how traders maintain edge?

Discussion in 'Trading' started by traderzhangSan, Jun 21, 2010.

  1. it is well known some strategy work well in some market condition while not working in other condition. if you are a profitable trader and you strategies no longer make money, what will you do?
     
  2. bstay

    bstay

    you should quit trading. why waste time and money if you not profitable? becomes gambling addiction.

    if you are profitable, you wouldn't even be asking this question would you? so it's best to give up trading and move on to other business opportunities.
     
  3. nonsense, there are many reasons that are not related skills such as account size. if you don't like what people say, just don't respond.

    there are many people who just want to learn
     
  4. Either trade more than one system so that when one is losing money the other is making money (e.g. one trend-following system and one mean-reversion system), or have some kind of way of telling when the market state has changed from favourable for your system to unfavourable.

    Or just ride out the dry spells.
     
  5. wst

    wst

    Find something new that works, what else to do? A trader need to constantly reinvent himself and improve as the markets change and evolve. The 80's market was different from the 90's, that was different from 00's, what used to work stops working in the new market environment.

    Can add to that some systems are eternal and always work while some work well for a period of time and then blow up/fade away.
     
  6. wrbtrader

    wrbtrader

    It really depends upon automated or mechanical systems versus discretionary methods.

    A profitable discretionary trader can involve when market conditions change whereas a profitable mechanical trader will either need to develop a new method or stop using a method to wait for favorable market conditions to return.

    Regardless if its mechanical or discretionary...if a trader wants consistent profits in any type of major market environment...that's a trader that will need to be using more than one type of strategy along with having the market experience to know when to switch strategies.

    Mark
     
  7. Daal

    Daal

    Also helps to run a website to sell 'strategies' and 'courses' that teaches patterns with no empirical proof that they work other than 'trust me, it makes me money'
     
  8. Your trading journal should allow you to spot changes so that you can adapt. If one thing worked all of time it would be like printing money. One of the biggest things to watch out for is changes in volatility and changes daily or weekly trend of the market.

     
  9. Trader Zhang how are you?

    Your question contains a so called fact that I dispute. A leopard never changes it's spots. Seek the water hole my friend and when that water runs dry-- shall you walk further into the desert or dig deeper in the dry well?

    think about that.~stoney
     
  10. wrbtrader

    wrbtrader

    I wouldn't trust anyone that saids "trust me, it makes me money" for any method that lacks some sort'uv verification.

    Agree...there's a few well known journals here at ET where traders that have posted proof of there methods without revealing the specifics of their methods have acknowledge that changes in volatility has an impact on their profit level (e.g. Lescor grinding it out journal).

    Mark
     
    #10     Jun 21, 2010