the market isn't some 9-5 job at mickey d's........you don't trade the market to make "a little each day" as if you're working at mickey d's successful trading is the art of making the most by risking the least...... iow its about trading powerful trends and riding it all the way......its not about "grinding it out" everyday.....that's what the 9-5 crowd does.........if you try to grind it out eventually the action will wear you out after you bust your gut a few times........i know many guys that were GLUED to the screen everyday for years of daytrading........they soon got bored, quit, and now don't even know or care about what the market is doing.
Okay Chewie I'm 100% opposed to what you said. And IMHO to understand why and internalize it is more important than any edge.
Chewy nailed it! I'm 100% supportive of what you said. I'm reminded of a little conversation I took part in, back in August 2007 (Arguably the juciest trading month since 2000, and probably the best trading market we'll get to see for years to come)... ________________ http://www.elitetrader.com/vb/showt...01420&perpage=10&highlight=beads&pagenumber=1 jdeeZERO05: can't ask for more volatility than this. I crushed my profit target already, i'm going to the bar. this fucking rules. RM: Quitting early after a big gain is the second worst trait a trader can have. No offense, but you'll never be rich. jdeezero05: have fun giving back your profits, not my game. ... to me it makes sense to learn to crawl before you even attempt to fly. 20 YM points a day is my goal. When I've hit that I'm done. If i got a hundred on the week I've been done. 15 point stop, if I get down 40 points on the day i'm done. 120 points down for the week, i'm done for the week. Haven't had that happen yet with this style management yet though. 5k account, 1 car. This morning though, I rode the trend, tried to jog for the first time. Could be done for the week if I want. The remainder of this week has no emotion at all. Market is going to have to entice me with the highest probability setups I can get to risk what I made today, all the pressure is off now on the week. To me this is exactly why most traders fail. Good look getting "to the moon" when you can't even crawl without falling on your face. Not saying thats your situation, but giving me that advice is just shit advice, no disrespect. RM: A surefire recipe for permanent piker status if I ever saw one. For some reason I'm in the mood to do you a favor and take the time to explain what you're doing here: My job is to collect strands of beads off the streets of New Orleans. I need to collect 500 strands every year to make a living, so I figure I just need to collect 10 strands every week. The past few months have been tough- I've had to work pretty hard to collect my 10 strands/week. However, this week is Mardi Gras, so there are currently beads all over the place for the taking. The streets are flowing with a massive bounty- beads are literally everywhere! I've already managed to collect my 10 strands within the first five minutes of Mardi Gras week. This is great! I've already made my weekly quota, so naturally I'll now be taking off the rest of the week. Beads crunch under my shoes during my walk home, but I don't bother to pick them up. Why should I bother? After all, I already have my weekly quota in hand, so the pressure is off. Time to hit the bar! ___________________
There are many ways to make lot of money trading, some make money every single day, prefering to pick up whatever cash is there, and believe me, we are not talking about a 9-5 McDonalds job pay here, we are talking about owning the McDonalds and producing a half million or more per year, one even MUCH more then this! I know quite a few traders making their living this way. Then you have the RM approach, which has BIG ups and BIG downs. Big positions, Take your shot, come up short once in a while, and then hit an occasional grand slam and you've got you're year. I know of just 2, perhaps 3 traders that trade this way, and two of them, their primary source of income is not trading. Both are equally valid, both work well, and both end up in the same place though I would argue that the first group sleep a bit better at night. I would also argue that nothing helps you succeed like a little bit of success. I always trade better when I'm up solid on the year and making money every day. In my mind, I know that should a large loser occur, I am only 15 to 20 days away, at the most, from returning to profitability. So Chewy, if you want to sleep well at night, go with the first approach, I know many more that succeed, and are currently succeeding with that approach, and once in a while, you take a RM type grandslam trade, where you risk a little to make alot, and if you come up short, you know you can make it back in a short period of time.
I totally agree with Chewy and RM - every once in a while everything comes together for a great harvest. Grab it with both hands while you can, then go back to grinding it out the rest of the time.
truly a great post. one has to give one's self the opportunity to be great (or simply move up the scale). i have had enough of the giving back the gains experience to understand the opposing view- i even utilize it when i'm working on a multiple day losing streak. after such, if i'm at my high of the day and the day is fairly well along- at those times i need the psychological lift of a 'win'- so i call it a day. as a general 'strategy' though, it's very flawed; as it's impossible to realize your potential if you never attempt to reach it.