Finding Focus in Trading
Jul 31, 2024
Finding Focus in a Distracted World: A Trader's Guide to Mastering the Markets
In the fast-paced and often chaotic world of trading, the ability to maintain focus is a crucial skill that can make the difference between success and failure. With constant market fluctuations, news updates, and the allure of quick gains, distractions are everywhere. However, mastering the art of focus can help traders navigate these challenges and achieve their financial goals. This guide explores practical strategies to cultivate focus and enhance productivity in trading.
Understanding Focus in Trading
Focus in trading is the capacity to concentrate mental energy and attention on market analysis, decision-making, and execution without getting sidetracked by distractions. It's about honing in on critical data, filtering out noise, and making well-informed decisions based on sound analysis. In essence, focus is the trader's tool for staying disciplined, minimizing errors, and capitalizing on market...
Emotional Control In Trading
Jun 30, 2024
Emotional control in trading is the anchor that holds the entire strategy together. Without it, even the most meticulously planned trades can go awry. In our recent podcast / post, we explore how you can cultivate emotional control to navigate the volatile markets.
Understanding Trading Emotions
Trading isn't just a test of your analytical skills; it’s also a test of your emotional resilience. The market is always changing, and so must your strategies and mindset. The first step towards mastering emotional control is recognizing that change is constant. Thoughts and routines might remain stagnant, but the market doesn’t wait for anyone. You must be ready to adapt and evolve your trading plan as well as your mentality in order to succeed in this industry.
Readiness for Change
1. Awareness: The journey begins with awareness. You must recognize that something in your trading approach or mindset needs to change. This awareness often comes after...
How To: Treat Trading Like A Business
Jun 09, 2024
Trading can’t be treated like a hobby, there is no “dabbling” in the markets if you want to be a trader. It must be taken serious as businesses do. After all, we are handling a lot of money. Here are 10 tips in ways to traders can treat their trading like a business. And if you need to hear it….FOLLOW YOUR PLAN, Aloha.
10 tips
- Journal
All business has books, keep a record of everything (tax purposes even expenses even if you aren’t a business yet, get into the HABIT of record keeping).
2. Make smart decisions
Don’t go and buy all of the fanciest trading software, news feeds, computer power, don’t need a personal assistant in your first year of trading. Keep your expenses small and invest in your learning.
3. Stoic
Keep your emotions out of your TRADES! When trading, don’t trade off of...
Changing Your Language
May 29, 2024
Change Your Language, Change Your Life
The Power of Language in Trading Success
Embarking on a journey to become a full-time trader is as much about mindset as it is about strategy and execution. One of the most transformative aspects of this journey is the language we use—both internally and externally. Changing your language can significantly impact your trading success and overall lifestyle.
Setting Up a Proper Timeline for Trading
1. Education and Practice Phase (6-12 months):
- Focus on learning trading basics, developing strategies, and using demo accounts.
- Aim to understand trading mechanics and test strategies without risking real money.
2. Initial Live Trading Phase (3-6 months):
- Start with a small live account to gain real market experience.
- Focus on consistency rather than immediate profits.
3. Evaluation and Scaling Phase (6-12 months):
- Analyze your performance and refine strategies based on live trading results.
- Gradually increase...
Leaving Your 9-5 To Trade Full Time
May 02, 2024
Join us as we explore the realistic challenges and strategies of transitioning from a 9-to-5 job to full-time trading. Whether you're an aspiring trader or looking to refine your trading approach, this podcast aims to equip you with the insights and tools needed to navigate the trading landscape successfully.
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Motivations for Trading: Discussing common reasons why people want to shift from traditional employment to trading.
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Financial Preparation: How to financially prepare for the transition, including creating a cushion and understanding income requirements.
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Emotional and Lifestyle Impact: Exploring the psychological adjustments and lifestyle changes that accompany full-time trading.
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Risk Management: The importance of managing risks and expectations in the volatile trading market.
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Continuous Learning: The need for ongoing education and adaptation to stay successful in trading.
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Realistic Expectations: Setting realistic goals and understanding the challenges of trading...
Accepting Market Uncertainty
Apr 23, 2024
Accepting Uncertainty in Trading.
The meltdown of 2022 has wiped out more than $7 trillion in market value from the blue chip stocks in the S&P 500. The index is down nearly 18% since the end of December.
Set the context for the conversion, going over recent events that’s creating our market environment
War.
Stocks - all these stocks are down:
Crypto is down -$200 billion market cap gone in a day, bitcoin is at a 50% from the high
There is a lot of uncertainty out there. What does uncertain mean?
Uncertain - not able to be relied on; not known or definite.
Glenn observation - according to historic data of DOW jones index, we never had bear run longer than 4 consecutive months. (this is data gathered since 1929). 1929 lasted for two years. Back in the day, took longer for the market to move.
1929 - overall 2 year bear trend, -84%
2008 - 6 months straight, but a -37%...
Wait For Your Edge
Apr 15, 2024
TIP: Let the market develop a few hours after the open of the week and at the start of a new candle day before placing a trade.
Aloha, welcome to the new week!
Wanted to share a tip that has helped me save money and kept my psychology sane:
Let the market develop for the first few hours before placing a trade. The reason being is spreads are usually steep and the market can be volatile and choppy – Large candles and massive wicks can form, only for the price to settle back down to pre-market levels.
NZDUSD was on my watch at the end of last week and my last analysis shows that I would be going long on this trade, however, applying the rule of “let the market decide in the first 4-5 hours”, minimum, has saved me from a quick loss of -1% on this trade and countless others trades.
Trading Lies That Hold You Back
Apr 11, 2024
Debunking Common Trading Lies
Separating fact from fiction is crucial for success when it comes to trading. Especially all over social media we see many lies perpetuated by fake traders. In this post, we cover a few lies we believed when we first started off trading and a few extras that are still shared wide.
Myth 1: You Must Be Profitable Every Month to Be Successful
One of the most pervasive myths in trading is the idea that success equates to being profitable every single month. A trading journey is filled with ups and downs and that includes periods of losing, also known as drawdown periods. Consistency in trading doesn't necessarily mean constant winning; rather, it's about maintaining a steady approach, managing risks, and learning from the inevitable losses over time - this is true consistency. This perspective shifts the focus from short-term gains to long-term growth and resilience.
Myth 2: There's a Perfect Strategy for Everyone
The quest for the...
Take Ownership In Your Trading
Apr 10, 2024
Regardless of current Market Conditions, there are still traders and hedge funds out there making profits. Were/are you struggling to turn profits in the Market? If so, maybe a question that begins to creep into your mind is 'is it ME or is it the Markets?!'
It's a great question to ask your self but an even deeper question that gets to the core is:
"Are you using excuses or are learning from your losses?"
We've heard it all before and Glenn and I have even shared the same excuses.
"stop loss hunters": THE MARKETS OUT TO GET ME!
Own it. We are small fish and aren't going to provide much liquidity to the FOREX market. - sorry but you aren’t that important.
If brokers did in fact Stop Loss Hunt this wide spread on every trade, they wouldn’t be in business, and regulators like the SEC would not allow this.
"It's not me, it's the market conditions."
"It's not me, it’s someone with authority."
Cut the...
6 Aspects To A Successful Trading Plan
Apr 09, 2024
What is a Trading Plan? How do you make a Trading Plan? What goes into a Trading Plan?
When first starting off in Trading, it can be daunting, which is why HTA thought it would be a great idea to bring you a course that introduces and builds upon how a new trader should approach the market.
To summarize, there are 6 key points to a Trading Plan:
- Find An Edge - Why is an edge important? It’s your way to become profitable. There’s a million ways to make a million dollars, you have to find the one that works for you. You have to know what you want to see in the market. Find the right trading style for you. The edge is the way you can get in and out of the market.
- Build A Watchlist - Why is your watchlist important? What are you looking at? A watchlist is basically what you are looking at that matches your edge. A Watchlist is provides you with the ability to catch the profitable opportunities.
- Identify Market Conditions - What are the conditions of the...
