Mark McRae, interviewed by the trader David Jenyns outlines how he thinks a beginner should start his professional trading career.
Mark: My first market was a Forex market, and I was taught how to trade a five-minute chart. And I think that was totally wrong. Now, and also with indicators — and I think that, number one, I don’t think anybody should trade very small time frames, unless they are very experienced, or they are that way inclined, because if you trade — and I am thinking of myself now, and I am thinking of virtually every single person I know of who has sat down at a screen — the Forex market during the week is 24 hours, so you can sit there as a five-minute trader and be there 24 hours.
And almost — it becomes ridiculous — you can be there for 24 hours solid, or just roll it over, — you begin to see things in a five-minute chart that aren’t actually there, because you’re so close to the market. And also because you are on the hard-right edge, you have to be able to step away from it. So my advice for beginners is to start with much larger time frames — daily charts, weekly charts. I don’t think monthly charts are practical, but nothing lower than a four-hour chart, because it gives you time.
And also, it’s amazing, you are trading five-minute charts. You sit there for hours on end, waiting for a setup or whatever, and then when it happens, you feel rushed. All of a sudden, the elastic band has hit. I think it is very practical and good for your traders, especially when they are beginning their professional trading, to be able to move away from the market and make a decision, make a trade, and then step back without any pressure of time.
Also they must allow the market to tell them what is happening, because nothing will beat your eyes. There is no indicator, if you are going to be in the technical side of the market and not the fundamental side, is price-driven, so the price will determine, and tell you everything you need to know about the market. The indicators follow — or every system you do will follow that, so it’s all supply and demand. You have to keep it as simple as possible, particularly when you start.
David: I love hearing these common themes. It really echoes a lot of what I talk about, those core themes that you have. Keeping it simple, the time frames.
Mark: I figure also in terms of price, if you think of price actions for professional trading, it takes a while to become familiar to recognize a good setup.
When studying futures stock market trading curbs, it`s a well-known saying that `traders should have a healthy fear of the market`. It seems like a perfectly reasonable assumption to make. The market is volatile, and each trade you make is to some extent unpredictable. But, it`s one thing to learn to accept the risk of the market, and another entirely to be afraid of it.
Ninety-five percent of the futures stock market trading curbs errors you are likely to make, those errors which will cause you to consistently lose money, will be due to your attitudes your fear about being wrong. Fears of losing money, of missing out on profitable trades, or of leaving money on the table will cloud your thinking when you are trading. Your fears can cause you to act in such a way that what you are afraid will happen. If you`re afraid of being wrong, your fear will influence your perceptions of market information in a way that will cause you to do something that ends up making you wrong.
When you are afraid of something happening, all other possible outcomes cease to exist. You can`t perceive the other possibilities, or act on them properly if you do recognize them, because your fear paralyzes you. Physically, fear causes people to freeze or to run. Mentally, it causes them to narrow their attention to the object of their fear. This means that thoughts about other positive stock market trading curbs outcomes, as well as other information from the market, are barred from your mind. You can`t think about all the rational things you have learned about the market until the event is over and you are no longer afraid. Then you will think to yourself, `I knew that. Why did not I think of it then?` or, `Why could not I act on it then?`
It`s hard to understand that the source of these problems is usually our own attitudes. Many of the thinking patterns that adversely affect our stock market trading curbs are a natural result of the ways in which we were brought up to see the world. These thought patterns are so deeply ingrained that it rarely occurs to traders that the source of their trading difficulties is internal, and derived from their state of mind. It can seem more natural to see the source of a problem as external, in the market. This happens because it feels like the market is causing pain, frustration, and dissatisfaction. Most traders do not want to be concerned with such abstract considerations as considering how their thoughts influence their trades, but understanding how beliefs, attitudes, and perception effect your futures stock market trading curbs are as fundamental as learning how to serve is in tennis.
You could say that understanding and controlling your perceptions of market information is important only to the extent that you want to achieve consistent results. You don`t have to know anything about yourself or the markets to make a winning trade, just as you don`t have to know the proper way to swing a tennis racket or golf club in order to hit a good shot occasionally. The first time you played golf, for instance, you might have hit several good shots throughout your round, even though you had not learned any particular technique. But your game was still probably well over 100 for 18 holes. Obviously, to improve your overall score, you needed to learn technique. The same is true for developing good stock market trading curbs in your trading.
Traders need technique to achieve consistent results. If a trader is not aware of, or cannot understand, how their beliefs and attitudes affect their perception of market information, it seems as if it is the market`s behavior that is causing the lack of consistency. As a result of this perception, it stands to reason that the best way to avoid losses and achieve consistent profits is to learn more about the markets.
This bit of logic is a trap that almost all traders fall into at some point. Unfortunately, this approach doesn`t work. The market simply offers too many variables to consider, and these variable often conflict. Furthermore, there are no limits to the market`s behavior. It can do anything at any time. In fact, since every person who trades is a market variable, it can be said that any single trader can cause virtually anything to happen.
That means no matter how much you learn about the market`s behavior, and no matter how brilliant an analyst you become, you will never learn enough to anticipate every possible way the market can move. If you are afraid of being wrong or losing money, you will never learn enough to compensate for the negative effects these fears will have on your ability to be objective and to act without hesitation. You can`t be confident in the face of constant uncertainty by acquiring information. The hard, cold reality of stock market trading curbs is that every trade has an uncertain outcome. Unless you learn to completely accept the possibility of an uncertain outcome, you will try, either consciously or unconsciously, to avoid any possibility you consider painful. In the process, you`ll subject yourself to any number of costly self-generated errors.
You can get over the bad futures stock market trading curbs by accepting the risk, and moving beyond your fears, you can greatly increase your ability to be a consistently profitable trader. This requires self-knowledge and discipline, but the rewards that can be attained on the market more than make the effort worthwhile.
You may be having great success with your short term trading portfolio and have become comfortable with investment strategies. Now you may wonder if you should apply your successful methods to your superannuation fund. Can you treat your super fund and your trading fund the same? What about calculating stops?
Actually those two types of funds are totally different from each other. They represent different aspects of investment trading. One difference is usually the amount of money in the funds. Your super fund probably is much larger than your trading fund. The purpose of the funds is also different.
Even though you wouldn’t want to, if you did lose your trading fund, it probably wouldn’t ruin you financially. Your superfund is different. It is more like a long term investment and the last thing you want to do is risk losing it. Since these funds are so different, they require totally different approaches when it comes to managing them. Actually, the size of your fund has a big impact upon how you handle it. Of course, the basics still apply such as cutting your losses and ramping up profits but you have to adapt the way you implement your strategies so you have the maximum amount of profits.
You want your superfund to continue to grow so that when you are able to finally tap into it, all of the money will be there and you will be financially secure.
The same thinking applies to your stops. You want to nip your losses and let profits run but you approach the two investment methods very differently. The way you apply stops to your trading fund just wouldn’t work for your super fund.
What about the method of calculation for your super fund? Would you use the same one that you use for your CFD trading fund? The width would be different of course, but is the method the same?
Stuart: The same method, no. I use a volatility base for my super fund and a technical stop for my short term trading. Investment trading often calls for different methods to be profitable. We have to be able to adapt our trading style to match our individual circumstances.
