Mentor Wanted

[BTCVirgin]

Ok, so I'm not sure if this is the right place or even if it is ethical, but here goes .....

I'll be completely honest with you, I am here to speculate and try to earn some extra cash by Day Trading.

I understand the point of Bitcoin is to be used as a currency, but since it is such a volatile market I see it as an opportunity to learn the skills involved in trading.

I have always had a fascination with markets, but I have zero understanding of them.

I read you guys talking about the volume and walls etc and I've made a couple of purchases and the price has dropped immediately - Hell, I could simply put a post here and tell you all that I am buying and that would be your cue to get ready to buy cheap.!!!

So far it has all been guesswork.

I have been lurking here for about three weeks now and my funds cleared at Bitstamp on the morning of April 10th. I didn't risk too much but I'm sure you can guess how it went for me 

I don't know how to interpret charts, I have no historical knowledge. All I know is what I have learned from this forum - I may even have got that wrong and taken the trolls advice by mistake.

I read about doubling down etc - it's Double Dutch to me 

So I am looking for someone to mentor me.

If there are any experienced and successful traders out there who would like to pass on their knowledge I propose to share profits.

I am not looking for timely tips on when to buy or sell. I would like to be taught how to interpret the data and make the decisions for myself.



If you are prepared to mentor one person then you could mentor others too - you could even have a subscription based blog training the new guys here.

This could be a real opportunity for someone who is prepared to put the time in. There are 28,000 accounts waiting for verification at Gox and a high percentage of those will be novices like me who have been captured by Bitcoin.
An automated daily training email such as can be set up at MailChimp could be a real money spinner for the right person.

I should really mention that I will need to be careful who I learn from and I need to be able to verify your good intentions and honesty - perhaps by other prominent forum members vouching for your good character.

So, any offers ??

[Zaih]

My awesome advice: Just chuck it in!

Cool idea though. Hopefully someone smart can help you out

[masachino]

I don't know anything about a mentor but I can offer a good start:

http://stockcharts.com/school/doku.php?id=chart_school:chart_analysis:introduction_to_candlesticks

[bitcon]

i recommend smoothie.

[usagi]

So I am looking for someone to mentor me.

I made about 10 BTC trading on the way down from 110 to 60 (and to now, 73 or so) over 2 days. But if I told you how I did it you might be able to take some of the money I make myself. It's not that easy, I sit and watch the trading screen for hours (and hours...). There's more to it than that of course but I think watching the tickers is one of the most important things. If you're really interested, then make an offer for my time and I'll explain my setup to you, talk you through my strategy, and give you some other sources of info I use.

The truth is though I hate trading this way and I only do it when I am desperate for money because it's somewhat risky. Do you really want to be a daytrader?

[seleme]

To be honest I think that charts and stuff shows f'all in such wild market and if you're not very well studied in that stuff it's just going to confuse you.

My advice, though I'm in no way expert or too experienced with bitcoin, is to watch market all the time and see how it's going, week of market studying will do you more good then all these charts imo. With time you get some sense what some reactions means and where it might head though you'll never know that with charts, watching or whatever with so much manipulations happening on bitcoin exchange.

Try to not lose a lot-that's the first thing you have to watch as it might demoralize you and stop you to think rationally. Beside big loses put you back in your plans. When you earn something than you can make some high risks but on the beginning play on safe. It's better to earn one dollar in 5 consecutive trades than lose 10 in one

[RyNinDaCleM]

I put together here, a simplified version of info that can be found around the net. It explains the important parts of Eliiot Wave Theory (used by many here) and delves into the use of Fibonacci retracements to determine likely targets.
https://community.bitfinex.com/showthread.php/45-Elliot-waves-to-Fibonacci

I wrote about trend lines and how to trade using them here:
https://community.bitfinex.com/showthread.php/171-Trend-Line-Analysis

You can also check out Goomboo's Journal here:
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=60501.0

These are all beginner oriented threads for three different but useful types of market analysis.

[BTCVirgin]

i recommend smoothie.

As I have said - I've been lurking for a few weeks  

[BTCVirgin]

I don't know anything about a mentor but I can offer a good start:

http://stockcharts.com/school/doku.php?id=chart_school:chart_analysis:introduction_to_candlesticks

thank you for the link - very helpful

[scalper]

So I am looking for someone to mentor me.

I made about 10 BTC trading on the way down from 110 to 60 (and to now, 73 or so) over 2 days. But if I told you how I did it you might be able to take some of the money I make myself. It's not that easy, I sit and watch the trading screen for hours (and hours...). There's more to it than that of course but I think watching the tickers is one of the most important things. If you're really interested, then make an offer for my time and I'll explain my setup to you, talk you through my strategy, and give you some other sources of info I use.

The truth is though I hate trading this way and I only do it when I am desperate for money because it's somewhat risky. Do you really want to be a daytrader?

That's what I find to be the toughest aspect of daytrading bitcoins. It's a 24/7 currency. You can't force opportunity, it has to come to you... and sometimes the major breakouts occur when you're sleeping in the night. And it takes so long to develop you might have to be at your computer for several hours. It'll be a problem no matter where you live. I don't think there are stop orders on most major bitcoin exchanges (and if there were, i would not trust using them) so you have to get out by watching the prices yourself.

[BTCVirgin]

So I am looking for someone to mentor me.

Do you really want to be a daytrader?

It's something that interests me and it is something that I'd like to do. It is not out of necessity.

[BTCVirgin]

I put together here, a simplified version of info that can be found around the net. It explains the important parts of Eliiot Wave Theory (used by many here) and delves into the use of Fibonacci retracements to determine likely targets.
https://community.bitfinex.com/showthread.php/45-Elliot-waves-to-Fibonacci

I wrote about trend lines and how to trade using them here:
https://community.bitfinex.com/showthread.php/171-Trend-Line-Analysis

You can also check out Goomboo's Journal here:
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=60501.0

These are all beginner oriented threads for three different but useful types of market analysis.

Thank you for these - plenty to learn 

[BTCVirgin]

To be honest I think that charts and stuff shows f'all in such wild market and if you're not very well studied in that stuff it's just going to confuse you.

My advice, though I'm in no way expert or too experienced with bitcoin, is to watch market all the time and see how it's going, week of market studying will do you more good then all these charts imo. With time you get some sense what some reactions means and where it might head though you'll never know that with charts, watching or whatever with so much manipulations happening on bitcoin exchange.

Try to not lose a lot-that's the first thing you have to watch as it might demoralize you and stop you to think rationally. Beside big loses put you back in your plans. When you earn something than you can make some high risks but on the beginning play on safe. It's better to earn one dollar in 5 consecutive trades than lose 10 in one

some excellent tips here Seleme.

I am happy to sit and watch markets for as long as it takes - except I have no clue what I am looking for  

Yes, I like the thought of small earnings over several trades. It's the better way to learn and build confidence and as you have said, it wouldn't be demoralizing.

[scalper]

The most important advice you'll get in this topic:

1) 80-90% of all day traders lose money. It's a well-known figure amongst stock traders. I highly recommend against it. And btw, I say that and I love day trading more than anything. But it's not for everyone and it takes a long time to master.

2) Discipline/patience/risk management is more important than anything, no matter what your method is.

3) Execution will be a huge edge in this market because of how illiquid the market is, the risk of the primary exchange shutting down, the risk of lagging data feeds (from which your trading signals will come from, assuming you trade based on prices), and the lack of direct access trading. How do you handle all these risks? Nobody is going to teach you that, you have to learn that on your own when you're in the driver's seat. One second too late on a breakout and you might be paying up 2-4 points higher and that's huge since it could be 5% of the trade. If your plan is to buy when it gets above 65, and the offer jumps to 69 in 2 minutes, do you send a market order? Do you bid 66-67? Do you pass on the trade? Day trading is higher frequency trading and the more trades you make, the more it matters to save every $1 per coin.

4) Although I do trade based on price action/charts, most technical analysis out there is just junk. Be careful what you learn because it will take even more time to unlearn it. If you want to learn charts, I'd recommend these 3 guys:
http://www.alphatrends.net/    
http://adamhgrimes.com/blog/
http://thepatternsite.com/

I don't recommend "just watching" the prices right off the bat to learn. I think you need to learn some kind of theory about how markets work and how other participants think, otherwise you won't be able to form any noteworthy observations, you'll just be stargazing.

[xorglub]

Don't daytrade. You will lose money. Either you believe in BTC long term or you don't.
lucif has some very good advice on that side (I mean what he says about emotions, not his TA).

[🏰 TradeFortress 🏰]

i recommend smoothie.

As I have said - I've been lurking for a few weeks  

Seriously, I recommend smoothie.

[Dr3AM$cAp3]

I put together here, a simplified version of info that can be found around the net. It explains the important parts of Eliiot Wave Theory (used by many here) and delves into the use of Fibonacci retracements to determine likely targets.
https://community.bitfinex.com/showthread.php/45-Elliot-waves-to-Fibonacci

I wrote about trend lines and how to trade using them here:
https://community.bitfinex.com/showthread.php/171-Trend-Line-Analysis

You can also check out Goomboo's Journal here:
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=60501.0

These are all beginner oriented threads for three different but useful types of market analysis.

Thank you so much.  I love this forum. 

[thezerg]

You are putting the cart before the horse if you want to day trade so you study the market.  Instead study the market and if you find an edge it can define your trade.  The duration and timing of that trade is defined by your edge not by your desire.  Always ask yourself what additional risks you are exposing your trading assets to and your exposure should be primarily aligned with what you see as the long term trend (are you holding USD and trading into BTC, or are you holding BTC and trading into USD?).

To find an edge, look for where information leaks out of the system.

Can you probe the system to elicit information?  Here's an example: how long does it take to move your $ to Gox through dwolla?  Gox kept limited funds in their dwolla account, so if your transfer OUT completed quickly it meant that lots of other people had just transferred IN, if your transfer OUT took out forever, the money flow was heading OUT (and vice versa).

And you know, after all that effort you'll likely find that if you just spent all that time doing real paying work (whatever you are good at) and plowing those proceeds into BTC long term you would have been better off.  

Day trading is a zero sum game.  Value is not created, it is taken from other traders.  Study TA not because it works, but because if your competition thinks it works they will be predictable. 

If you are unwilling to do this vast amount of work, and do not find an edge, recognize that your day trading is simply gambling with a lower house edge then a formal gambling site offers.  So have fun with it but do it as you would do gambling -- very carefully.

That's it.  Your mentoring is done.  1CKeoT8vBDQDEpMHz5VAswV39pZJ2GTGYd

[ManBearPig]

To be honest I think that charts and stuff shows f'all in such wild market...

Yeah. You're probably not a candidate for the job :p

OP: this sounds flippant but the best way to learn is to do and lose money.

Nothing stays crystal clear in your memory like the pain of losing LARGE sums of money.

To be fair, to tempt someone who really can teach you a lot in a short time, you'd need to offer a large bounty.

The good traders could make more by trading instead of teaching otherwise

[malevolent]

As it was mentioned few posts back - day trading doesn't differ much from gambling. The market is very unpredictable... but its inefficiencies can offer some guidance and hints on how the price may change.