Trading for your Self

In a recent blog, Richard Todd of Move the Markets, one of my aforementioned favorite trading bloggers, opened a discussion on what his reader’s favorite trading sites are. I’ll resist the urge to be smitten in thinking that seeing this lil’ ol’ new blog of mine might have sprung the idea into his mind, because really, it’s a question that is on every well-rounded trader’s mind quite a bit.

Where do you go for your information? There’s not, to my knowledge, a trading college you can attend. And if it is, it’s definitely run by some smug wiener who is just trying to wring out your wallet. The greatest traders I’ve found have always been open with their knowledge. They know trading is a personal thing that each person will inevitably do differently, so no matter what information any given person might be able to collect, their approach will always inherently be their own.

Even so-called “automated systems” like the Turtles traded with have differing levels of success in different people because the output of the system is directly affected by the input. If you are a more daring person, you’ll place your stops in different places than if you are a rather conservative person. Perhaps then you won’t have such massive individual returns, but you may end up being mor consistent over a long period of time. It’s not a bad thing, necessarily, just different. It’s about what you’re comfortable with, what you know.

That’s why I will always prefer trading blogs and books to trading “programs” that are offered everywhere online for hundreds of dollars or more. Bloggers and writers offer that information openly, spreading it through a desire to share and allow others to learn something they love. It is, I would argue, more of a passion for these people than for the ones who are trying to sell ideas that Are Guaranteed To Work Every Time! Beginners to the trading world don’t need these supposedly fool-proof money making plans, they need information. Unbiased and well-rounded, to help them develop their own trading style.

So where do you go for your information? Richard asked the question and I can’t help but pose it again. Below are some of the responses his readers gave, but if you have your own favorites, be sure to post them here or on Move the Markets as well. It’s about creating a web of information, I believe. One that we can all benefit from.

Carl Futia

Wall St. Warrior

EconomPic

Daneric’s Elliott Waves

Where to begin?

I suppose the best place to begin is with exactly what I’m trying to give you here: links. These blogs are some of the best ones I’ve found on the ol’ internet, and I fully encourage you to give them a look. Not everything is necessarily about trading, but they’re still definitely interesting (and often times humorous) reads.

Richard Todd, Move the Markets

Zero Hedge

Alex Roslin, COTs Timer

Long or Short Capital

Barry Ritholtz, The Big Picture

Ultimi Barbarorum

Brett Steenbarger, TraderFeed

These writers all seem pretty cool and they always love comments and discussion, so get on their posts and talk it up. That’s the only real way to learn. Of course, seeing as this is the focus of my blog on the whole, I’ll be updating a lot with these kinds of lists as I compile them, so be sure to check back. This is just a sampling of some of my favorites to get started.

Welcome to TTF!

What is Tyro Trade Forum, you might ask? Well, it’s not really a forum, that much is obvious. At least not in the internet sense of the word. What I hope for it to be is more of a forum in the classical sense, a place for people to read and learn and discuss.

Discuss what, exactly? That’s where the Trading part comes in. Stocks and commodities, bulls and bears, upswings and downward trending. There are lots (and I mean lots) of trading websites and blogs and even more books and programs you can buy, but there aren’t that many places the best of them together for the rest of us out here in the world. Everyone wants to teach you how to become the next master trader, but where do you even begin?

That’s what the Tyro is all about. It’s Latin, for “beginner.” You don’t become a trading pro overnight, no matter how good at math you might be, or how well you think you can “read the market.” That much I’ve learned. What you need is information. From a variety of sources. If you want to win the Boston Marathon, you don’t just decide one day to enter. You might be a talented sprinter, or pretty good at picking out nice running shoes, but that doesn’t get you very far without the right information.

And that information is what I hope to give you here. Links to articles and studies and whatever else I can find, all collected together for you the best I can. Maybe I’ll sprinkle in a little of my own opinions here and there, possibly even get some guest writers in on this thing that know a whole lot more than me. We’ll see what the future holds. But let’s get this show on the road, shall we?