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Subscriber Q&A - More Mike Reed info, plus how to get started It seems many people are interested in further information on the Mike Reed TradeStalker ebook, "Read the Greed". Here's just one of the recent questions with a bit more in depth answer than usual, getting right into HOW TO GET STARTED IN TRADING, so I thought it might be useful to share. QUESTION: Lance, I am new to trading and I was thinking of purchasing the eBook by Mike Reed. Do you still follow his method? Is there anything else you recommend? Any advice would be helpful. How do you recommend I start? What steps do you think I should take to get going?
ANSWER:
I read a lot of trading books, ebook and courses. Mike's is the one I most recommend out of all of them. The ebook is primarily a book of the setups he trades, however it also includes some excellent insights on risk and trade management. If you've been on my site a while you know I value that more highly than setups. Possibly, being new to the market all you'll really 'get' at this stage is the setups - understanding the rest will come when you're ready.
Firstly, understand that no book, course or seminar can make you a profitable trader. It just doesn't work that way. First you need a valid strategy or approach to trading the market - Mike's ebook will give you that. Then you need the discipline to follow it. Most people fail here, trying it for a week or two and then shelving it to try the next ebook that pops up in their email inbox. I encourage you to treat this like a business - set up a standard trading routine that you follow each day, establish a trading journal to record EVERYTHING you do (not just trade stats, but reasons why you make the decisions you do, and any notes on discipline and psych issues). Get a good trading journal (I use this one) and monitor your trading stats, and just use a notebook for any additional stuff (discipline / psych insights etc). Set up a review process so that you can identify what works and what doesn't. Find out what setups are working for you - are you better with the trend, or against the trend? Are you getting in too late, or too early? Then keep doing what works, and improve on what doesn't. Oh, and be sure to practice on a demo account first. I don't know of many free futures demo platforms that don't expire (www.thinkorswim.com is the only one I can think of off the top of my head - that's not an endorsement, I've never traded with them live, but their demo does last forever). Don't go live until you're profiting on a demo platform. Then, once you've got the discipline mastered, and your turning up day after day to follow your routine, you'll really start to understand the psychological problems that we have to overcome. Journaling and reviewing will help here again.
Hopefully I haven't turned you against the idea. It takes time. Be patient and enjoy the process and the challenge that is required to become a daytrader. The point is, if you want to be a trader you need to go through this process. You either do it now, or you do it in five years time after having wasted five years chasing the holy grail magical system or combination of indicators that always produces profits. Your choice!
I do still follow Mike's approach, however it's not exactly as in the book. It's been adapted to fit my beliefs about the market, and my tolerance for risk. You'll find that no matter who's approach you decide to try, it will evolve over time into your own approach.
Let me know how you go. And feel free to ask if you have any problems / difficulties, or just want to chat about Tradestalker setups.
A thought - Mike trades emini futures exclusively. I recommend sticking to that if you can so that you can take advantage of his daily email service as well, and because the Tick indicator features heavily in his setups. However I honestly believe the strategy can be adapted to any market and timeframe, providing sufficient liquidity. If you prefer to use it for something else (eg forex), then email me after reading through the book and I'll offer some suggestions for Tick replacements. Really, the Tick is just measuring extremes of emotion, and this can be done other ways.
Cheers, Lance Beggs
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