Trading Practice and Better Trades

Believe me, I so understand where you are at - I started the exact same way. I call this the READY - FIRE - AIM syndrome. It is so hard to watch students jump before they are ready, but I see it time after time. If you only knew what we know, after years of trading and teaching students, you would do whatever we tell you and never break a rule.

Milk not meat! When you are new at this game called the stock market, you will find it necessary to start off with the basics.

We start you off here, to help protect you from potentially more dangerous trades, until you can begin to grasp how the market works, to understand options a little better, and just get more comfortable with the language of the stock market. Using a delta of .70 to .90 is the basic starting point to work with. There are so many things to teach you in the beginning to only buy options with a high delta.

Once you have attained and can begin to comprehend the basic knowledge, and you have had a chance to get your feet a little wet, then I can teach you in my

how you can estimate how long you will want to stay in a trade, and how to modify your trading strategy to use options with lower deltas. This can become very powerful, not to mention profitable, when you learn this advanced but simple technique.

I have seen many new students buy what we refer to as "THE KISS OF DEATH" options" which is a front month (the next month to expire), out of the money option. I understand how attractive these options look, being so cheap to buy and so profitable if the trade works. But the key word here is "IF"! These short-term options can be very risky, since time is not on your side! As a new unskilled trader (even if you think you know what you are doing) your thought process isn't exactly perfect yet.

With so many market traps awaiting the new trader, it is imperative that you first use practice trades to hone your trading skills. Many students skip the critical step of practice trading, before getting down to the business of trading real money. This can quickly become one of their major downfalls and often take new traders out of the game permanently. If you practice trading with real money, and you discover your technique is wrong, you are now wrong and broke! It is so easy to give up at this point and say the stock market doesn't work. The bad news is that typically means you have to go back to your JOB!

There are only a few trades I would consider using risky front month, out of the money options for. They include:

* To buy Insurance on a trade (see LEAPS DVD 's )
* To do a strangle over earnings or expected serious news announcements
* To do a BULL PUT SPREAD (BUPS)

I don't think I could stress enough how critical it is for you to practice perfect trades before using real money. And NO cheating!

You are not ready to trade with real money until you have PERFECTLY PRACTICED trading on paper so well that it is driving you crazy! I mean absolutely wild. Why? Because it is at this point that you know beyond a shadow of a doubt that trading works! You are winning most of the time, and it is not REAL money - it is pretend money! Now you are serious, and you will do whatever it takes to get the money to trade - sell something, take on a part time job, but you now know trading DOES WORK! It is at this point, and only at this point, that you are finally ready to start using real money to trade. Did it work that way for you, or have you been cheating yourself? If you have been cheating yourself, please stop the madness now and do it right!

It is interesting how professional traders realize the importance of practice trades, and continue to practice along with their real trades. This keeps them up on hot stocks they may have just started to notice. But they practice them on paper until they get to know the heartbeat of the stock. Then BINGO" they can get in on some sweet deals when the timing is perfect, while others sit on the sidelines wishing they made that sweet trade!

On the other hand, I find it funny that only amateur traders think they are too good to practice trade. Well here 's an important secret" overlooking this one element of practice trading (until you are perfect) is a critical error in judgment! So critical that many traders who cheat, by skipping practice trading, most likely will not make it in the market anyway! Is it worth the risk to take this terrible shortcut? Absolutely not!

I think there are three critical things that are needed to become a successful trader:

1. You need to study and pick one strategy to trade. One that fits your lifestyle and your personality. Once you have found your strategy, please take the time to PERFECTLY PRACTICE it first.
2. You need a system to monitor your practice trades (and eventually your real trades). This fine tunes your entrance and exit timing, in addition to using safety nets and insurance. (See my NEW LEAPS DVD 's if you are not familiar with how to use safety nets or how and why to buying insurance).
3. You also need to understand how the stock market itself works. (Learn this in my NEW Q 's DVD 's ).

In my next newsletter I am going to address how to understand the actual workings of what we call "AMATEUR HOUR", so you can use this for better entrance and exits into and out of trades, in addition to knowing when NOT TO PANIC if you think the trade might be turning around. I will address how "Amateur Hour" is not a time issue (an hour), but instead is a "THING"! You don't want to miss this discussion!

In parting, I just want to encourage you to stick to trading. Practice Perfectly first, and once you get this right" you will begin to see why I am so excited about my lifestyle" because it will become yours! I am just an ordinary person, who decided to follow the rules, and stick to it until my trades worked. I am so in awe of how my life has turned out, and even better how I have been able to help students learn what I know in a fraction of the time and cost it took me to learn it.

You deserve all that you ever dreamed of, so let 's go get it for you! I look forward to being a part of that process for you!

Happy Trading,
Darlene with BetterTrades

Forex Trading Psychology

First fatal psychological mistake.

In such situation, most Forex traders seem fearless, not fearing making losses and only worry that others are making profit and worrying that they must enter or lose money. As new financial data is published, most Forex traders will rush to be first to enter the market. Following blindly is the most Forex traders' fatal psychological weakness.

There are many Forex traders who watch the Forex chart closely, and will enter a market when the chart show a steep movement. They don't even take time to understand what are the forces causing movement. It may be too late when they finally realize that it is a false alarm because they are already in the losing position.

When it comes to trading, one of the most neglected important subjects are those dealing with trading psychology. Most traders spend lots of time trying to find that perfect system. But having a good operating system is just a small part of the game. It is very important to have a system that well suits the trader, but it is as important as having a money management plan, or to understand all the psychology barriers that will affect the trading decisions. In order to succeed in this business, there must be an equalness between all important aspects of trading.

When you lose a trade, what is the first thought that pops up in your mind? It would probably be, "There must be something wrong with my system", or "I knew it, I shouldn't have taken this trade".

FOREX trading is pure volatility and 80% of all trades do not last more than 2-3 days. Most of them become daytrades. It is easy to accept that conditions can and will change in a heartbeat, rendering most trade plans obsolete.

One principle is about cutting your losses at an early stage. Some traders want to believe that their losses might do well after a lenghty waiting time. More than likely the market moves against these non-profitable positions and make them lose hundred of points. Even if they rise again they will be unprofitable. Do not be caught up in the thought that every trade should be profitable. If you can profit from half the number of your trades you are on the right track. If you would like to get even and profit if only half of your trades are winners is to allow your winners to run and to minimize your losses.

Another principle is playing smart by not letting your emotions rule in trading. Be objective with your decisions. While in the market,be sensitive enough to see the factors that may have influenced the changes that worked against the original analysis you had worked out.

Expect the unexpected,both good and bad. Understand these happings, be prepared, and take the appropriate actions. A good psychology plan takes into consideration that you can not predict what is going to happen in the market.

Unless you're trading in short positions, only increase your position when prices goes up, not down. Generally, when a price starts to move it usually continues in that direction for a while.

How to Handle a Losing Streak:
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Plus, your trading account won't be drawn down so quickly.If you trade less you may discover why you are not successful. Follow those fewer trades more closely and document your success or failures more easily. If you are trading several currency markets and not having any success, cut back to trading one or two markets. Don't overtrade.

Research those programs and your money will probaly go further. There are many automatic Forex Trading Programs available.

How To Use Online Stock Trading For Your Success

You might only make enough money to use in your next investment but with online stocks the door is truly open. In the age of the information superhighway there is a whole world of varied stocks that you can build wealth with. Regardless of the ups and downs, and there are many on the rollercoaster that is stocks; stocks are an exciting game that has a place for anyone. Many investors will tell you that trading in stocks might be the good old-fashioned way of investing, but it works.

The online trader is also completely in control or his or her stocks. Because of the lack of human contact and advice given, buying online stocks gives you the opportunity to get into the game without the high fees of your average broker. Like most online shopping, most of the stocks that are for sale online are available in the real world market, but they cost more.

You can start online with cheaper penny type stocks and you can even purchase some of the high-end stocks for a couple of hundred dollars a share. Online stocks are a huge market.

Trading online does mean that you will have to be familiar with certain terminology. To do so we have compiled a list of some select of the most common available online stocks and their meanings. We suggest you take these means and do some more research. Let?s look over what kind of stocks can be brought and purchased online and in the real life stock market.

Penny Stocks: While not all ?penny stocks? actually cost a penny, they are the cheaper stocks on the market and are considered cheap and dirty by some. Others however have made large profits by trading in penny stocks, because once the price raises you can sell the many stocks you have purchased and make a return. Penny stocks are normally available for upstart or new companies who want to offer their stocks at cheaper prices to get them off the floor. Trading in penny stocks is a common form of online trading.

Blue Chips: Like their name suggests blue chips are premium stocks. Blue chips are the stocks of companies whose names you hear every day. So if you look at the steel that your fence is made from or the airline you fly with, you will probably find that their shares are blue chips. Because of the ?assurance? that blue chips will continue to grow, they generally cost a fair bit and are amongst the highest priced stocks. Blue chips are known for being strong and either maintaining their price or slowly growing over time. Blue chips also have the added value of climbing rather rapidly after a fall or at least recovering quickly.

Bonds & Futures: Bonds include municipal offers and can be issued by the companies. Futures however normally relate to farming crops, so if the oranges crop is doing well the orange futures will also do well. Futures also include wheat, livestock and other farming products.

The availability will depend on which website you are using and what they have access to. If you really search you can buy almost any kind of stock online, all it takes is someone willing to sell them.

Like any form of stock trading, just because you can now buy and sell your stocks online, that doesn?t mean that you should forget all about being careful and doing your research.

Portfolio Sabotage and Better Tardes

It sure makes me grateful for my many blessings and how every day is such an incredible gift to never take for granted. It is just unbelievable to see what these people have been through and how much it is still effecting them today. I am writing this as I am sitting here at the airport in NYC, after an incredible private tour of GROUND ZERO, from someone who experienced it first hand.

Then on the other end of the spectrum there are students that have lost all of their portfolios in this bear market, taking themselves out to the game altogether. I was honored to spend a little time with a group of traders on Long Island recently, and I was sad to see how many people are paralyzed to trade and have pulled their money out of the market just plain scared to trade.

It just amazes me how students seem to unconsciously sabotage their trades by avoiding the simple tasks that can protect their portfolios. I have been listening very carefully to students, trying to see what it is that is stopping them from trading or causing them to let a trade go too far the wrong way that the end result is a loss of all their trading funds. From the last few months of gathering these comments and pondering them, there seems to be a number of issues around this thought process and I would like to address some of them in this newsletter.

First, my old basic comes to mind, that when in doubt go back to practice trading. Even though I do real trades with money, I daily track and do practice trades. What I have discovered is that serious traders are always doing practice trades. It seems only the new and not quite committed traders tend to avoid this important work - work that pays big benefits.

No matter how much money you have, there always seems to be more trades you can do.

What I have been able to enjoy, is to practice all the trades I would like to do, and follow the stock and the option to see how the prices are working. Then when I come out of a trade and have the cash for the next trade I know the heartbeat of the stock (and the option) to better trade that stock. This is very powerful, and leads to some great trading. The problem is that even though practice trading is easy to do, it is just as easy NOT to do! NOT practice trading is what stops people out of the game, and it is the one thing that can build back your confidence to put you back in the game. Once you see the real value for practice trading you should come to the conclusion that is does have incredible benefits and power.

Practice trading is very simple, just pretend you are really doing the trade, write it down, but do not place a real order. Set a price to exit at a profit and at a cost, and follow up with the trade to see how you did. Assume you buy at the ask and sell at the bid.

The easiest program to use for practice trading is the ETA software with Chart Navigator. It actually allows you to pull up the option chain and transfer the option (or stock) right into a practice portfolio. The neat thing is every time you download your charts it downloads your practice trades to see if it met either of your exits, forcing you to complete it. You can order this program at 1-800-346-9039.

One of the biggest problems I feel, is many students want to practice trading with their money. They are so eager, but this is a critical error in judgment. Practicing with money has not been a good choice in most stories I've heard. If you lose your money from practicing with it, and don't have the knowledge to trade properly when the money is gone then you have nothing left and most will give up and go back to the very thing you desperately wanted out of your job, or whatever is stealing your time freedom!

Bottom line, I wish people did not have a dime to trade with when they are new to the market or have lost their confidence trading! If you were forced to have to practice trade, because that is all you can do, I truly believe that once you have practiced to the point that you really know what you are doing - so bad you can taste it you will find a way to get the money to trade. You know the saying "when the student is ready the teacher will appear"? Well, when the student has practiced so hard that they really know what they are doing and they want to trade so bad - I believe the money will appear!

Next, I really think that it is impossible to be successful trading, if you have any issues with wealth. No matter how good you are at practicing, analyzing and picking trades, if you feel you don't deserve to be wealthy (conscious or subconsciously) than you will find a way to sabotage your success. A lot of students do this by not using simple stops to protect their funds if a trade goes wrong.

It seems we all know to use stops, but I think a large percentage of traders just plain old don't do it! They get busy and don't write it down, or write it down and ignore it. Perhaps they used a real stop loss, and got stopped out needlessly so refuse to use stops because of that but if you had a car accident, you wouldn't quit driving would you? Then don't do that here. I use alerts instead of real stop losses to overcome needless stops out of trade. Anyway, back to this wealth thinking, for whatever we might think the reason is I feel the reason could be deep seeded and have to deal with our self-esteem and ability to realize our right to be wealthy.

I use to have a CD series out called ATTITUDE IS EVERYTHING about trading in the stock market. It has since been retired, but I got so many incredible comments and results of students being able to turn around their trading that I will be completing my update in book form within the next 6 weeks to help speed up the process of turning this around for those in need. In the mean time, you can download a copy of THE SCIENCE OF GETTING RICH for free at www.scienceofgettingrich.net . I highly recommend getting THE DYNAMIC LAWS OF PROSPERITY by Catherine Ponder and reading it as fast as you possibly can. It can be ordered on Amazon or other book sites.

The other thing that is a killer is not having the proper tools to practice or trade for real. This is a serious income producing business to me, and without the proper tools it would be like an attorney with no law research abilities or an accountant with no tax law references - their ability to be successful would be confined so much that it will be destined to fail. So would our trading if we shortchange our need for critical tools.

I knew from day one, if I was going to trade, and make this my livelihood for income, not to overlook important tools needed to set myself up to win trading. I have been able to narrow it down to three critical tools: A research site : The Dedicated Trader This one speeds up my research time Alert System: REAL TIME MARKETS Gives me time freedom Charts: ETA with CHART NAVIGATOR Saves money on taxes, plus reduces time to do practice trading

I do a free webshop once a week to show these tools. For any questions or prices on these three tools call 1-800-346-9039 for details. After almost 6 years in the market, I find these three to be the best for value, time saving, cost and ease of use.

Last, it is best to not put all your cash into trades at one time. Otherwise, when a hot opportunity comes by you don't have the ability to take advantage of it. Unfortunately, I see a lot of traders put every cent they have in trades all the time, as if it is wrong not to. They seem to think that if the money is not always in a trade it can't be profitable, but some of the biggest profits come from those serious buying times when a stock hits an incredible low or high. Jumping into a trade just because your money is available is does not always lead to good trading. It is better to pass on a poor play, then to end up poor playing!

If you find yourself out of the game, get back in. Start with practice trading. When you do begin to trade again with money, make sure you start small. Learn how to trade both directions, up and down and use alerts (like REAL TIME MARKETS) to make trading simple and give you time freedom.

If you can find a way to get to my next LEAPS class, I will teach you how to use the safety net alarms and more - such as bringing in 3 -4 times more income than writing normal covered calls. Come find out why they call me THE BEST COVERED CALL WRITER IN THE USA!

I hope this gives you some confidence to start trading again you deserve to be back in the game and make this work! Believe me, you want the lifestyle that trading can give to you!!!

I am excited to be able to offer you the direction you need to get back in the game and on the right track. Please call 1-800-346-9039 to take advantage of current discounts on classes, DVD 's , VIDEOS or other products...

Happy Trading!

Darlene with BetterTrades