Jump right in and make a profit immediately? That’s what most people think will happen when they enter the world of trading. But there are several things that experienced traders like David Jones always do before they open a new trade.

He goes over every one of them in detail here, from picking which markets to focus on, selecting a time frame and setting a Stop Loss to determining the level of risk.

Each of these four components is as important as the others and together they form a cycle of decisions that should be part of every trade you make. Being disciplined and prepared in advance for different scenarios is the only way to go about trading.

At Trading 212 we provide an execution only service. This video should not be construed as investment advice. Investments can fall and rise. Capital at risk. CFDs are higher risk because of leverage.