I was recently reading a book on trading called ‘Mastering the Trade’ written by a professional trader based in USA called John Carter. The books provides a number of insights into the world of trading. The book starts with giving into market internals and gives a through into trading psychology. The author then continues with his trading setups (strategies). While I found most of his trading setups interesting, I noticed that they cannot be practiced without buying custom indicators from a website maintained by the author’s company. When I checked on the Internet, it got some good reviews from some big business websites and blogs. I too would rate the book as an excellent addition to the library of an amateur trader.
Subsequently, I have also noticed a number of professionals who converted into salesmen and keep selling software, custom indicators, paid webinars,etc. One such is the the website maintained by another professional trader called Dr. Alexander Elder.
However, one key question that cropped up in my is, “Should you buy trading tips and indicators from trading Gurus?” Would these indicators help new traders in making money quickly in the market? Are there any shortcuts to master trading without spending hundreds of hours of screen time?
After a bit of thinking, I would say that the answer to the above question is a simple ‘no’. There are no shortcuts to mastertrading. No guru can guide you with their trading tips, paid webinars and custom indicators. Many new traders fall prey to these traders turned salesmen and end up wasting thousands of dollars in buying wasteful software and indicators.
Just like you have blogs which claim that they could teach blogging to amateur blogs, ‘How to blog?, there is a supermarket created on the Internet by past traders claiming to teach trading to amateurs. Trading is a skill that can certainly be learned. You do not need to have high IQ to master trading. All you need to emerge as a successful trader is patience and discipline. You should be patient to watch the charts for hundreds of hours and master the chart patterns. And, you need to be patient in sticking to your trading and money management strategies.
There are no shortcuts in this profession. You need to complete the initial difficult journey with hard work and perseverance. Even if the software and indicators temporarily, the constant changing nature of the market will make them redundant.
The rewards for a successful trader are many (independence and high income). But the road to success is not easy. It is said that less than ten percent of the total traders are successful. You can be one among that ten percent by working your way through patience and determination. Not by searching for shortcuts.
