These youngsters read a few books and figure their odds of winning at the market casino are above average. They've also discovered the wonders of margin 
and max out their exposure every day because it will get them to the victory lap more quickly. Not surprisingly, this easy prey will provide the bulk of your trading profits through the years.
Older, wiser newbies have different obstacles to overcome when leaping into the wonderful world of market timing. These better-greased folks believe they can master this discipline because of their considerable experience in life's other challenges. But they fail to appreciate the special demands this undertaking places upon its newest disciples.
With a cocky attitude, they take positions too big for their limited experience and forget that no one is printing money on their behalf. Fortunately, they can do well in the markets after they overcome their urge to overtrade and oversize their positions. But achieving these twin goals requires extended modeling behavior in a controlled environment.
Despite low transaction costs, new traders need to keep down their cost of doing business so they can examine the impact of their market strategies without losing a lot of money. They'll find out soon enough how easy it is to get eaten up by bad fills, unreliable quotes and overpriced news feeds.
If you haven't noticed, there's an entire industry that feeds on the needs of the trading community. These predators will charge you thousands of dollars for software,
chat rooms and expert
advise they insist will shorten your learning curve. Unfortunately, there isn't a single shortcut that will achieve your profitability goals any faster or more reliably.
In reality, learning how to trade successfully is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration (and moments of abject terror). So it's wise to scale down your costs to the size of your equity
account and commitment to your enterprise. There will be plenty of time to add fancy services and exotic feeds after you become profitable.
Alan Farley
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