A little while back I wrote Being a Focused Trader on the subject of traders getting a bit too scattered in their trading and market analysis. One of the subjects was how some traders bury themselves in technical indicators. I received an email over the weekend which speaks to that same subject once more. Hi John, I’ve been trading on and off for about 10 yrs. with not much success. I’ve come across various so called trading programs that promise you amazing results but it is all horsesh*t! The few things I have found...

Here’s another recent trader inquiry that came in via email. I have done some research on the Fap Turbo softare. A friend of mine has purchased the software and began a demo account. He claims he did some trading and lost on most of the trades but he did this over a one week period. I would like to know your expert opinion on this softare. Thanks. Sergio I really can’t help Sergio out here. I know zero about this software. I’m hoping that someone with experience of it can leave her/his comments. For the record,...

This question I received by email from a trader on my mailing list brings up something very important that I’m very soon going to start addressing. I don’t even know where to begin as far as questions are concerned. I guess I would like to see some complete beginning to end concrete real examples of finding, setting up, executing and concluding single trades that shows all the details involved would be a very helpful resource to me right now. I’d call them Go-By’s. I’m interested in swing trading...

I had this question come in yesterday regard finding a tax professional to help with trading related issues. Hi John, I have started trading several times a day now and am in need of a good tax person here in Orange County – I made 30 fruitless calls and wasted 2 hours in Irvine yesterday – no-one knows much about mark-to-market elections, wash sale rule or trading strategies. Is there anyone you could recommend or could you suggest how I could locate a good tax person? Thanks for a good website! Regards, Peter I don’t...

It’s official. I’m going to be doing my first ever trading expo in a couple of months. Actually, it’s been official for a little while, but I’ve only just been provided with some stuff from the organizers. Not only will I be attending the Traders Expo in Los Angeles June 3-6, but I’ll also be speaking at the event. Here’s what they want me to tell you about it: Global Markets continue to dole out more volatility. These dramatic movements create trading opportunities that last mere minutes,...

A reader named Jon sent me the following question: What do you think is the biggest obstacle to overcome in making the transition from an avid student of the markets(who reads everything & is very knowledgeable about price movement) to a professional trader who is able to make money consistently? The first big obstacle is making the jump from trading in theory to trading in reality. It’s really easy to think objectively and have confidence in yourself and your abilities when all you’re doing is basically experimenting...

Today is the official release date of Brett Steenbarger’s latest book, The Daily Trading Coach: 101 Lessons for Becoming Your Own Trading Psychologist. If you’ve spent any time on this blog at all you’ll know that I’m a big fan of Brett’s. His two previous books, The Psychology of Trading and Enhancing Trader Performance, are both excellent. I first linked up with Brett back in 2005 when I was the Content Editor for Trade2Win and he was an article contributor. That was when I was writing The Essentials...

Here’s an email from a member of my mailing list which brings up a lot of the issues new traders run into as they try to sort it all out. Hi John, The thing I’ve found the hardest over the years is to find traders out there who have been and still are successful, the ones to follow. I’ve read through alot of your website and have enjoyed it very much. Knowledge builds confidence as we both know, but its obtaining the right knowledge to succeed which can take time unless you can afford a training course but even...

Last week I received an inquiry from a fellow member at Trade2Win. I have your book and I think its great, im about half way through. I have read some of your posts here and think you give excellent consistent answers. I read that you are a canslim follower with a small deviation. Im not by any means looking for easy answers but the way I see it is surely canslim is too abvious and prone to manipulation to work in its pure form? I was wondering what your interpretation of canslim is, as I have much respect for your work. What’s...

Here’s an email question that came in recently which relates to volume in the forex market. Hello John, I’m a Forex trader. Is there something equivalent to a buy/sell pressure indicator for the MT4 platform that you know about or can recommend. My trade plans are less effective when the O/S or O/B conditions last for a long time. One of the indicators I use is the stochastic. Sometimes it undulates above 80 or 30 so I’m never sure when it undulates if it going to break the high/low of the previous wave. I’ve...

I have to share something with you that made me laugh. It’s an email I received from a visitor to this site. “finally figured out this is a ‘come on’ to sell books.  I don’t need a scam like Madof.” This was written in a large font, clearly meant to impress upon me the sentiment behind the note. I have absolutely no idea how this person got to the site or to what they were reacting to specifically which triggered this response. It’s certainly something entirely new. And here I thought...