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So You Want To Be A Trader - General Trading Approach and FAQs

6 February 2024, 16:24

Mark Taylor

135

IMPORTANT PLEASE READ AND UNDERSTAND THESE BEFORE TRADING

AUTOMATED TRADING IS NOT EASY, ITS NOT JUST A CASE OF DROPPING AN EA ON A CHART AND THEN YOU BECOME RICH. THERE ARE MANY FACTORS TO CONSIDER FOR EXAMPLE, RISK, MARKET VOLATILITY, ELECTIONS, FED HOLIDAYS, NFP, PMI, INTEREST RATES, WARS ETC. SET YOU RISK LOW TO START WITH, MONITOR HOW YOUR EAS WORK IN SPECIFIC MARKET CONDITIONS, THIS IS IMPERATIVE TO BE SUCCESSFUL.

"WELCOME TO THE HARDEST GAME IN THE WORLD. UNFORTUNATELY, YOU’RE PLAYING WITH SOME OF THE SHARPEST, FASTEST, MOST INTELLIGENT, WELL INFORMED, STUBBORNLY IRRATIONAL AND IN MANY CASES, UNETHICAL MINDS IN THE WORLD. YOU’RE UP AGAINST THE COMPUTER THAT CAN REACT FASTER THAN YOU. THE TRADER WHO HAS MORE EXPERIENCE THAN YOU. THE FUND THAT HAS MORE MONEY THAN YOU. THE INSIDER THAT HAS MORE INFORMATION THAN YOU. THE OTHERS THAT WILL MISINFORM YOU. THE INNER VOICE THAT WILL DO IT’S BEST TO UNDO YOU. SO, LEAVE ALL YOUR DREAMS OF MAKING QUICK AND EASY MONEY BEHIND. THE FIRST AIM IS SURVIVAL. YOUR ABSOLUTE FIRST GOAL IS TO LEARN HOW TO STAY IN THE GAME. YOU CAN ONLY DO THIS BY MAPPING THE TERRITORY. BY UNDERSTANDING HOW THE ENEMY THINKS AND ACTS. BY HAVING A SOLID GAME PLAN. AND BY PICKING YOUR BATTLES VERY, VERY CAREFULLY. READY TO PLAY?" - TRADER DANTE

TRADING SUCCESSFULLY IS BASED ON PROBABILITIES, THIS MEANS THAT YOU ARE RELYING ON SOMETHING THAT HAS PASSED BEFORE TO BE REPEATED. NO-ONE CAN KNOW THE FUTURE SO THIS IN ITSELF CARRIES INHERENT RISK.

THERE IS NO RETAIL TRADING STRATEGY THAT WINS 100% OF THE TIME, THAT IS A FANTASY. ALL TRADING SYSTEMS TAKE LOSSES OR GO INTO PERIODS OF DRAWDOWN, >>> THIS IS NORMAL <<<

TO TRADE SUCCESSFULLY YOU NEED TO ACCEPT THAT THERE WILL BE LOSSES. I REPEAT, THERE WILL BE LOSSES, ACCEPT THIS AND MOVE ON.

TRADING SYSTEMS THAT WORK HAVE MORE FINANCIAL WINS THAN LOSSES, ITS THAT SIMPLE.

WITH EACH LOSS COMES EMOTIONAL PAIN, THIS IS THE MOST DIFFICULT PART OF TRADING FOR PEOPLE TO ACCEPT. IF YOU CANNOT ACCEPT THIS, THEN YOU WILL NOT SUCCEED, YOU WILL GO INTO REVENGE CYCLE AND INCREASE YOUR RISK TO TRY TO COMPENSATE AND THIS IS WHERE YOU WILL BLOW YOUR ACCOUNT. BE HUMBLE AND ACCEPTING, TEST EVERYTHING AND SET YOUR RISK PROFILE TO A LEVEL YOU CAN ACCEPT.

IF YOU FEEL EMOTIONAL PAIN WHEN TRADES ARE OPEN OR WHEN YOU TAKE A LOSS THEN YOUR RISK PROFILE IS TOO HIGH, THEN LOWER YOUR RISK.

BACKTEST BACKTEST BACKTEST, THIS WILL FAMILIARIZE YOURSELF WITH THE ASSOCIATED RISKS, THIS IS YOUR MONEY, YOU NEED TO UNDERSTAND ALL THE RISKS.

BACKTEST AND DEMO RESULTS WILL NOT BE THE SAME AS LIVE RESULTS DUE TO EXECUTION DELAYS AND SLIPPAGE, PLEASE BE AWARE OF THIS.

ALWAYS TEST A NEW SYSTEM LIVE WITH MINIMAL RISK BASED ON YOUR EXPERIENCE IN BACKTESTING UNTIL YOU ARE COMFORTABLE WITH HOW THE SYSTEM BEHAVES LIVE.

NEVER RISK MORE CAPTIAL THAN YOU CAN AFFORD TO LOSE. IN CERTAIN CIRCUMSTANCES YOU CAN LOSE MORE THAN YOUR BROKER DEPOSIT.

THERE IS MORE THAN ONE WAR IN THE WORLD CURRENTLY, THESE AFFECT GLOBAL FINANCIAL MARKETS, THE CURRENT FINANCIAL MARKET IS NOTHING LIKE THE FINANCIAL MARKET PRIOR TO THE WARS AND GLOBAL PANDEMIC, BE AWARE THAT CURRENT MARKETS ARE THE MARKETS YOU SHOULD BE FOCUSSING ON, AND FINANCIAL MARKETS ARE EVER CHANGING.

EA FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Why are my EA / Robot results not the same as the vendors signal ?

Is your trading account the same broker and account type as the vendor's signal ? If not, change broker/account type to match the vendor signal broker account

My account is in drawdown, what do I do ?

How large is the drawdown ? how does this compare to your backtests ? do you need to lower your risk profile ?

My drawdown is too large, its causing me emotional pain, what can I do ?

Did you read the trading info above ? lower your risk!

How quickly will defects or bugs be fixed ?

Defects and bugs will be fixed as soon as is practicably possible.

I have a great idea for a new feature, when will you add this to the EA ?

Generally ideas for new features will not be added unless supported by performance statistics. It is common for someone to come up with an idea that they think will work, but, it mainly these ideas do not bring any benefit when coded and tested, so only ideas supported by statistical data will be considered.