Smoke-free trading and investing.
No magic formulas here: structure, volume, risk management, key zones, bias, and execution. What works, stays. What doesn't, gets discarded. Because trading is improved with method, not hope.
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Focus on execution and management, no fluff. My trading strategy explained with examples.
🚀 Join the DiscordAbout the author:
My name is Norberto. I've been investing and trading for over a decade. I'm also the author of the Topstep Experience trading course. If you want to learn how to invest and have any questions, feel free to contact me.
I want to tell you about my experience as an investor and trader
Before discussing charts, platforms, brokers, stocks, or cryptocurrencies, there's one crucial question:
What do you want to achieve and in what timeframe?
It seems like a philosophical question, but it's totally practical.
- If your goal is to build wealth, trading is probably not your primary tool. It can be part of it, yes, but not the core of it.
- If your goal is to generate extra income, trading can be an option, but it requires time, emotional control, and a fairly serious process.
- If your goal is to learn about markets, both things are useful, but you need a path and not just isolated tutorials.
And then there's the other topic that nobody wants to touch because it's boring, but it's still relevant.
Your risk tolerance.
Not the "tolerance" you talk about out loud. The real kind. The kind that hits you when you see a minus 8 percent on your account and your stomach churns.
What you need before putting in a euro
Here's a short but very real list.
1) A mattress and no rush
If you're in debt, your credit card is maxed out, or your finances are tight.
Trading won't save you. And neither will investing save you in a week.
First, get the basics in order. It sounds unsexy, yes. But it's true. If you invest from a place of anxiety, you're going to make bad decisions.
2) A contribution system (for investment)
If your idea is to invest long-term, one of the best things you can do is something simple:
Contribute regularly.
Monthly, bi-weekly, whatever. Automate it if you can. Take the drama out of it.
Most people want to "find the perfect time" to buy in. But they miss the point: in the long run, consistency matters a great deal.
3) A risk plan (for trading)
If your idea is to trade, you need to define this before you hit the buy button:
- How much do you risk per trade? (percentage of your account)
- What is the maximum amount you lose per day or week before stopping?
- What conditions would prevent you from operating?
- What type of market do you trade? (trend, range, high volatility)
This isn't bureaucracy. This is survival.
Investing: simplicity often wins (if you stick with it)
I'm going to speak in general terms, not as personalized advice.
When people start investing, they tend to overcomplicate things. They want 14 assets, 6 sectors, 3 countries, some gold, some crypto, some dividends, some growth stocks. And they end up with a portfolio they don't even understand.
A sensible way to start is usually:
- Define your horizon (3, 5, 10, 20 years).
- Choose a diversified approach (e.g., index funds or broad ETFs).
- Contribute regularly.
- Rebalance occasionally.
- Do not touch every week.
Boring. Yes.
But that boredom is sometimes the price of doing it well.
And one more thing. Investing isn't just about "buying and that's it." It's about learning to live with downturns without panicking. In 2020, 2022, and every year to come, the market will test you. Always.
Trading: if you romanticize it, it will destroy you
Trading has a brutal appeal. I don't deny it.
The idea of "reading the market"—entering, exiting, executing, winning—feels like a serious game. But that's precisely why it's dangerous.
Trading requires three things that most people underestimate:
A) Repetition and data
Not “I feel it works”.
Data.
Backtesting, if applicable. Forward testing in a demo or small-scale environment. Transaction log. Screenshots. Notes. Basic statistics.
If you don't do this, you're trading on feelings. And the market eats feelings.
B) Risk management as a religion
It doesn't matter if your strategy is 60 percent successful.
If when you lose, you lose 3 times what you win, you're toast.
Your main job as a trader is not to "guess". It's to manage.
C) Emotional control (without posturing)
There are days when you do everything perfectly and you lose. And days when you do everything wrong and you win.
If you're not prepared for that, you'll learn the wrong way. The market sometimes rewards mistakes and punishes discipline, at least in the short term.
The long term is what puts everyone in their place.
Which market to choose (and why it matters)
This is another point where people disperse.
Stocks, indices, forex, crypto, commodities, options, futures. All at once. And of course, that's no way to learn.
In general:
- Stocks: a good balance for investing. For trading, it depends on liquidity and trading hours.
- Indices (such as S&P 500, Nasdaq, DAX): popular for trading, they usually have good liquidity.
- Forex: very liquid, but beware of spreads, leverage and "noise".
- Crypto: high volatility, opportunities, and also major setbacks. Plus, additional risks: exchanges, hacks, regulation, news.
- Options and futures: powerful, but I wouldn't put them as your first stop if you're starting from scratch.
Choosing one or two markets initially is an advantage. Fewer variables, more clarity.
Conclusion:
In investing, the one who endures wins. In trading, the one who controls themselves wins.
And yes, it is possible to learn. But it is best learned with structure. With records. With simple rules. With patience.
If you're building your own "mental blog" for trading and investing, start with the basics and write your rules as if they were a contract with yourself. Because in the end, the market doesn't negotiate. You do. All the time.
And that's what makes this path interesting… and difficult. At the same time.
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