Have you any interesting stories to tell about conquests, failures, humor, lessons, life experiences which somehow relate back to trading? I have one to tell about a deer hunting trip I organized which turned into a disaster and is an example of noobs with no clue, will tell it later. In the meantime, do you have a story to share?
If you want something related to trading, then GUESSING is the worst evil in all aspects described above.
Well, we're all just essentially guessing/gambling with the future. But ...some... tend to have more accurate, general predictions then others, in the overall longer run of things, As for me, I have no stories to tell. I have no life. I just stare at my laptop.
Here ya go...I was chunking for tuna in the canyons off the Jersey coast one night...slow bite...then all of a sudden all 4 reels go off at once...absolutely screaming. All of the drunken sleeping anglers wake from there slumber and position themselves on their assigned rods, Everybody's in. The first mate is pouring fresh water on everyone's reels in the pitch black dark. Then the dreaded sound of a foghorn cuts through the night. Some sleepy moron captaining a foreign cargo vessel veered off course and meandered through the entire chunking fleet and his radar lit up. Broke about a dozen boats off anchor (maybe more) and my mate goes overboard floating away in the dark in a chum slick in waters loaded with tuna and shark. We recovered him after cutting all 4 lines and I learned a lesson that day. Never assume that just because you are feeding and riding with the big boys, that they can never turn around and bite you in the ass. Be vigilant and change plans at the first sign of trouble.
Hell no, the least thing i wanna do. Just a couple of days ago turned down the partnership, where i was suggested to use my 'creative mind' in solving problems.No way in freaking hell i`m gonna dive into that bullshit!I prefer clear, straight forward algorithm.But to each his own, i guess....did i just say that??lololol................
LOL, It was late 1980s, I was trading S&P 500 futures and margin at the time was $25,000, I was making little chunks few times a week, waiting for my spot, adding one contract every couple months at first then every month adding one. Feeling pretty good about my abilities, feeling smug doing what most only dream about, finally up to a ten lot in bout year and half. Am patiently waiting, yes there is the signal, call the floor, got filled immediately my price, YESSSSS, What the hell is that? f*cking report? I didn't see anything about this report.....in three seconds lost $2,500 each, $25k total and exited at low of the week, hour later it was back where it started. Had the shakes for two hours..... Learned when I am starting to feel good bout my trading, cut back size.... And this was ongoing problem I had of goof ups, forgetting stops/targets, buy when I meant sell, and of course each mistake cost quarter of a car, eighth of a car, whole car. I swear "they" were focused on just me to wipe out again and again and again and again.....
Many years ago when living in NZ I worked as a shift operator at a large thermal power station. There were 20+ guys on each shift (4 shifts) about 90 operators all up. Working around the clock you got to know your work mates, we all had hobbies and interests of one sort or another. Gardening, bow hunting, fishing, diving, craying, building canoes, you name it. My hobby other than gardening was deer hunting, I did this for many years, ever since leaving school. There was this guy on shift Bert who told me he had a .22 Hornet rifle at home, he'd never been hunting, could I take him on a trip. So I arranged a trip up the Wanganui River, several hours drive to get there, I was towing an aluminium dingy. We arrived afternoon, set up camp next to river and I said we would row across the river for a quick speccy, no shooting as we would go back in at dawn for a proper stalk. Now this was an ideal spot where we were, miles from civilisation, road right next to the river, slide dinghy down a short steep bank, row for 5 minutes and you were smack bang into prime hunting territory - fallow deer. Bert insisted/pestered he wanted to carry his Hornet, I said no, but he kept bleating on so I relinquished. My rifle was a .308 BSA Monarch carbine which I left in the car. We rowed across after launching, quickly arrived on the other side, then there was a bank to climb up, maybe 20' high. As we got to the top, bugger me there is a deer standing right in front of us. My natural reaction would have been, get down, we'll be into it in the am. But no, Bert jumped up to take a shot but couldn't fire because he had the safety catch on. After fumbling around getting the safety off, he ups to take aim but can't shoot as he's shaking too much with excitement. He gives me the gun and as I'm about to shoot he decides he wants it back, so snatches it off me. Well by then the deer decides to bolt. Bert runs after the deer but falls over smack on his face after tripping on a tree root. He gets up again, the deer had paused for a look back at the commotion, so Bert rips off a shot which went through leaves and branches. A .22 Hornet is a toy you shoot rabbits with, not deer, and certainly not for bush hunting. Well the long and short of it, we never saw the deer again, I was pissed off at the fiasco. About a month later I went back on my own and found a dead deer down by the water. Bert came off my Xmas card mailing list, we never spoke again other than swear at each other. Moral of the story, well you can work that out yourself however you like, but life can get difficult if someone talks you into something when you have the experience and they don't.
%% Good points/truth telling fordWiNd. Weather for casting is not guessing; Old Farmer Almanac weather forecast hit rate =80%. NOT a prediction; its a word to the wise. I use a 30-06 for deer+ have for over 20 years; good red trail when you hit the target......................................................................................