Too much self-confidence trading e-minis?

Well, I don't think there is such a thing as too much self-confidence. Most people would probably agree that if anything they need more self-confidence rather than less. Especially when asking for a raise. Or asking out that hot chick you have run into a few times in your favorite bookstore.

And if you a trader, particularly an e-mini futures day trader who trades for a living, you would certainly take all self-confidence the Universe could possible dump on you, or, to put it in a more sophisticated manner, endow you with.

Self-confidence, as Martha Stewart would say, is a good thing. Everybody needs it and wants it. Sometimes even badly. The more of it you have, the better, for, as we said, one can hardly imagine a situation where being self-confident could be seen as a problem. In fact, it's just the opposite: it's being timid that can negatively affect our success in life. Sometimes with disastrous results.

Self-confidence is particularly important if you are an e-mini day trader or any other day trader, for that matter. Without it, it is much harder to make good decisions that often require guts. In trading, just as in many other life situations, no guts equals no glory. In trading this is even more pronounced. You bottom line, your profits are ultimately tied up to your level of self confidence. Compare this to the occupation of a teacher, for instance, and you will see better what I mean.

As day traders, we would always like to be at least a bit more self-confident. It is thus natural to ask: is there any way to enhance one's self-confidence?

The answer to this question is surprisingly simple: yes, it is, and it's called "practice." Practice makes miracles when it comes to day trading. The more you practice, the higher your levels of self-confidence, provided, of course, that you have a winning trading methodology too. Such as offered by KING, for instance.

I suggest you practice in a real life environment, during an actual trading session and not on a session that is replayed 3-5 times faster. That's not the same. Of course, you want to use a simulator at first and you want to use a good realistic simulator. Fortunately, these days most of them are like that.

I recommend NinjaTrader for this purpose or Zeroline Trader and Bracket Trader if you trade with Interactive Brokers, a very popular broker that is also my broker of choice.

How long should you practice? Until you know that you are able to make money trading. Yes, you need to know this. It's not enough to believe that you will make money. That level of confidence may not suffice to make you a consistently profitable trader.

As a matter of fact, there is a world of difference between knowing that you will succeed and barely believing in it. But that's something I hope to address in another article.