An edge in trading means that you are doing something opposite from 95% of the other traders who don't have an edge. This includes being able to implement your edge in the most mechanical way possible if you are not like me able to program it for automation. Since trading involves when to get into a trade, when to get out and how long to stay in a trade, you need to be able to have the strength of will to perform all 3 according to your original trading plan that you developed before starting the trade with real money. The proof of edge is that you made money over a time frame whereas everyone else did not.
An edge means that, the odds of a trade moving in your direction are higher than the odds of the same trade moving against you. Automation does in no way guarantee your edge ! Trading involves the application of many skills learnt from past trading experiences. The proof of a real edge is that you can hold on to the money you make from your trading strategy/s. Time presents opportunity. Trading makes, or loses, money !
well said elite , if one takes edge to mean probablity of successful trade taking into account sizeof win /loss , which i do , it's a very simple statement , actual trading may or may not be simple , but the "meaning" of edge and actual trading are obviously two different things , one is a description of a word , the other physical buying and selling, why have people mixed the two up?
Multiple books ,traders stated that they have 60-80% winning trades .That can be 1. Lies 2. Tested only for short row ,not for row of 1000 operaitions . Ken Uston & Co have had edge only 51% (approx.) and performed multiple mln $ profit Clear by high intensity trades . 51% is realistc by high intensity,long row of operations and is enough to make mln $
If 51% is realistic to you then so be it. Let us all hope that you do not hobble yourself with constrained thinking. regards f9
Well Henry, it might have something to do with the perception that the majority of people have about trading, let it be investing for the longer term, or scalping for quich profits. Human nature is such, that we somehow think we must be right, no matter how hard we try to convince ourselves otherwise. Wanting to be right, combined with ignorance about the chosen market to trade, is nothing more than a receipe for disaster. And then, to make it even worse, we have every Tom, Dick & Harry, selling information to the gullible public. We know that we all know this is correct, but how many of us have the conviction to do anything about it. That is what makes the real difference between a succesful trader, and the good old public, who are continualy being led up the garden path, where all they will find, is a bunch of withering old flowers, the prime ones well picked long before the public get to the end of the path, and those lovely bright coloured flowers are decorating the mahogany tables in the very big dining rooms ! I doubt if it will change for many in the foreseeable future !