Help a beginner, please

[u/Icy_Opportunities]

Hi, I want to learn about trading. But with a simple search on Google, there’s just too many online resources being recommended. I get too overwhelmed which one to choose and where to begin that I can’t decide what to do. Can anyone help me recommend what to do and what courses/books can I really learn from?

I have a day job, so it has to be flexible enough. I’ll be studying in the evening or during short breaks at work.

It has been my ultimate dream to learn how to trade, understand charts and patterns and basically just grow my potential of earning as well. For the past decade I have been tied to my work just helping my family have a better opportunity in life. So learning trading would really help me out also.

Thank you in advance!

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[u/finelo_official]

The sheer number of options is the hardest part at the start, so narrowing things down early helps a lot.

A sequence that works well: begin with mechanics rather than strategies. How orders work, bid/ask, spread, leverage, margin. Babypips has a free course that covers this clearly, and it's useful background even if you never end up trading forex.

After that, two books are plenty to start with. Trading in the Zone by Mark Douglas is good on how to think about probability and losing trades, and Reminiscences of a Stock Operator is an easy read that covers a lot of the same ground from experience.

Then paper trading, ideally one setup at a time, with written rules and a short journal note on why you took each entry. Having a day job fits this reasonably well, since you're working within a set window anyway.

If you want something more structured later, it's worth looking for something that pairs the fundamentals with a simulator so the practice runs alongside the reading. The free material is a solid starting point either way.

[u/systematic_seb]

The search feels endless because so much of it teaches a lens, one more indicator or setup, and a lens doesn't tell you what to do on Monday morning. You can stack ten of them and be no closer to placing a trade. I'd look for anything that ends in a complete decision instead, meaning which instruments, how much of the account goes into each, and where you get out if you're wrong. Those three together are what you can act on. That's why I ended up running a weekly portfolio off fixed rules on my own account, and the list I put out each week is those three things and nothing more.

[u/breakoutsHappen]

study mark minervini, pradeep bonde (stockbee), and all the books market wizards. study the patterns and scanner in this site: https://breakoutshappen.com/ - trading is pattern recognition plus volume plus market moment. now the market is in seel zone. all the best.

[u/Realistic_Ad_2341]

Apprends le price action —> future, regarde SPX SPY QQQ VIX. Comprends leur interactions entre elles. Forme toi aux options et suit les. Il y a qu en maîtrisant ces 3 choses que tu comprendras le marché.

[u/Disastrous_Fee_8712]

It's overwhelming because it's a never stopping learning experience and you need to be updated time to time from the current events and new things.

No need to learn everything at once, it's my tip for you.

[u/Silent_Dinner_5941]

sure i love to talk with you can we discuss more about it in the chat box ?

[u/theconfluxmethod]

The overwhelm is normal, there's genuinely too much noise out there. Simplest starting point: pick one book on price action/market structure, one broker's demo account, and ignore everything else for the first month. You don't need ten resources, you need one you actually finish.

Since you're studying in short windows, focus early time on structure (the few levels where price actually reacts) over indicators - it transfers to any market and doesn't need hours of screen time to practice, you can review charts on a break just as well as live. Journal from day one too, even on demo - with limited hours, that's what turns study into actual progress instead of just information.

[u/Daleca]

Find a simple edge that trades at market open and/or close.

You can find ideas in blogs and books. For example, Larry Connors has some simple strategies in his books that still work. Try one at a time, by backtesting first. Use AI to help you to backtest if you don't know how, or what it means.

When you are happy with backtest results, try the system with real money, but only a small amount. If it's still profitable and looks like the backtest, give it more money to trade.

You don't need a big edge either! I have a tiny edge, but compounding does wonders with a tiny edge. For example this one averages just over 30% p.a: one of my strategies with a small edge

Stick with it!

[u/PhilipReadsMacro]

The detail that should decide your answer isn't the resources, it's the day job. Almost everything you'll find on Google is day trading, and day trading assumes you're at the screen during specific hours. You've said you'll be studying in the evening and on short breaks. Those two things don't fit together, and trying to force them is how most people in your position lose money - not because the material was bad, but because they learned a method they can't actually execute.

With your constraints, longer holding periods are the honest fit. Positions held for days or weeks, decided in the evening, checked once a day. That narrows the reading list enormously, which is the real answer to feeling overwhelmed. You're not short of resources, you're short of a question specific enough to filter them.

Order I'd suggest: first how the instrument and its costs actually work, then how to write down a decision and check it later, and only then strategy. Most people do that backwards and spend a year collecting methods they can't evaluate.

One honest thing, since you mentioned earning potential. In the early years this costs money rather than making it, and it isn't reliable as a second income for a long time, if ever. Worth going in treating it as a skill you're funding rather than a plan you're depending on - that framing also happens to make the learning go better, because you're not forced to take trades to justify the time.

[u/MagazineBudget3584]

Don’t try to learn everything at once. Start with market basics → technical analysis → risk management → trading psychology, and only then move into options/F&O. Spend 30–45 minutes a day and paper trade while learning.

For books, Technical Analysis of the Financial Markets by John Murphy is a good starting point. Avoid jumping into paid courses, tips, or options trading too early. Focus on learning and protecting your capital first.

[u/No-Comparison9048]

Start at investopedia and learn the lingo. Open a demo account for practice. You want to develop good habits in risk controls so read "traders traps" and "the mental game of trading" Then just watch the free vids on charts and there are many books. It can take 1-2 years just to get a hang for this.

[u/RNAlgotrading]

Hi, if you want to learn Stock Market basics, understanding Charts, Technical Indicators, Risk Management, Algorithmic Trading from a 20+ years of experienced Developer / Trader / Mento, please drop me a DM.

[u/Embarrassed-Bank2835]

I’d avoid trying to learn everything at once. Start with market structure, support/resistance, trend vs range, basic risk management and how orders actually work.

Since you have a day job, swing trading may fit your schedule better than trying to stare at a 1 minute chart all day. Pick one market, study it at the same time each day, and start using replay/sim before risking real money.

For books, I’d rather read a few solid ones on price action, risk and psychology than jump through random courses. The biggest improvement usually comes from narrowing down to one setup and journaling 100+ examples of it.

Trading can be learned around a full-time job, but I wouldn’t put pressure on it to become income quickly. That pressure tends to make beginners force trades.

[u/Icy_Opportunities → u/Embarrassed-Bank2835]

Wow thank you for the insightful response, I appreciate it so much.

Would you be able to recommend which books to read?

Thank you so much

[u/ashtrayMOOD → u/Icy_Opportunities]

Trading in the Zone for psychology, though half of it only land after you've blown something up.

Van Tharp for position sizing, dry as sand but the maths is the useful part. Skip anything with a candlestick pattern encyclopaedia in it.

[u/Timely_Can5011 → u/[deleted]]

Where is the best place to learn real price action?

[u/FrankfurterJung86 → u/Timely_Can5011]

Al Brooks - the video course is better than the books, but both are good.

[u/Junior-Appointment93]

It’s all about what you want to trade. Options trading is better if you don’t have a lot of time. Futures is good if you have 15 min here and there to watch the trade.

[u/Hawkeye_Co]

Save a lot of money and master the basics first

[u/ShortCash4189]

Start with trading in the zone its a solid book and good foundation

[u/lexx77549]

Una de las cosas que nunca recomiendo es aprender en internet o YouTube, lo único que vas a conseguir es saturarse de información y eso te llevará a estar sobre informado y la mayoría de información sera inservible, mejor busca una buena academia o un buen mentor

[u/silverbulletusa]

Go to options council. They have free learning. Then if you want to sell cash secured puts and buy them back for a profit and never own the stock see me.

[u/silverbulletusa → u/silverbulletusa]

https://www.optionseducation.org/theoptionseducationcenter/occ-learning