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Step 1 - Understand the Macro Environment

Step 1 - Understanding the Current Macro Environment

The first step in your trading plan should be to understand the current political and economic environment. What are the current economic conditions? What is driving prices? Which theme of interest is currently acting as the catalyst that is moving the markets?

You can’t trade or invest successfully and consistently unless you are able to answer these questions and being able to understand the overall sentiment in the markets.

Imagine you are a navy seal or a Special Forces commando and they send you to a mission in a foreign land. Do you just rush out of your carrier or your plane, shouting and screaming and shooting randomly around you? You are not Sylvester Stallone in Rambo!

What actually happens is that you spend a significant time in preparation and planning and understanding the environment. What would be the weather like? What’s the shape of the ground? Are there mountains or is there a desert? What’s the firepower of the enemy and so on.

Once you discover how to do this for yourself, your trading results will improve exponentially.

If you know in advance in which assets or markets to concentrate on and which to ignore, that alone puts you way ahead of the vast majority of retail traders

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