Ohhh....don't I agree here. Plain vanilla technical analysis offers very little value in and of itself. It is the interpreter of the signals that does the heavy lifting. Institutional studies tend to neglect the human involvement factor in their studies. It's pretty easy to disqualify most things using pure scientific methods.
I agree about the TA thing...TA is mostly B*S*. Risk <1.5% of your equity per trade.....see how it goes.
Look up "Index" in the Collective2 site and you'll see exactly what doesn't work. I think he showed what doesn't work with 3 distinct "systems". Can we stop quoting the trolls? TZ is on my ignore list and *still* his posts get through...
I've seen TraderZones post his negative and unhelpful rants before. I like how he can tell me nothing I know will work (as if he knows anything about what I've backtested or discovered ). Anyway, I do have an edge, but we shall see if I can capitalize on it. I think TraderZones is just looking for attention to be honest (a troll). Just because TA doesnt work for him, doesnt mean it doesnt work for anyone else. TraderZones, please give an example of a system with an edge since you're claiming to know so much, otherwise shut the eff up. I'm not trading futures right now, as I want to master my current system first. I will buy some calls/puts to hedge against some of my stock trades. @duhmentor: As far as trying to get past my current problems, I'm reading 'Trading in the Zone' , keeping a log of all my trades (MS Excel), and trying to automate my system (I'm a software engineer by day).
The whole reason why this thread was created was, I presume, that you want to be held accountable for your actions and not just your words. I know there have been many and many more still who indulge themselves by simply stating how much they made at the end of the day, which I find to be the most inane, if not most silly, thing a trader can do. Why not post your trades in real time? We shall then determine for ourselves whether your system actually works and where you might need improvement. With a banal claim like "I made $5K but I could have made more if I only followed my system" is nearly pointless. You'll just invite brain-dead idiots who have nothing better to do than rant all day long.
Saliva, thanks for your comment. I agree to some degree with your comments. Posting in realtime does help for others to judge my system, (but the cynical part of met also wonders if its just for others to jump on the trades). I think I will do this, I will post some of my trades in real time, and some days just the results. That should allow people to see my systems entries and exits (judging and all)
Good start. Go to chapter 11 and do the exercise. Use this journal to report if you followed your plan. What data are you including in your trade log and how are you going to use it to help you? Good luck with automation.
Just bought BKS right now (after hours). Long Swing trade (should last 2-8 days): Barnes & Noble - 'BKS' Buying at $21.03 Stop set to: 20.45 @duhmentor: I have columns in my trading log for the following that I enter for each trade (and constantly review to see the mistakes I'm making): "Why I'm entering the trade" "Stock Symbol", "Entry/Exit Price", "Why I'm exiting the trade" "Lessons learned"