I wanted to create a section of the site where I could give a little bit of advice and point you in the direction of some good resources for those of you who are either thinking of dabbling in the markets, or maybe have made some catastrophic mistakes by rushing headlong into buying the latest highly ramped penny share without having a clue what’s going or simply if you haven’t seen these resources before! Rushing headlong into was exactly what my introduction into share dealing and investing was by the way, probably some 10/11 years ago now. It scared me off the markets for many years truth be told but it really needn’t be that way!
Now I’m not going to sit here and type away telling you how to do this that and the other regarding methods, tactics etc. as honestly, I’m really not that good yet. Personally, I still have a hell of a lot to learn on the markets, but I do know a hell of a lot more than when I first started out with those disastrous buys all those years ago. In fact you never know, I may even help myself a little bit while I type this out so we can learn together!
Due to the fact I am still learning every day, this section will potentially change as I pick new things up, or find new resources so it could be worth checking back every so often.
The very first piece of advice I give anyone who has expressed an interest when I talk to them about the markets is to pick up a copy of The Naked Trader: How Anyone Make Money Trading Shares. Make sure you buy the latest version which is currently the 4th Edition. In this book Robbie Burns goes from the absolute basics of how to place a trade, explains his methods for finding shares, what research he carries out on them, where he goes for this research and a whole host of other vital information and tips. I honestly can’t stress enough how good a starting point this is.
Once you’ve read this book cover to cover, read it again. Then once you’ve read it again making necessary notes as you go, grab a copy of another book by The Naked Trader, Trade Like A Shark. In this Robbie delves more into the psychological side of trading and builds on the knowledge you will have acquired from the previous book. Thirdly I would recommend a copy of The Art Of Execution by Lee Freeman-Shor. In this book Lee describes different types of professional fund managers, their habits, whether they were successful or not, and what he learned from his time managing them.
There are a ridiculous number of trading books out there and it would impossible to read them all, and to be honest I think you’d only end up confusing yourself as they’ll all probably tell you completely different things or fry your brain with information overload. Personally I like to keep things simple as over complications can cloud your judgement and potentially leave you overlooking the basics.
Once you feel you’ve absorbed enough information and haven’t been scared away for life, I would say the next thing to do would be to paper trade. This is where you give yourself a set amount of imaginary cash, and trade like you would for real. There are a number of sites which allow you to do this, a couple of which off the top of my head are Share.com and IG.com, simply select their demo accounts and this allows you to trade as you would with actual money.
I feel it is important to be aware of the psychology factor when paper trading however, obviously it’s a lot easier to make rational decision based on cold hard facts when you know it isn’t the real world as it were. Don’t let that stop you, just something to be aware of like I say. Again, the Robbie Burns books are very good regarding the psychology behind trading thought processes but ultimately it will be down to you to learn. You have to be cold and calculating and take all emotion out of the process. I’ll be honest with you, I still struggle with this now. When your shares are showing gains and things are going well, it’s very easy to think you are invincible and you’ve become a trading god. It’s when things start to turn downwards and you start doubting yourself. I think it’s worthwhile taking a small step back when this happens, take a look at recent trades, go over notes you made and the thought process behind your buys. If needs be, go back to reading the books over again.
Another set of resources I try to tap into, and would recommend you do the same, are blogs. Blogs which are a bit like that, only much better! Firstly I would again point you in the direction of Robbie Burns aka The Naked Trader. Now when I first stepped into the world of investing he would update his blog pretty much weekly, then it became bi-weekly, and unfortunately now it’s much less often. I guess that’s what happens when you’re hugely successful in your field, which this chap undoubtedly is. That said it is still worth looking at, it’s usually updated on a Thursday, it might just be a few Thursday’s until the next one. After this, there a huge amount of really good information on the website of Wheelie Dealer. You can also follow this very knowledgeable on Twitter as he goes by the same name, he is very active on there and also posts when he’s updated his site. There tend to be some good weekend posts added where he takes a good look at various charts from across the week if that’s your sort of thing.
My brain has now run out of ideas for the time being so I’ll leave things here for the time being. As I said earlier, I will look to add/modify this as time goes on and I (hopefully) become a more experienced and competent trader. Hopefully this is a small bit of a help and if nothing more a pointer in the right direction of where to start.
Now I’m not going to sit here and type away telling you how to do this that and the other regarding methods, tactics etc. as honestly, I’m really not that good yet. Personally, I still have a hell of a lot to learn on the markets, but I do know a hell of a lot more than when I first started out with those disastrous buys all those years ago. In fact you never know, I may even help myself a little bit while I type this out so we can learn together!
Due to the fact I am still learning every day, this section will potentially change as I pick new things up, or find new resources so it could be worth checking back every so often.
The very first piece of advice I give anyone who has expressed an interest when I talk to them about the markets is to pick up a copy of The Naked Trader: How Anyone Make Money Trading Shares. Make sure you buy the latest version which is currently the 4th Edition. In this book Robbie Burns goes from the absolute basics of how to place a trade, explains his methods for finding shares, what research he carries out on them, where he goes for this research and a whole host of other vital information and tips. I honestly can’t stress enough how good a starting point this is.
Once you’ve read this book cover to cover, read it again. Then once you’ve read it again making necessary notes as you go, grab a copy of another book by The Naked Trader, Trade Like A Shark. In this Robbie delves more into the psychological side of trading and builds on the knowledge you will have acquired from the previous book. Thirdly I would recommend a copy of The Art Of Execution by Lee Freeman-Shor. In this book Lee describes different types of professional fund managers, their habits, whether they were successful or not, and what he learned from his time managing them.
There are a ridiculous number of trading books out there and it would impossible to read them all, and to be honest I think you’d only end up confusing yourself as they’ll all probably tell you completely different things or fry your brain with information overload. Personally I like to keep things simple as over complications can cloud your judgement and potentially leave you overlooking the basics.
Once you feel you’ve absorbed enough information and haven’t been scared away for life, I would say the next thing to do would be to paper trade. This is where you give yourself a set amount of imaginary cash, and trade like you would for real. There are a number of sites which allow you to do this, a couple of which off the top of my head are Share.com and IG.com, simply select their demo accounts and this allows you to trade as you would with actual money.
I feel it is important to be aware of the psychology factor when paper trading however, obviously it’s a lot easier to make rational decision based on cold hard facts when you know it isn’t the real world as it were. Don’t let that stop you, just something to be aware of like I say. Again, the Robbie Burns books are very good regarding the psychology behind trading thought processes but ultimately it will be down to you to learn. You have to be cold and calculating and take all emotion out of the process. I’ll be honest with you, I still struggle with this now. When your shares are showing gains and things are going well, it’s very easy to think you are invincible and you’ve become a trading god. It’s when things start to turn downwards and you start doubting yourself. I think it’s worthwhile taking a small step back when this happens, take a look at recent trades, go over notes you made and the thought process behind your buys. If needs be, go back to reading the books over again.
Another set of resources I try to tap into, and would recommend you do the same, are blogs. Blogs which are a bit like that, only much better! Firstly I would again point you in the direction of Robbie Burns aka The Naked Trader. Now when I first stepped into the world of investing he would update his blog pretty much weekly, then it became bi-weekly, and unfortunately now it’s much less often. I guess that’s what happens when you’re hugely successful in your field, which this chap undoubtedly is. That said it is still worth looking at, it’s usually updated on a Thursday, it might just be a few Thursday’s until the next one. After this, there a huge amount of really good information on the website of Wheelie Dealer. You can also follow this very knowledgeable on Twitter as he goes by the same name, he is very active on there and also posts when he’s updated his site. There tend to be some good weekend posts added where he takes a good look at various charts from across the week if that’s your sort of thing.
My brain has now run out of ideas for the time being so I’ll leave things here for the time being. As I said earlier, I will look to add/modify this as time goes on and I (hopefully) become a more experienced and competent trader. Hopefully this is a small bit of a help and if nothing more a pointer in the right direction of where to start.