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.
Sometimes it`s wise not to be the early bird when investing in forex, instead wait and see what the day will bring before you take action. The 10 A.M. rule is a great example of this concept, and is an example that protects your capital. Let`s say you want to buy a forex stock, for whatever reason; a trend play, or a market rally that you think a currently hot sector will participate in. You know that a great time to buy would be on a gap down, but the market is in rally mode and instead of gapping down, the forex stock gaps up. But buying the gap up is a bad trade. Now what do you do?
Make use of the 10 A.M. rule, and wait until after 10 A.M. for the right forex stock investing time to buy the stock. Use stops to protect yourself, like you would on any trade. If the forex stock makes a new high for the day after 10 A.M., then, and only then, should you trade the stock.
Anyone who`s followed the market knows that a forex stock will often gap up early in the morning, only to suddenly sell off and reverse into negative territory. By following the 10 A.M. rule, you avoid the risk of this sudden reversal. If the forex stock does make it to a new high after 10 A.M., there is still trader interest in the forex stock, and it stands a good chance of gaining momentum and heading even higher.
Here is an example of the 10 A.M. rule on a gap up: A forex stock closes the day at $145. After hours, the company announces a two for one forex stock split. The next morning the forex stocks gaps up to open at $161. It trades as high as $166 before 10 A.M. For two hours after 10 A.M. it trades lower and doesn`t reach $166. At 2 P.M., it hits $166.50. The forex stock is now safe to buy, using the 10 A.M. rule.
If the forex stocks are still making new highs at midday, they stand a great chance of finishing the day near their ultimate highs for the day, and could be good trading opportunities. Adopting a version of the 10 A.M. rule, you could watch for a hot sector to appear in the morning and follow the forex stocks in the sector that are up for the day. This can also be used in a down market and to stocks in forex that gap down, opening at prices lower than where they closed the previous day. In this case, you should not short a forex stock that has gapped down unless and until it makes a new low for the day after 10 A.M.
Keep in mind that trading is all about probabilities. The 10 A.M. rule is a valuable addition to your trading plan, giving you a straightforward way to avoid making costly mistakes and to increase your number of profitable stock investing trades in forex. The more forex stock investing trades you make with a high probability of success, the more successful you will be. Using the 10 A.M. rule ensures that you will never end up chasing and buying a forex stock when your chances of making a profitable trade are low.
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.
So many people make the cardinal trading mistakes and lose everything – wife, girlfriend, kids, house, the lot. Don’t fall into the trap and make the same trading mistakes.
One of the biggest aspects of becoming a successful trader – and most things in life – is that of learning from your trading mistakes. I remember a quote from JP Morgan that has stuck in my head ever since hearing it as a novice trader. Write this down and implant it in your brain for the entirety of your trading journey.
“To be a money master, you must first be a self-master.”
Mistakes will inevitably happen in your career as a trader. The same applies to anyone taking on something new. For example, when most people start a new job, they need lots of hand-holding until they are comfortable with their new role. Trading is no different. Unfortunately, most traders don’t have that ’somebody’ to look over their shoulder; there is no one to guide and correct them when they have made a mistake. The trader, for the most part, needs to look at her own trading patterns and be self-correcting. This can be a tall order, especially when you don’t realise you have done anything wrong!
There are two types of mistakes: mistakes you have made and mistakes made by someone else. The fact is, it’s human nature to link more pain to the mistakes that you have made yourself as opposed to the mistakes of others. As a result it’s easier to learn from your own painful mistakes than the mistakes of others.
Mindful of this, I encourage traders to think of the first one to two years of their trading career as an opportunity to learn from your own mistakes. The more mistakes you make initially, the more you will learn – but only if you consider them as learning experiences as opposed to events you beat yourself up over!
The 2 Biggest Mistakes of My Trading Career
1. Trading Without A Plan
We all know a well-designed trading plan is the essential element of any good trader. The plan is there to instruct you what to do, when to do it and how much to do it with.
In my opinion, unless your plan is written down, you don’t have a plan. A plan will make you trade consistently and help you to minimise your losses while magnifying your gains.
2. Trading Without A Coach or Mentor
Ask yourself this: If you want to learn a new language, how would you get started? You would most likely go to a class and learn from somebody more experienced.
In a similar manner, if you wanted to improve your trading skills, you should find a coach. Trading is generally a lonely vocation. What’s more, due to the solitary nature, many traders find it difficult to improve their skills.
Coaches are necessary to help you identify where you are going wrong and steer you in the right direction. The fact is, all top performers have coaches. Take Tiger Woods, for example. He’s considered the greatest golfer of all time and yet he still has a coach. Why do you think that is?
Coaches are required for those who wish to perform at their peak. I believe five hundred dollars spent on improving yourself through a trading coach is much better than losing $10,000 in the markets. You can guarantee you don’t make the silly trading mistakes that so many other successful people before you have.
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For anyone who has been invested in the markets over the past two years, it should come as no surprise to discover that market volatility, as measured by the Chicago Board Options Exchange, has risen from the range 16 to nearly 80, the highest level ever recorded.
To put that number into perspective, consider that after September 11, the index reached 33. Now, in the 30 range, the market seems subdued! Overall, however, 30 remains a high number as far as volatility is concerned and this is where many investors stand to profit.
The first thing investors need to do when it comes to taking a run at profit is to distance themselves emotionally from their investments. Trading software that provides signals on when to buy and sell can help in this regard, but this is something most individual investors are unable to accomplish. Think about it: we all work hard for our money and we hate to see it wasted. This is a benefit that money managers have — they haven’t worked hard for the money you invest, so if they lose, they lose your money, not theirs.
The next thing the investor needs is an understanding of volatility. Although Yahoo! Finance provides a neat graphical image (enter “^VIX” in the quote box), it does not give a definition to the term. Simply put, volatility is rate of change in the deviation from the mean. This means that the higher volatility, the more rapidly a price will wander from its mean price.
Lastly, investors need is to hold back from being consumed by greed. This poses an immense challenge for most people as short-term gains often hint at larger longer-term returns. Trading system can help in this regard as well since they so effectively strip the emotion factor from any trade by focusing solely on statistical figures like volatility, momentum, relative strength and so on. Individual investors, on the other hand, focus on the potential of profit or loss.
In summary, by eliminating emotion and relying on technical trends investors can use volatility advantageously. Such volatility can allow for strong gains and returns when used properly. A trading system can assist to a large degree, but is not at all required for investors who can control their emotions and greed.
With more than 16 years of financial services experience, Chris believes that are instrumental to proper Strategies.
There are a couple of cardinal successful stock market trading rules that I am sure you are quite familiar with by now.
The first of the two most common stock market trading rules are to cut your losses short. The second of the two most common successful stock market trading rules are to let your profits run. However, you can take it one-step further by fine-tuning your trailing stop losses, and becoming more risk seeking once your stock is in profit. Increasing your risks, at the right time, can allow you to get all the profit you possibly can out of your system. You may wish to test the effects of these successful stock market trading rules by having a wider trailing stop loss than your initial stop, and see how this is reflected in your system.
Let’s say, you could set your initial stop loss at two ATR but set your trailing stop loss as three ATR. This allows the stock, once it`s in profit, a little bit more room to move. You`re still limiting your risk at the beginning of the trade by keeping a tight stop loss; however you`re going to become risk seeking in a profitable situation. That is to say you`ll be willing to risk more once you`re already in profit.
Personally, I think this is one of the many successful stock market trading rules you can use to take it a step further than most people are willing to go. With this strategy, I also mix and match my stop loss methods. For example, in one of my stock market trading rules, I set my initial stop loss at 2.5 ATR, but my trailing stop loss is calculated using a completely different method. I use what`s known as the lowest low stop. The way this stop loss works is you find the lowest low in the last X number of periods, and base your trailing stop loss on it.
Now, for that trend following system, I actually find the lowest low in the last 40 days. I then position my stop one cent below this low. It`s almost as though it`s consulting the price action itself by identifying where the lowest low is, and this can be highly effective. Many times my stop has been set one cent below a support line.
The way this trailing stop loss works is that on each day a new trading day is then added to the chart, and one of the old days drop off. I then find the lowest low in the last 40 days, and reposition my stop at that point, if it needs to be repositioned. This stop has been extremely valuable for me, and it may be a stop loss that you may want to consider testing.
But, before you start looking for that perfect trailing stop loss, realize that in it`s own way, it`s very similar to the initial stop. There is no perfect stop that will guarantee to get you out of the stock at the perfect time, and save you the most profit.
Sometimes it might work for you. Other times it won`t. The real key and secret of having a stop loss and an initial stop do their best for you is not how you calculate it, it`s just having them in place.
You need to find an initial and a trailing stop loss that you`re comfortable with. You also need to understand how they work so that the actions they direct you to take makes sense to you. How do you find a stop that you`re comfortable with?
Try them. Pick out a whole lot of charts of stocks that you`ve been looking to trade, and marking where you would receive an entry signal, set various initial stops and trailing stop losses. Progress through the trade, revaluing your trailing stop loss and see which one works the best.
Oftentimes successful stock market trading rules are designed with simple concepts that works best at this point. When you base your system on understanding, rather than optimization, you are more likely to stick with it. If you can come up with a good, straightforward set of your own stock market trading rules, you will be able to apply it across a number of markets on most trading instruments. Really, when designing any system around a set of stock market trading rules, all components should apply to this same principle. You want to keep things as simple as possible, that way it`s robust and can be applied to any market. As long as you follow this underlying principle, you`ll be on the right track.
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Mark McRae was asked by trader David Jenyns what the things are that he likes to see to make him want to get into the perfect trade.
David: I’d like to find out what are some buy triggers that you look for, I mean obviously there are hundreds of different ways to get into a trade. What are some of the things that you like to see for you to want to get into a trade?
Mark: Well, you know, I’m much more comfortable in longer time periods, and one of my students, a chap I’ve been talking to lately, is a very good trader, but he trades five-minute — he trades very small time frames and he’s burning out. I think it’s very hard to trade a live account on a small time frame for more than six months. Maybe even three months without a break. But at some stage, you go crazy.
It wasn’t until later on that I became successful in the smaller time frames, but I sort of went from five minutes to thirty minutes, to an hour, to four hours, and I became very comfortable at four hours, and then recently over the last year or two, I’ve become very comfortable with daily charts. And I think also because now I’m more comfortable with much larger stocks. But what gets me into a trade? And also that evolution is I don’t rely so much on indicators anymore.
There’s a lot more in price action. So, if, for example, there is a two-bar reversal or a reversal of a particular formation of bars, a particular juncture in that trend, then that gets me into a trade. I keep a record of every time a particular formation – how successful it was, and also I’m very choosy. I mean, one of the other problems I see with new traders is they feel a compulsion to trade every day, and the market just doesn’t always give you a trade. There might be something happening, the market’s dead, there’s no volume in the market. There is often a reason you can’t trade. It’s more important that you wait for the perfect trade.
So, I’m over the compulsion now of my trading. If I only trade once a week, or once a month, or however often, but that one trade is perfect. One of the things I found that helped me and I think would help everybody who trades, is when you see that perfect trade or you have that perfect trade, print it out.
I used to have a library of trades, so whenever I was taking a particular formation, lets say it was a double bottom for example, a breakout of a double bottom, or a re-test would be better as a much higher probability of a trade, I would flip through ten or fifteen previous ones I’ve printed out just to remind myself what that should look at.
At the hard right edge, it doesn’t look like it does a week later. Because you can’t always see it so and that’s saved me many times because I’d say okay, that doesn’t look quite good, and so number one, it has to have a particular formation, it has to lineup just the right way, just the right time, and it must look a certain way for a high probability and that gets me into the perfect trade.
A successful trader in his own right, David Jenyns interviews long-term trader and friend Stuart McPhee about the need to learn stock trading if your time is limited, and how to start out as a trader.
Stuart: A questioner has asked what is the best to trade if you are time poor. There are methodologies you can use that really don’t demand a huge amount of your time and the obvious one is trading stocks using medium-term trends.
In fact you don’t even have to check things every single day. You don’t need to scan every day. My medium term funds I scan once a week. Admittedly when I’m in a trade, I’ll monitor during the week. So far as scanning and identifying new opportunities, it’s a once a week thing. I think a lot of people scoff at oh, only a few hours a week or one hour per day or less than an hour per day.
Absolutely you can trade using a specific style that doesn’t demand a huge amount of your time. Trading stocks medium term trends is certainly one of those and is the most obvious and common one for people who are time poor.
David: I think a number of people are facing this. The next question is: I’m a beginner in trading and I started trading the forex about six months ago. In one of your videos, you recommended for beginners not to start with short term trading such as intra day trading. For a person like me who has a full-time very demanding managerial job with the aim to trade on a part-time basis as a starting point, what type of trade would you recommend: forex, futures, stocks etc? What type of trading, swing trading position trading and can you specify timeframes, medium term or longer term?
Stuart: There may be people out there who can start trading foreign exchange straightaway and make a killing. I just know that’s going to be the exception rather than the rule, and it’s going to be a very rare exception. I really believe in laying the foundations. The groundwork for me is to learn stock trading for a period of time and just concentrate on trading stocks. They are the easiest, you won’t get hurt if things don’t go your way. You’re not trading with leverage, you can’t lose more than you physically have, where with some of the other products you can.
It’s just the easiest way to start, it’s a great grounding and then if you can’t trade stocks profitably consistently, then you’re certainly not going to be successful trading the others. That’s why I believe in starting with the basics.
When you have a demanding job time wise and trading such a short term instrument as forex, it’s difficult. The beauty today is you can place conditional orders and place our stops physically as soon as we get in so we don’t have to watching the screen but I think so far as analysis is concerned and doing other things it can be demanding of our time.
David: He also asked regarding swing trading and position trading or a particular method of trading. If you were to put a label on it so he’s got somewhere to start.
Stuart: Yes I just say learn stock trading using medium term trends. Analyze peaks and troughs. Identify those and those stocks achieving higher peaks, higher troughs, that’s the sort of thing I’m interested in. Good solid conservative, medium term steady sort of movement stocks.
Why do some people fail miserably at Forex trading while others have great success? What separates the winners from the losers? You might be surprised to know that successful Forex traders share certain characteristics. There are also characteristic shared by losers, these include making trades based upon emotions instead of logic or holding onto losses because they are afraid to admit they made a bad trade. Winners don’t make those mistakes. They go even further and take positive actions regularly so that they become success habits. Learning the things successful Forex traders do can help you become successful too.
Setting goals is essential. Successful Forex traders are goal oriented. Setting goals pushes you to do your best as you strive to reach your goals. However, you have to set good goals. Your goal has to be realistic. You no doubt would love to double your money every day. However, as a goal, that is unrealistic. When you have an unrealistic goal, it undermines your self confidence and sets you up for failure. Your goal also has to be attainable based upon your capabilities. Set a goal that matches your skill level. As your skills improve, your goals expand. In order to work for you, your goals must be realistic and attainable. One way to go about this is to set short term goals. Start with small ones that are easy to achieve. This builds your confidence; you can then raise the bar on your goals as your skills improve.
Your goal must also have measurability. A goal that cannot be measured isn’t really a goal at all; it is more like a dream. For example, if your goal is to be wealthy, how will you measure your progress? You need to set a specific dollar amount so you know how close you are to achieving your goal and can quantify your actions. This also helps you to measure changes you make to your strategies. If you measure your moves in dollar amounts, you can tell what works and what doesn’t. Don’t worry about setting goals that are too small. Your goals will grow with you as your success in Forex grows. Successful Forex traders set specific, measurable goals and move towards them with confidence. Lack of confidence is the deal breaker when it comes to Forex trading. The best way to build your confidence is to set small realistic goals that you can attain and raise the bar slightly with each new goal.
Successful Forex traders also apply skill and logic to all their trading decisions. They learn every day, and they use what they know to make intelligent choices on every trade. Successful Forex traders don`t worry about missing out on the next big thing, they focus on making good trades. One of the most common mistakes inexperienced Forex traders make is to trade when they see an opportunity they think might be too good to miss. Jumping into a position based on a hunch, or on the belief that you may be missing an opportunity, is no different than gambling. Almost every investor at one time or another has felt a rush of enthusiasm for a trade, based solely on their desire not to miss out on a great opportunity that might be available. Successful Forex traders know their market, and are disciplined in their trades so that they aren`t swayed by these kinds of concerns.
Successful Forex traders have a great deal of knowledge about the market but it is not humanly possible for one person to stay abreast of the entire market and all of the events that affect it. Therefore, a wise trader picks a specific area of investing and learns it like the back of his hand. For example, you may have an interest in trading commodities futures. Then you should learn all you can about that particular market. Learn its history and current events that affect it movement. It is much easier for you to become an expert in the commodities futures market than it is to become an expert on every single investment niche.
If you don’t have enthusiasm for currency trading, then take up other types of investing. Your lack of interest and motivation will cause you to make mistakes and lose track of your focus. It will be hard for you to be successful under those circumstances. Successful Forex traders on the other hand specialize in a particular area of the market they are interested in and study it thoroughly until they know it inside and out. This gives them them knowledge and confidence to make profitable trades. If you are just starting out in Forex, it is a good idea to pick just one method of investment and learn all you can about it before you branch into other areas.
Whether you`re a beginning trader, a trader with some experience, or someone who makes his or her living strictly from trading, you can be successful. Many people think they have to have significant capital, or years of experience, to trade successfully. That`s not true. It`s also true that if you don`t stay disciplined, focused, and rational, you`ll end up as a losing trader, regardless of your level of expertise. All successful Forex traders started as small investors; they didn`t trade more than they could safely risk, they learned from their mistakes, and they developed systems that worked for them and that fit their personal styles. There aren`t different strategies for different levels of Forex traders because the principles are the same for everyone in the markets: logical, focused, disciplined trading creates success.
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.
