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Chapter 2 : Getting Started

What are we working toward?

Simply put, what we do here is build consistently profitable traders. That should be
the ultimate goal of any trader. If you can make a dollar a day, you can make ten
thousand dollars a day. It is simply a matter of account and position size.

We use a crawl, walk, run philosophy to develop a trader from the ground up. Most
traders bring a host of bad habits and misconceptions about what trading is, and
what is necessary in order for you to achieve success. For that very reason were
going to start from the beginning, learning about basic structure and basic chart
reading BEFORE moving on to more complex and technical aspects of trading.

No matter where youre at in your trading journey expect to have you belief system
challenged. Choose, rather than being defensive, to truly question weather what
you believe is based in fact, historical study and conclusive evidence or perhaps
from what youve heard in a chat form or an emotional reaction to past experience.

One final note; We are VERY selective about who we bring into our organization.
Everyone at Triple Threat Trading understands that our goal and responsibility is to
see YOU succeed. Many of the people you will speak with or hear from are former
clients who, after completing the course, wanted to get involved at a deeper level.
Dont be afraid to ask questions or make suggestions. This course has grown into
what it is today because of the feedback weve received from our clients.

Brokers

One of the biggest questions I get from traders at all levels is, What broker should I
use?

In the FOREX market there are hundreds of brokers around the world. The type,
quality and regulation of these brokers vary greatly from country to country so Im
not going to try and give you a list. What I will do is outline some important ques-
tions youll want to ask yourself, and your broker before making a selection.

IMPORTANT NOTE: We do not make any recommendations on brokers. This is a

highly complex decision and is based on a variety of personal factors for which we
have no knowledge of. The most important thing to remember is this:

I am constantly hearing brokers complain about how they cant find traders. I have
yet to hear any traders complain about how they cant find any brokers.

Remember that you are the one in a position of advantage. A broker will offer you a
host of unadvertised pricing if you simply ask. These can include better spreads,
lower commissions, etc. Dont be afraid to demand your broker provide you excep-
tional service and pricing. There is always someone else who will be willing to hold
your account. With that said, here are some additional questions to think about.

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Service You will need access to the trade desk or your account manager at all
times. Make sure you have direct access to the trading desk and put their phone
number on speed dial on your cell phone. If you even have a computer crash while
you are in a trade, you will want to get flat as soon as possible.

Execution Your broker should have direct feed to your execution platform. We
recommend NinjaTrader or esignal for executing trades

Stops Make sure your broker is accountable as possible for tight stops. No reason
you should pay more than your stop.

Fills / Slippage Same for fills and slippage. Slippage is actually common and 1 tick
of slippage happens from time to time on limit orders. Anything more should be
brought up with the broker and corrected. Make sure that you outline expectations
on fills ans slippage with your broker.

Requotes This one for me is a deal breaker. If you ever receive a requote from
your broker, close your account. This is, in my opinion a grossly unethical practice
and should be treated as such.

Commissions Many forex brokers offer commissions rather than fixed pip spreads.
Choose what suites you best.

Charting Package

When choosing your charting software, you will need to consider features like, its
ease of use, its flexibility, and its range of features. Some charting software offers
only the basics (charts, and a few indicators), while others offer additional features
like replaying charts, and programming interfaces for creating custom indicators.

Per the training style you will be following, your charting package should have the
following features:

Intraday Data (60minute 1 minute data)

Replay Feature
Basic Analysis tools (Moving Averages, Pivots, Fibbonacci, etc)

We recommend:
NinjaTrader www.ninjatrader.com
Esignal www.esignal.com

You must make sure that you are getting the Market Data for your markets that
you want to trade.

E-Mini Futures CME Market Data

Equities
Forex
Commodities

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Trade Execution Software

Each brokerage has their own trading software, so the one each trader uses will de-
pend upon which brokerage they choose.

Additional trading software (sometimes known as a front end or execution package)

can provide a different display, and different features (such as automatic target and
stop loss orders), and is often easier to use than brokerage provided trading soft-
ware.

In addition to third party additional trading software, some traders prefer to pro-
gram their own additional trading software, that interfaces with their brokerage
provided trading software. This allows the day trader to program the software in
their preferred programming language (C/C++, Visual Basic, etc.), and to include ex-
actly the features that they want when they are trading (such as automatic reversals,
breakout entries, etc.).

Trading Computer Setup

Your trading computer must have some basic features to facilitate your charting,
trade execution, trading room software, email, web browsing, communication, docu-
ment viewing etc. The financial world heavily leans towards PC, so we strongly urge
you invest in a PC for your trading platform.

The minimum PC setup should include:

Intel Core2 Duo Processor
4 GB of Dual Ram
Dual Monitor Video card (VGA or DVI)
Windows XP Professional

The RECOMMENDED PC setup should include:

Intel i5 or i7 processor
8 GB of Dual Ram DDR3
2x Dual Monitor Video cards (Nvidia Chipset) (DVI)
Windows 7
4 Flat Panel 20 inch Monitor Array

Demo Trading (Paper Trading)

Demo trades are trades tracked on paper only. No capital is actually invested when
you make demo trades, so they become a great learning tool. Simulations like demo
trading force you to make decisions and then show you the consequences of those
decisions again, without risking your capital.

Demo trades are powerful because they teach through suspense and surprise. They
demonstrate rather than tell. Instead of simply reading about trading, you experi-
ence it, making decisions about potential trades, and then watching those decisions
play out.

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An individual trader can demo trade to:
establish a track record
develop trading discipline
test trading strategies
evaluate new markets
build trader confidence
make trading career decisions

Over the years we have trained traders and we always say to invest the first month
in simulation before they go live with live capital. Even on our strongest recommen-
dation, some choose not to do it because they either get bored or think they have
mastered the trade signal. Again, this is a sign of impatience.

It is true that all the demo trading in the world cannot prepare you for the emotional
involvement you may have when you trade with a real money account. The fact re-
mains that you need to familiarize yourself with the executions and repetitions of the
trade.

Take your simulation seriously. Even in simulation you are forming habits. What you
do in practice you will do in the live market.

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