It is second article from series: “Trader Road”. Click here if you wanna read first “I want to be a trader, best at once”. Think how much time you spend on your hobby. And how much time you should spend on it to be really good. Analogies are here really needed, because they show the problem which often meets beginner traders: they would want to achieve success on the market, to become a millionaire – very quickly, and best without hard work.
This article is a part of cycle: Trader Road:
Case #1
When I was 14 years old I decided to become a guitarist, to establish the rock group and to conquer the world 🙂 Conquer the world failed, but the city and local villages were mine. In certain stage a willingness, as well as development and ability were missing. Such a development, which would allow enter next stage of “mastery” the guitar. I stopped at a level which let correctly play the guitar. As a rhythmical guitarist I well performed my parts of well-known turns. I wasn’t a virtuoso performer.
It wasn’t bad, because actually I practiced once, twice a week. Team rehearsals were also held once a week. Every Friday in the local community centre we spent three hours playing.
Meantime, in the area appeared a younger team of players, who then were also novices in the subject.
Since then, it’s been nearly 15 years. I play on the guitar occasionally, but the team of then younger players, today has in their account an album released by Mystic Production, and plays concerts with the leaders of Polish scene.
Case #2
At that time also my friend from high school became interested in a subject of Israeli Krav Maga fighting system. And so from the learning, through self-development, determination to what he wants to achieve, it’s time for harvesting. After years, he founded one of the most dynamically acting Krav Maga schools in Poland, as its chief instructor. Long time we haven’t talked, but probably he would confirm these words: it is great when what you do not only gives you money to live, but it is also a passion for you. It’s great when you go to work, which you like, with a smile on your face 🙂
His school you can to find here: KravMaga NA MAXA.
If you are determined in what you do, you have really great motivation, it is easier to achieve goals and success… or simply you will never regret that you didn’t try.
———— How it was with trading – How I become a trader
In 2004 I had my first contact with the stock exchange. It began with FOREX market, and this state lasted for 2 years: demo accounts, real accounts. Learning, small successes, and small defeats; I have experienced defeats more than success. It’s probably normal; it is hard to admit that something cocked up, all the more, when cash disappeared from the account. But not the cash was then most important, because at the beginning of studies there wasn’t a lot of it (I emphasize that there was a respect to it. However, differently the man risks and can afford something else when there are expenses, must support family, etc.). I knew that if I wouldn’t try I won’t know. And if I won’t know, I will regret “what then I didn’t try”. And it’s common in life. Because most probably you often say “3 years ago I could decide on it, now I would have 3 years of experience).
I started in 2007 already as a typical, full-time daytrader. It began with a job in the trading office, then one of two oldest in Poland – that is Swift Trade, Gliwice branch. I started with one crucial matter; I gave up all things which I played so far – medium/long term strategy faded into obscurity. The reason was simple, in proptrading which I started in the trading office, I was supposed to play only and exclusively day trading.
The knowledge which I had was also limited to basic formations: supports and oppositions. I gave up all ratings. It is possible to say that I started from scratch, because practically anew I built my playing style, strategy. I was studying new market at the same time. Because on all stock exchanges of the world, the goal is the same: enter and exit positions with a profit. From the beginning I wanted “to catch” trends and scalp depending on what the market allows for.
It slowly began; the first months is above all
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Learning mechanics of the market – in order to get to know ECN, Level II, TAS –> i.e. on which “trading operates”.
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Work on own strategy.
Learning mechanics of the market – i.e. mastering platform, understanding what and how it function – lasted quite quickly because from 1 up to 4 weeks.
A work on own strategy is already a long-term work. Why it’s long-term… the answer is simple, and I divide it in a few stages (some of them interpenetrated, and other changed when I gained experience). One after the other:
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Stage 1 – when you know what you want to play, remains to elaborate signals of entry, exit. Since I knew that I was interested in momentum trading and scalping it was necessary put it into practice. Believe me, that having experience in trading on medium or long term at the beginning you can get nystagmus observing how quickly prices of dynamic companies can change. I refer you to recordings on my YouTube channel, you will understand what I mean when you compare it e.g. with the quotes on the Warsaw Stock Exchange: PolishDayTrader YouTube channel.
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Stage 2 – slowly mini momentum trading becomes medium momentum trading, and medium momentum trading becomes momentum trading. That which was mini momentum trading becomes simply a scalping 🙂 It might sound funny, but for the first few weeks or months the scalping was for me transactions with changes of 1-4 cent. Momentum trading it was everything where breaking through in companies with daily reaches of 5-10 cents, and I carried the half out or more after break. Companies, which daily reach was several cents or a few dollars – I will be honest, no chance to felt it, played on them. They were too wild, too busy for me; I thought that there was no order or composition in their changes. I thought so, because my experience in daytrading was minimal.
What I point it out quite firmly – observing traders, who are a member of remotedaytrader.pl team, and started from, as it is possible to say, zero (because either proceeded from other markets or didn’t invest real money earlier) very quickly or from the beginning jumped on “difficult” companies. How it ended – I will write in one of next articles. -
Stage 3 – develop own strategies, ability to modify them and adapt to changing market. I encountered frequent changes, because after boom there is slump, and then another boom. Strategies either modified or finished the game on the market.
These 3 stages are particularly important, after them comes a period when all these things you already do automatically, because you know what to do in order to stay on the market. The market also already taught you humility. Of course, it doesn’t mean that you don’t have loss transactions or worse period.
I can’t say exactly how many of these periods last, because it all depends on your determination and how you develop trading. One I know for sure, after a few/several successful transactions on demo account or real account, your self-confidence and complacency will increase. After which you usually get a decent lesson of playing. I wish it nobody of you, but it’s good to experience it more acute, i.e. period of losses – because it will teach a decent management of positions, risk, and capital.
Yeah how much time you need to finally earn money, be a trader
You can start to earn already on the first day. It’s a quite common phenomenon, so-called lucky beginner. However, when you can say that ‘I’m already a trader’ – in my opinion, when your profits are regular and stable; When the trading isn’t random and largely based on luck. When you can quit job, because you are sure of what you play, about the fact that in next month you will be able to do it the same.
——– Determination and motivation
I remembered a quite recent history of my good friend, who as me, for years deals and lives from trading. Last year his brother lost a job, so quickly began to look for a new one. After some time he found it, but this work didn’t meet his ambition, and was dangerous to health. My friend, offered his brother that will teach him strategy, provided that will quit newly found job and will only focuses on trading. In order to be able fully professionally approach the matter. Certainly the effective strategy handed over in appropriate manner and my friend’s knowledge had impact on it that his brother after months already started to achieve good results. Determination has great importance here.
———- Health competition
I had this luck that I started in the trading office, with a very determined team. It probably motivated each of us; also small rivalry had a positive effect (but not sick race) for better results. I didn’t expect that in the first period I will be already able to obtain each month a positive result. It certainly gave strength and motivated to further development.
——– Learning, listening other and elimination of mistakes
About 3.5 years ago, when I already led the team remote traders from the entire Poland, with whom I cooperated: I met a young guy, who keeps in touch with us up to today; Young because he wasn’t yet 20 years old 🙂 He began trading in the United States having already experience with WSE and Forex. The first period, from my observation, it is a battle with oneself, what and how to play. Also first half of year, didn’t bring him any larger successes or failures. He was on zero. But this period brought him a lot of knowledge and experience. Final year in his work was already a strip of bigger successes, and in my opinion it resulted from a few reasons:
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Great motivation to develop what he was playing (both under the size of opened positions and patience).
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Learning humility to the market (like every trader has also worse sessions – it is important to draw lessons from them).
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Elimination of repeating mistakes (slowly, small steps, understood what are the greatest losses – and that the reason is usually the same, repeated. If you won’t eliminate it from the trading, it will always take a large portion from your profits).
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Fourth reason, below – in order to pay more attention to it – EMOTIONS PSYCHE. Above it is necessary to work constantly. Particularly when after a series of long profits, there are smaller losses. They must be commensurate; otherwise it starts to be popularly saying “footloose”, anger and growing frustration.
If you are have 18 years, you study or already graduated – I suggest that you should start now. When you don’t have any obligations in a form of expenses, it is easier to devote a few months or year to get to know from the inside how the trading work looks like and to become convinced whether it is suitable for you.
In professional trading offices, but also in the ones less professional (where marketing doesn’t play such a matter), usually trader with a potential, obtains profits in a period of 3-8 months from the day of starting work. Of course, it is an average. There are also person with talents or own style, who in the first weeks already obtains really great position.
As you can see, to find fulfilment in what you do and achieve success a time is needed, determination. You can’t give up after the first failures, but to draw conclusions from them and to carry out a plan, which will improve your trading.
In most of books you can read that determination in action and patience are essential in trading. Remember about it, because often beginner trader, all the more when starts to learn from someone else, would like to be on his level of skill from day to day. And unfortunately this process isn’t so fast.
This article is a part of cycle: Trader Road:
