quite true. usually smart people don't need to be told everything in excruciating detail. point them in the right direction and they will catch up in no time. i don't think there are big secrets, the basic stuff is out there, money management, discipline, probabilities etc etc, but there are certainly little things, details, that make a big difference between you and the next trader. c'mon let's not be that pessimistic about authors, there are a few books out there with good, serious, useful material. a good book for me is one that gives me ideas, i don't expect any book or vendor to tell me exactly what to do to make money, that would be too easy don't you think?
Any novice, newbie..would gain greatly by reading what has been written on this thread..however, its seems that as (IMO) the market is a mirror of oneslf..the failing trader only wants to see what he wants to see. He/She wants the reflection to not show the blemishes, but covering them up or ignoring them compounds the mistakes made in their trading. The market is the same for all..the trader who makes his £25K a day, if they are looking at a 5min or 1min chart (or whatever) well its the same chart as the trader who lost £25k. The bid and ask is not different for the trader making money and the trader losing..!! It follows that it is how one "perceives" the information and not the information itself that counts..and this is all to do with how the individual perceives himself and life.. Take the sunglasses off (until the glow of all that gold you've made begins to blind you lol) Roll up your sleeves. focus. and don't approach trading with the same thought process that you use in life. Most of life evolves arouond wanting our own way and manipulating (to what ever degree..make me a coffee honey and I'll do the washing up..whatever). We have no control over the market ..only ourselves. The market doesn't take our money, we allow it to..!! mbt3 PS praetorian2..I agree, the best thing I can do (apert from walk away for a while) when things aren't flowing, is play Freecell..thought I was going crazy for a while, not focussing etc, but trading is more about learning what not to do.and when not to do it !! As you say, be a surfer..sit and watch the ocean long enough and you'll recognize the right wave to ride, then its just a matter of flowing with the peeks and troughs.. good surfing to all.!!
WOW! Such deep insights into the trading game. I must say that I agree with most of the comments made on this thread so far. The fact that trading is so boring has been my #1 downfall during my 7+ year stint at this endeavor. I find that I lose more money hunting around during the day for something to trade, just to avoid getting bored, that I invariably either jump in too early on my pre-planned trades (before my entry point is hit), or I fail to assess the trade properly before taking a position in it. Alternatively it is hard for me to sit on my hands when I have a trade that is going my way, seeing the profit there just kills me and I usually end up taking it, leaving far too much on the table. Again, because I am looking for action. My trade plan for this year is to eliminate this "bad behavior" from my business. Sometimes the best thing I can do is just walk away from the screen and let the market give me what it will. As far as "secret methods to the Holy Grail" go, as many have already said on this thread, there ain't none. Hard work, understanding trading probability and good money management is the key. P2 showed how he uses a relatively simple plan (I am not sure how simple the system is) of sticking to 1 or 2 techniques, and he is profitable with them (although taking 10K position in a 50K/day stock would scare the hell out of me). The point is, although someone else may not be willing to tell the world about their particular trading technique/setup, it does not mean that they have found the secret to the market's money tree, maybe its just that they do not want the rest of the world to mess up their ability to shake that tree in the particular manner that they have developed. How many of you have noticed recently how some setups fail more frequently recently. E.g. some of the traditional setups that say you take a long position after the stock has traded one tick above the previous day's high. Well more and more I noticed that these entries get triggered and abruptly reverse, maybe even stopping you out on the traditional 1 tick below the previous day's low. When these methods are widely known to the world, guess what, then your competition knows exactly where to wait in ambush for you. So you modify your technique (ooohhh, a new secret technique), maybe wait a little longer before entry/exit, and continue trading. Having said that, I must say that, apart from what experience I have gained trading for the last few years, I have learned 60% of what trading is all about from reading the books written by those professional traders that have seen it fit to tell the whole world how they trade. I thank them for that as I believe that it helps, on a macro scale, to understand how to trade. Most of us however will read these books without understanding how, or having the discipline, to effectively use the techniques decribed. This is where the experience part usually comes in. Enough rambling for now. Echo
I read it somewherw " if you want excitment, well go bungy jumping" How we appraoch "normal" life, will not apply in trading..but from what I've learnt from trading, it very much applies, now, to my life..
If a trade becomes boring to me I get out. It a pretty good indicator. I have found that 90% of the time a good trade moves almost immediately in my direction and its never boring when it does. So if I start getting bored I take that as a warning signal. I also find that post 11:00 trading is generally boring so if I'm not in a trade by 11 I'm gonna start looking for something else to do. Swing trading would drive me nuts. Different strokes........
Deep..? ( I know what you mean )..just don't look down ! emotion and thinking..the greatest evils of trading. "Think" about the past and there is anger and frustration of what we did. "think " about the future and its fear and/or exitement. Try contemplating the notion of the "present moment"..its the only place where we can "do" anything. "there is no try only do " Airodynamic Trading by Constance Brown To "do" has gone beyond the point of thinking. And if gets too serious..remeber the film Caddyshack "be the ball".. mbt3
I never asked anyone to tell me how to trade - I was more or less "thinking outloud." If you notice, I answered my own "question" when I said that I would have to increase my size to 2000, then 5000, then 10000 _ON_MY_OWN (more like 1000, 1500, 2000, etc - but I know that once you feel confortable trading, position sizing, how much of the day you work, etc, are key ingridients in your bottom line.) I knew and know, that _EVEN_ if someone would offer me the advice, I am the kind of person that takes "advice" very slowly, if at all, unless it comes from a Grandmaster. I wouldn't just take some random advice from this list and say, OK, now I will trade 10000 shares of IBM. I feel I can contribute to this list without talking about my trading. If at anytime I feel that I do not, I will either leave, or more likely, continue to read the _KNOWN_ Grandmaster posts (and Protrader1, he makes me laugh) nitro
yes, that's right, most books and vendors are not really worth the expense or the time. but how are you going to find the gems if you don't do some prospecting work??
easy, Good observation. My experience as well. Right on the nose. But keep an open mind, there are times when this is not the case... I am trying to figure out what to say to this and I can't. I guess something about it I don't like... nitro