I'm complete opposite. Don't care about chart patterns. It was so long ago when I last backtested I've forgotten how to do it. Don't memorise anything other than just experience, ie, I don't attempt to learn patterns. I just glance at charts and if you asked me later what price they are couldn't tell you. Use no indicators. I bought about 15 positions last week and never looked at the charts. I just trade off data sheets. Don't own a charting package, did once but that a few years ago.
1978..man I would love to hear stories from back then.. please share sometimes.. Me to.. I thought it's odds.. BTW.. Me to..
There may be some lucky ones who are born with this master skill called adaptability but for most of us, it’s not easy to adapt to different situations. The only way I know is to rigorously follow my rules and constrain myself from violating them.
I don't really understand "adapting" so much a skill, but more a biological and intellectual form of growth. All of us at some point in time had to change in order to learn how to trade. In my understanding we all had to adapt in our personal journey. When we started trading, none of us knew we needed to use rules. Did we not adapt to learned knowledge? Of course we all did. The whole process of learning is adaptation to new knowledge and skills. All human nature adapts at some point, or it would perish.
That’s a nice suggestion. However, for a trader, it’s easier to make rules, but it is difficult to follow them. I feel traders have to find an approach for them to stay more disciplined. It’s more like training your brain.
First of all, I and someone else (can't remember the user name) listed several areas that you should research (e.g. buy books, online research) involving Behaviour Finance and Cognitive Decision Making Process to you in a prior thread. I did mention that you should see a psycho-therapist if you need professional help in changing how you view trading/money. It's a great place to start if the trader psychologist sponsor that Elitetrader.com use to have is no longer here. With that said, I'll give you a great example of a trader that lacks "adaptability"...it involves most traders. Pretend you love trading Bitcoins but there are other trading assets you know about...Treasury Futures, Emini Futures, and Stocks. Yet, you hate EuroFX nor do you follow it... it's boring to you. You then backtest and simulate trade your trade method on all the above...you discover that EuroFX is the most profitable trading instrument when you apply your trade method and that trading Bitcoins is consistently losing when you apply your trade method. A trader that lacks adaptability will continue trading Bitcoins in an effort that they believe their trade method needs to be re-designed to get it to work on Bitcoins...so much that they're willing to go broke in doing it... Yet, you never took a look at EuroFX. Thus, they forgot that the name of the game is to make money. You'll be surprised by how many markets are out there to trade and most will not be suitable for you to trade while a few are suitable for you to trade. That's why there's that old saying in investment/trading...don't fall in love with a trading instrument. Another common issue of a trader that lacks adaptability is a trader that's consistently profitable in the morning trading session but then consistently loses most of their profits in the afternoon trading session... completing the trading day at a loss. The trader then refuses to stop trading in the afternoon trading session because they're focused on trying to fix their trade method or trading problems in the afternoon trading session that they keep trading the afternoon trading session. wrbtrader
It is indeed very difficult to follow rules especially when they are opposite of our personality. Like it’s very difficult for a lazy person to develop punctuality as a habit.