1) Hearing - Having information taught to you;
2) Seeing - Seeing skills being performed based on the information being applied;
3) Doing - Trying out the skills yourself, with ongoing feedback and guidance from a mentor
Think about apprenticeship programs in the trades; the training of military recruits; the medical education of physicians; and the training of elite athletes. All involve acquisition of knowledge/information; observation of advanced practitioners applying the knowledge; and supervised efforts to apply the knowledge oneself. In this three-fold process, we make the transition from theory to skill development.
What we're seeing is an increasing number of offerings to developing traders that integrate the hearing, seeing, and doing through a combination of videos, live trading sessions, and active mentoring/teaching. Back in the day, trader education generally meant someone giving a class on a topic--and that was it! Obviously that didn't help traders translate theory into practice.
Here are some outlets for more complete training and support of developing traders that I'll list in alphabetical order. My goal is not to formally review or endorse these, and none knows that I'm writing this article. Rather, the idea is to point developing traders in a few directions that could prove promising. If I have missed some excellent comprehensive resources, please feel free to let me know at steenbab at aol dot com.
* Crosshairs Trader - David Blair has assembled a comprehensive suite of educational videos and daily watchlists, reviews, and mentoring to help traders apply chart-based setups in real time. Great way to see how an experienced trader approaches market opportunity.
* Exceptional Trader - Terry Liberman has assembled a unique coaching resource for traders. The focus is not on finding trade setups, but rather on building your trading business and figuring out what *your* edge is in markets. Regular webinars and group as well as individual coaching. Great way to think through the big picture of your trading.
* Futures.io - Mike has built a large and active trader community with chat and frequent webinars and downloadable trading tools and resources. Topics on the discussion threads range from trading journals to the creation of quant tools for trading. Great way to learn from others.
* Investors Underground - Nate and team have assembled an active trading community that offers beginning and advanced courses, chat rooms for different strategies, daily watchlists, webinars, and mentoring. The courses cover a range of topics from chart patterns and setups to scanning for opportunity and reading Level 2 information. Great way to connect with a variety of mentors and traders in a community.
* NewTraderU - Steve Burns explicitly addresses the learning process of new traders with courses on such topics as using moving averages in trading and trading with options. He also maintains an active blog and has written several ebooks. Great introduction to trading.
* OpenTrader - Ziad and Awais offer a comprehensive training program that includes a large number of videos, exercises to drill skills, and live mentoring/coaching. A unique aspect is the grounding in auction theory and Market Profile. Great way to approach trading with a well constructed curriculum that moves from theory to practice.
* SMB-U - Mike and Steve have built SMB's training programs into a successful proprietary trading firm. Detailed courses integrate video, skill drills, and a real time audio feed to their trading desk. Topics range from foundation skills to tape reading and options trading. Their in-house training includes practice trading on a simulator, access to quant tools to improve trading, and daily mentoring. Great way to learn hands-on.
Interested traders will want to investigate offerings and the cost of those offerings thoroughly before seeking training. Note that most of these services are offered for active/day traders and especially those in the stock market. If you do investigate, I think you'll be surprised by the depth of offerings and the degree to which information is supplemented with active opportunities to watch experienced traders in action and try out their methods for yourself.
For those looking for a low overhead start with trading education, check out Adam Grimes' site, which contains a podcast covering relevant trading topics and a free trading course that tackles topics ranging from technical analysis and psychology to quant trading and options.
Further Reading: Fake and Real Education in Trading
===============================
Note: TraderFeed will move to a weekend basis of publication starting this coming week, but I will repost popular pieces during the week re: topics that seem currently relevant.
.
Posts
