Why, RN, for white trash you are quite le philosophe! My only cavil with your excellent riposte is that I spent many dimes on many dozens of trading approaches consciously and rationally seeking success over the years, only to dream one that worked.
RN, did someone else write this for you? I don't recall you being that smart before. My conflatulations to your brilliant ghostwriter. Very thought-provoking. And I think exactly the opposite of the behaviors you must exhibit to find and perfect a system: Tries to outsmart the market, knowing that most traders are losers Throws all so-called "rules" to wind and invents new ones Questions everything with the jaundiced eye of an oldster The less you "do" (trade) the faster you'll get to a system So it is small wonder successful traders have spilt personalities. Now I have to go. The neighbor's trash tree Bois D'Arc fell over on my single-wide and finished the job the last torenader started. So I am busy cleaning out the lean-to shed so's me an' the dawgs'll have a dry place sleep while the wife stays in the trailer and guards my vintage beer bottle cap collection. Cain't trust trailer trash.
Well, huffy, I'll have you know that I am no fool either. I spent three years in the ninth grade to get to where I am today. Reform school was a tough intellectual environment.
Tohbo, you remember me? "Broken record, scratch needle?" Of that: "I still have confidence that in far less time than it would take to fully automate what I do now, I can master my own trading method." I want to say this: Don't underestimate the power of selective memory and memory invention to make you think your system is viable and robust. Only backtesting to tell you that. Backtesting may look like a steep hill to climb, but once you are on top of it you can invent and discard several new systems a day, greatly cutting the development cycle. Lightning tends to strike when you are standing on a hill.
I've backtested till I'm so blue in the face you can now start calling me Neytiri (though I really do like "Tonbo"). In trading is a lightning strike a good thing or a bad thing?
I'm sorry. I haven't read your entire oeuvre, too many adoring fans hanging around, gag me with a spoon, but I would have sworn that you haven't coded and tested your current strategies, 20 sma and higher highs/lower lows, as I recall. What have you backtested to death? My apologies if I have been preaching to the choir.
I've been backtesting CL manually bar-by-bar almost every day for the past 6 months, then confirming the results in my sim account. Of course since April I've been confirming the results in my live account. I found it odd how easily I was able to trade almost every setup in my sim account without over thinking and micromanaging. I mean, damn, my sim Ferrari was on the line!