Find your own trading strategy

A trading strategy is a course of action that you must follow on all your trades, without exception. This is what determines your buy/sell prices and tells you when to cut your position (with a gain or a loss). A trading strategy also includes risk management. You don't copy a strategy, you build one! Your trading strategy must match your investor profile (your personality, your trading preferences, etc.).

If you copy another trader's trading method, you risk questioning it at the slightest phase of loss, you will not be able to change it if market conditions change and especially, you will have difficulty applying it if it goes against your nature as a trader. Whether you are swing trading, scalping or day trading, you need to define your own method to become a real trader.

Before investing in the stock markets, you need to find out on which financial markets your trading strategy works best, the financial instruments you will use, and determine the appropriate leverage to manage risk properly.

Finding your trading strategy takes time, a lot of time. It is wise to open a demo account with a broker (regulated by the AMF or the FCA) and practice at length to first identify the elements you want to integrate into your trading strategy, then test it for several weeks to see if it allows you to earn money.

Be aware that, depending on the financial market on which you trade (Forex, Equities, Indices, etc.), your trading strategy’s performance can be very variable. Your strategy may also be more effective on certain types of assets (CAC40, EUR/USD, DAX, etc.). Finally, you must choose the appropriate financial instruments (futures, CFDs, etc.) to optimally exploit your strategy. Becoming a trader does not happen overnight. You will spend a lot of time analysing your charts. If you still have the motivation to learn about trading, this section gives you some food for thought to find your trading strategy.