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The fact of the matter is that,
unless you are using real-time streaming data in your trading, you can
miss out on important trading opportunities. Saving an eighth or a
quarter of a point on a trade here and there can add up to hundreds if
not thousands of dollars of additional profits in your trading
account, even over a short time period.
Real-time streaming quotes empower you to take advantage of intraday
market moves, whether you are a short-term trader or someone with a
longer-term perspective who is looking for short-term hedging or
buy-and-sell opportunities.
A good streaming quote tool allows you to see each and every trade, bid /
ask change, trade size, time and sales data and more, updated
throughout the trading day. Of course, you'll want a feature that
automatically highlights updates without the need to refresh your
browser.
You will also want the tool to provide streaming, real-time charts and
news and to value your portfolio on a real-time streaming basis. That
way, you will be able to see how every trade is affecting your bottom
line, whether you're managing your own account or multiple client
portfolios.
In conjunction with real-time streaming quotes, another useful tool is
customized real-time alerts on last, volume, bid, ask and many other
variables. So, the instant your stock, option, future, index or fund
hits your target purchase or sale price, you can react quickly to
place an order and profit, or buy in at your target price. Alerts will
be discussed in a future issue.
The answer to the question, "Why do I need real-time quotes?" is simple
-- because without them, you aren't really trading in real time.
As new traders, or those who have gained a new vigor in the pursuit of
success, we must understand that the road ahead of us will not be
easy, nor will it be a quick journey. The path that lies ahead is
filled with daily challenges that will test our skills, both technical
and mental. In fact, most traders fail to progress past the start-up
phase. They fail to learn: To take a loss To be wrong
Typical Progressions of the Start-Up Phase of a Trading Business
We:
Are lured by money
Perceive a low barrier to entry
Are influenced by “Peer Pressure” news hype
See that a friend did this and that
Read a few books
Go to a few seminars and get all that is freely available online
Find some speculative capital
Trade
Win
Lose
Lose
Find we need the right tools but think we can’t afford them
Think, “I need to try something more difficult.” even though we don’t
understand what we just tried nor do we have the tools or the
education
Lose more
Understand that we truly do need to work on “planning” and a way to shift
our emotions from an adversary with respect to our goals to a powerful
force that guides our actions
Finally, understand that it is okay to take a loss (In fact, we
discover that this was the first lesson we needed to learn to
survive!)
Survival is actually the goal for the start-up phase. So, then, we
graduate to the Growth Phase.
Typical Progressions of the Growth Phase of a Trading Business
We:
Make a commitment to getting education and the proper equipment
Actually learn something
Plan
Trade with better results
Decide to make it complicated for some stupid, unknown alien reason
Lose patience
Lose
Simplify again, refining
Now understand the importance of patience in all of this
Take more risk
Are slaughtered by the market even worse than ever before
Now have trouble pulling the trigger when the set-ups are very clear
Begin to understand the importance of discipline
Discover the mechanics of trading .Learn the life cycle of a trade
Commit our capital as planned, using strict money management
Get better ,Start actually accepting responsibility for our own
actions
Stop searching and start focusing (That is the key to graduating to
the Maturity Level.)
Typical Progressions of the Maturity Phase of a Trading Business
We:
Are patient in our endeavors
Are disciplined enough to trade our plan
Understand leverage
Practice strict money management
Take less and less risk, preferring to use size on stronger signals
Learn how to handle huge dollar profits but keep our perspective
(return on investment versus time to money)
Find out how to handle huge dollar losses but keep our perspective
(return on investment versus time to money)
Truly understand the life cycle of a trade and can plan accordingly
Commit to a lifetime of education and learning
Now trade on auto-pilot, choosing to participate when the best risk:
reward ratios exist
Make our main priority to trade our plan
The bottom line is that many people have traveled this path, but very
few have succeeded. I think it prudent as we travel the path to be
aware of the natural tendencies regarding the progression of ALL
businesses and how we can prepare for bettering our odds through the
use of the proper tools and education, as well as serious planning for
each phase.
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