Before I looked at the dates I wanted to respond "Why didn't you tell me that in September of 2001?" Seriously! It took me over a year to figure out that "Never trade against the trend" is the biggest load of bs and really the only thing that kept me from being profitable. rtharp, I guess I now trade pretty much like you described in your post. I should have just read it when you wrote it. But then again, I don't think I would have been ready at that time. Back then I still believed in myths like "the trend is your friend" and "always use stops to cut your losers short" or "let your winners ride". Or that you need to make at least 3 times as much on every trade as your stop would make you lose. I could go on and on about all the misconceptions that traders apparently try to force into the minds of wannabe-traders and almost seem to be designed to provide money-flow from the latter group to the former. But that wouldn't be wise. So just ignore this post and keep up the good work. Above all, use only market orders. After all, when you want in you want in, and when you want out you want out, right?
this thread reminds me of an old joke. there was an old bull and a young bull up on a hill and down in the valley was a heard of young cows. the young bull tells the old bull "lets run down there and screw one of those cows". the wise old bull looks at the young bull and says "son lets walk down there and screw them all". the moral of the story is think about what you are doing and not just flail around with no purpose in mind. it could apply to trading as well. its not how many times you trade its what you make on those trades.
Whaaaaaaat? You mean the guy that pontificated "The Secret of Trading" right here on ET, is all wrong?
Five trades a day is probably high even with occasional multiple exits. If & or when this counter trend turns into a main trend for a while,might see those poll numbers change . Lot more players may get in.
Lobster, I'm not sure if you are serious about market orders, but I totally agree with your assessment of them. I use alot of market orders to get in and out with speed and certainty. Limit orders get blown by.