advice for a beginner please

Hi,

I would really appreciate a little advice on how to best get started, with the ultimate goal of becoming a full time trader.

My trading history is probably a familiar tale, about 8 years ago I hopped online, read a forum not too dissimilar to this one (it's since disappeared), got caught up in the excitement and tried to copy others based on their posts, with no system or plan in place. I don't think I need to tell anyone what the eventual outcome was! Since then I've held some shared over long periods of time based on other people's fundamental analysis and have recovered from my early losses and some.

I'm now in a position where I am ready to get back into trading, with a strict focus on working to a system. My 3 rules are have a reason to get in, don't get in without a stop loss, and don't get in without a target. So now how do I work those things out?

Is a course a good way to start, or are they a waste of money? (They are not cheap!!) Are there are any courses you guys would recommend? I have looked at a few (ie. http://www.tradinggame.com.au/) all of which are full of wonderful testimonials, but I am very sceptical of such things having been burnt on a course in the past as well! (I paid for a 3 day course which ended up being 2 days of motivational speeches followed by a final day of an extremely rudimentary covered call strategy with most of the time spent explaining it to people who didn't understand.)

I have a strong mathematical background, and am confident in my ability to understand charting concepts. I have read a few 'beginner charting' websites, but find it difficult to apply these techniques myself without some software to chart with. I can't seem to find any software that doesn't cost a fortune so that I can have a bit of a play around.

Are there any books that are highly recommended? Can I teach myself enough from just books/websites?

Anyway, this post is already too long, I hope people understand the position I'm in, I'm sure a lot of you have been in it too! Any advice you can offer to help me get my start would be most appreciated.

If you'd like to email me instead of responding here my email address is [email protected].

Thanks in advance,
BJ