Stock Picks 101- Learning the Easy Way

Learning to trade takes much longer than most of us would like. How would you like to take a shortcut and graduate early from the school of hard knocks?

When I ask the question that way, almost everyone is ready to learn to do that. The problem is that when I tell you what’s required, you’ll find a reason why it won’t work for you.

Here’s my tip. The easy way to save yourself AND your trading account a lot of pain is to learn from other’s mistakes.

Let me pause for a moment and wait for our virtual discussion room here to empty out a bit as all the people with really big egos head for the exit.

Still with me?

Great.

Here are some very common mistakes people make when learning to trade which you should watch out for.

First is the belief that trading financial picks is easy and quick to learn. I wish it were so. If it was really that easy, everyone would be doing it. Right? And if everyone were doing it and making money, who would be on the other side losing money? Not you? You never lose money?

Of course, you couldn’t possibly be the beginner the professionals depend on to make their living from. I mean, you’ve paid thousands to learn the systems and techniques that you’re now hoping will let you earn your living online. All that money spent on learning has GOT to make you a success, right? Take a deep breath here, because I’m about to tell you that regardless of what you’ve been promised, there is no guarantee that you will ever make money trading.

Next mistake is not to have clear trading objectives and realistic plans to get you to your objective. The word “realistic” in the previous sentence is worth quite a few books itself. It’s not easy to come up with a realistic trading plan because the market tends to be unpredictable. It will test your trading plan at the worst possible time.

A flawed or incomplete trading plan leads to the next mistake. Beginning traders tend to be fickle, trying one market or system after another. They don’t stick with any one thing long enough to get good at it.

Such traders are searching for the “holy grail” of trading, searching for a quick, easy, and immensely profitably system. While you may find a system that has two of those three traits, you won’t find the “holy grail” of trading.

A final common mistake it to go it alone. Trading can be a lonely profession. It’s just you and the market. You need to have fellow traders to bounce ideas off. But more importantly, you need a coach, trainer or guide to show you how to succeed and help you overcome your weaknesses.

This brings us full circle, because I started out by saying that you can avoid a lot of trading mistakes by learning from others. By having a successful trader as a mentor who you can learn from, you’ll save yourself untold misery.

Doug Newberry is the Director and Founder of Investing Systems Network. He builds very reliable financial picks software for tens of thousands of all kinds of investors. Investors in more than 25 countries enjoy his weekly online radio show and his newsletter.