First, there’s no shortcut. Either commit to spending hundreds of hours developing professional skills or don’t begin at all. If it was easy, we’d all be millionaires.
Second, most books and courses out there are a waste of space. They don’t show rigorous backtesting results, so how do you know they work? Without the data, they’re simply pushing snake oil. Read widely, but with your bullshit detectors turned up to eleven. Be prepared to read dozens of books and blogs to get a feel for the basics and the variety of approaches available.
Third, you’re very unlikely to succeed by copying someone else’s system. There are literally thousands of ways to trade, and every trader has different priorities, strengths, weaknesses, and attitudes to risk. You have to develop your own system – a system that fits you as a trader and that you can trust when you hit the inevitable drawdowns.
Fourth, I would strongly recommend that you learn to program and become a systematic trader. A small percentage of traders can profit using discretion and intuition. But most of us are far better off learning professional system development and backtesting. Unlike the books on discretionary trading, most of the books on systematic trading are rigorous and useful.
Fifth, most books and courses prioritize entries, with a little advice on exits and some vague rules of thumb on position sizing. The professionals reverse these priorities: position sizing (risk management) is much the most important skill and offers great scope for creativity. Exits are the next priority, with entries the least important.
Sixth, always favor simplicity over complexity. The concept behind your system should be simple, even if the technical implementation is challenging. Stacking multiple indicators, for example, is a dead-end approach.
Finally, learn to think outside the box. Ordinary approaches will return ordinary results. Don’t think small – with a modest account and a good broker it’s realistic to shoot for over 1% a day. Even if you don’t achieve it, an ambitious target will force you think deeply and innovate.
As a starting point I’d recommend you read Van Tharp – he’s one of the few authors that give a realistic introduction to the field and he offers a concrete approach to thinking about system quality. I’d also dig into the resources at Better System Trader to get a feel for how the professionals go about things. But there’s no single source that will teach you to trade – you have to immerse yourself in the field.
Hope you find this useful, and good luck with your trading. Don’t even think of going live till you have consistent results on your demo account, and then start small and work up by re-investing profits. You have to earn the right to trade big – don’t risk significant funds while you’re learning.
