I've had a few PMs about me starting a journal. Other than helping others... is there really a merit to it? Well, at least for me? Well, the other merit is to have grow my # of posts. Any of you writing a journal now gain something out of this?
Most people writing journals here are struggling newbies and they're doing it to better themselves and get advice. I know you're doing well so the only purpose for you, would be to teach others if you're willing.
I am all for it! Maybe if you start a journal and show others a viable method then Tradekay will stop riding me so hard
traderkay!!!! Stop overriding Commisso!!! Don't make me come out there!!! ------------------------------------- I'll have to think about it this weekend. But if I were to, IF I WERE TO,what kind of material do you want? Trade Log?(It's past trades... it's not really viable though) Gann Stuff?(what! you expect a newsletter service?) Thoughts and research?(Hey, you expect me to do all the thinking for you?) Trading Systems and it's applications?(Ha, ha---, no one here can trade them profitably anyways!!! Oh... wanna buy 'em for $2000?) I'm really lost... I think I'll decide from what you have to say...
WDGann, You'll probably be starting one right along with me. I'm actually getting a little nervous because I got "all this ET pressure riding down on me." ET's Whipping Child Ps: Trades would be great. Chart is extra. If we have the trades, we can look at the chart. Some people will bitch about not having a chart -- but it is YOUR journal. You can write anything you want. I've seen Journal's come and go really quickly lately -- So starting a journal on ET appears to be the kiss of death. I'm going to go out on a limb and say screw it, though, and take the chance. Maybe like someone else said, I'll end up on the cover of Sports Illustrated "bruised trader of the year."
I'm not nervous... I know my skill... still there is a problem... let's say I do a journal about my daily homework or analysis based on Gann and my daily+ charts. When the market starts I change the thing around based on what the market does. You see, I prepare and in a way predict what the market does but the problem is when I start trading, my former prediction is just a confirmation and I just react to the market. It's a preparation to what to expect in the market tomorrow but I don't follow it or put weight in it because the market is right not me. But that doesn't mean I will write stuff on here real time... I do have to trade and I don't want others to follow me, you know... Any ideas and requests? Or... what I might gain out of this? (Ultimately, it comes down to my own good...) PS. Aphie, I personally think you're not bad as you think you are... all you need left is the niche of trading...
It's WDGann... or formerly known as in here... If I'm gonna start a journal, I don't wanna hide myself with a past figure... Still, I'm still thinking... Kiss of Death... maybe if I start getting bored... I still have a question to the current experience traders who write journals... any good experience out of this? What would be a good kind of journal? What kind of journal do most of you want? If I am to do this... (Again... If I am) it should be fun... that's why I respect Aphie for putting fun in this business... j/k Aphie...
WDGann, Thanks! You don't have to do anything real-time. Starting a journal might actually force you to pay more attention to what you do during the trading day (maybe you already do this). The best thing about the journal is that others will be able to lend advice (Although Gann is dead) and give you suggestions. You can weed through the crap and pull out what you think will help you in the long run. As far as market research goes, I think its good to absorb as much as you can before the trading day. I'm going to have a calendar posted next to my monitor listing times that numbers will come out. I don't want to be in the future's market as a newbie when #'s come out. Its already a wild enough ride at times. I figure if I can eliminate what I do know, I can better deal with what I don't know. You are correct -- the market is the ultimate indicator of what is going to happen. However, there is nothing wrong with forming opinions so long as you put them behind what is happening in the moment. As traders, we naturally all speculate to some degree. Unless you flip-coins.
TSaimoto (formerly WDGann), There are different types of Journals. I think you should figure out what type of Journal you want to produce instead of what your viewers (readers) may want. For example...you could do a Trade Journal based on realtime trading. Actually there will be a few minutes delay (takes time to log onto ET and post trades). Another type of Journal (most common here) is to post the End-of-Day results. Doing such will allow you to provide some in-depth info about particular trades and do some self-psychoanalysis. The latter above is becoming more popular here. If your goal is to discuss particular strategies or trade setups...you'll obviously need to post screen charts of whats on your monitor... instead of posting one chart image of all your trades (misleading)...post several charts of each trade as it looked at the time of the trade (more revealing). If your goal is to post results while not wanting to reveal any info about your discretionary or mechanical system (you'll probably get more flack if you do this)...you'll be better off posting your entries and exits in realtime as fast as possible.... or else most will think your system is bogus. If your goal is to be entertaining...your journal could be susceptible to easily getting off-track from trading. If your doing more than +10 trades per trading day...best to just post a screen shot of your daily brokers trade execution statement unless you prefer doing a lot of writing. Not all but many that start journals are newbie traders or struggling traders (not yet able to make a living at trading). The few that are posting journals and making a living in this market are doing it for education purpose or to prove a point. I'm assuming their the ones getting the most private messages from viewers of the Journal threads. Make sure you post your initial message as a good introduction info to include the following: 1. If these are real money trades or paper trades 2. Discretionary trades or mechanical trades 3. Total years of trading experience and years of experience in trading the particular market instrument your journal is concentrating on 4. Let us know if this is about trading or self-discovery or a little of both 5. Let us know if your trying to teach or learn or both 6. Discuss the basis of your trading methodology 7. Post your starting trading capitol and do some sort'uv daily or weekly update on your total Profit/Loss or Winners/Losers or both. 8. Discuss a little about your trading hardware (broker, realtime data provider and anything else you think is important) Note: You probably can do several of the above via updating your ET member profile. Doing the above...hopefully...will prevent a lot of questions or private messages unless your bored and have a lot of extra time to post messages because your a swing trader that holds positions for several days Remember this...it's your journal and you can post anyway you want. Thus, don't worry about what others want because you won't be able to make everybody happy and there will always be a few outspoken ones not happy with something about your journal. Last of all...I'm being a tad bit opinionated about this...be careful about taking trading advice from others not able to make money in this market. P.S. A good method in growing your # of posts is to reply often with a few words only per posts...don't do it during the trading day or else ET folks will figure out your really not trading Sincerely, M.A. Perry (a.ka. NihabaAshi)
OK... I got a few PMs and post above from NihabaAshi... some were plain stupid with a request of a free newsletter service, to make it short. Some were very interesting about real-time lessons about Gann Analysis. Taking one concept at a time real-time end of the day and teaching how Gann Analysis is effective. (I don't know... Is it my Karma to teach these people Gann Analysis? It's tough and needs a lot of studying on their own to use it effectively... like me LOL) One guy wrote (name kept anonymous): "We'd like to know what you'll trade and why. By knowing why you traded we can understand how traders decide to trade. By stating what you do, you can add to your crudential" ....*what can I say about this! I'm not a newsletter service guy!!!* Damn! This is like trading. It all comes down to what I like to do! Let's see how the trend of this goes... LOL