Just as overnight success takes 10 years, it takes a lot of showing up for you to be lucky

This will resonate with traders, young and old. Unfortunately it’s something that we need to be reminded of, again and again…

Bull markets are great. But this is one of the most dangerous environments for learning to trade. It can trick you into thinking you can do no wrong and that you’re a stock market maestro in tune with the market. It feels like everything you touch turns to gold and that you’re money-making machine.

Village Trader recently started trading in the futures market for the first time. The learning curve is more challenging than expected!

Over-trading is a common mistake when you’re starting out. In time, you will start to identify the unconscious assumptions that drive your trading decisions. In the meantime, this post highlights some common drivers, and a nifty technique to help you avoid over-trading.

A stop-loss order is the most effective way to cut your losses when a trade turns. You need to place the stop-loss order when you enter the trade. But deciding where to place it is difficult – the possible positions are infinite. Here Njabulo Nsibande illustrates his strategy with last year’s S&P 500 chart.

Your trading account is actually an ‘investment fund’ in which you’ve invested. Much like the ETFs you’ve bought, or your RA or pension fund. The only difference is that you’re the fund manager responsible for the returns.

Because it’s so easy to start trading, we often rush off to trade and call ourselves traders. But to be really good at it we need to go through our drills.

Join the journey where learning never ends and the destination is real.

Take a moment to review your last year’s trading – it’s not just a question of profit.