Here are 10 things that new traders can do that doom them to be unprofitable. The quicker a new trader can change these behaviors the quicker they can get on the right path to be profitable when the market is conducive to their trading method.
- Not doing any homework before putting real money at risk is a mistake.
- A new trader needs to have their own goals for returns and understand their own risk tolerance.
- Not having realistic return goals can lead to risking too much and lead to big losses.
- Trading with no plan leads to pure randomness in results. It does not matter if a new trader is profitable if their process is not repeatable.
- Not fully understanding how options, Forex, or futures markets work before trading them.
- Trading in illiquid markets that cause big losses between the bid/ask spreads can erode trading capital.
- Not having a way to backtest trading theories before implementing strategies.
- Changing a trading strategy each time the market changes leads to chaos in results.
- Looking endlessly for a trading system that never loses or makes money every day, week, or month. They do not exist, there is no Holy Grail of trading, the markets are always changing. The right question is what trading system with an edge can you trade over the long term?
- New traders that are always learning and never trading. After you have done your homework, backtested, and created your trading system. There is a day that you have to start putting real money at risk if you really want to continue to learn about yourself.