I had Harris in his Trading and Exchanges class 531 at USC. I have his text book when they were merely lecture notes in my library. Great guyâ¦great class. We spent most of the semester on the true cost trading and execution....and which types of traders ultimately pay for the livelihood of others. Though, replicating his calc based proofs absolutely sucked.
It may well be true that "trend trading" (which after all is part of the title of this very thread on ET) is one of those lightning rod ideas that brings out the stiff-necked polemecists in the crowd. You can have your own opinion about it and your opinion very well may be true in your experience, but you'll never succeed in changing the mind of someone with the opposite opinion. It belongs in a list of dogmatic axioms whose believers have confused with facts: The King James Bible (English edition) is literally true, word for word. Market Timing is impossible. There were weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. Trendfollowing is guaranteed to fail. Creation Science and Intelligent Design are valid; Evolution is not. Trading is a rigged game; only the brokers and the exchanges and the extremely well capitalized (>$1B assets) can possibly win. Individual traders are doomed to failure with absolute certainty
Fancying myself something of a haberdasher whilst being in charge of alterations and men's styling at the Roxbury Brooks Brothers outlet, I overheard one day at work two distinguished gentlemen talking of spread reversions, regressions to the mean, bell curves, Zimbabwe T- bill interest rates and the like. Truly top drawer conversation. I was relieved to see the dashing young turks still lurking in the ties section when it was time for my shift break. I did not delay to seek their advice on my smallish portfolio of three railroad stocks left by my dear Aunt Biddy. It turns out they were investment bankers. And Pierce and Pierce m&a bankers at that. They did not spare the wrath of their blunt opinions. In regards to my holdings I was not only to diversify, but I was to seek professional consultation and avoid trendy "MASS" strategies. The last directive would be easy as I never considered myself much of a herdsman. The first and second directives would prove to be more of a sporting affair. The question would be what to diversify into. Also, with whom would I consult. The family fortunes had languished since uncle Buck's wild foray into ceiling carpet in the 40's. And Newark Trust had not called in two generations. Delightfully, I found my answers on a message board with a bunch of yobs and fobbish hawkers that were in agreement that trend trading was no longer popular. How to avoid mass hysteria and the unseemly was to come from the blue. Harr! Harr!! In regards to whether the matter at hand will remain pertinent....
To my great surprise I found out that my post on Elite Trader has been lifted by Mr. Michael Covel and used to advertise his book (!) on amazon dot com . Here's the post http://www.elitetrader.com/vb/showt...ght=frequent+AND+valid+AND+author#post1035725 And here is the advert that quotes it:
mr. covel is also using my name, quotes, and photo without my permission to promote his products. i wrote a positive review of his book, as is customary in the publishing business, and upon further reading of the book realized i was mistaken then immediately retracted the endorsement--- he snaged it from the "wayback" machine and is using it. i requested that he not use it,and he basically said , "make me" . i could actually ,"make him". but no longer really care one way or the other. you are not the only one.... surfer
no royalties just shame on my part for only skimming a book prior to writing an endorsement. i learned my lesson! surfer
LOL Fortunately, the bulk of the clueless knobs here at ET seem to be relegated to the steaming pile of pompous "Erudite A-Wipes" left by the side of the road. Live long and prosper, Guildy, yobbies and trailer trash!