Trading Proficiency Requires Time & Effort

Hi Dave,

I have been following your content for a while and am an active Real Vision subscriber. I am wondering if you could point me in the right direction to gain trading education (as a novice) from ground zero to learn best practices. I am weary of taking a course if you could advise a better method. Do you have a good education program in mind.

All the best,

Scott C. – Calgary Canada

Scott,

Thanks for the question.

There can be little doubt in my mind that the whole ‘trading education/trading educator’ business is largely a joke.

The fact is, no trading approach can be boiled down into a set of DVD’s, weekend seminar or the like. Add to that the fact that the majority of ‘trading educators’ are largely unqualified.

Trading is a journey and takes lots of time and effort. Sure, you need a starting point and that usually involves getting some framework for understanding how trades are identified and executed. The challenge is being able to do/learn that in real-time each day, each week etc etc.

While I have been in the business for 20+ years, I still learn a great deal from some of the research I take in each day. My Bloomberg Terminal is a great example. Yes, there is a lot of information on it, but in time you can find the key pieces of information and insights that really help you build your basis for taking trades. I also strongly suggest that you not get too myopic in terms of your analysis. Technical analysis is a robust approach, but I prefer combining my technical insights with data from Bloomberg (lots of options data) as well as quantitative research from the team at Nautilus Capital.

You asked me directly and will give you my answer. When looking to outside sources, make sure they can string together the bullet points below. If not, don't waste your time. 

• How are they interpreting the market

• What key price levels or asset class movements will trigger a possible set-up

• A daily review of what was stated in the previous days and how it builds on where we are now.

• Contrary to popular belief, there is no ‘Trade of The Day’. For the true trading professional there is an ongoing narrative within the major asset classes and a handful of FX pairs/crosses.

• Price forecasts with clear levels where trades are proven invalid or at levels where booking profits makes sense.

Staying with that narrative day in and day out allows for deeper insights and allows me to anticipate market movements versus reacting to them.

So, in some sense, there is trading education, but only the form of a virtual apprenticeship. Aspiring carpenters don’t learn how to be a master carpenter at a weekend course. However, they can learn it from hanging out in the workshop with a professional for years. Trading is no different.

Hope that helps.

Dave