Obviously no "right" or "wrong" here, it is probably that space in the middle I just know for me that the hardest thing I have ever tried to do is be something I'm simply not! Seeing what someone else does and then trying to emulate their train of thought would be like biting my own teeth... I can put up the two journals here that I just did for the last two trading sessions and I can all but garuntee that most would not be able to get anywhere close to my results with this method. My method is almost a direct reflection of my self and the beliefs the market has instilled in me over the years... This is not to say that I have never gotten an idea or built on a "set-up" that another succesful trader has come up with, but in the end they were still traded with my "voice"... PEACE and good trading, Commisso
Trading is much like any other quasi mechanical endeavor in so far that is has form. Swinging a baseball bat or playing a guitar are both activities that have some restrictions in method. i.e. I wouldn't stand on my head in the batters box. But within the context of structure there are many shapes that can be used successfully. ESPN had a segment early this past baseball season of different batting stances, one after another, dramatically different, yet all with guys hitting 30 home runs. Trading is neither art alone nor science alone, but both an art and a science. Science is rigid in replication. Experimentation under sanitized tested scenarios. That just can't work in something as nuanced and changing as a market environment. Just because you know how to play each note and chord on a fretboard, you still wouldn't be able to write Layla without bending those notes in ways that no one had before. Trading is a zero sum game. By it's very nature not everyone can do the same things, or there would be no market. So ultimately, while you know you must grip the bat with your hands, you may also place your feet uniquely where comfortable, keep a posture that is yours, and compete with those who have the same goal, but use a method that too, is their own.
Pabst, Imagine what Steve Young would had been if he rode the bench under Joe Montana and then tried to emulate Joes style when he finaly got his shot! There was only one Montana and there was definately only one Steve Young
Two brilliant QB's with almost a completely opposite approach to the position! and you know damn well they wanted Steve to play like Joe when he finaly got his shot!
How many Gann "traders" do you see in this world? There are a lot of analysts who claim to but trade? I've met no one or heard of anyone. I had no example to follow. Still, I trade and do well in the market. Still, I do owe a lot of credit to my semi-success to a lot traders I've met with different trading styles. They never really showed me any technical stuff that I was impressed with. Knowledge-wise I knew more than anyone I've met, still they gave me the quality of perspective I needed to have to trade. What ever trading style you trade, there is a common quality of attitude or perspective every successful trader has. It's the confidence, discipline, determination, commitment, and etc. that we all shared. Most of these qualities are qualities I didn't have inherited so I worked hard to put myself in there. If I had another voice back when I started, it'll tell me to go out clubbing, drink, have fun, rest, sleep, watch TV, call your GF, etc., etc.. I changed my voice around to tell myself to work hard. I've worked hard enough to be confident about my knowledge, from that knowledge I know that if I don't follow, I'll be killed. I was committed and determined to be better. Experience from actual trading confirmed and praised my work as results. One thing different is you don't need to find what fits you, you can make yourself fit to a trading style too. I've done it and I feel comfortable with it. So I am 50% between rTharp and Commisso.
The best way I can describe this from personal experience is playing a musical instrument. At first you believe it is all about reading music, knowing the notes, chords, scales, and to a certain extent it is. However, if you work hard enough you can reach a state of "fluency", where you do not even consider the forms anymore, the music just "flows" - you do not forget the mountains of technical data, you just dont need to consciously "think" about it any more. I see trading as very similar to this, you never forget all the technial studies, the statistics etc, it is just you become so proficient you can "see" the whole picture, and can just react to the market..... all the technical information is just processed automatically....