The Trend Following Bible: How Professional Traders Compound Wealth and Manage Risk

CHAPTER 1

Get a Savvy Start

Can You Really Make a Living as a Trend Follower?

What I have said to countless people is: If I can do this, you can do this. I did not go to Harvard nor is it even needed to succeed as a trend follower. However, it will be a journey! Many first-time traders want to start too quickly without a well-thought-out plan. This can be very dangerous to one's financial health. Very few of these new traders are successful right off, and if they get lucky on a trade, this can even be worse for them. They learn not to have a strong appreciation of the inherent risks in the markets. What does that help, though, if you have learned via a mentor or had a pedigree education at another trading firm? Many of the traders I have invested with over the years have come out of other successful organizations and have learned there. I had people help me along my journey. Not with the elusive holy grail; rather, how to think, how to accept the inherent risks in the market, and how to implement additional risk filters in my trading models.

Understand, trend following is full of risks, and you need to risk your money to trade. I assume you heard this warning several times: “Don't trade with money that you can't afford to lose.” You might think that this is just the typical disclaimer that every professional in the trading industry has to use, but it's not. It's much more. You need to be realistic and start slow. I would not suggest you quit your day job to start trend following. ...