subject: Trading Coach Advice - Develop Your Routines [print this page] One of the lessons my trading coach taught me was to develop good routines and stick with them.In trading, a routine means that you define what you need to do each day, week, month, quarter and year to be consistent, organized and successful in your trading. My trading coach told me that in order for you to be successful, it's essential to follow a routine.
When you consider it, it's true in any endeavor, those who are successful are disciplined. They practice daily and do what needs to be done, whether they like it or not. In trading, there are a number of things that you need to do regularly, to be successful.
One of the first things of your routine should be preparation. This does not mean that you are day trading, but you are looking after your trading activities every day. The first thing to do on a daily basis is to download the latest trading data. Once you have the latest prices, you can then review your positions, and take any action required. The actions may include moving stop losses, exiting position and looking for new trading opportunities.
Every weekend, it is a good time while the markets are closed to take a step back and look at the direction of the markets. Don't look just at your own markets, but look at all of the markets around the world. You may be able to identify a pattern or trends across all markets. A sector analysis can also be performed on the markets you trade. This will allow you to know and keep in mind, which sectors are hot and which sectors are under performing.
Each month, quarter and year is the time to do your record keeping. It is a time to ensure all of your trades are recorded properly. You can also ensure that any expenses are also included so that you can have a record of them for your tax return. Every week, your computer data should be backed up. On a monthly or quarterly basis, review your trading performance and calculate your statistics, so you know if you need to take any corrective action.
