What to trade?

[jersey10]

1. How did you decide what you were going to trade?
2. What process do people go through when deciding if they are going to trade equities, futures, options, FX etc.
3. How long did / does the process take before you decide which instrument suits you?

I assume that the following things would have to be taken into account:
how much time you want to spend in front of the computer trading (day trading v weekly trading v buy and hold)
what sort of trading you are naturally drawn to or find intriguing
how much money you want to make
how much money you are prepared to lose during the process

The reason i ask is i am at a point where i want to focus on short term trading (intraday) such as scalping FX. I also swing trade AUS and US stocks. Although i am a novice trader, the big thing i have going for me is the amount of time i am prepared to spend in front of the computer screen learning and trading.

How have others gone about deciding what they are going to trade?

 

[dotocom]

Are you a student? If you're doing full-time, I reckon intra as a beginner is risky. I screwed up many times with my demo account on IG Markets. Lost 80k in like 2days. Try playing with it first to see if it suits you.

 

[jersey10]

Are you a student? If you're doing full-time, I reckon intra as a beginner is risky. I screwed up many times with my demo account on IG Markets. Lost 80k in like 2days. Try playing with it first to see if it suits you.

Well i'm a student of the markets and trading, but not a school / uni student (wish i still was). I started paper trading ASX in January and have had a live Interactive Brokers account that i have been using for the last month or so. I swing trade ASX and US stocks using IB account. I find that enjoy the process of analysing a chart and even moreso on shorter time frames. I also like the sound of the FX market. I've dabbled with FX trader on my paper IB account. As you suggest, I won't go live with FX for some time. It took me 7 months before i went live with stocks.

How did you manage to blow 80k in 2 days? too much leverage?? no stop loss??

 

[Greg71]

If it's a low volatility stock, covered calls might be suitable.

If it's just bottomed (i.e. double bottom, inverted head and shoulders etc.) and broken above resistance, you might load up with calls to capture the short-term move with high leverage.

In a downtrend, obviously you would be using puts if it breaks down from support.

If it's a stock that doesn't have options available over it, I would trade the stock using a stop.

Keep it simple. The less moving parts the better.

 

[Trembling Hand]

Keep it simple. The less moving parts the better.

Then way introduce options

 

[kam75]

1. How did you decide what you were going to trade?
2. What process do people go through when deciding if they are going to trade equities, futures, options, FX etc.
3. How long did / does the process take before you decide which instrument suits you?

I assume that the following things would have to be taken into account:
how much time you want to spend in front of the computer trading (day trading v weekly trading v buy and hold)
what sort of trading you are naturally drawn to or find intriguing
how much money you want to make
how much money you are prepared to lose during the process

The reason i ask is i am at a point where i want to focus on short term trading (intraday) such as scalping FX. I also swing trade AUS and US stocks. Although i am a novice trader, the big thing i have going for me is the amount of time i am prepared to spend in front of the computer screen learning and trading.

How have others gone about deciding what they are going to trade?

Why do you want to trade? And What do you want to achieve by trading? Best to know yourself first.

Regards
kam75
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