Scroll down the page or click on any of the questions below for their answers.
How can I start learning to trade, using Technical Analysis?
Can you explain your trading systems?
Do I need to buy MetaStock to use charts?
How can I purchase MetaStock?
How can I develop a Trading Plan?
What are CFDs?
How can I learn more about CFDs?
Tell me more about your advanced training course?
What level of expertise will I reach on completion of the course?
Do you offer ongoing support after training?
Can you advise me on which shares to purchase?
How can I track & record my trades?
Glossary of common terms
Technical analysis has become more popular than ever with the availability of computers, highly sophisticated charting software and the internet, which now brings live market data to us all.
Smart Trading has created a Technical Analysis Home Study Course so that you can study from the comfort of your home and learn all you need to know about charting and much more. You will never a look at a share the same way again!
Then once you have completed this course, you can take your technical analysis knowledge to the next level and develop mechanical trading systems. Smart Trading offers a Trading Plan & System Development Course that is aimed at developing your own personal trading plan and streamlining this plan into a mechanical trading system utilising software such as MetaStock and Excel. This course is also available in a range of training packs with extra inclusions that will save you money. To find out more about the training packs click here.
I trade the markets with two systems and have a mechanical approach. I have MetaStock set-up with a mechanical filter to scan for entries and a trailing stop loss indicator for exits. As well as incorporating a range of money management techniques to size my trades, manage my maximum market risk and maximise my winning positions through pyramiding - all these strategies, including my trading systems, are covered in the Smart Trading Plan & System Development Course.
To give you an idea of the systems I have developed and personally trade, below are charts from MetaStock. The entry signals provided by the system are denoted by an arrow and the exit is shown by the purple line. The goal is to enter initially on one of the first few entry signals provided and exit when it crosses the purple stop loss line. A simple approach that makes trading easy.
Weekly Trading System
The first system shown here is a weekly long term trend following system. The goal of the weekly system is to keep you in the long term trend of the share and to remain with the trade until it becomes unhealthy and an exit signal is provided. The hold time ranges from a few months to possibly a year or two. This system involves running a MetaStock scan on the weekends looking for shares that meet certain entry criteria and requires approximately an hours work a week.
Daily Breakout System
The second system is a daily breakout system. The goal of this system is to trade a swing move in an already trending share. It is ideal for trading CFDs and has an average hold time of 4 to 6 weeks. The system involves running a scan once a day and takes less than an hours work each day.
Both systems are traded long and short.
No you don't. MetaStock is one of the superior platforms in the market place that allows you to view charts and develop your own personal trading systems. However, for beginners it is not necessary to go out and purchase it.
Most online brokers offer the facility to view charts of shares, however, they don’t allow you to change the chart in anyway or scan the market. There is a website available that offers free software that you can download to view all Australian shares – it's called Incredible Charts and is a good program to start with.
Currently the best place to purchase the software at the cheapest price is through Paritech.
Be aware that when you purchase MetaStock you will need to have a data provider to provide the ASX market data each day. A good data provider is key to trading and there are a lot of not so good data providers in the market place.
I do not recommend Paritech data. So do not be pushed into purchasing their data if you buy the software from them. Currently they offer MetaStock at the best price, but their data has a history of errors and they do not offer custom folders. Custom folders are a must and allow you to run a scan across a selection of stocks, such as the ASX 200 or 300, or a selected market sector, and so on.
The data supplier I personally use and recommend that offers custom folders and has a superior record of error free data is DataHQ. They are also the only supplier I know that offers monthly subscriptions and you can upgrade and downgrade your subscription anytime as required. Most offer annual packages. You can find out more about data and DataHQ by clicking here.
Trading is a psychological endeavour and it is what goes on inside your head that drives your market actions. Your goal is to take the emotion and guess work out of your trading and have a clear plan with the aim of trading the market in a disciplined and consistent way.
Developing a trading plan is a big task and well worth the effort once it is finalised. Most people who purchase shares do not have a trading plan and trade the markets with no clear guidelines. This is the difference between amateur traders and professional traders. If you want to trade like a professional, you need to develop your own personal trading plan.
For more information on developing a trading plan get a copy of my book “Smart Trading Plans” - a step-by-step guide to developing a business plan for trading the markets. The book is complete with Smart Action Steps, case studies of actual trades and a bonus trading plan template for you to work through as you read the book.
CFD refers to Contract For Difference. It is a contract between you and your CFD provider. A CFD offers the benefits of trading shares by mirroring the performance of the share or index, without physically owning them. It is similar to trading shares, but with some important advantages such as leverage, easy access to a wide range of global markets, the ability to short sell, etc. You can find out more about CFDs and what they are by reading the article I wrote called “What are CFDs?”.
If you decide you want to trade CFDs you have a range of CFD providers on offer and you will need to select a provider and set-up an account in order to start trading. The provider I use for CFD trading is CMC Markets and I have set-up an exclusive arrangement that includes reduced brokerage rates, reduced overnight financing charges, and special services that are only available if you set-up your account via Smart Trading. You can find out more about this exclusive deal and how to set-up an account by clicking here.
With a good trading plan and a good understanding of technical analysis you may want to continue developing your array of trading tools. I personally trade shares and CFDs and discuss CFDs in my Smart Trading Plan & System Development Course.
There are now Australian books available that give you a good understanding on CFDs and would be a good place to start. Plus, the companies that offer CFDs run free introductory nights throughout Australia and some provide free educational CDs when you open an account with them. The easist book to read that explains what CFDs are is "Contracts for Difference" by Catherine Davies.
The most popular course is the Smart Trading Plan & System Development Online Course.
This is an 11 session online audio course that is aimed at refining your technical analysis skills, assist you in developing a trading plan, teach you about the key aspects of successful trading - money & risk management strategies - and get you set up with a mechanical trading systems utilising a software package such as MetaStock. So that you have everything in place to scan the market and find shares or CFDs that meet your trading plan criteria. Then apply a stop loss indicator to manage your trades and take the guess work out of when to exit. This course will differentiate you from an amateur trader to a professional trader.
This course is also available in a range of training packs with extra inclusions that will save you money. To find out more about the training packs click here.
If you have any questions or would like to discuss the courses in further detail, please do not hesitate to contact me.
On completion of the Smart Trading Plan & System Development Course, you will have walked away with a clear understanding of technical analysis, a trading plan, money management rules and trading systems set-up. You will have all the ammunition you need to trade the stock market.
You then need to put your trading plan and new skills into action and trade the markets and that is where you will get the experience. Experiences based on actions that have methodology and purpose.
Once you have completed the Smart Trading Plan & System Development Course, you will have the opportunity to join the Smart Traders Mastermind. This is an exclusive membership program which includes continued support and mentoring through quarterly teleconference calls with me and a private discussion forum. It’s an opportunity to continue to reinforce your knowledge and see exactly how I apply the principles I've taught you into my trading.
To find out more information on the Smart Traders Mastermind click here.Smart Trading is not a licensed investment advisory service, and does not provide any specific investment advice or make any recommendations to you that can be acted upon as investment advice. The information provided is exclusively for the purposes of education and general discussion so that you can make your own investment decisions in the stock market.
The goal is to enhance your abilities as a trader and develop your skills so that you can produce your own personal trading plan and make your own decisions in the market.
Smart Trading has developed a specialised Excel Spreadsheet called the Smart Trader Spreadsheet to do exactly this. It is a specialised trade management tool designed to make it easy to manage your trading systems by effectively tracking, analysing and evaluating your performance in the market.
Trading is a business in itself and one of the keys to running a successful business is maintaining good records and regularly analysing the performance of the business. You need to measure your actual trading performance (not just your bank account balance) in order to manage your trading business effectively. This will provide you with the reality of how you are performing in the market and if any changes need to be made to your strategy.
If there are any terms you do not understand, please click here to go to the Glossary web page.
