Presuming that we're not working for the same firm or sharing profits or running into each other etc.: No direct benefit, as your improved performance is extremely unlikely to have any impact on my performance. Much for the same reason, however, there can be plenty of indirect benefit: Teaching a lesson to someone else can be one of the best ways to reinforce it in oneself - reinforce the lesson itself, also reinforce one's belief in it and acceptance of it, also possibly inspire renewed examination or criticism of it. You may even be lucky enough to teach someone something and in the process figure out that it really is b.s. after all. If you're one of those people who is ever affected by guilt or self-doubt based on perceived possible worthlessness of trading as an occupation, then the idea that you might have helped someone else might make you more willing to allow yourself to succeed. True, "giving is its own reward" often runs up against "no good deed goes unpunished," but, then again, "no one said life would be easy," and, I might add, "I never promised you a rose garden."
Here's my basic strategy. May be your cup of tea...maybe not. If it does interest you, you can get more info and pics from the...www.elitetrader.com/vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=7991
Great point nitro. Great point and absolutely true. I am laughing out loud at my oversite. And one of the reasons is that previously I have concluded the same, from personal experience. The one thing missing from papertrading is focus. Jeez man, bullets, IB, the pairs trade, and now this. I need to just buy you a year's supply of Subways.
Good luck, downtickboy The problem is that few (%wise) of successful traders on this board are willing to share anything beyond generalities.
If you are not here to share and learn then why do you come here? Are you making posts in the Chit Chat section all day? I doubt it. We have tons of threads that are written to pass knowledge back and forth which would be a helping the competition. I know this. This is another reason why I posted the topic. I have heard so many posts where traders riddle off the top 10 trading rules out of a book. I am starting to get the feeling a lot of the "traders" are out there giving advice and then running to the gas station to work during market hours. I was hoping to get some response from the traders that I seem to know what they are doing. They are here everyday giving advice, comments, critisism to other posters so I wanted to prod them into stepping up to the plate especially if they have a style where it does not effect their results. The generalities of trading have been written to death here and everyone is told to follow their trading plan and develop a good plan but few examples are given. Silk and Breakout thanks for the posts. Look at Silks style. I doubt many are going to go out and trade exactly like he does. Many probaby could not stomach or have the account size for the bigger swings he takes. However in reading his style they might have picked up on a thing or two that would improve the development of their own stategy. RS7 did the same thing in his own thread. Egotraitor started too put it seems like his journal keeps getting started and then puters out.
Well the comments about the books could be true, but there is a lot of junk out there too. Look at all the Level2 look for the AX trading books that are out there. I actually know a trader that wrote a book but he could not make money trading. I wonder how many books are written like that. Reminds me of the whole trading seminar thing where every trainer has blown up their accounts and has to teach because they need to eat. So if two people can watch the same thing and get different results then obviously trading is not all in the method unless if is the correct one for yourself. Would seem it would make it easier to share then seeing as by telling someone means you can't automatically dulpicate it. That is why mechanical system are only as good as the trader trading off it. Because if he can't follow the rules of the system -- the system can't help him. You had some good questions on whether to choose a trending method, a trading range method, or both. Hope someone address it. It would seem to have strategies for both would be the most beneficial, but I don't know. Then if you do have strategies for both please share.
again dtb... all the strategies revealed here are already revealed in any good book. Try any good book written before 1999. This way you won't be getting some "guru" who had it figured out... since Oct 1998. Any one of those books re: Level 2 and the Ax was written after Oct 1998 I guarantee it. Se if you can find any good shorting strategies in those books. There aren't any.
That's a broad question. I could write a book about my trading style. I may even do that some day. Even now, part of my approach includes treating my trading as though I was preparing to write it up - among other things asking myself, if I were writing a trading book, how I would handle this or that problem, and, if I don't have a satisfactory answer that I could explain clearly and would be willing to stand by publically, then investigating and clarifying the issue further. That doesn't mean that I believe everything in trading should or can be brought down to the level of simple, hard and fast rules. Did something special occur in your trading life that led you to begin this thread?
Downtick You are putting words in my mouth. I was merely asking a question . I probably should have started a separate thread with it because there may be benefits to sharing strategies, I dont know.