If you could go back in time to when you were a new trader

Pretty much.

 

I would agree. I would probably have told myself the same. Trading is a business, some people make a living doing this, there is no silver bullet, or get rich quick way.

I also would have told myself, EVERY TRADING THEORY IS WORTHLESS, if you don't apply money management, and discipline. But, lets be honest, how many new traders are actually going to take good advice.

 

Jordan Belfort? Is that you?

 

Someone is going to invent the PC in 30 years; skip doing the punched cards.

Skip pencilling the charts on a daily basis someone is going to invent the printer to attach to the PC.

Givng away money right from the beginning was a good idea; you can always make so much money that the SEC will always believe you are an insider.

Date Holyoke girls and marry a Smithy.

Generation later, the first graduating class of women from Princeton was the best place to allow gals to get on your short list.

Very smart girls try much harder.

Completing studing quantum physics proves quant does not apply to making money in markets.

Skip souping up the V8's; V12's from BMW with three trannies can handle anyredneck or silly cop

Fairfield Bank And Trust will never understand all toys are free when stocks are collateral.

You were right on day one; it IS finite maths.

Flying sophisticated gliders adds another dimension to yacht racing against rich guys.

You were right the first 40 days was all it took to get the basic principle uncovered.

 

Give examples of "trading theory"? Is a trend trading a trading theory? Because I find trends across many time frames and only trade them when they appear. They appear a couple to many times a day, depending on the action.

I think you have to be careful about using blanket statements combined with all CAPS

 

Don’t repeat mistakes – they only get ingrain and are harder than hell to rework

Keep it simple and focused solely on price / volume / time

Keep losers small

Listen to no one – well maybe a very select few

Don’t go live till you can SIM profitably (goes without saying but I will anyway – keep SIM real)

Buy APPL.. GOOG… and more gold - and wait to sell

RN

 

swing trading. I should tell myself to quit daytrading and not waste 2 years of my life daytrading.

daytrading is such a waste of time.

 

Greeting All,

Funny, but in my quiet moments over the years I have thought about this very question many times. Also funny is the fact that I have kept a Trading Journal from the very start, so I know that this “melody” changes over the years. I’ve been journaling since High School so this process is nothing new to me. So for me personally, my current “song” would be to say to my beginning self:

1. To outline a Goal, a definitive Trading Plan, and a Timeline.

2. That my business of trading should be a process, and not a destination, and there is no need to rush. God’s delays are never God’s denials.

3. To prepare myself and my significant other, to experience a succession of emotional and financial vicissitudes. And to be sure to get her “buy in” into the proposal. (Made this mistake twice)

4. To prepare myself and my significant other, for what will be, extended periods of hard work, study, personal sacrifice, well beyond what I originally anticipated or expected. And to be sure to get her “buy in” into the proposal.

5. To seek technical counsel only from those whose words “ring true” to my “core trading beliefs”, and resonate with my own thinking. While in the learning stages, to be true to who and what I am, and not try to be something that I’m not, that I cannot force it, because it has to come from within me.

6. That there is no “market out there”, only the one that I create in my head. Because the market exchanges just transmits ticks. It is my thinking and beliefs that turn those ticks over time into bars and lines and a pattern probabilities game that I can win. And that, I create my market game, and what will eventually be my market experience, all in my head.

7. That the “mind” and “thinking process” that I brought into my trading, and the “mindset” needed for my success in trading, will be vastly different. And in some instances, the thinking process will be diametrically opposed. Be prepared to truly open my mind for the changes to come.

8. That the process of trading as I know it, is in essence; “A pattern recognition with probabilities numbers game” that I created in my own head. It came from the sum total of what I know about the market, my beliefs about the market, and about myself.

9. If the market’s behavior is a mystery to me, it’s because my own thinking is also a mystery to me. I must remember that I’m the one who created the method from the sum total of my market knowledge and beliefs.

10. If my method is confused, it is because my own thinking is confused. If my analysis is confused, it is because my own thinking regarding my analysis is confused. First cause is always mental. More importantly, to unconfuse my method or my analysis, all I need do is to unconfuse my own thinking.

11. Then finally I would say to myself; sit back and enjoy the ride pal, it still ain’t finished rolling yet. There is a new me coming just around the bend.

Lurking on the ET Forum is like a trading treasure hunt, you never know what you will find or discover, but its always fun.

KDASFTG

 

Funny, the 2 year mark is when I took off. I've heard them same from others as well.

 

Today, I just paid $1500 for my kids wisdom teeth( 20 min procedure)...I'd go to wisdom teeth removal school....