7 Ways to Become an Unsuccessful Trader

Q&A with an experienced Elliott wave trader reveals seven common trading mistakes.

August 12, 2010


By Elliott Wave International


To be a successful trader demands knowledge.


If you'd prefer to become an unsuccessful trader, you can start by making the following common trading mistakes, detailed by a professional who spent 25 years in portfolio management, trading and forecasting in the financial capital of the world, New York City.


In 2002, Wayne Gorman, long-time Elliott wave trader and current head of trader education at Elliott Wave International, left his 35th floor Manhattan apartment and moved to the quiet of North Georgia. He's been sharing his knowledge and skills with aspiring traders ever since -- in both online seminars and before live audiences around the world.


Wayne graciously agreed to a Q&A about trading mistakes. In his interview, Wayne reveals seven common mistakes traders make.
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EWI: Could you name two mistakes frequently made by stock traders?


Wayne Gorman: (mistake 1) The first big mistake is the flawed logic of extrapolation. Many traders and investors assume that a trend will remain in force until an "event" comes along to change it. But market trends are not like billiard balls on a pool table. This false assumption will put you on the wrong side of the market more times than not, especially at major turning points.


(mistake 2) The second big mistake is to suppose that news events drive market trends. In fact, the opposite is true: economic, political and social events lag market trends.


EWI: What are two common mistakes among options traders?


WG: (mistake 3) One common mistake is to buy puts or calls that are way "out of the money," with no other transactions to compliment them. Unless your timing is absolutely perfect -- and who has perfect timing? -- your chance of success is low. It’s like buying a lottery ticket.


(mistake 4) Another common mistake is to buy options with too little time left to expiration. With less than one month to expiration, the time decay begins to accelerate and the chances of success diminish.


EWI: Please name a frequent mistake among traders who aim to catch the beginning of a particular Elliott wave.


WG: (mistake 5) In the middle of a corrective pattern, it's common to run out of patience while waiting for confirmation of a trend change. You have to give corrective patterns time to unfold before you jump in. This requires discipline, and a solid understanding of the many ways corrective patterns can unfold.


EWI: What's the biggest misconception among traders about using Elliott waves?


WG: (mistake 6) Too many traders think Elliott wave is a trading system that tells you exactly where to enter and exit a particular market. That's the biggest misconception. The reality is that it's an analytical and forecasting tool, which helps you develop and use your own trading system, based on your own personal risk tolerance.


EWI: What technical indicators do you believe traders over-rely on, and why?


WG: (mistake 7) Traders tend to over-rely on momentum indicators such as RSI, Stochastics and MACD to precisely spot turning points. But to paraphrase Mark Twain, markets can stay overbought or oversold a lot longer than either you or I can remain solvent.


EWI: How would you characterize today's market action, and do you teach courses that address this environment?


WG: This is a difficult stock market in the near term. Prices haven't strayed far from where they began in January. The action has yet to break out significantly to the downside or upside. This situation may not last much longer. I can suggest these online courses to deal with the current situation, and to prepare for the next big move:

How to Spot Trading Opportunities, Parts 1 and 2
How to Trade Choppy, Sideways Markets
5 Options Strategies Every Elliott Wave Trader Should Know
Trading the Line – How to Use Trendlines to Spot Reversals and Ride Trends

This article was syndicated by Elliott Wave International and was originally published under the headline Do You Recognize These Six Common Trading Mistakes?. EWI is the world's largest market forecasting firm. Its staff of full-time analysts lead by Chartered Market Technician Robert Prechter provides 24-hour-a-day market analysis to institutional and private investors around the world.

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Happy Trading!!

Forex Journey

When you say trading, people will say trading is an art. Look at all the books that has been published on the subject. They will say the art of trading forex.

In that sense, we must take forex as an art and not a science. I know, some people may not agree with me and all the post that is in this blog. I don't blame them coz I was actually in the same place as they were when I started trading. Trying to find the answer to forex using every logical explanation.

This is the answer that you have been looking for. I am going to give it to you straight away. Let see if your mind can accept it.

Forex is not a science. There is not a single mathematical equation that can explain it. Do not forecast, do not predict, do not anticipate. All you need to do to make profit is to follow the market. If the price is going up, you buy. If the price is going down, u sell. You may not win all the time but if you follow the market, in the end you will be in profit. Make profit and build up your capital up to a point where a few winning trades per month will bring huge profit.

Can you accept it? Can you mind admit it? Is your logical mind challenged? Do you feel helpless? Welcome to the real world :)

Human tends to over-complicate things. It is in our nature to try and improve what we have but most of the time we overcomplicated things and forget about the simple solution.

In my previous post, I posted a chart of a basic system. It consist of candle stick chart, moving average and macd. Only 3 indicators and it is a very simple system rite?

The answer is, it is not so simple actually. Candle stick alone tell you 4 things that is, open, close, high and low price. MA tells you direction of trend, entry point, start and end of trend. Macd tell you trend, entry point, reversal point.

From only 3 indicators there are actually 11 information cramp into that small chart. Too much info and decision making is a hard job. Though i filter comments, no one has actually ask about the amount of information on chart. It seems people can accept 11 information at once. Can you manage 11 input at once and make a decision out of it??

Trading is actually much simpler. It is actually possible to make profit with only 1 information. Believe it or not??

I posted a basic system before with a chart of GbpUsd. Now I am going to use the same system and post the same pairs again.

Now GbpUsd has cross above LWMA55 and Macd has cross also. This is a new signal. So from now on only consider long position on GbpUsd. Btw anyone notice the price on this chart with the one i posted earlier?

Someone posted trade details. It seems the way I am trading will make me go bankrupt. All I can say is you dont have the idea what Forex is. Maybe I may not know how to handle the current market but my demo account has no drawdown. Maybe its coz im lucky. I just dont know.

I have stop trading the demo on marketiva. For $30 for the monthly winner. It is just a waste of time (Now I am going to reverse trade it). Instead I go for Instaforex forex sniper. Prize money is $1500 for weekly winner. Check out the banner on top.

Today marks the end of 4th year I am in Forex and I am still here. Most of the friends that I know trade has already stop. It must mean something to stay here for so long when most people quit. Its either I am really stubborn or I am not losing money. Which one you think?

After 3 days of demo trading I got over 25k of profit from 10k max lot trading. Its over 250pip net profit. Not bad for a part time trader and a 7th place so far. I dont think I can be number 1 coz of limited time I trade. Its a good progress, it shows where I am after 4 years. How about you?

Any system need to have a very good basic to stand on. Once the basic is sort out, then all the accessories can be add on. Just remember not to add too much to it. Today I am going to give a basic system. It consist of only 2 indicators. Being simple, it is able to generate good signal. Just remember to put SL properly.


Indicators:
1. LWMA 55
2. MACD standard setting

Time frame: 30m

Stop Loss : 35 pips

Take Profit : 35 pips or more.

Currencies : EurUsd, GbpUsd, EurJpy, GbpJpy

Trading System:
LWMA act as a thin trend line. If the price is above it, its uptrend. If the price is below it, its downtrend. So you buy or sell according to trend. Never reverse trade. MACD also shows the trend. If MACD is above 0, its uptrend and the other way around.

I have put 3 vertical lines in the chart where MACD cross 0. Once MACD cross 0, you should only trade according to trend. You entry should be on the LWMA 55 or close. At the moment MACD has cross 0 and is heading down. From now on only consider short position. Try to enter as close as possible to LWMA 55.

Caution has to be taken, even though MACD has cross the trend is not yet full down actually. There is another indicator that I use to show trend and its not full down yet. Unfortunately that indicator is no where in the chart because it is not on GbpUsd chart. It is somewhere else.

Now you wonder why its not there. The truth is most people fail because what they are looking for is not there. That is what I meant with looking at the wrong direction. The trend indicator for GbpUsd is not on GbpUsd chart. Weird isnt it?

You can take this basic system and try to add on what ever system you have. Hopefully it is useful. Good Luck

1,447 days ago I started to step in the world of Forex. 6th May 2006 is the day I registered my 1st demo account and its a Saturday. Through out my journey in Forex, there are no actual manual, text or books that I can really refer to. Its like an unexplored land with no maps what so ever. There are only guides available online with no one giving specific answer.

Though hard it may be I started to develop my own system and continue to improve on that system. No matter how I try to improve it, there is still something missing. After a long and hard work I finally got the answer. It is an answer that I wasn't willing to accept. So I disappeared for almost 1 year though my part of moving places only took 1 month to settle.

Now I am back trading with the answer in my head thus a new direction in my sight. Turns out it is really easy once you have the right answer. You know the question as well as I do. "WHAT IS FOREX".

I believe my learning period in Forex is almost over. I can now see direction clearly. I know which pair to trade with the highest probability of profit. I know when to exit and I know when to turn off the computer while still holding positions. I have mastered the basic of Forex. The only thing now is discipline and Money Management.

What I am not willing to do is to write in this blog about trading ideas. I may blow out the answer. After almost 4 years, its not something I am willing to give easily. There are no notes, no records, nothing written anywhere on my trading ideas. Its all in my head. My system now is so simple, it consist of only 2 main indicators which I can trade without. Find the answer and its all smooth sailing from there. I just wish I have found it earlier.

For those of you who show interest in my new trading system, thank you for the attention. I have stopped giving out my system due to limited time I have to teach. I dont teach, I dont sell my system, I dont ask for your money and I dont give signals.

You can come and visit this blog. I will give chart analysis from time to time. Dont expect too much coz there is not much in Forex anyway.

Good luck to all of you. Thank you for visiting my blog. For today, do sell GJ coz its going down. You just need to figure out where to enter. Its not an easy task, I know coz Ive been there.