Before internet trading was available to me I spent the whole day in the boardroom of the broker's office for 23 years. Surrounded all day long by a large number of traders talking about their trades, both good and bad, I certainly witnessed, and definitely learned from, every possible mistake under the sun that a trader could ever make, be it tactics, TA, emotional, you name it!! While many come to ET seeking the 'how to's ' of trading, I imagine that the mistakes of others are most often overlooked in the strong and urgent desire of finding the road to riches. Overlooking or ignoring such points would certainly hinder one's advancement, as everyone blunders here and there during the learning process. Unfortunately though, during the learning process one can't differentiate the right from the wrong. However, in addition to good advice and ideas expressed by knowledgeable and creditable posters here on ET, what not to do is also quite often mentioned in their posts. So I urge those who are learning, to take such advice just as seriously as the advice regarding that 'road to riches'. I would hope and imagine that the beginner could determine whose advice is worth following based on the writing itself and the seriousness of the poster. So, just as any form of analysis can tell you what to do, just as importantly what not to do should be given equal consideration. And that can certainly be found in abundance, but while sometimes hidden, here on ET. Perhaps someone should start a 'What not to do' thread. I would do so, but threads that I start never seem to get off the ground (like his one too!).
Alot of people, or traders, in my opinion,...approach or think about trading like a wrist watch or wall clock...with one screw or gear missing. It's inevitable, somewhere along the way, that that one slightly missing component will seriously bite them in the ass, or hurt their acct performance.
Don't think I've got time to list all the wrong things I've done in trading. Plus, some of them were not wrong to try, else I wouldn't have known they were wrong for me personally.
Not 10, over 40. Maybe it's my poor ability when it comes to writing. Have started a few threads in the past and they all just pooped out. Or maybe I'm just too dull.
Maybe taking something personal that really has nothing to do with you. Your point is well-received, at least by me. I've achieved greater understanding reading 'in between' the lines than often by the lines themselves. As a practical matter, I frequently google concepts with posters names, timeframes and elitetrader as keywords. Using timeframes has supported reaching deep within the archives. It's interesting, in that a lot of these 'gold veins of knowledge' are just a sequence of keywords away and many of the 'exceptional' traders existed when the height of social media was a dial-up bbs. (not a lot of 'likes') From there, (still framed with the original question), I search through the posts of contributing members, some more contributing than distracting, that leads me to other threads and generally expansion of concepts to a point where my mind in saturated. When my mind is saturated, then it's time for a break. It's the engagement of other activities that performs a necessary function for the mind to assimilate, synthesize and come up with new questions. Some argue that the markets have changed, which can only be taken at face-value. I don't have the experience base to make a creditable assessment in that regard. All I know, is that these traders whom have successful managed the transition to electronic markets state nothing has changed for human behavior is the constant. I'm only 5yrs into this endeavor and can only comment on what I have directly observed. I'm grateful for this site and all whom contributed throughout it's creation. In some ways I've changed profoundly and it others I'm more of what I've always been.
I think the benefit of reading ET is during the period of struggling it kept you going and going until you finally find out the magic of the market