A few traders consistently outperform the SPY (and other benchmarks). Keep in mind that a profitable trading system beats the market in the long run, by definition! Otherwise why even bother with trading strategies in the first place, if investing in a simple index fund produced better results?
Couldn't agree more. I think a lot of traders overlook that the objective is to make money, not to keep busy.
In zero-sum games (Futures, Forex), someone has to lose if you want to make money, there is no way around this. If 95% of traders lose money, that means that 5% of traders are consistently taking money from them. It's up to you to join that 5%, if you have a proven trading system and the discipline to follow its rules.
Exactly! “It never was my thinking that made the big money for me. It always was my sitting. Got that? My sitting tight! It is no trick at all to be right on the market. You always find lots of early bulls in bull markets and early bears in bear markets. I’ve known many men who were right at exactly the right time, and began buying or selling stocks when prices were at the very level which should show the greatest profit. And their experience invariably matched mine–that is, they made no real money out of it. Men who can both be right and sit tight are uncommon.” (Legendary trader Jesse Livermore)
No. What kind of logic are you using? A profitable system is a profitable system - whether or not it beats the market.
1. You are not following your plan. 2. You are not following your plan. 3. If the first two points do not work, then the market has changed and the plan needs to be changed.
I am talking about trading systems that beat buy and hold. Otherwise why even bother with technical analysis or backtests, just buy an index fund and call it a day.
After plus 40 years of trading commodity instruments, I can say finally, it is easy. I have learned much, but learned greatest of "acceptance" AND knowing the answer before the question, meaning my Trading Plans are solid. Long term is a 50/50 coin flip or worse, and why hedging makes most sense to me as I am seeking to find the extremes ready for reversal. Continuation add-ons are with trend but still 50/50 or worse. Stock chart patterns I find on longer term offer good opportunities, so long as am hedged. Having insurance just makes so much sense to me, it is not like I am keeping insurance on for weeks as testing shows me when to exit the insurance. Just best to learn and study ends of moves, hedge open profits.
I'm re-reading his book at the moment, probably the 5th time through it. So many refreshing perspectives rolled into one. If anyone hasn't read it yet, you can find it for free online since the copyright seems to have expired.