How can I be a better trader?

Discussion in 'Trading' started by shotse, Jun 26, 2012.

  1. He can open his hedge fund now with OPM. Read what he wrote; he IS inside. He learned golf, sailing and tennis at summer camp and at prep school. He fucks other preppy chicks.
     
    #11     Jun 26, 2012
  2. The holy grail is risk management. You can read all about winning traders in the Market Wizards series of books, and the traders all had low risk ideas in common. It's a state of mind. Being afraid of the market is actually a very good thing! It prevents you from deluding yourself into thinking that you can predict what it will do.

    I'd recommend learning all you can about risk control and positive expectancy.

    Risk control means eliminating the possibility of losing more than a tiny fraction of your account during the worst possible scenario, like if your ISP goes kaput during the trading day, or your computer catches on fire. Risk control is all about the exit strategy. Outstanding trade entries are also very close to the abortion exit (where you know your setup failed).

    Expectancy = Average Win * Win rate - Average Loss * loss rate......... Must be a positive number, and it requires you to have a set of rules to trade by, a "system" and some past trade history, some experience.

    :)
     
    #12     Jun 26, 2012
  3. #13     Jun 26, 2012
  4. Find a profitable trader and study them in real time. You can do that here in the journals section, or if you're lucky and find a subscription service that is profitable you can watch what they do.
     
    #14     Jun 26, 2012
  5. OK, serious answer: Get past the academia for just a while. Get yourself educated in the realities of the trading worlds. "Trading is a simple as you'll let it be, or as difficult as you want to make it." (Don Bright quote, LOL).....

    Learn about market mechanics, and the "why" of how things move before wasting years on nonsense. Feel free to send me a PM if you are serious about learning more....

    Don
     
    #15     Jun 26, 2012
  6. KDASFTG

    KDASFTG

    Greetings

    I know you have read the words of 1a2b3cppp’s repost, but I don’t believe you’ve truly understood the message he was trying to convey. One day in the future, if you survive long enough, when you’ve finally had it, and are about to call it quits from playing these purely mathematical and technical games with yourself, and with the market, you may then come to the realization that; this game called the market is really played inside of your head.

    Because at the most foundational level, you’ll realize that the market just transmits ticks! Yes,….that is in essence all that the exchanges do! They just transmit ticks! Its you who must turn those "ticks" into a game that you can win...most of the time. For example, if your perspective is to look at the market at the end of the day, versus where it started in the morning, and price is lower at the close, you’ll then rightly say that "the market" was down. That is “Your Market”! But what about for the guy who was looking at the market from a 1minute chart perspective? His market may have ended moving up from his last bar, swing, or whatever. His market may have a different ending,...yet you're both looking at the same ticks. The same is true for all the other participants in the market, all playing different games.

    In truth, its your concept of what those "ticks" mean, relative to how you see “the market,” that determines YOUR MARKET. And since what those ticks mean is inside of your head! There is no market "OUT THERE", except for the one that you create in your head. They are just ticks being transmitted by the exchange! Where they start and where they end is up to you, and the game you’re playing, as reflected by your buying and selling of what you see. Its you who must turn those "ticks" into a game that you can win...most of the time. And now it is at this point in your trading career, that you finally get to the core of the matter.

    Its at this time that you may finally learn, what you need to do, how you need to think, and what is truly needed to create a winning game, to successfully play. It is only at this time that the mathematical, technical, and money management tools begin to make sense, and how they need to be properly used, to create a winning game. Surviving this pass of pain, to reach this point of understanding, well….therein lies the true challenge, and the real “market game”. This my friend I believe is the real “Holy Grail” of trading. I only regret that I didn’t learn this 20 years ago.

    Enjoy the journey.

    KDASFTG
     
    #16     Jun 26, 2012
    damnpenguins likes this.
  7. NoDoji

    NoDoji

    Adam,

    The reason you don't see the light at the end of the tunnel anymore is because once you learn to trade successfully, you're beyond the end of the tunnel and you're standing in the light.

    Enjoy it!

    :cool:
     
    #17     Jun 26, 2012
  8. Lucrum

    Lucrum

    Shouldn't you be chasing debutante class pussy? :)
     
    #18     Jun 26, 2012
  9. Glad it worked for you.

    Sleep science suggests that a 48 hour bender will reduce your efficiency and the level at which you retain information as you go more and more into a deprived state. Working memory fails as sleep deprivation continues.

    Although I will admit I sometimes get "creative" as I approach the early stages of sleep deprivation, the effects are short-lived at best and certainly nowhere near 24 hours, much less 48.
     
    #19     Jun 26, 2012
  10. Shotse,

    I would recommend using Rithmic feed. I don't think it's a good idea to use zenfire or kinetick Good luck in your endeavours. :)
     
    #20     Jun 26, 2012