How long did it take for you to find/discover your trading edge?

Discussion in 'Strategy Building' started by Golden Retriever Trading, Jan 4, 2017.

  1. Chris Mac

    Chris Mac

    It took me 5 years, thousands of hours of hard work, tests, false discoveries, disappointments before understanding and exploiting bull, trading ranges and bear markets.
    Sometimes, I just wanted to give up, to stop digging deeper, because I was too obsessed, feeling like a sociopath or at best a no-life.
    But every time I was close to quit, I saw a light at the end of the tunnel. I was tenacious... for good reasons : What a relief when the puzzle was completed !
    Now, I am outside the tunnel, Thanks God.

    If you got a method that works only half-time or under certain conditions, for me this is not an edge. Your edge should be replicable every day / week / month, in bull, flat or bear markets.
    Some people are looking for the light too, but most of them are lazy, blind or at best one-eyed.
    For the small minority that seeks responses and really want to find it :
    There are many ways to win the game. Analyze, test, find yours, and never give up.

    CM
     
    #31     Jan 5, 2017
  2. Mind saying if you use indicators, or patterns/price action, or some sort of statistics? Also, are you day-trading or swing-trading, and what type of markets. Thanks.
     
    #32     Jan 5, 2017
  3. Chris Mac

    Chris Mac

    Patterns (classics + my own), one indicator, and volume. Looking for breakouts or consolidation.
    I mainly swing trade, I scan everything to find opportunities where they are : indexes, stocks, sectors, forex, commodities...

    CM
     
    #33     Jan 5, 2017
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  4. comagnum

    comagnum

    I do the same - swing trade everything with mostly classic patterns at least 2 months in the making on he weekly charts and one or two of my own. Will play breakouts and failed breakouts from channels - bear/bull traps. My favorite being major capitulations with large tails. Volume is king.
     
    #34     Jan 5, 2017
    Chris Mac likes this.
  5. ....What exactly is or defines...an 'edge' ...for you people who claim to have got or mastered o_Oo_O this concept of Edge

    Is it consistently making 2% a year for the past ten years...or 5%, or 10%, or 15%, or 20%, or 50% or 100%...
     
    Last edited: Jan 5, 2017
    #35     Jan 5, 2017
    Simples likes this.
  6. About 10,000 hours for me.
     
    #36     Jan 5, 2017
    alfa8 likes this.
  7. Sharpe ratio of above 3.
     
    #37     Jan 5, 2017
  8. Unfortunately it isn't intraday. It is swing. A lot of the trades either get stopped out with a small loss or a small gain. A fraction of them can rides a big wave to the upside/downside.
     
    #38     Jan 5, 2017
  9. When I think edge I think of technique that skews the odds mathmatically in your favor. For example. I am a support and resistance guy. My trades are taken at a point where price is near a level and I see indications of a reversal. If I am correct my trade has room to run. If I am wrong it quickly breaks through a level and I am out with minimal loss. As long as that ratio of risk to reward is strong the odds are in my favor. Hence edge.
     
    #39     Jan 6, 2017
    Joe6Pack, alfa8 and ET180 like this.
  10. Hey, this is completely off topic, but just curious. How do you manage the risk of false breakouts.
     
    #40     Jan 6, 2017