Saturday 27 February 2016

EASIER SAID THAN DONE....STEP ONE

The internet is full with websites teaching how to trade and what rules to follow.
But the greatest nemesis is that even though one knows what to follow, he is not able to follow.
Here we will try to share how we do it. Of course, first step will have to be taken by the trader because without the first step, no journey gets completed.
We faced the same issues during our journey, and had to tackle this issue all by ourselves.
We were constantly facing the problems with our minds during active trading like not following the rules we had laid down ourselves. So what we did was that we had them produced in written form and put them up at various places.....on the facing wall of the trade station, on the wall towards the foot side of the bed, and even in the toilet. The idea was to constantly keep reminding us the rules so that they gradually sink in to the spinal levels. Its something which school kids do..with their tables and charts which have to be memorized.
And yes, it gave the results, though gradually.
The first step to be taken by the trader is to formulate a strategy in written comprising of the following aspects. Believe us it will take a pretty long time and lots of observations, calculations and analysis, and of course PATIENCE:

  1. When to enter a trade...define your parameters
  2. What would be the stop loss....define parameters as a fixed percentage of loss on the capital at risk
  3. What would be the profit target....define parameters as a fixed percentage of returns on the capital at risk
  4. Set up a monthly target in terms of fixed percentage of returns on the trading capital
  5. Divide that into weekly targets 
The above steps would need a lot of back testing as well as paper trading. Once you are through with this step, you are ready for the next step.




Thursday 11 February 2016

BAD HABITS CAN NEVER BE GOOD FOR YOU

Good trading habits have to be followed, and this requires a lot of discipline and hard work.
It thus becomes important to first unlearn the bad habits so that the mind can have enough space for learning good ones.
Bad Trading Habits To Avoid

IMPORTANCE OF TIME FRAMES OF THE PRICE CHARTS

As we have spoken earlier, a higher time frame should be used as guide.
It is however very important to decide and fix the time frame which a trader would be using on his charts for trading purposes.
For example if one is using 15 minute charts for trading, then hourly charts or 30 minute charts can be used as trend guides. 
BUT.....the trading entry and exit rules as well as stop loss rules should completely stay within the 15 minute frame. Once entry made, stop loss and profit targets should not be modified by reverting back to 30 minute or hourly time frames.
IT IS VERY IMPORTANT NOT TO FIDDLE WITH THE TIME FRAME ONCE DECIDED UPON. THIS IS AN IMPORTANT FACTOR IN THE SCHEME OF DISCIPLINE.