There is no secret to being a successful day trader. There are no magic bullets or pills. You have to put in the work and learn constantly. An experienced trader does not have to invest $10,000 in 5 courses. It’s unlikely that a novice trader would learn to trade independently.

Why do you say that?

It is not a natural talent to trade that makes great traders, they have to be skilled and persistent in their pursuit of trading. Because the market is operated on different rules than common sense, intuition and common sense can have limited value when trading. The novice trader is left in a tough spot. He or she will need to find a trading system that works and can be trusted. There are so many options for trading education, including live Certus Trading Review rooms and personal coaches. It can be difficult to distinguish which trader is competent.

I believe there are both great trading courses and many trading programs that work. There are also many trading programs that are not working and designed to make income for the owners/sellers of the program. Navigating this maze can be difficult and can result in frustrating decisions.

I would suggest you join several chat rooms that are serious about trading and get feedback from the members of the chat board on different course qualities. I would recommend a course that does not focus on trading’s most important aspects. I wouldn’t buy a course that claims they have a secret method of trade or promises millions in your first year. Bombastic claims are an indicator of the motives of the sellers of trading course. It is possible to make a decent income in the first year. But, millions?

To be precise, let me clarify this:

* Trading techniques have evolved over the years but there has not been a breakthrough in trading technology. The rates of return we see today are not much different from those in the past.

* You won’t make millions of dollars your first year trading. It is more likely that I was happy to survive my first year of trading. However, if you put in the effort to learn and practice, you will be able to succeed even in your first trading year.

Find or hire a mentor to help you learn how to trade. This is the second component. Mentors who are confident and supportive can cut years off your learning curve. A mentor is the same problem as a trading course. There are many trading gurus out there who claim they can do trading miracles. Let me be clear. Except for a few rare exceptions, any trader that doesn’t trade fulltime and instead mentors traders should be considered suspect. Trader who are talented can make large sums of money. It’s unlikely that a true trader would want to sell mentoring programs when he could actually be making a living on the market. The logic is simple.

I was mentored by a former trader 25 years back. Many of the strategies he taught me still work for me. I also appreciate the psychological discipline that he gave me. He knew exactly what he was doing and I really appreciated the effort he put into helping me to be a better trader.

Although trading courses can be beneficial, mentoring is more effective.

Some live trading rooms offer excellent service for around $100 per month. These rooms can be very helpful, although most are focused on the specific trading course they represent. This is yet another hard decision. You are faced with a difficult decision: Should you sign up for a trading platform without any training? Should you first purchase a course in trading and then go to a live room? My opinion is that the second option works better.

I recommend trading with a demo account until profits are consistent. This is a very controversial topic. Many trading educators feel that demo trading accounts can cause novice traders to improve their trading technique and money-management skills. My view is the contrary. Demo accounts are a great way to get familiar with the platform and feel the movements on a real chart. Practice doesn’t make perfect, perfect practice makes perfect.

In summary, do your research. Interview someone from the trading education firm. Ask them questions that I have provided below.

* How long have your systems been around?
* What is the annual return of your system?
* Is your trading approach in line with mainstream trade thought?
* How long is it going to take for me to start trading?
* Are there any mentoring programs?
* Does the owner/seller still trade in the program?
* Do you know of any continuing education methods?

As I stated, research the company, interview employees, and compare the reaction to different trading education companies via popular trading chat boards. Although many traders fail within their first year, close to 60%, it is my belief that many failed traders didn’t get the right mentoring or trading skills during the early stages of their trading careers. Mentoring and education should not be overlooked. These two variables will greatly contribute to your trading success.