The essence distilled was a full circle journey to where I started and I possessed the answers all along. I lacked the discipline for the journey because I always thought there was more. On the surface it appears contradictory. 1. Knowing the current phase the market is in yet being market neutral. 2. Not listening to market opinion yet knowing what their opinions are and taking advantage. 3. Trusting my signals and judgment but knowing when I'm wrong and acting accordingly without hesitation. 4. Knowing how to wait. 5. Understand yourself first.
This was by far one of the more truthful posts for a young trader to digest. "Bighog" got it down well. I think the smarter you think you are, the longer it will take. I have reread a couple books over 200 times and as my experience grows, I see the info differently than years ago. I believe many of us come into this thinking we must make some complex method, take many trades and then take years to find out, less is better, K.I.S.S. I prefer to find out whys of the profitable trades and then strive to repeat those. I was lucky, I started before computers and got to post charts by hand and learned my craft that way, hands on approach. I think the percentage of losing traders went up cause the use of the computer. This is not like a checker game where you play against one opponent and every game the room is 72 degrees. This is game where one of the many opponents is you and the room can be burning or freezing in moments time. I am sure I have put in more than 80,000 hours in my time, it is the best game in town, it is a life. I put in more hours now per week than when I started. If you don't like to work hard, do anything else.
I gave up on technical analysis after doing exactly what you did. It works in certain situations, but only when the indicator happens to mathematically model/collide/coincide with some underlying phenomenon. But the books leave out the true rationale behind why the indicators exist or when they can be used or what the most efficient way of categorizing their use is. As an example, slow stochastic indicators model channels in which there are two strong pools of liquidity that create a range -and- when there is an absence of news. However, reading all those TA books would never tell you this. They also don't tell you how to statistically optimize the time period, and leave most people with a default range of 14 or something -- they don't look at the volatility, the relationship of the volatility to time, etc. Please don't go down the route of trading based on just indicators. Save yourself some money. (Note: Disregard my word as necessary. I'm not a successful trader, I'm a deadbeat. I just know TA with indicators used wrong can cause problems.)
Honestly, I did not read a post after this one. It could not sum it up any easier in less words. Keep up with you journey my friend.
God simply loves certain children a little more then others and gives these amazing gifts of intuition and forcast while others have to suffer the wraths of practice and fortitued. Dont hate, just wish "better luck" next life.
Message recieved! And thanks to whoever it was posted that unholy grail to success thing, shall give that a read later on.
Agree that screentime is a must, that is a given. But before screentime one must understand the mechanics of the game just like an automobile mechanic must understand the internal working of a combustion engine. Learning starts from the basics and that comes from books or a mentor. Then you open the account and put on a helmet, lock and load the weapon with live ammo and go out and do the recon that will get you to the promised land of winning in a game of losers. Books are the cheapest road to take to understand the mechanics. After the books and the understanding of the internal engine then it is all individual learning relative to the individuals personality. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9N4uoekuP7E&feature=related http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gTZS3SqpT-o&feature=related