Hi, having traded the market on and off for the past decade, I've come to realize that the amount of time spent in front of the screen, studying or intelligence (i'm an MBA) does not equal trading success. For me, elitetrader has also been more of a rock in my path rather than a source of help. For every comment on this board that may be helpful, there are 10 that will try to invalidate it which leaves the reader guessing and confused. I'm at a point where I have serious doubts about trading and I'm trying to reach out to somebody in S. Florida, who is successful on a daily basis. I'm not trying to find somebody to teach me, rather i'm trying to find somebody to "open by eyes" or shift my belief system to what is real and what is possible in trading from somebody who does this successfully day in and day out. I greatly appreciate any help.
It seems odd that you have serious doubts about your trading and that you're trying to reach out to somebody yet at the same time say that you don't need anyone to teach you, that appears to be a contradiction. You also mention that the amount of time spent in front of the screen, studying or intelligence does not equal trading success. This seems to imply that you're struggling to me, because if a person had a trading method that was immensely successful, why would they make such statements? It's not adding up, so what exactly is the source of the problem?
Qwerty, in regards to my trading success, you are right, I'm not consistent. Let me ask you this, if I wrote "teach me", how many people do you think would reply? I truly don't expect anybody to take their time to teach me to trade. I'm merely looking for somebody to point in the right direction. Somebody who does this day in and day out who is successful at it. When the alumni association of my university calls me to sit down and talk to some graduates about my industry, I'm glad to do it. Do i give away company secrets? Of course not, but I do provide constructive feedback, some guidance and may open some young kids eyes. That's all i'm looking for. I don't need somebody to hand me their trading system, I just want to see first hand somebody with some level of success. I think trading is very psychological and I believe that I haven't gotten that part handled yet. Maybe it's something else. A real interaction with a successful trader will help me shift my mind in the right direction.
i see your point in that if you were to introduce the statement: "teach me", a multitude of bad apples would be willing, able & surely more than eager to exploit this situation. If you espouse the optimist point of view, then you would view these many replies as an opportunity to possibly find that one person that could be of great value to you, but if you're a pessimist, then nothing will appease you either. The challenge of course is finding that diamond in the rough as it were. The other reality that could pose a problem is that you may not find a person locally, which would mean that a compromise would be in order.
danmb280, here is some direction that can help you. it works for me. This only relates to day trading: 1) Only use non time fractals, since they are show price action in a much cleaner way (volume, range or tick charts). 2) Price action is what really matters, but you need filters to avoid too many small losers. 3) This is where dom and T&s come into picture. Read this thread that I started a while back to get some insite into this topic: http://elitetrader.com/vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=103293 4) SL should be placed 1 or 2 ticks above/below your entry bar, what ever it is. 5) You need positive expectancy, without it no money management of psychology will help you to make $. Regards, redduke
Qwerty, when I wrote about "teach me", I was actually thinking that nobody would reply to it as opposed to a bunch of people with little to offer. Successful people have little time and my approach was to be as little of a commitment as possible. I'm not pessimistic at all, otherwise I wouldn't try to reach out to people. I actually believe that people don't mind paying forward as long as it doesn't interfere with their daily lives.
This part of your post is mostly not correct. Screen time is of paramount importance. Trading (not investing) is not a part time gig. I highly suspect that your "real" job has much prevented you from the necessary time you need to dedicate to trading. The correct part is that intelligence has little to do with it.
My statement is based on my experience, not meant as a general guideline. I can only speak for myself. I can assure you that there was no lack of screen time. I think this thread is starting to get off track trying to analyze my circumstances. I started this thread to find somebody locally in S. Florida, who is successful on a daily basis to help me shift my belief system to what is possible by letting me see it with my own eyes.
You are probably expecting too much. In any case your belief system should be the foundation of your trading system, not the other way around.