Basic Technique  |  NOV 2006

Beyond Setups by Steve Palmquist

Stocks & Commodities V. 24:11 (48-51): Beyond Setups by Steve Palmquist There are several aspects to trading beyond your trading setups. Here’s a look at five factors that will help you become a better trader. Like most professions, trading requires a number of different skills to be successful. It takes time to develop these skills — two to five years — and there are few shortcuts if you try to do it alone. Many traders will read about a system and use it until they have a number of consecutive losses. Then they switch to another system in a constant search for something that works all the time. They will continue to lose money until they realize there is more to trading than just setups. Some traders will use very tight stops trying to minimize risk. When they lose most of their money, they become convinced trading is just luck. Some traders use only a single system they learned from an expert, and eventually, when they start losing with that system, they wonder why it doesn’t work anymore and stop trading. The school of hard knocks has taught me that there are aspects to trading, beyond setups, that successful traders must master.

by Steve Palmquist