TIP 1 Read both the books by Mark Douglas which cover trading psychology BEFORE you read or do anything else. If you don’t, I’ll say I told you so when you hit a failure barrier and don’t know why.
TIP 2 Stop loss policy - you MUST have one and practice, more practice and even more practice at sticking to it. It will not be easy but it is an essential discipline to profitable trading.
TIP 3 Trading plan / system. Again, you MUST have one! Then you must practice sticking to it. Do not try and second guess or trade against your indicators - wait until they give you a concise signal before acting on it.
TIP 4 TRADE WITH THE TREND. DO NOT trade against the hourly trend of the market unless you are VERY certain the market has turned. Check this by watching a long term moving average (say 80 SMA on 15 minute chart)
TIP 5 Learn to sit on your hands and not trade! It’s better to wait for good quality trades than take a mediocre one and loose money. A day of no trades is better than a day with one loosing one. If you don’t like the market, just walk away. It will always be there later.
TIP 6 Don’t set yourself false targets and expectations. Trading is not an EXACT science and if you do you will only become frustrated by your failure to meet them. Take what the market gives and be satisfied. Greed will kill you as a trader, both mentally and monetarily. .
TIP 7 The market is rarely your friend in a trade that goes against you. Cut your losses quickly and accept them as an inherent part of trading. You will not be able to trade without some loosing positions. Manage them well!
TIP 8 Try hard not to get out of profitable trades too early. Try operating a trailing stoploss of say 15 to 20 pips behind the trade (on 5 minute timeframe) and maximise your good trades by letting them run. Be patient!
TIP 9 Ensure you fully understand how to generate and use pivot points and camarilla points on your trading platform. These are crucial decision points for daily trading and you will struggle without them.
TIP 10 DO NOT overtrade your account. Read up on money management in trading to make sure you fully understand why this is important and develop a strategy which fits with your personal trading capital. NEVER risk wiping out your account because believe me, it can happen. I’ve done it twice myself!
TIP 11 Learn about FIBONACCI levels and how to apply them to your charts.
TIP 12 Keep your trading system simple. Do not have too much information on your trading screen. It is unnecessary and will only cause you to be confused and delay you making your trading decisions.
TIP 13 Always think in terms of probabilities. Trading is all about thinking in probabilities NOT certainties. You can make all the “right” decisions and the trade still goes against you. This does not make it a “wrong” trade, just one of the many trades you will take which, through probability, are on the “loosing” side of your trading plan. Don’t expect not to have negative trades - they are a necessary part of the plan and cannot be avoided.
TIP 14 Ensure that the candle is fully formed on the timeframe you are trading BEFORE you enter your trade. Trade what you see, not what you would like to see.
