Learn the ropes before trading

A limited understanding of the market, inflated expectations of profit, impatience and lack of strategy are the main reasons that many traders in the UAE market often lose money, a local technical analyst and trader said. “Most traders don’t have knowledge and understanding of the market, this is a problem we have here,” said Mohammad Al Saadi during a seminar titled ‘Psychology of Trading’ on Friday. According to studies conducted in Europe, it takes about six years to become a successful and professional trader, with three years spent in getting the basics right and another three years of gaining experience, said Al Saadi, a member of the Society of Technical Analysts in the UK and who has a diploma from the International Federation of Technical Analysts in the US. “They shouldn’t trade if they don’t understand the market, this is a disaster,” Al Saadi said.Traders should expect a reasonable return of about 10 to 12 per cent a year on their investment, he added. “People here believe they will become millionaires on the stock exchange. They have irrational expectations.”He advised traders to be patience in the stock exchange and abide by a set strategy. “Daily traders buy stock and expect it to go up in the next 10 minutes.” Traders must prepare and plan for trading and accept that loss is a possibility in this risky market, he said. Psychology is an important aspect of trading, but is often overlooked in the Arab world, Al Saadi emphasised. External problems at home or with friends, anger and overconfidence can all lead to poor trading decisions and it’s better to take a break in these cases, he said.from gulfnews.com