Trading, as opposed to investing, has higher risks associated with it but also much higher rewards if you can trade successfully. Trades can take anywhere between 1 minute (scalping) to days (swing trading). Either way you need to have very measured risk management.
I think it is very apt now to show you a slide form from one of my presentations.
I risk approx 2% per trade except in a very few high probability trades. By risking 2%, you should be able to grow your trading account at an average of 8% per month without taking big risk. There is a very famous book called “Trading in the Zone” by Mark Douglas who introduced the investment industry to the concept of trading psychology. Douglas uncovered the underlying reasons for lack of consistently profitable trades and teaches traders to look beyond random outcomes, to understand the ‘true realities of risk’, and be guided by and be comfortable with the “uncertainty principle” that governs all trading decisions. Douglas’s book was a changing point for me.
Douglas’s teachings is about “maximising the trader’s state of mind” which is the key to successful results. Not exhaustive analysis or the latest “fad trading system”. He teaches traders to think in terms of “probabilities”. He taught me to trade in the “zone” and I don’t need to know – and don’t care – what the market is going to do next. I know what I am going to do next. And that made all the difference.
When going with a mentor, you need to ask them about their attitude and strategy to risk. This will be absolutely key to being a consistent trader. Like golf, you don’t need to be the best in any one round. But you do need to be consistent.
♦ What is the offering, and will they let you trial their offering?
Now let’s say that the mentoring program you are looking at has impressed you through Steps 1 and 2, then it is time to see if they walk the walk!You need to see if they will give you access to their program for at least a week so that you can evaluate their offering. You need to pick a week you have time to evaluate the offering properly. You must be fair to yourself. There is no point in picking a week where you know you will extremely busy at work or you are on holidays. You owe it to yourself to put the time in to see if the program is for you.
At TSL, I want to give people 2 weeks to evaluate and learn from the program. I want people to gain a knowledge that is honest, truthful and completely transparent. After registering for the 2 week trial on the Trading Signal Labs website, you will receive an email with a login name and password for the TSL members site. You will start with Step 1 of the TSL 7 Steps to success mentoring program.
I must add at this point that there was one trader I met in 2015 and he was a great trader. I wanted to learn from him and spent over 2 months talking with him every day over skype on his methodologies. But you know what … I just could not understand his logic. He had a system that was unteachable, or he just couldn’t teach, or I was just too thick. It didn’t matter. The fact is that you need to be able to follow everything.
Over the new 2 weeks, you will download our “state of the art” trading signals app on your desktop, laptop, phone and tablet so that we are always connected. You will open a demo trading account with a fully regulated trading broker. And you will review the training videos. Within days you will be able to
– Understand how to place buy and sell trade orders
– Calculate your bet size so you are not risking more than 2% per trade
– Receive trading alerts in real time with push notification technology on your smart devices
– Decide on the clarity of the offering and how profitable the signals are
♦ Will they share their live trading account with you?
A professional honest, transparent mentoring program needs to be backed up with a real live portfolio with verified trades. This is a must in my book. A great line from the 1996 American movie called “Jerry Maguire” when Rod Tidwell (Cuba Gooding) looks at Jerry Maguire (Tom Cruise) and exclaims “Show me the money Jerry” … brilliant line and is so true for anybody claiming to know how to trade profitably on a consistent basis.