Establishing a work/study routine

Question:

> I'm trying to establish a solid / consistent daily routine to track, learn
> and gain a real grasp of the markets (i.e. start following futures from
> 5am, follow news and global markets, look for setups etc.) any
> recommendations on how to best manage or standardize this workflow?

Answer:

Hello! One thing to be careful of regarding your work habits and routine is to not
set yourself up to burn out. This can be very difficult. Many newer traders
take on more than they can really handle. It is true that the more time you
spend with the market, the more you will lean the nuances of the market.
However, in order to really study the market, you need to learn how to
analyze it and this is done by trying to put together studies of comparable
price action.

What I would suggest is trying to pick out several strategies or patterns
and then compile a notebook with printouts when you locate setups that fit
the criteria you are looking for. Be particularly sure to print out both
those that confirm and work out as well as those that fail.

A good plan would be to spend the morning locating examples and trading them
with a simulated account or trading with very small risk. Print out those
you see that don't trade as well as those that you do. Then take the
afternoon to print them out, write out pros and cons and begin to categorize
them to place those with the most similar characteristics and follow through
together. From this, you can then perfect your system by creating rules
based upon your observations.

The CD course that I put together outlines what building blocks you should
look for in developing a system and analyzing the pros and cons of your
setups and system as a whole. (http://www.swingtrader.net)

All my best,
Toni