One of the most common ways to learn how to trade is to visit the various forums on the Internet. These forums put traders in a public area to discuss their trading philosophies, strategies, and general attitudes about the market. This is a great way to learn about trading, as most traders, new and experienced, simply won’t know many other people in the “real world” who trade. The Forex markets are a bit young, and as a result most people know more about the stock and futures markets.
The biggest advantage of the forums is also the biggest hazard. The ability to tap into the thought process of more experienced traders can help accelerate a trader’s growth, but can also provoke a lot of bad advice. When a new trader comes onto the scene, they will find a lot of people willing to share their knowledge with new traders, but this can be a bad thing at times as well.
The fact is that it is difficult to quantify who to listen to and who not to. The reality is that nobody is going to care about your account like you do. Because of this, it is important to listen, but with a certain amount of skepticism. Also, you simply do not know whether or not the trader you are listening to is even profitable. Quite often, you will have new traders leading even newer ones as they both lose money over time.
Because of this, the forums need to be treated with a certain amount of healthy skepticism. While there are plenty of helpful people on the forums, you really need to understand that any decision you make in your trading needs to come from within, not as a result of something someone said. Another thing that can get you into trouble is if you try to “follow” trades, as you still don’t know if the trader is a good one, and certainly will get into the trade much later than they do.
So while I certainly don’t want to discourage you from joining the forums, like this one, you simply must realize that they are just as much for entertainment than anything else. The traders there, and here, aren’t responsible for your account balance, and not everyone will be competent.
The reason I personally like Tradelogically and prefer it to most other trading forums is that it doesn’t shill out offers for third-party vendors and brokers. They also don’t tolerate “trade ideas” or any biased advice. It so far seems to be an honest place to gain knowledge on a variety of topics.
With this in mind, enjoy yourself, but keep your head clear.