TradeStarter.net

What you'll learn (absolute beginner friendly)

• Trading (shorter-term, rule-based) vs. Investing (long-term, fundamental)
• Core building blocks: markets, products, charts, orders
• Your basic toolkit: charting tool, watchlist, trading journal

Plain-English explanation

Trading means you buy or sell because you expect the price to move soon (minutes to weeks). You aim to take a small, repeatable edge many times. Investing means you buy and hold for months or years (e.g., because the company is strong).

Key terms (super short)

• Bid / Ask: Highest buyer vs. lowest seller. The difference is the spread.
• Order: Your instruction. Market (execute now), Limit (only at your price or better), Stop (safety or trigger).
• Candlestick chart: Each candle shows open, high, low, close for a time period. Green = up, red = down.

Step-by-step (do this today – 20–30 min)

1. Open a chart: Choose a major index (e.g., S&P 500). Set Daily timeframe and candles.
2. Create a watchlist: Add 10–15 liquid symbols (1–2 indices + 5–10 large stocks).
3. Start a trading journal: A simple table is enough (Sheets/Excel/Notion).
   Columns: Date, Symbol, Thesis/Setup, Planned entry, Stop, Target, Risk in $, Screenshot link, Notes.
4. Exercise: Mark 2 obvious highs and 2 lows on the daily chart. Write whether the market is trending up, down, or sideways.

Common beginner mistakes (avoid today)

• Clicking without a plan.
• Trading without a stop-loss (“it will come back”).
• Watching too many symbols at once (stick to 10–15).

Mini-quiz

1. What is the spread?
2. What is a stop-loss for?
3. How does trading differ from investing?

Educational only. Not financial advice.

What you'll learn

• Liquidity (how easily you can trade) & volatility (how much price moves)
• Trading sessions (Asia/Europe/US) and why overlaps are active
• Macro events (inflation, rates) & Earnings (company reports)
• Your daily pre-/post-market routine

Plain-English

Liquidity = many buyers/sellers, tight spreads, smooth fills. Volatility = bigger swings. You need some of both: too little liquidity is clunky; too much volatility can be stressful.

Events & how to plan

• Macro: CPI (inflation), NFP (jobs), rate decisions (Fed/ECB). Expect more turbulence around release time.
• Micro: Earnings. Prices often gap. Many new traders avoid holding positions through earnings.

Your daily routine (15–30 min)

1. Prep (10 min): Check calendar (key times), skim 2–3 headlines, don’t chase panic.
2. Screener (5–10 min): Top gainers/losers, unusual volume, gaps. Pick 1–2 candidates for today.
3. Plan (5 min): For each candidate, write planned entry, stop, target (no live trade yet!).
4. Review (5–10 min): One sentence on what stood out; screenshot the most interesting chart.

Exercise (today)

Find one strongly moving symbol (up or down). Mark today’s high/low on the chart. Journal: “Why is it moving? Macro/Micro/No news?”

Avoid

• Jumping in exactly at event time (very whippy). Wait 5–10 minutes for structure.
• News chasing without a plan.

What you'll learn

• Market structure: uptrend (HH/HL), downtrend (LH/LL), sideways
• Support/Resistance as zones, not razor-thin lines
• Multi-timeframe view: higher TF for direction, lower TF for entries
• Three helpful tools: MA 20/50/200, RSI(14), Volume

Plain-English

• Trend: Follow swings. Higher highs/lows = up. Lower highs/lows = down.
• Zones: Areas where price turned repeatedly. They are more robust than a single line.
• MAs: Price above MAs = often bullish bias; below = bearish bias.
• RSI: Momentum feel. >70 often overbought, <30 oversold — only in context.

Step-by-step (today)

1. Open a daily chart of a major index. Draw 2 support and 2 resistance zones (wide rectangles).
2. Drop to 1-hour chart. Does the micro-structure align with the daily trend?
3. Add MA20/50/200. Note: above/below? Any crossovers (trend shifts)?
4. Add RSI(14). Note only: momentum neutral/strong/weak. Don’t decide by RSI alone.

Mini example

Daily: uptrend. Pullback into a zone + MA20. 1h: local high breaks on a closing basis with rising volume → potential entry (demo only).

Exercise

Pick 2 symbols from your watchlist. For each: trend (up/down/sideways), 1 S-zone, 1 R-zone, and a note vs. MA50.

Avoid

• Drawing zones too precisely (“must be exactly at 150.00”). Use areas where price turned multiple times.
• Treating indicators as a crystal ball. They support decisions; they don’t make them.

What you'll learn

• Breakouts (leaving a range) vs. Reversals (trend change)
• Volume confirmation — more participation, more credible move
• ATR (Average True Range) to size realistic stops/targets
• Quick intro: Fibonacci 38/50/61.8% & Bollinger Bands (squeeze & expansion)

Plain-English

• Breakout: Price closes above a well-watched ceiling (or below a floor). Better with close beyond level + higher volume and a retest that holds.
• Reversal: Price turns (e.g., double bottom). More credible with overextension + waning momentum + support zone.
• ATR: Typical daily move. Helps prevent stops that are too tight (e.g., 1–1.5× ATR).

Breakout plan (step-by-step)

1. Find a clean range (multiple tests of high/low).
2. Define a break level (e.g., 100.00). Accept only a close beyond it.
3. Check volume: ideally above average.
4. Entry: Close beyond the level or a quick retest that holds.
5. Stop: Below the level or ≈ 1–1.5× ATR under it.
6. Target: Project the range height, or use next resistance. Consider partial profits & trailing.

Simple numbers example

Range 95–100 (height 5). Break close at 101. ATR ≈ 1.5.
Entry 101, stop 99.5 (≈1× ATR below), target 106 (range projection). RR ≈ 3.3:1.

Exercise

Find one clean range today. Draw break level, potential retest area, stop zone (≈ ATR) and a measured target.

Avoid

• Wicks poking above/below without a close and without volume.
• Stops glued right under the line (too tight). ATR helps.

What you'll learn

• How to calculate position size simply
• Think in R-multiples (profit/loss relative to your risk)
• Set daily/weekly loss limits to prevent blowups

Core formula (memorize)

Shares = (Account size × Risk %) / (Entry–Stop distance)

Example: Account $5,000, risk 1% = $50. Entry 100, Stop 98 ⇒ distance 2 ⇒ 25 shares.
Target 104 ⇒ gain 4 × 25 = $100 ⇒ +2R (because $100 gain / $50 risk).

Your safety rails

• Per trade: 0.5–1.0% (new traders closer to 0.5–0.75%).
• Per day: Max loss e.g. 2R. Hit it? Stop trading for the day.
• Per week: Max loss e.g. 5R. Then do a review; no new risk until you’ve evaluated.

Step-by-step (today)

1. Choose your fixed risk % (e.g., 0.75%).
2. In your journal, make a small position-size table for 3 typical distances (e.g., $1, $1.5, $2).
3. Define daily/weekly limits in R (e.g., 2R / 5R).

Avoid

• Moving stops “by feel”. Rules first.
• Averaging down into losses (“it will come back”) — very risky for beginners.

Mini-quiz

1. How do you calculate share size?
2. What does +2R mean?
3. Why do we need daily limits?

What you'll learn

• Two simple beginner strategies with checklists
• Crisp if-then rules for entries, stops, targets
• Rituals before, during and after the trade

Strategy A — Trend Pullback (Swing)

Idea: Daily trend is up. You enter on pullbacks into zones/MAs, once momentum resumes.

• Filter: Price > MA50 (daily), clear HH/HL.
• Entry (1h): Correction ends; a candle closes above the local high; volume not weak.
• Stop: Below the correction low or ≈ 1–1.5× ATR.
• Target: Next daily resistance or 2–3R. Consider partial at 1–1.5R and trail the stop.
• No trade if: Major macro event is imminent or clear chop without trend.

Strategy B — Mean Reversion (light)

Idea: Overextensions often snap back to a “middle”, e.g., MA20 or Bollinger midline — carefully and with a clear signal.

• Filter: Price outside a Bollinger band, RSI shows extension, and a reversal candle forms.
• Entry: Re-enter into the bands with a confirmation candle.
• Stop: Beyond the extreme band.
• Target: Middle band (MA20) or 1.5–2R.
• No trade if: Powerful trend day driven by fresh news (trend trumps mean reversion).

Rituals (reduce stress, increase clarity)

• Before: Checklist (trend? zone? risk? RR ≥ 2?).
• During: No rule changes mid-trade. Only planned partials/trailing.
• After: Journal + screenshot; one sentence “What did I learn?”.

Exercise

Find one clean trend-pullback or a light overextension at the bands. Write explicit if-then rules in your journal — without placing a live trade.

What you'll learn

• Backtesting feel: scroll 10–20 historical examples, log outcomes
• Your basic KPIs: Win rate, avg R, expectancy, max drawdown
• A clear 30-day plan and a one-page trading plan template

Backtesting (no tools needed)

1. Pick one strategy (A or B).
2. Find 10–20 past signals in the chart. For each: where would entry/stop/target be by the rules?
3. Record: win? R result? screenshot link.

Your KPIs (simple)

• Win rate = winners / total trades.
• Avg R win and Avg R loss separately.
• Expectancy ≈ WinRate × AvgR_win − (1−WinRate) × AvgR_loss. Aim for positive.
• Max drawdown = largest drop in cumulative R.

Your 30-day plan

1. Trade one strategy only (A or B).
2. Risk per trade: 0.5–1.0% (fixed). Day limit: 2R. Week limit: 5R.
3. Daily routine: 15 min pre / 15 min post (as Day 2).
4. Weekly review: Annotate 3 charts (“Why good/bad?”).
5. Only 1 knob/week to tweak (e.g., stop rule refinement).

One-page trading plan (template)

• Markets/Instruments: (e.g., 1 index + 5 liquid stocks)
• Timeframes: Daily for bias, 1h for entries
• Setup & rules: (bullet points, explicit!)
• Risk: x% per trade, day/week limits, RR ≥ 2
• Routine: pre/post minutes, screenshots, journaling
• Psych emergency: On rule break → flatten & 24h pause

Final to-dos (today)

• Finish 10–20 backtest entries.
• Fill and print your 30-day plan + one-pager.
• Set calendar reminders for weekly reviews.

Educational only. Not financial advice.