How did you become consistant?

Discussion in 'Trading' started by cashmoney69, Oct 10, 2006.

poll: How did you become consistantly profitable?

  1. I took off all indicators

    19 vote(s)
    13.2%
  2. I have a college degree in math, finance, economics, or computer science

    12 vote(s)
    8.3%
  3. I read as many book as I could

    5 vote(s)
    3.5%
  4. I have a trading plan

    48 vote(s)
    33.3%
  5. I dont trade stocks any more

    5 vote(s)
    3.5%
  6. I changed strategies from day trading to swing trading or longer term

    12 vote(s)
    8.3%
  7. I trade whats "in play"

    7 vote(s)
    4.9%
  8. I take the opposite side of cramer

    7 vote(s)
    4.9%
  9. I only use one chart

    7 vote(s)
    4.9%
  10. other (what?)

    22 vote(s)
    15.3%
  1. trade multiple uncorrelated strategies at the same time. It will reduce your risk greatly, and if the strategies are decent ull still get a very nice return to compensate.

    Of course if ur discretionary, well then u will have alot of problems doing that.
     
    #51     Oct 11, 2006
  2. Then replay as many days as you like and trade them in "real time", being just as discretionary as you please. If you can't come up with a consistently profitable strategy, then you have no edge, regardless of what you "feel".

    LC
     
    #52     Oct 11, 2006
  3. Like flags, pennants, channels, divergence's, wedges...things that people know already work? why re-invent the wheel. And sinse a lot of people on here dont seem to use indicators, i'm going to guess that these are the things they look for?

    cm69
     
    #53     Oct 11, 2006
  4. No, these do not work over the long term. Eventually you hit a trade, or a series of trades, that blows out all of your gains and maybe more. Adding stop losses or profit targets does nothing for this, as it negatively adjusts your profits while trimming your losses. Those adjustments are zero sum. They may smooth your equity curve a bit, but if the curve is headed down, it's headed down.

    You must remember that obvious things are not profitable in the long run. Many of the "simple" systems people push work well for long stretches, but give no indication when that stretch occurs, and have losing trades that kill the profitability of the system. These losing trades happen very infrequently, so to someone who does not thoroughly back-test, the system looks good. But they are just setting themselves (or their clients) up for a predictable fall.

    Because these killing trades exist in the system, and the system traders don't know when they will surface, every losing trade ends up a possible system killer. You end up questioning the system, and not following the plan fully anyway. Though, because the system itself os bogus in the long run, the lack of following it is not the main problem here.

    When you have done enough research, you will not fear your drawdowns. You will expect them. Following the system will be easy, and completely stress free.

    -Raystonn
     
    #54     Oct 11, 2006
  5. wedges are the most reliable of 'em all and also tops that are not in line with previous ones...bullish sign more often than not. ta is uselful but u need the tape to confirm the suspected.
     
    #55     Oct 11, 2006
  6. I need to learn to read the tape even if i dont day trade?
     
    #56     Oct 11, 2006
  7. Tell me, what answer are you looking for? Perhaps if I give it to you then you will stop asking, even after getting many answers.

    -Raystonn
     
    #57     Oct 11, 2006
  8. ta is an important tool for swing tradin'; learnin' about the tape dont hurt but has more relevance in shorter term movements. still, u may be able to understand if there's a buyer or a seller in the stock only by lookin' at the tape, due to the fact large spec never show their hand: chart may seem bullish/ bearish to u when infact stock future movements won't.
     
    #58     Oct 11, 2006
  9. I know I'm going to get a lot of heat for saying this (especailly from Lamont), but here it is anyway.

    I dont want to get caught up in all the L2, and tos crap (no offense to u day traders). The whole reason why I swing trade..or try too for that matter, is because I dont want to be stuck staring at a computer all day long (even though sometimes I will JUST FOR ITS ENTERTAINMENT VALUE ONLY. I look at my chart, check the news (for earnings or a fed meeting), then buy (or not) the stock, and walk away (but check it from time to time). I am a firm believer that trading SHOULD be easy...I guess it just takes time.

    Ok guys..aim, and shoot, here i am.

    cm69
     
    #59     Oct 11, 2006
  10. That's fine. But trading on the news won't get you very far. It may, in fact, get you very hurt. If you want something you can automate and leave for some time then I suggest you develop a strategy and automate it with something like TradeStation. The most important part is the testing.

    -Raystonn
     
    #60     Oct 11, 2006