http://www.rb-trading.com/begin.html
Extracts:
"There are many inherent advantages of commodity futures as an investment vehicle over other investment alternatives such as savings accounts, stocks, bonds, options, real estate and collectibles.
The primary attraction, of course, is the potential for large profits in a short period of time. The reason that futures trading can be so profitable is leverage."
"Before becoming too excited about the substantial returns possible from commodity trading, it is a good idea to take a long, sober look at the risks. Reward and risk are always related. It is unrealistic to expect to be able to earn above-average investment returns without taking above-average risks as well."
"Other kinds of surprise situations that can cause unpredicted losses are freezes, floods, droughts, government currency interventions and crop reports. With attention and foresight a trader can sidestep these risky situations. The best way to control unpredictable risks is to trade conservatively so larger-than-expected losses are still only a small percentage of the total account.
Another thing to understand about risk in trading is that you cannot avoid losses by careful planning or brilliant strategy. Numerous losses are part of the process. In The Elements of Successful Trading, Robert Rotella puts it this way: "Trading is a business of making and losing money. Any trade, no matter how well thought out, has a chance of becoming a loser. Many people think the best traders don't lose any money and have only winning trades. This is absolutely not true. The best traders lose a lot of money, but they eventually make even more over time."
"There is no point trading commodities if you cannot handle the psychological discomfort of making losing trades. While people tend to take losses personally as a sign of failure, good traders shrug them off. The best trading plans result in many losses. Because of the amount of randomness in market price action, such losses are inevitable.
In order to make decisions about when to trade commodity futures, you must have a source of price data. Many daily newspapers carry some commodity prices in their financial sections. The Wall Street Journal has comprehensive commodity price listings. Investor's Business Daily has both price tables and numerous price charts.
All experienced commodity traders prefer to look at price activity on a chart rather than trying to interpret tables of numbers. In financial analysis, charts are indispensable for quickly grasping the essence of historical and recent price action.
The typical commodity chart depicts daily price action as a thin vertical bar which indicates the day's high and low by the top and bottom of the bar. The opening and closing prices are shown as tiny dots attached to the left and right side of the bar. A typical daily price chart can show up to six months of price action this way.
It is easy to change the bar's time frame from days to weeks or months and thus show from two to twenty years of historical price action in the same format. For short-term trading you can change the bar's time frame to hours or even minutes.
Looking at such bar charts enables a trader to see the recent trend of prices--whether up, down or sideways--in whatever time frame he chooses. Following the current trend of prices is a cornerstone of successful trading."
There are three related hurdles for traders. The first is finding a trading method that actually has a statistical edge. Second is following it with consistency. Third is consistently following the method long enough for the edge to manifest itself on the bottom line."
"One way to learn how to trade correctly is to find a successful trader and have him or her teach you exactly how they do it. However, even if you could find such a person and even if they would be willing to spend the time with you, it would not necessarily make you a successful trader. You might not have the capital necessary to trade the way they do. You would definitely not have the years of experience they had developing their successful approach. You might not have the personality profile necessary to execute their style of trading.
Another way to learn is by trial and error. This is the method of choice for most people although they probably don't realize it. The trouble with trial and error in futures trading is that you don't always take a loss when you trade incorrectly and you don't always make a profit when you trade correctly. Some of the best methods generate losses more than half the time. You can take many losses in row applying a very effective system. On the other hand, if you are lucky, you can makes tons of money trading quite stupidly. Psychologists call this random reinforcement, and it makes good trading impossible to learn through trial and error.
The most obvious and practical way to learn how to trade correctly is to read books. Find the best books by the most respected authors and the best traders and learn from them. While this may work in other areas of life, it is more problematic in commodity trading.
One of the few real secrets in commodity trading is that most of what you read in books about how to trade does not work in the real world. Even books by respected authors are full of trading methods that lose money when put to the test. You may find this shocking, but almost no commodity authors demonstrate the effectiveness of the methods they advocate. The best you can hope for are some well-chosen examples or a few cursory tests.
Learning to trade is a combination of being exposed to ideas plus practical experience watching the markets on a day-to-day basis. This is not something that can happen in only a few weeks. On the other hand, you can become a great trader even with only average intelligence. Professional trader and money manager Russell Sands describes the makeup of a successful trader: "Intelligence alone does not make a great trader. Success is equal parts of intellect, applied psychology, practice, discipline, bankroll, self-understanding and emotional control.
Furthermore, to be successful you don't have to invent some complex approach that only a nuclear physicist could understand. In fact, successful trading plans tend to be simple. They follow the general principles of correct trading in a more or less unique way."
" Another trading plan consideration is the markets you trade. There are about forty futures markets with sufficient liquidity to allow prudent speculation. However, it is important to select a good universe of markets that are appropriate for your account size, risk level and trading style.
It also important that your market universe be diversified. There are always a number of big market moves every year, but no one knows in advance where they will be. If you trade a diversified portfolio, there is a greater chance that you will catch some of the truly big moves that make for successful trading.
Another consideration in choosing a market to trade is its historical propensity to have more big trending moves. Since the trend is your edge in trading, you can maximize your edge by selecting the most trendy markets. The following are some of the best trending markets in various trading sectors.
The currencies are the best trending sector. The currencies to trade are the Swiss Franc, the German Mark, the Japanese Yen and the British Pound.
Interest rate futures are also good trending markets. T-Bonds represent long-term interest rates and Eurodollars are for short-term interest rates.
In the energy complex, Crude Oil, Heating Oil and Natural Gas are good trading vehicles.
In the food sector, Coffee, Orange Juice and Sugar are recommended.
In metals, you can trade Gold, Silver and Copper.
In agricultural, Corn, Oats, Soybeans and Cotton are the best.
Now you have the outline of an overall plan to trade commodities. The key to success is to test whatever strategy you intend to apply before you trade with it. Remember that the conventional wisdom that you read in books is mostly ineffective. When applied consistently, most trading methods don't work.
You can't test your plan unless it is specific. The rules must be precise and objective. Having a thoroughly tested plan is crucial to maintaining the confidence necessary to keep trading the plan through the inevitable losing periods that every good system and every good trader must endure.
The reliability of non-computerized testing is highly suspect. Using computer software that tests a particular approach or a variety of approaches is preferred. You must learn the correct way to test and evaluate trading approaches."
A commodity is a basic material that is used as an input in the process of producing refined goods.For more updates please visit CapitalHeight
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