Thx for the perspective. I'd never really thought about the emotional aspect of things believe it or not...
They die out imo because you're a little too Zen-ish: most people are not going to respond, because they don't want to be called Grasshopper or Young Padawan. What's so bad about being a Regular Joe like the rest of us? There's traders on this site doing very well and they never come across as patronizing or moralizing. Just something to think about...
I'm sure your correct on all three points. Most of the time I work on a set of books. They will probably not go very far either. It's fun though. The thread title was screamingly funny to me..... I was hoping that some people might want to play with the other side of the coin, though.. Thanks for the comment.
Jack, you have spoken briefly regarding Trading Plans and Business Plans and their importance. I was wondering if you would elaborate on them. In particular, what comprises a solid TP/BP, how are they constructed, how are they maintained and kept current, adjusted, etc... Any insight would be most appreciated. P.S. I dont really mind being called Grasshopper or young Padawan either
I don't know the reference to Padawan.. Palawan was the name of T. J. Watson's boat (A Class) out of Indian Harbor Yatch Club in Greenwich. He spent 350K tank testing it before having it built in Holland out of prime woods (clear Valspar paint to show it off). He had an all IBM crew out of World Headquarters. LOL I recomend a fairly standard 12 part PB and within it is contained the TP. In "Building Minds for Bulding Wealth", v2.2 (Appendix B, pages 75 through 87) you see an outline that converts a std BP to a BP for trading as part of a family enterprise. I recommend about 22 financial instruments for the family to use and they are financed as expenses out of the gorss of trading. I look at life as seven stages and how they are integrated over three generations. So the 22 instruments are used in a timely manner either as an ongoing (mature family) or a start up operation. In the plan illustrated, there was an overlay for the value of money also that allows a person to see that true value is important in planning. I remember in your e-mail you spoke of a separate threads for these two items. They are very important and just like there is no forum on how the mind works, these things have no forum and are really not part of ET at this point. I don't start threads and the moderators regard me as a lightening rod in a storm that attracts unwanted work for the web site. The four domino's of success in trading hinge on knowing the mind, knowing how to learn, having a BP and within it having a TP. There is no place on the web that does this combo and when a place is not idiot proofed, there is so much crap in between what is salient. People like me are considered by management as a pain in the ass because we generate (via others) a lot of traffic, even some OCD's these days. A couple of days ago rcanfiel now operating as traderzones absolutely fucked up a military guy's two threads by mentioning his fucked up ideas of me AND he showed he doesn't even know what Level 2 is as yet. Sp Lowe deserved a chance to learn to trade. Not under my wing, but under someone's wing that was supportive and honest. The fucking reality in communities all over the country there are suicide watch teams trying to head off people and their families who have been repeatedly put under service duty demands that are known to be unbearable. For some jerk to bullshit a serviceman is really out of order. The psychology forum and the career trading forum are not the places that are well enough moderated to run threads on the mind or learning or BP's or TP's. The key to a business plan is its capitalization in terms of the family. Part 2, after the intro, is where the funds requested are articulated. Since this capital has other intended potential uses, I would require it to be returned to the family after a set period of time to ameliorate the effect of its being temporarily removed. I also feel this part has to articulate all of the costs of family protection throughout the application of the plan. Protection from the public school system is one of those matters. No child can go through the hoops of substandard experiences, ever. As one who has been on both sides of standard entrepreneurial business plans (creation and funding), I recognize the importance of the request for funds, the history of operations, the trading plan and the associated multistage P&L spreadsheet. Today, the tue value of money has entered the picture like a permanent swinging of a sledge hammer. Weakening dollar is a fixture, resource scarcity is a fixture. A trading plan has to reflect the how the capital extraction is going to be asymptotic to the offer stage by stage. It is never possible to cast a BP in stone butit is possible to articulate that check points are available and how testing is done at those check points. (See Stringer rebirthing Sony using Gerstner's bible for IBM ("Who Says Elephants Can't Dance")). All the ingredients can be put on the table. Discussing how to fold each thing into each plan is easy to articulate. I'm not up for a repeat of something like shoeshine saying X is old school and it doesn't happen. I don't feel like writing three or four paragraphs to take his ill chosen statement off the table. And I don't feel that annotating each sentence is appropriate in ET. The facts are that a person has to have a pusiness plan. In that plan there has to be a trading plan (complete as possible). To be able to carry out a buiness with a trading plan, there has to be provision for learning knowledge and skills and incorporating all new trading opportunities. Knowing how to learn is a requirement. Today and from now on, things are going to require a neutral bias and no more denial and bullshitting one's self. Today and henceforth the opportunities will be increasing and obtaining them will be more difficult. To learn and to do maintainence requires personal growth and that is a function of building the mind. To build the mind, you cannot bullshit yourself or others like rcanfiel and others like him do. Trading, in the final analysis requires a system and that system is founded on the trader and the market sharing responsibilities. People who engage in learning have to work with their minds thinking critically to understand how to take what is offered and when it is offered. As a business plan's P&L is developed is is necessary to have a handel on the monthies for the next two years and quarteries for the next 3 years after that. The market offers and a neutral bias is required. Skills are continually acquired and capital grows and finds, in my opinion, three resting places: indexes; position trading and sector rotation. The crossover of profession income compared to trading income happens very soon in the BP so there is zero pressure on learning to perform financially but there is a pressure to learn corectly in order to not drive yourself out on to a limb that precludes later growth. As you can see there are two dorections in this kind of process: out the exit (large percentage) and onward and upward (to the summits). The squeeking along on 100K to 500K a year is a myth. This ends abruptly because the planning was done inductively. The myth that markets change is what ends induction, they say. Markets have a range of peformances. And a BP and TP take this into account using NO induction. All financial growth rides on a curve. The curve shows the decline in value of currency. As 50 some years have passed I can tell you it is noticable and today at this time change is very significant. I'm sure you have searched the topics and drawn a blank.
As you mention, unfortunately, the site is pretty sparse with related information and I struggled to find a suitable home (given the current topics) for a new post on inquiry into these important topics. I agree with the high importance of the 4 cornerstones mentioned (knowing the mind, learning to learn, BP, TP). My initial focus has been solely on the first 2 and now it is time for me to understand the others in conjunction. I appreciate the ref to BMFBW and I will study that. Thanks again for your insights Jack.
I think it was a semantics issue: you were talking of something more philosophical. I was just simply pointing out that the brain retains incredibly rebuilding capabilities even into the later years of a person's life.