When to start trading ..?

Sorry to say I can only give the obvious answer 🙂

ha ha..  thanks , will continue on my journey then.

Well I would say it depends. How long have you been trading? Have you gained experience live trading watching charts for weeks/months/years and wanting to get going? Have you sim traded for some time and made consistent sim profits? 

As noted in Getting Started video 07B and elsewhere, Al suggests beginners look for 2-3 swing trades a day. If profitable on sim, you could start trading the micro Emini for example, and waiting on Major Trend Reversals and pullbacks. So, once you have got through those parts of course, you can start getting real trading experience of same.

If you do not feel comfortable trading live with 1 micro Emini contract, then give it more time. Of course, we will never feel entirely comfortable thanks to our emotions wanting to exercise their innate power and hijack our trading, but learning to be aware and managing our emotions will result in improving our appetite for risk.

Ive all but finished watching the video course(3 videos in the bonus section left)for the first time.My intention is to start watching them all again.During the first watch ,which took me a little over a month.I didn't take any notes, sim trade or really look at a chart at all.My approach now will be to take notes, sim trade and study charts whilst watching them all again.My first intention was to not trade at all until I have taken notes and made a trading plan.But I feel as if I want to get my feet wet.Im going to trade 2 micro contracts, trading 2 setups whilst getting used to the emotions of live trading.I do understand that the longer you can study Als work without trading, is going to put you in good stead.But I feel a small investment in the market will help me.

Hi Andrew,

I've been studying Brooks price action since 2011.  One thing I can tell you for sure is that the Doc is the real deal.  He does this because his passion is PA trading and teaching it and helping others succeed at it.  

Bottom line it takes time, effort, experience and losses.  Richard's response to No One is right on and pretty much how I worked and still work through it. Here are my tips.

As far as note taking.  I kept a separate note book and titled it "Al's Probabilities".  As I went through the course again and again, every time he gave a percentage on something, I would right it down and label it, i.e. ( 80% of TR BO's fail, 75% of Bull BO's of Bull channels fail within 1-5 bars, 50% chance of a BO up or down of a contracting triangle then 50% chance the BO will fail, etc, etc ). There are a lot of them and I still review that note book every week.

There are 2 parts to this job.  1st, Understanding PA and reading the charts. 2nd, knowing how and when to trade while always keeping in mind the 3 variables of the traders equation.

So yes you are right.  Your brain works differently when trading real $, but if you can not grow a simulated account over a 3-6 month period you are not there yet. What worked for me to get comfortable with skin in the game was to trade live micro's 1 or 2 days a week. This will help you to learn to control your emotions, but learn the business on the simulator its a lot cheaper.

Lastly, Al's trading room is an incredible resource. He will teach you patience and probability as well as reinforce his entire course. 

Hi Eric,

thanks for your reply.iI feel honoured being the recipient of your first post,lol.I like the idea of just trading a couple of days a week.Ill only be starting with a small accounts that will be ideal.I do end up taking loads of notes, but then tend to have too many notes.I have to make sure not to take too many.My intention is to,make notes but also make a trading plan as I go.Then take just 2 of Al's setups and really get stuck into them.I will as you say, just sim trade until I am comfortable.I won't be putting a stupid amount into the sim so it doesn't seem real, ill trade a small sim account.How do you personally go about studying charts?Also did you screen capture the slides, or just purchase Als encyclopaedia?

Regards Andy

You sound like a logical thinker.  Your right about too many notes.  That is why I just focused my notes on Al's probability %'s.  The descriptions of those probabilities contain a significant amount of his PA fundamentals and it makes it easier to review those notes every morning before open. 

Right again.  The sim balance should match your real account balance. Focusing on being patient and identifying the best 1-3 swing set ups a day.  A stop entry that has a good signal bar AND GOOD CONTEXT. (Don't sell the 1st reversal bar in a tight bull channel).

I read charts exactly like Al teaches.  The morning is usually the best time to trade. 90% of all days have a swing trade that starts in the 1st 90 mins.  The 1st one fails 50% of the time (see, those probabilities come in handy).  I usually don't trade the 1st bar, but I watch it form to see if it has a TR or trending personality.  I ask myself questions all day. After a few bars I ask " is it a limit order market or a stop order market or both.  Then I ask is it always in short or always in long.  If always in long, is it a bull leg in a TR or a bull trend.  You can only Identify all these things if you continue to study and put your time into the live charts. 

I don't screen capture any thing of Al's.  I mark the heck out of my chart note my entries, patterns, support and resistance then screen capture that and compare mine to his daily setups the next morning.  As noted previously I've been learning his principals and techniques for years. While I have understood and memorized a lot of it for quite some time, I have a highly risk adverse personality and it took a long time to be able to apply what I had learned in the real time markets. Plus I still had to work to earn a living so I could only trade part time. 

I am consistently profitable now. But if my head is not in the game( bad nights sleep, fight with wife, worked up about anything at all ) I work in my yard for the day, because if I trade, I will lose money.

There is no such thing as get rich quick.  You have to love what you do, commit to it and put lots of time and hard work into it, and suffer through the emotional pain.  If you are truly committed you will get there.

Best of luck

I have personally cycled between the course, a sim and a book.  When I feel the desire to go try what I have learned I fire up ninjatrader and have fun.

At first i was losing a lot.  Now more recently i have doubled a 10k sim account.  I think live trading the micros is an excellent next step..  It feels a lot different when the money is real..   Then it feels real on the sim also instead of as a game.

Treat the sim like it's your real money.  Manage risk and get where you can survive.  Profit comes next after that.  I took a sim account from 1k to 3k this week and made 700 real dollars on some minor live trading.  When I go back to sim it is more realistic that way.

Screen time watching charts in real time is equally if not more important to learning to me.

This post was especially helpful. Thank you for writing this.