How To Get into Trading and Be a Professional Trader
Getting into the world of trading can be overwhelming. There is a lot you have to learn about strategy, markets, and how to make profits. Whether you’re planning to be a part-time day trader or a professional trader, the initial steps are the same. Going “professional” has more to do with experience and learning advanced trading strategies like CQS scalping.
You have to approach this vocation similar to how you start any other job. There is a lot of information and success stories online about people making bank by trading. However, this will not be the case when you first start learning trade. You have to start from the basics and then work yourself up with experience under your belt.
4 steps to becoming a professional trader
Step 1 – Do your research
Your first step should be to build up your knowledge about trading. This sets you up with a solid foundation to overcome problems in the future. Trading is very dynamic. You cannot follow a guideline or step-by-step instructions to become successful. Without understanding the fundamentals, you will have a hard time adapting to the market.
You don’t need to be an economist or have a degree in financial markets to start trading. Anyone can learn how to be a trader as long as they are willing to put in the time and effort. You can use online resources (articles, webinars, courses) and books on trading to start learning.
There is a ton of lingo and strategies used by professionals that need to become your bread and butter. Trading involves a lot of reading and analysis. If you don’t understand what you’re reading, then you cannot be successful. You can gain temporary profits by following the guidance of people and books. But, to make this profitability more permanent, you need a good understanding of the fundamentals.
Step 2 – Get out of your head
Don’t assume that trading is going to be easy just cause others have become successful with it. At first glance, it may seem like there isn’t much to trading. Simply buy when the price is low and sell when it’s high. Seems easy enough right?
When you get into trading, however, you will find that this is not anywhere near the truth. You may have some beginner’s luck and score some trades. But, when your next trades start to turn against you and you don’t know what’s wrong, you can easily become discouraged.
To become a professional trader, you need to realize there is a lot more work ahead of you. You need to research:
- How other traders are trading
- What strategies are most effective under certain conditions
- What tools can you use
- What automated systems are trustable
- How much money should you invest in one go
- How do you mitigate risk
When you get into it, think of yourself as a college fresher starting your very first job. Don’t assume that you know enough already. You are likely to experience a lot of failure and frustration on your way to professional trading. But, you have to power through them as they will become your stepping stones to seasoned experience.
Step 3 – Practice and gain experience
Once you have learned the fundamentals, you have to start developing your trading strategy. There are many styles you can use, but you don’t need to employ all of them. You will find that some strategies work better for you personally. The best way to identify what you are good at is to attempt trading with each of them. Some of the trading styles available are:
- Day trading
- Swing trading
- Position trading
To help you practice these, there are demo trading accounts available now. With these, you can trade in the real market using fictional money. This removes all risk so you can practice your techniques. To become a professional stock trader using a demo account, you should:
- Let go of all inhibitions and start testing. Just see how different trades will affect your profitability.
- Then be reasonable. Instead of using all the fictional money, practice using only the amounts you are willing to invest.
Step 4 – Put yourself out there
By doing the above, you can gain a lot of experience and create a strategy. A day in the life of a day trader involves a lot of learning and trading. It almost never stops. In order to become professional, you need to become acclimated to this and trade as much as possible. Over time, you will move from being a part-time trader to a professional trader.
