Trading in the financial markets is not gambling for money. This is serious work, for which you need to properly prepare. Self-training in trading is one of the ways of such training. It is used by many novice traders. What can such training give a beginner, and what should one pay attention to?
Is it really possible to learn trading on your own?
We often hear that learning to trade on your own is a waste of time. At best, a novice trader can independently learn the terminology and basics of exchange trading, nothing more. It is impossible to agree with such a statement. Self-training in trading, with the proper attitude towards it, can give the desired result.
Of course, self-training in trading cannot be called simple. In addition to theory, a novice trader must master trading skills and psychological stability. This is the main thing in the work of any trader. Here are some tips to help you get started in this profession:
- to study the theory of exchange trading, use: books, articles, webinars, and open lessons;
- try to develop a trading strategy on your own. If the strategy was not developed by you, then thoroughly study its algorithm to understand whether it suits you;
- learn to identify patterns in the price movement of an asset. This skill will be useful to you in work in the real market;
- never rely on your intuition when performing trading operations;
- strictly follow the rules of money management.
Also, devote as much time as possible to learning to trade, and devote most of it to practice. It is especially important to study trading news because it is they that make it possible to understand where a specialist should move and what to pay attention to.
What difficulties do traders face when learning on their own?
At the initial stage of preparation, traders who choose to learn trading on their own may encounter certain difficulties:
- The presence in free access of a large amount of disordered educational information. This can lead to confusion for a novice trader in his work with educational material. For example, studying a Renko chart along with Japanese candlestick charts is not necessary at all;
- Lack of understanding of how to apply the acquired knowledge in real trading conditions. Such a situation may arise if the training material does not disclose the details that allow the trader to earn;
- The inability to quickly get an answer to the questions that arose in the learning process.
This leads to the fact that independent training in trading is delayed in time.
Pros and cons of learning to trade on your own
It should be noted that self-training in trading has its advantages and disadvantages.
The main advantages include:
- availability. Nowadays, you can easily find any educational material on trading. And many of these materials can be obtained for free;
- convenient training schedule. A trader can independently study exchange trading at any time convenient for him;
- taking into account the individual qualities of the trader. A mentor usually teaches the trading techniques that work for him. In this case, the individual characteristics of the student are not taken into account. Self-learning to trade allows a trader to concentrate all his attention on learning those techniques that are more suitable for him.
What are the shortcomings? First, the lack of a training system. For a beginner, this can be a serious problem, since he is just starting to get acquainted with the topic of trading. Second, discipline. Self-learning to trade is a daily work alone, which not all novice traders manage to focus on. You can also highlight the lack of feedback from people who are learning to trade or already working in the financial markets.
Where can I find learning materials for self-study?
In order to undergo self-training in trading, you need to select materials, the study of which will allow you to start trading in the financial markets.
It is also important to open a demo account with any brokerage company. It is desirable that its validity period be unlimited. You will need this account to gain trading skills, and develop and test a trading strategy.
It is recommended to look for training materials on trading from practitioners. Usually, they are posted on the official websites of brokerage and consulting companies, on blogs of private traders or on YouTube.
Can self-study compare in effectiveness with courses?
Comparing self-training in trading with coursework is a thankless task. Each of these preparation methods has its advantages and disadvantages. Therefore, novice traders can be advised – to study the theory of exchange trading on their own. It is not necessary to attend courses to learn about how financial markets work.
As for practice, here the help of an experienced mentor will not be superfluous. He will not only tell, for example, what are pivot points or wedge figures in trading but will also show specific examples of how a trader should act in a particular market situation. Therefore, choose the type of training in which the emphasis is on practice. This will increase the effectiveness of your preparation for independent work in the financial markets.
Is it possible to learn how to trade stocks for free?
This question naturally worries novice traders. Are there any benefits of free stock trading education? Free training in stock trading has both disadvantages and advantages. But for beginners, the latter is more. Let’s consider them:
- the opportunity to gain basic knowledge: what is the stock market, what are the exchanges, how to get on them, who is a broker and how online trading takes place;
- selection of the most suitable source of education. It is important to find the course or the practicing trader whose training will be most understandable to you. It is worth paying attention to the presentation of information, the simplicity of one’s own perception, the structure of the free course and the practical value of the information;
- first independent steps. Free information on the Internet is enough to start trading on a demo account and try yourself in this business.
So a novice trader can study the market and conclude whether he likes this area.
Where can I find free education?
Now free education, for example, stock trading can be found in different formats:
- free online courses on YouTube, which are posted by private traders or an online trading school;
- articles offered by the exchange, traders’ blogs, special thematic sites, profile news about the economy and trading;
- an online course that is free of charge. After it, as a rule, there is an invitation to paid training, but the first one is enough to understand if the speaker is right for you and get basic information.
Brokerage companies also have shareware training: when replenishing an account, access to the course is provided.
What will they teach you in free education?
Free stock trading training can be useful if approached wisely. Human psychology is so arranged that the free is often not appreciated. But with the right approach, you can learn how to profitably trade stocks using information that is freely available.
In order for trading courses to be profitable, it is necessary to build a training plan correctly. Here are the basic knowledge you need to get:
- specifics of the exchange you intend to trade on NYSE or OTC stock CFD trading platform;
- rules for choosing a brokerage company to open a trading account;
- the functionality of the trading platform with which trading will take place;
- fundamentals of market analysis (fundamental, technical, if desired – indicator);
- rules of money management and risk management systems;
- after that, you need to study several trading strategies (3-5) and choose one of them that suits you personally in terms of style (long-term, medium-term, intraday), analysis methods (technical, fundamental, indicator, or some other).
Having chosen a strategy, it is important to draw up a plan for entering a trade (trading plan) and exiting it. After that, the strategy must be tested in practice, working on a demo account or a strategy tester. And only after the profitability of the strategy is tested and predictable, you can switch to a real trading account. You can open it with a broker that meets the reliability requirements and suits your strategy.
Conclusion
Self-learning trading is a real option. In this matter, the main thing is to understand your goal and choose those mechanisms that really help and can lead to a certain result. As mentioned above, today there are many ways to study the profession and the market.
Access to information today is huge, many portals, and thematic sites provide news, analytics, and investment cases that help you navigate the market and understand what trend, for example, is today and what may be in the near future. Therefore, if any person wants to try trading, he has all the conditions to independently study the basic points and understand whether it is interesting to him or not.