Mentor Program – Week 1

Introduction, Disaster Recovery, Role of a Trader

A Quick Word from Louise

Welcome to the resources that I’ve created for your very first week of the Mentor Program. Every week for the first 3 months of the program, I will provide you with a separate web-page that holds all of the videos, podcasts and focussed multi-media information for you to watch, listen to and absorb. These multi-media items are your resources for you to complete as we move through the program.

This week, we will cover several main topics, and you’ll begin to become familiar with the way we’ll progress through the first 3 months of the Mentor Program. Keep in mind that I’m opening up the Foundation section of the Mentor Program forum for you early – to give you a head start. You’ll be granted access to the Advanced section of the forum after you’ve completed the first 3 months. It’s also possible you can see the main forum, depending on whether you’ve bought a product from us in the past, or if you’ve registered with the site recently. If you’ve familiarised yourself with the main forum basics you’ll adjust very easily to looking at the Foundation section of the Mentor Program forum.

To enter the forum

To get into the main forum when you have access, and the exclusive Mentor Forum, have a look up the top right hand corner of the home page of www.tradinggame.com.au and you’ll see a ‘Sign in’ link. Click on the link and a window will open with two fields ‘Email’: and ‘Password’.

Fill in your details there and click the ‘Go’ button. On the page that opens up, click on ‘Board Index’ and you’ll see ‘Mentor Program – Foundation’. Click on this, and you’ll be in, with the rest of the excited traders – keen as mustard and ready to learn.

This will become your second home over the next few years as you develop your trading skills and rub shoulders with other successful traders.

Chris Tate has put together a great 12 minute video below to show you how to use the Trading Game Forum. Watch it now!

Introduction to the Trading Game Forum

If you are having trouble viewing this video, try this link

For a quick refresher about how to post an image/chart onto the forum, have a look at the video above from 5:40 – 8:40. It will show you how to capture an area of the screen. You can use the same theory to snip a photo of yourself and add it to the forum.

So what you’re aiming to do is to save the photo as a .jpg, .png or .gif file, and then use the ‘Attachments’ tab below the box where you’re typing to add that chart to the forum posting. Or if your photo is already a .jpg or a .gif, you can just attach it to the forum post using the Attachments tab (the video at 7.05 will show you exactly how to do this from the video above).

Once you’ve made your way onto the forum, be aware that topics glowing red indicate that there are posts you haven’t yet read in that topic. To find the post you haven’t read, click on ‘first unread post’ as per the screen print below:

Basic Computer Questions

If tech speak isn’t your second language, and you need a bit of help with basic computer operation, you’re welcome to refer to this Computer Frequently Asked Questions that I’ve put together for you at this link.

What to do on the forum

Once you have access to the forum, become familiar with how it all works. Add your personal information to ‘The Group’ thread. Include a photo, a little about your background as a trader and in life, and if you’d like to share, some of your personal objectives as a trader. This will act as a resource when you’re working through the Program so you can refer back to see who you’re working with, including information on previous Mentorees who have trained before you. At this stage, until we’ve officially started, don’t write anything in any other section of the forum, or your post will be deleted.

Hint from a Past Mentoree

David Cook – a Mentoree class of 2009 says: “if you can run two PCs- one with your charting package running and the other with info from the forum running-it will help to take it all in. It helped me no end”. Also, you can do this same trick if you’re using 2 screens on the one computer. I love my 2 screen set up. Helps a lot with productivity as well, so the latest studies tell us.

Also, if anyone is having any trouble seeing the video because it’s too small, you can enlarge it to full screen.

About the Trading Buddy Project

Each new full Mentoree can choose to be set up with a ‘Trading Buddy‘ who has completed the Program previously. Once the Program starts, you’ll be sent an email giving you a list of senior buddies, so refer to that email for details. Full Mentorees may choose a trading buddy to act as their support during the first 6 months of the course.

Don’t underestimate the importance of this person as a part of your ongoing development. Remember to be respectful of their time and to show your appreciation as they have your best interests at heart. Send them an email to introduce yourself. If you’ve done this and they haven’t responded by week 2, then choose another, or re-email them. (It’s possible your spam-blocker fouled up their contact with you). You’ll need to get in quick so you actually manage to get the buddy of your choice, because it’s ‘first in, best dressed’. Read the full description about it all, click here. It is totally up to you to maintain the relationship with your buddy. Take responsibility for this relationship and you’ll be rewarded.

Stay one week ahead!

To keep your finger on the pulse as we move through the program, it’s essential that you listen to and watch the resources as quickly as you can, so we can discuss them in detail, and really get into the meat of what it takes to be an exceptional trader.

Aim to stay one week ahead in relation to watching the Resource pages, so you can derive the most benefit (e.g. Make sure you’ve finished the Week 1 videos and podcasts prior to us starting, and in Week 1 of the program, watch the resources I’ve put together to discuss in Week 2). We’ll move along at a cracking pace, and the resource pages are your key to getting the most out of our discussions on the forum.

Do all that you can to internalise the principles that these resources are about to reveal. Read between the lines, question everything, and take notes in a notebook that you have set aside especially for this purpose.

A lot of the program will involve self-directed learning where the more you ‘quiz’ me, the deeper your understanding will become.

So, be prepared to be active while learning, and challenge the boundaries. We’re about to cement some of the most essential foundation steps required to turbo-charge your results. Even if you have a little information on these topics because of your prior experience, look for the ‘zingers’ where you can finesse your knowledge and challenge your beliefs.

As you go through the program, you’ll become more and more familiar with the way Chris and I approach trading. Do everything you can to absorb our beliefs and pinch our ideas. It will short-cut your trip towards becoming a superb trader.

Remember to keep all of these resource links to yourself as this information is copyright. I know you wouldn’t spread this type of information around as it’s taken thousands of hours to create. I know you realise that flipping any of these links to any person not completing the program would be immoral, not to mention illegal. This is the reason why we haven’t allowed much of the content to be downloaded – because we know that our information has been distributed widely by the unscrupulous in the past – so we appreciate your understanding in this matter.

Hit the Ground Running

We’ll be moving at a fast pace so we can condense the last 20+ years of my trading experience into easy to understand chunks of information. The more you can do to get a head-start on these resources, the better off you’ll be. I suggest you get your head around all of the resources I’m presenting here as quickly as possible, and watch the videos and listen to the podcasts before we start.

If you haven’t watched the 25 minute Welcome to the Mentor Program video that you were sent before the course got started, watch this now:

Welcome to the Mentor Program

If you are having trouble viewing this video, try this link

In the first week, we’ll be discussing the following resources:

Video resources to watch

Some Tips

The videos that I’ve prepared for you during the first three months of the program are quite large, so you may find you need to hit the play button, allow it to buffer and then come back to your computer screen after you’ve made a cuppa.

Week 1 – 4 of the Mentor Program are specifically VERY busy. We need to cram your mind with the basics of trading so you’ll have a good grounding. After this early rush, the pace becomes more manageable. Generally, we have one busy week, and then one quieter week – to give you a chance to catch your breath. This varied pace will continue up until CT’s part of the course.

It may take you more than one ‘sitting’ to watch the complete video if it’s long one. Keep in mind that once the video has fully buffered, you can drag the slider forward at the bottom of the video to the desired section of the video if you need to start watching it from half-way through, for example. Also, be aware, it’s not a good idea to start more than one video at one time as it will usually make your computer work really hard and affect the performance of the video you want to watch.

As a full Mentoree, you will be given a link for our ‘Get a Trading Plan’ audio program. Mentor Program Preparation Course members will receive this when they upgrade to the next year’s Program as a full Mentor Program member. This audio is designed to be listened to over and over again throughout the duration of the Program. Some people may have had a little difficulty finding the trade management tool CT refers to. That’s because it no longer exists. Most people are tracking their own trade performance using excel. Scott will run a webinar covering this issue later in the course.

Data Backup and Disaster Recovery

Before you even begin trading, it’s essential that you consider every contingency. Watch this Data Backup and Disaster Recovery 14 minute video where I interview Mark Snell. Mark is an IT expert and director of the Tech Doctor Network. He discusses many of the things that can go wrong with technology, and how this can impact you as a trader. The information in this video will help you answer question 9 and possibly 19 of the Trading Plan Template that you’ll need to fill out as you complete the Mentor Program. Absolutely essential to watch:

If you are having trouble viewing this video, try this link

Please note that the plan Mark refers to on his website it no longer available
as he has moved on to other opportunities in the IT world.

And it’s not just for Traders…

Watch this video and see how Pixar very nearly lost an entire movie:

A podcast to listen to

The Role of a Trader

In this 14 minute podcast hear how professional trader Alan Hull, author of ‘Active Investing’, approaches his trading responsibilities. Alan has a bundle of energy and you’ll love his views on what it takes to trade with the right mind-set. In this industry, the ‘good guys’ tend to stick together and you’ll find that even when our strategies differ, our philosophies are remarkably similar:

To download the mp3 file to your computer, right-click on the link below and choose ‘Save target as…’ or ‘Save link as…’ and save to a suitable location on your local drive

interview_role-of-a-trader_Alan-Hull.mp3

The Next Step

Once you’ve listened to and absorbed the lessons in these podcasts and videos, we’ll be discussing them in more detail in the ‘Study Tasks’ topic of the forum. The ‘Discussions’ section of the forum will cover separate articles, and trading topics of interest that are not directly related to the resources I’ve provided for you. Get ready to question your understanding on all of these topics and begin our journey.

I’ll post up the resources for Week 2 of the Mentor Program shortly, where we will be focussing on our objectives, setups and triggers, as well as beginning to understand Metastock and how this fits into our lives as traders.

Introducing Our Metastock and Beyond Charts+ Guru

Scott Lowther, a past Mentoree, is our resident Metastock and Beyond Charts + expert. He will be assisting you with specifics about this incredibly professional charting package. If you’re using Beyond Charts+, then you’ll be provided with your own video tutorials about how to get the best out of this product.

You need either Metastock (version 11 or under) OR Beyond Charts+ to participate in the Mentor Program.

So, if you haven’t purchased Beyond Charts+ yet, to suck every bit of juice out of the program, invest in your future.To buy BC+ click here.

High quality data is absolutely essential if you’re to become a successful trader, and quite simply, Chris and I have sourced the best possible data for our Mentorees requirements. You’ll receive a phone call from the Beyond Charts team after you’ve bought the software to set you up with the data.

The Topics We’ll Be Covering

If at any time, you would like to see what topics we have covered and what is coming up next, you’re welcome to refer to this link. You’ll see everything I have planned to cover over the first three months of the Program, and the types of resources I’ve created, especially for you.

Click here to see the Mentor Program Topics that we’ll be covering over the first 3 months.

You’re now a few steps closer to developing the skills to earn money as a trader, regardless of the market direction. Well done! We’ll be discussing these resources in more detail during the first week of the Program, so the sooner you can listen and watch everything I’ve provided for you, the better.

Chat soon,