Anyone can join a broker, click a few buttons and start trading stocks. They might even make a few bucks here and there, but inevitably this approach to trading is not sustainable. If it were, we’d all be throwing rockstar parties on our private Hawaiian islands and hanging Leonardo Da Vinci diagrams in our bathrooms by now.
95% of all traders will never see their mega millionaire dreams come true. What sets the remaining 5% apart is their disciplined approach to trading as a life-long learning process.
Whether you’re a beginner just getting started with trading, or have hit a rut and are getting back to the basics, here are some helpful tips to set you up for success:
1. Do your homework
Like any skill, becoming an expert trader takes time and repetition. You may be tempted to get into explosive stocks on earnings news without doing your homework first, ignoring position size and failing to set stop losses; but this risky type of trading can lead to disaster. Becoming a winning trader is about increasing your probability of success by improving your win ratio and minimizing your losses.
Build your watchlists, set your targets and calculate your risk on every trade. Journal about your trades, paying special attention to how well you’re managing risk. Take note of any gaps in your learning and document bad trading habits that are costing you money.
The great news is there are tons of free tools and resources to help you. Most brokers offer free charting tools. Platforms like TradingView allow you to analyze and replay stocks in real-time.
2. Study, study, study
Start small and scale up by choosing 3-4 types of stocks and patterns you like to trade. Get to know the ins and outs of those trades by studying chart patterns every single day. Familiarize yourself with how market indexes, sectors and stocks influence each other; and then watch the market move.
Studying chart pattern flashcards can be a great way to build the muscle memory necessary to spot patterns on the fly and greatly reduce the amount of time it takes to get in and out of trades. Read books to supercharge your learning. Long-time swing trader Paul Singh has an extensive list of 21 books that taught him how to trade.
Podcasts like Chat with Traders is a great way to hear from experts and become familiar with proven trading strategies.
3. Pick a learning strategy and stick to it
The world of trading is vast, from cryptocurrencies to forex, scalping, earnings, biotechs, micro futures, technical analysis, longing and shorting; the list goes on and on. With so many different types of stocks and trading methodologies available, finding your own rhythm can feel overwhelming. This is where a strategy comes into play.
Your approach to trading will be personal, depending on your lifestyle and goals. Whether you’re seeking instant gratification and income with day trading, or building long-term wealth with an IRA, a trading strategy can help you navigate the noise. Your trading plan should include your goals and objectives; approach to risk management; personal trading rules; and a routine for getting in and out of trades. The key is to create consistency in your learning by following a specific methodology and sticking to it.
4. Form a study group
Trading can be much more fun and rewarding with others. Form a study group of 3-4 serious traders to exchange learnings and share best practices. Find a partner to help keep you accountable to your trading strategy.
Follow your favorite traders on Twitter, or join a trading community, like StockTwits, to stay in-the-know of trending stocks. Be cautious about getting trapped into stocks that are hyped up in trading chat rooms. Rely on your own research and gut instinct to make trading decisions.
5. Work hard, play harder
There are no shortcuts to becoming a successful trader. You may become an overnight sensation by luck of the draw; but you can just as easily blow up an account by not learning and practicing the fundamentals. You have to put in the hard work; and sometimes that means staying up late at night to build your watchlists; waking up early in the morning to watch premarket action; or spending your weekend charting patterns. The more prepared you are, the faster you’ll be able to make decisions, and the more confident you’ll be with managing your trades.
6. Practice makes perfect
Now that you’ve studied your charts, done your homework and built your trading
strategy, you’re ready to start trading. Keep practicing winning habits to increase your probability of success.
Sign up for a trading simulator. This will allow you to make mistakes and adjust your
strategy without the emotions that come along with having real money on the line. Remember, there is no rush to lose money. It’s better to be out of a stock and wishing you were in, than in a stock wishing you were out.
7. Drop outs don’t get the degree
No successful trader has won 100% of their trades. You will win some, and you will lose some. Stick with it! Take note of your wins and why they were successful. Journal your losses and how you can mitigate them. Manage your risk so you can stay in the game. Persevere through the downside until you see the upside. Never, ever give up.
The bottom line
If you want to make money as a trader, it’s going to take hard work and perseverance. As the stock market evolves with time, there are always new trends emerging. COVID-19 has brought with it a wave of volatility in the stock market that’s now being dubbed “The Kangaroo Market,” where stocks hop up and down between uptrends and downtrends over a period of time. You want to understand the fundamentals of how the market works so you can quickly adjust your trading strategy to take advantage of these new opportunities to make money.
With the right approach to learning, continuous study and consistent risk management, trading can be fun and profitable.
I have a very special opportunity I would like to share with you!
Are you excited to get started with your trading (and/or investing) journey, but just don’t have the cash to comfortably risk taking losses while you develop into a consistently profitable trader? This opportunity will give you a consistent stream of cash for as long as you want!
What’s required to take advantage of this opportunity?
Well, the short answer is $500 and a positive, sharing attitude. In return you will receive up to $63,000 in as little as 21 days, which you can repeat as many times as you want! I don’t know about you, but I have not found any other investment with such an incredible return! And I have been studying wealth generation and the wealthy for a very long time.
Now I could go deeper but it would be more beneficial to watch the presentation below which lays everything out clearly from people who are more experienced than I am. After you watch the presentation you can email me at unitwe@mv3trader.com and I will direct you on the next step.
In addition to the presentation, the community also holds weekly conference calls which you can ask any questions you may have to ensure you are fully knowledgeable on how everything works.
Now, this opportunity is open for anyone who is trustworthy and has a positive attitude. It’s a way for anyone to earn consistent passive income which could be used to pay bills, become debt free, create generational wealth, and anything else which contributes to financial freedom.
So why am I introducing it to traders as a way of obtaining capital to fund your trading account?
It is no secret that one of the biggest hurdles to becoming consistently profitable in the stock market is the fear of losing money. Imagine if you had an abundant flow of extra cash on a monthly basis for the rest of your life, guaranteed! How fearful would you be of taking a few losses while watching your trading account grow on top of multiple sources of income, flowing to you every single month?
Chances are you wouldn’t be fearful at all, and the anxiety that would keep you from pulling the trigger on the perfect setup would be non-existent.
Additionally, this opportunity will provide you a safety-net through any economic downturn or recession.
As of this writing, 2020 has been one hell of a ride, putting millions of families in a financial bind from lay-offs, furloughs, and collapsing businesses all over the world. And the way it’s looking so far, things don’t seem to be getting better any time soon.
You will effectively secure the financial freedom for you and your family no matter what turn of events we experience through the rest of this year and beyond.
Here it is, the most comprehensive, in-depth review on one of the best charting platforms in the industry. This TradingView review will take a deep dive into what makes this platform so powerful.
TradingView is an extremely user-friendly web-based platform that supports stocks, futures, forex, CFD, and cryptocurrency traders all over the world. (keyword). I was introduced to tradingview.com early in my career as being the best stock charting website available at the time. Little did I know at the time is that was an understatement!
TradingView made it super easy to get started honing my technical analysis skills and crafting the strategy that has led to my success, trading the Futures market. Without having to download any software or purchasing a new PC, since I was using a MacBook, I was able to jump right into viewing charts for free without having to create an account. All the tools and indicators are available immediately for free. For additional features, such as multiple charts per layout, SMS alerts, and volume profile indicators, they have subscriptions to fit any budget. Once you develop a winning strategy the cost can be quickly offset within a single trade.
TradingView Review and Tutorial Video
Subscription
plans
TradingView offers several plans to fit any budget. The
difference between the plans is the features you have at your disposal to use
in your trading toolbox. Plans start with a free version that gives you the
bare minimum core features of the platform and delayed data.
Out of the paid versions, the pro level offers plenty of
features and tools to get you in the game, plus stock market data.
See the image below for a quick snapshot of the difference
between the subscriptions. The image also serves as a link to learn more about
the TradingView platform. Click the image below to get started with the
TradingView platform.
Tools
of the Trade
TradingView has all of the popular tools and indicators used
by most traders plus much more. Not only does the platform come with hundreds
of default tools and indicators, traders can also share their indicators and
strategies with each other. All of these are easy to locate and user-friendly
to implement unto the chart to fit each individual trader’s needs.
The layout of the platform makes it very easy to access the
tools quickly when you need them.
The charts
The charts are probably the most
user-friendly, interactive charts I’ve used. TradingView’s chart are the sole
reason I kept coming back. Depending on the subscription plan you choose, you
have several options for laying out charts on your screen. Also, additional
features such as synchronization of drawing tools, time intervals, scroll time,
symbols, and crosshairs makes performing technical analysis simple and
efficient. All of these features can be turned on and off as needed with just
one or two clicks of the mouse.
The settings menu allows for many
ways to customize the look and feel of the chart. Colors for every element of
the chart, including the background, text, and grid lines, can be adjusted in
the settings. Also, you can make several adjustments to the style, scales, time
zone and session, trading, and events.
There are a couple default
templates you can choose from or you can create your own.
Replay
TradingView’s Replay mode is a very useful tool for back-testing, using historical data. Replay is easy to use and conveniently located at the top of the charting platform, indicated by an icon similar to a rewind button on a remote control.
Using this tool, traders can
fine-tune their strategies and skills by picking a time in the past to replay
as it happened in real time. This creates a safe environment for traders to
iron out the kinks without risking real capital.
Stock screener
The stock screener is one of the
best in the industry, giving you a wide variety of options to find the perfect
stock to place a trade. And the best part about their screener is it’s
completely FREE to use.
Rather you’re into technical analysis,
fundamental analysis, or a hybrid of the two, Stock Screener gives you all the
tools to find the perfect stock in your daily research. This makes it the
perfect tool for day traders, swing traders, and investors.
You can test Stock Screener out for
yourself below. Go ahead and give it a try! Just be warned… you may fall in
love. (LOL)
Get a more in-depth review of their screener here.
Pine Editor and Strategy Tester
Another cool feature of
TradingView is it provides a home for traders interested in coding, using the
Java language. With Pine Editor, you can create custom strategies and
indicators within their platform. You can test out those indicators and
strategies using their Strategy Tester feature.
Check out this review that explains why a Forex trader switched to TradingView from Metatrader 4 (MT4) and why Pine Editor was a key factor that contributed to the switch.
TradingView’s paper trading feature
is another one of my personal favorites of the platform. Switching on this
feature is as easy as going to the conveniently located menu at the bottom of
the charts and clicking “Connect” in the settings under the “Paper Trading”
tab.
There’s no need to have a separate
account or go through another login procedure. You can easily access their
Paper Trading tool right there from the chart and trade right from the chart
with your favorite setup. Paper Trading seamlessly works the same as trading
live from your broker account.
If their paper trading feature
wasn’t already cool enough, they continue to make it better! TradingView’s paper
trading tool has been recently updated to where your desired stop loss and
target settings are saved by contract. This was one of my issues with it
before, but TradingView listened to traders’ concerns and made a much-needed
improvement to their platform.
Updates and Reliability
TradingView frequently keeps their
platform up-to-date. Updates and maintenance usually happen on the weekends so
that it doesn’t interfere with traders’ experience.
Also, they do a great job reliably
keeping the system up and running during market hours. Throughout the year of
2018, the platform has only had market hour issues a grand total of two times
making it more reliable than many of its competitors. Before switching brokers
to AMP Futures, many times I had to switch to TradingView due another platform
I was using having data issues in the middle of a vital trading time in the
market.
TradingView also has an app for optimal use on iPhones and iPads that can be downloaded from the app store.
Community
Other than being able to trade directly from the charts, one of my favorite features of TradingView is the various options to share my ideas and notes. I use this feature frequently to share my charts on Twitter, the Mv3trader community, and anywhere else I like to share ideas.
TradingView also has one of the
best trader communities in the industry. Traders can share their ideas and
strategies with each other. And of course, this is a free feature within
TradingView as well. Your membership allows you to see shared ideas and
strategies of other traders at all level within the community.
There’s a plethora of knowledge being shared in their community from some of the most successful traders in the industry, including from one of my favorite Real Life Trading. Traders within the community also share the strategies they create that you can plug into your own system. All of these ideas can be found right from the convenience of the chart layout.
How does TradingView compare to
competitors?
Web-based Platforms
Out of the web-based trading platforms I’ve used, there is
no comparison to TradingView. As of this writing, TradingView is the fastest
and most reliable web-based platform on the market. The ability to trade from
the charts for so many different instruments sets TradingView way ahead of its
competitors.
Many brokers recognize the power of TradingView’s platform to the point where they integrate TradingView within their own platform. As is the case with Oanda, which is a popular Forex broker based in Canada. One of the reason’s Oanda is a favorite amongst Forex traders is the ease of use and versatility of their platform compared to other major brands like Metatrader. Thanks to TradingView, Oanda stands out as a leader in their industry.
Software Platforms
With the number of features available on TradingView it would be more reasonable to compare it to software platforms. Still, TradingView stands high amongst the list of downloadable charting platforms. TradingView’s extensive collection of available tools and customization capabilities gives traders the same tools and capabilities as other powerful platforms, such as Sierra Chart, Interactive Brokers, and TD Ameritrade’s Thinkorswim.
Throughout my trading career, I’ve used several different
platforms and TradingView is the one I’ve stuck with the longest. That says a
lot about the platform. Before finding AMP Futures, I only used other platforms
because the brokers I was with did not integrate with TradingView. I think
that’s a mistake on their part because, as you can see, they lost a customer
even though they had good commission and data fees. If Generic Trade integrated
with TradingView, maybe I would still be trading Futures with them. But I
digress…
Flexibility
TradingView was a key factor for me opening an account with
AMP Futures. While I love trading on Sierra Chart, I’m limited with Sierra
Chart as it is only available for PC. Having a Macbook, TradingView gives me
perfect flexibility when I’m traveling or as a backup if something happens to
my PC. With TradingView I can continue trading from anywhere as long as I have
an internet connection.
The Cons
Now that I’ve covered the good
about the platform, let’s talk about some of the cons about TradingView. No
platform comes with some areas of improvement and TradingView is one of the
platforms that has very few.
Bracket Orders
While it’s great to be able to
place trades from the charts on a web-based platform, there is some room for
improvement with how a trader can go about doing that. One thing I would love
to be able to do is setup bracket templates. They’ve improved this area a bit
as I mentioned above, but having the option to save bracket order templates
would be even better.
Futures Data Fees
Another con would be the live data fees if you are trading Futures and your broker doesn’t integrate with TradingView. Before opening an account with AMP FuturesI was easily paying more than $200 per month for Futures data. However, the pricing is segregated by their respective market. Click here for more exact pricing for data services.
If you plan on trading from TradingView or using it to see live data to make trading decisions, I would highly recommend finding a broker that allows integration of data with TradingView. AMP Futures is a good one for Futures and OANDA is great for Forex from what I know.
*Note: Data for all markets is free, which is
delayed by 5 minutes. Having a paid subscription will activate live data. So,
if you only plan to use TradingView for only back-testing and studying, there
is no need to pay extra for any data services.
Advanced Alerts
Additionally, and I feel like I’m
being super picky here, but some additional customization could be added to
their alerts feature. Now, I must note here that this opinion is a result of
using an alerts system like in Sierra Chart. Before using Sierra Chart,
TradingView’s alert settings worked perfectly for what I needed. I would say
it’s perfect for newer traders getting comfortable with their trading habits
and strategy. So honestly, it’s not much of a con after all!
And that is about all I have as
cons. I really do not have many problems with TradingView as evident by it
being the only platform that I have stuck with since I began day trading.
Conclusion
By now I think it should be clear why I consider TradingView
to be the best web-based trading platforms available on the market. No matter
your style, experience, or desired market, TradingView is a great choice for
all traders. Even if it’s not supported by your broker for live trades. TradingView’s
charts can be used to simplify your trading which is the key to reaping
continuous success from the markets. I could see TradingView easily taking over
the industry if more brokers would at least integrate their data with them.
