“There is a principle which is a bar against all information, which is proof against all arguments and which cannot fail to keep a man in everlasting ignorance — that principle is contempt prior to investigation.” (quote attributed to Herbert Spencer)
Whenever I mention Day Trading to someone who hasn’t tried Day Trading, let alone studied it, they immediately call it “gambling”. Sheesh.
There’s no hope for stubbornness and stupidity. Luckily, that is only part of my story, and I got help…
My Day Trading Story – so far
When I decided a year ago to learn how to day trade, I committed to studying courses two-hours a day and paper trading* for six months. Many day trading instructors recommend a minimum of 6-12 months of paper trading – and repetitive success – before moving to real money. Note: I should’ve gone with the 12 months.
*Paper trading is where the brokers give you fake “Monopoly” money in an account so you can practice.
In the beginning, I took several free courses through TD Ameritrade (TDA), I bought access to watch a famous day trader (who I won’t name in this post) trade real time every morning, and watched the free training videos by ZipTrader Charlie (more on him in a moment). I learned to use TDA’s thinkorswim platform for professional traders. I paper-traded every day (before and sometimes after my day job) for six months and then moved to real money. But, wait! There’s more…