Newer traders quickly learn that there are a multitude of strategies to employ and a variety of timeframes in which to apply them. And then they make a huge mistake: they try to learn them all simultaneously.
Picking up new plays and honing skills takes time. You start out with one strategy and get better at it until you have an understanding of how and when it works best. And then you add another and keep repeating the process.
But few understand where to begin, so let me simplify it for you. Let market conditions dictate which plays you focus on.
Whatever is working in the here and now is the play you need to be working on. In a momentum tape, naturally it’s going to be breakout plays. In a trading range, you work on trading more reversals from key levels of support and resistance. When a steady trend comes along, it’s going to mean the best way to get involved is on pullback plays. And when corrections kick in like the one we’re currently caught in, you learn to trade the short side after failed bounces back to broken (former) support zones.
Don’t try to perfect a dozen plays simultaneously. You’ll feel overwhelmed and get nowhere.
You don’t acquire an entire wardrobe in a day. You build it over time as weather conditions change. With your trading, it’s the same way. Take it one play at a time based on current conditions, and you’ll grow your skill set with greater consistency over time.
