I have been through many stages of trading, mostly not a trader by choice but a trader by circumstance. I mostly earn in cryptocurrencies, and it is very helpful for me to know whether the price is shifting or going to hold. I realized that when I convert it into currency, I usually lose some value when I do it at the wrong time.
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So I started learning. Most YouTube videos were focused on techniques with no particular insight into why they work, only explanations like “if this happens, that will happen.” When I tried these methods, they sometimes looked beneficial, but the lack of deeper knowledge, especially with ICT techniques often led me to make rash decisions.
They sometimes work and sometimes don’t. Then there is the other side of it: learning patterns, charts, or candle patterns. That also becomes hectic at a point. If you have ever read an encyclopedia of charts, you will know that every pattern has a probability, and there are cases where one pattern supersedes another. They can be good, but they vary across different markets and conditions.
The most beneficial thing I found was learning fundamentals, why the market moves and basic supply and demand concepts, not just techniques. What helped me the most was learning market structure and price action. One of the books I read was The Art and Science of Technical Analysis. It approaches the market by viewing every move and the psychology behind it. When you see charts this way, you don’t just see patterns; you see value and what the market is actually telling you.
You read the market, for sure, but not in an exaggerated way where you feel forced to take every setup. You take time.
Another thing that helped me was an MIT course on macroeconomics, which is free on YouTube on the channel named MIT OpenCourseWare. It is designed as a course for traders, the kind they take when they join hedge funds and similar institutions. It mostly focuses on global conditions, helping you read critical information, financial data, and understand the bigger picture.
