The difference between being a consistently profitable trader and a inconsistent or losing trader is a fine line. To stay on the Profitable side of the line requires a trader to have mastered the many facets of trading, including planning plus employing robust risk and money management and be very structured in their approach to the markets, by having a pre-determined set of rules they will apply and adhere to at all times.
By developing a proven structured approach to trading, a trader starts to stand a chance of being profitable. By having structure, rules and plans helps the one tricky area of trading which is the Trading Psychology or Mindset aspect.
By having an overarching, well developed, Trading Plan, conducting regular Top Down Analysis, including ‘What Ifs’ to find sweet spots on the market where price might react or defining a possible long term trend, plus developing individual trade plans for every trade you take, can help enormously, and starts to manage the over-arching uncertainty of trading the Hard Right Edge of any chart. Such structure can assist you in knowing what you are going to do if price does A, B or even C and not being like a startled rabbit in a set of head lights and failing to move with the associated consequences.
The more a trader can do to manage uncertainty through planning and self-improvement as a trader, the better. So as well as having a Trading Plan it is also advisable to keep a Trading Journal, rather like a personal Diary. Here you can reflect periodically on your progress, mistakes, individual trades, your psychological state or mood or feelings prior to, during and after your trading sessions. Plus from all this should come Areas of Required Improvement and Updates to your overall Trading Plan.
As with any new year, (Happy New Year by the way) we often lay out what we want to achieve over the coming 12 months with resolutions, lists or just be expressing our wishes to others. Why not make 2019 the year you get a real grip of your trading and finally develop that Trading Plan, setting out everything you should and maybe shouldn’t be doing and start adhering to it. So as the clock is already ticking into 2019, which side of the ‘Line’ do you want to be on?
With all that in mind, I shall be covering Planning and all the above plus lots more in my hour slot as a speaker at the online London Traders Forum on Saturday the 12th January 2019 from 9am until midday (ish!)
You can find all the details here:
Top Trading Tip: Professional and consistently profitable Retail traders will have a well developed Trading Plan, will keep a Trading Journal or detailed records, will have a structured approach to their trading, will use and adhere to individual Trade Plans, will use robust risk and money management and will do all that is possible to help them manage the uncertainty of trading the hard right edge of the chart. This helps prevent over-trading, revenge trading, FOMO, Fear of Taking a Trade and reduces the stress of trading real money in a live market. So start to knock your trading into shape with structure and keep on the profitable side of the Thin Line.
