do this 3-5 times.
COINBASE:ETHUSDEducation
by Doji-2k1
1
5 Elements of a Smart Trade Plan Find out why you should have a trade plan—and the five elements that may help you put it to work successfully. Element 1: Your time horizon How long do you plan to hold a position? This will depend on your trading strategy. Generally, traders fit into one of three categories: Single-session traders are very active and look to gain from small price variations over very short time periods (minutes or hours) throughout the trading day. Swing traders target trades that can be completed in a few days to a few weeks. Position traders seek larger gains and recognize that it often takes longer than a few weeks to achieve them. Element 2: Your entry strategy Look for entry signals—for instance, divergences from trend lines and support levels—to help you place your trades. The signals you employ and the orders you use to make good on them hinge on your trading style and preferences. Element 3: Your exit plan When it comes to an exit strategy, plan for two types of trades: those that go in your favor and those that don’t. You might be tempted to let favorable trades run, but don’t ignore opportunities to take some profits. Element 4: Your position size Trading is risky. A good trade plan establishes ground rules for how much you’re willing to risk on any single trade. Say, for example, you don’t want to risk losing more than 2%–3% of your account on a single trade. You could consider exercising portion control, or sizing positions, to fit your budget. Element 5: Your trade performance Look over your trading history to calculate your theoretical trade expectancy, meaning your average gain (or loss) per trade. You start by determining the percentage of your trades that have been profitable versus those that haven’t. This is known as your win/loss ratio. Understanding what goes into a smart trade plan is the first step to prepare you for your next trade.
FXOPEN:XAUUSDEducation
by UnitedSignals
4
🌱Weekly quote: We know what we're doing wrong🌱🟢For many of us, our trading accounts are our cluttered homes. What we desperately need is to find our inner quiet; review our trades and trading statistics in detail and truly experience the horror of betraying our potential; and fully appreciate what we do well and embrace it with gratitude. Out of that energized awareness, we can replace the clutter with what is meaningful. Our great enemy is routine. Many times, we know what we're doing wrong, but we keep making the same mistakes. Indeed, that is the way of life's curriculum. If we fail to learn from the first lesson, we get a second and a third and a fourth: one painful opportunity after another to commit to a different path. Is that failure, or is that something to be grateful for: a curriculum that is trying, trying, trying to teach us the lessons we need to learn to be successful? 🟢We've seen that gratitude is an essential component of psychological well-being. The grateful trader is not self-focused, absorbed in how much money they could/should make. The grateful trader is thankful for the opportunities coming their way. When we look heavenward with thanks for what we've accomplished, there is an essential humility to our perspective. It's not just about us. It's not just about profits and losses. A great metric in evaluating your trading journal is to count the number of frustrated statements versus the number of grateful ones. A great metric in evaluating other traders is to count the number of self-aggrandizing statements with the number of humble, grateful ones. 🟢If losses are opportunities to learn and improve, we can sustain a grateful mindset even in times of adversity. A humble mindset is one looking to learn. A grateful mindset appreciates every opportunity to grow. A life perspective that instills and strengthens humility grounds us in the awareness that there is always something more important than me. There is always something more significant than what is simply happening here and now. We cannot succeed in trading--or any life endeavor--if it becomes our end-all and be-all. Once trading and P/L are placed on a pedestal, they control us and our experience. And that is precisely what interferes with profitability! It's great to correct your mistakes, but it's in your shining successes that you can find your path to fulfillment--and your future in markets. Hidden in your winning trades may be the key to your development as a trader. 🟢 So many developing traders look for one edge after another, one market after another, one trading style after another--all in a frantic search for success. The reality is that our best trading is hiding in plain sight, when we explore what we're trading and how we're trading it when we're most fulfilled and successful. Brett Steenbarger, Trading Psychology
BITSTAMP:BTCUSDEducation
by Yelli_trades
16
What is an ETF? (exchange traded fund) An exchange traded fund (ETF) is an investment fund that invests in a basket of stocks, bonds, or other assets. ETFs are traded on a stock exchange, just like stocks. Investors are drawn to ETFs because of their low price, tax efficiency and ease of trading. ETFs seek to provide the performance of a specified index, such as the S&P 500, and typically have low fees. Like mutual funds, ETFs offer investors diversified exposure to a portfolio of securities, such as stocks, bonds, commodities and real estate. Why are ETFs popular? While investors often associate ETFs with large stock indexes, such as the S&P 500, ETFs provide access to virtually every asset class, sector, region, theme and investment style. ETFs are popular because of their low fees, tax efficiency, liquidity and transparency. Since the first ETF was launched in 1993, the ETF industry has grown substantially, with more than $3 trillion now invested in ETFs. What are the benefits of ETFs? ETFs cost significantly less than comparable active mutual funds — and that savings can add up over time. Other benefits include: Access and liquidity. Because ETFs are traded on stock exchanges, they are easily bought or sold. Transparency. Just like mutual funds, ETFs report performance quarterly and fees daily. Diversification. ETFs provide access to a wide range of investment options, covering a broad range of asset classes, sectors and geographies. They also make it easy to select specific themes or investment styles. What are the risks associated with ETFs? Like mutual funds, ETFs carry investment risk depending on their asset class, strategy and region. Some ETFs are riskier than others. In addition, if you invest in an ETF that holds securities in a currency other than your own, movements in the foreign exchange rate may affect your returns.
OANDA:XAUUSDEducation
by TopTradingSignals
6
🟢TRADING HACKS: A MIX OF TRADING ADVICE, ROUTINE, GOOD HABITS🟢When you open your charts in the beginning of the day, don't rush into first trade you see. Step back for a little while, and check in with your emotions. If you want to trade cause you didn't have a trade in a while, or you're bored, or you want to make your money back, or if you just want to make money and now you "know the market will go up (down)" - these all are signs of emotional imbalance. if you feel like this, it's better just to make a pause. Yes, it can be hard to do it by the way, but you need to make it through your will effort. So, instead of putting a trade right away, go through your multitimeframe analysis, mark up the zones and set your alerts for zones you really like. more on this here While you're waiting for alerts to go off, you can do a lot of useful things for your trading. first of all, go through your checklist or trading plan, or a journal, and remind yourself how your best, high-quality setups look like. Now go back to previous week or two, and just look in hindsight for your highquality patterns, whatever strategy you use. See how market developed and find entry points which will be in line with your rules. You can even make a step further and journal these hindsight trades in a separate journal (I call it mark ups, or "missed trades"). This simple action will train your pattern recognition skills and also develop a habit of working with a journal. In the future you'll come back to these trades for reference of how your best setups can look like. Now, if the alert is still not activated, do some backtesting, 5-10 trade would be enough, but also journal these trades. Doing this, you're already few steps ahead of your competitors become not many people are willing to put such kind of effort in their trading. Well done, and now it's time to go and check how the market is developing. More on building the routing and good habits you can read in this series of posts
BITSTAMP:BTCUSDEducation
by Yelli_trades
14
The Evolution of a Trader | 3 Milestones 📈 Hey traders, In this educational article, we will discuss 3 stages of the evolution of a trader. Stage 1 - Unprofitable trader 😞 The unprofitable trader has very typical characteristics: -total absence of trading skills Most of the time, people open a live account simply after completing some beginners course like on babypips website. Being sure that the obtained knowledge are completely enough to start trading, they quickly face the tough reality. -no trading plan Having just basic knowledge, of course, they do not have a trading plan. Why the hell to have it if everything is so simple?! All their actions on the market is just gambling. They open the positions randomly most of the time, simply relying on intuition. -poor risk management In 99% percent of the time, the unprofitable trader does not even think about risk management. The position sizing, stop placement and target selection are completely neglected. Trading performance of the unprofitable traders is characterized by small wins and substantial losses and negatively trending equity. Stage 2 - Boom and bust trader 😶 Usually, traders reach boom and bust stage after 1-2 years of unprofitable trading. At some moment, winning trades start to compensate losing trades, brining non-trending equity. Such traders have very common traits: -not polished trading plan Being unprofitable for so long, traders start to realize the significance of a trading plan. Sticking to the set of rules, they notice positive changes in their trading performance. However, trading plan requires to be polished and modified. It takes many years for a trader to identify all its drawbacks before it starts bringing net profits. -lack of confidence When one starts following a trading system, confidence plays a substantial role. The fact is that even the best trading strategy in the world occasionally produces negative results. In order to not give up and keep following such a system, one needs to build trust in that. The confidence that after a series of losing trades, the strategy will manage to recover. Such a trust can be built after many years of trading that strategy. Stage 3 - Profitable trader ☺️ That is the final destination. After many years of a struggling trading, one finally sees positively-trending equity. Winning trades start to outperform losing ones, leading to consistent account growth. Profitable trader is characterized by iron discipline, confidence and consistency. He knows what he is trading, when and why. His trading plan is polished, he fully controls his emotions. He never stops learning and constantly develops his strategy. Knowing the 3 stages of the evolution of a trader, one can easily identify at what stage he currently is. That will help to identify the things to be focused on to move to the next stage. At what stages are you at the moment? ❤️If you have any questions, please, ask me in the comment section. Please, support my work with like, thank you!❤️
Education
by VasilyTrader
21