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The second part of a two-part miniseries on what to expect when you’re learning how to trade. Highlights from this episode include:

What do you need to give yourself the best chance of success?

• Most importantly: realistic expectations.
• Knowledge
  • Trading isn’t about knowledge, but background knowledge is helpful
  • The reading list I mentioned is here, here, and here. Yes it’s a long list, but if you’re serious about this, it’s a serious education. Time go get serious?
  • Knowledge about yourself is maybe most important. Be ready to do the work to learn about yourself.
  • As for actual trading knowledge, perhaps ironically, you don’t need that much. This is yet another reason why it’s hard to learn to trade.

The process

• I mentioned a process with several steps. Here’s a blog post that also looks at those steps.
• Most important, the first real success you will have is when you lose less money, and it can take years to get there. Know that this is success, and keep your expectations realistic.

What are the biggest challenges you’ll probably face?

• Emotions–both your own, and those of the market.
• The market is an emotional machine that has essentially evolved to cause traders to make mistakes.
• The market is very counterintuitive at times. Things seem to not make sense.

One of the most serious challenges is finding that balance between sticking with something and trying something new.

If you enjoy the podcast, please leave me a review on iTunes here. This is very helpful, and a few moments of your time can make a big difference for the podcast. Thank you, and, for those who have already reviewed, thank you again!

Also, if you like the music for this podcast, then be sure to check out Brian Ashley Jones, my friend, and a fantastic singer-songwriter. He has a new CD out, Out of the City (or here, on iTunes) that you might enjoy!

Enjoy the show: