I have probably said this 1000 times. In the great bull market (1999/2000 specifically) people bitched and whined every day about wanting the good old days of 1997/98 back. They could not adjust. The market is doing what it always does, shaking out those who are not serious about being here. Traders adapt and trade, those who don't make it talk to each other about how impossible "this market" is. None of this is to say that trading is not difficult. It definatly is. Trading is probably the most difficult thing I have ever attempted. But, to say that its done, dead gone finished is silly. It takes a lot of dedication and work. Brandon
Excellent post Brandon. Thanks for getting directly to the point. Ooooh.....the whiners are gonna be upset!!! BSAM
Brandon, you are right. Even though the strategies I trade make me money now, I am always working on new ones, knowing full well that the current system will fade away. I actually impose a paranoia on myself that drives me to find new ideas, feeling like my current system is about to stop working and I need something in the pipeline to replace it. I am always vigilant about becoming complacent when times are good and I realize that the market will weed out the lazy and half-hearted. So I work 50-60 hours a week, but it's a passion for me and if I didn't have a wife to pull me away from the computer, I'd probably work more. When I contrast the effort that I'm putting in with guys who work 2 hours a day and then shut it off until the next opening bell, I have to wonder about their dedication and longevity in this business.
THANKS FOR THE ADVICE. I consistently make money now. But sometimes my commissions are too high- sometimes $600-700 per day at .01/share- relative to my profits- $1500-2000 per day. I suppose it's so high since all I do is very short-term trading. As for slowly building size, Il now do scale in 1000-1200 shares, and then scale out- all day long. And I only trade NYSE. Sometimes I'll get stuck, but not too often. Good luck with your trading as well. Thanks again.
Nice column Alan. Well written. Thanks for sharing this discussion with a wider audience. And thanks for your site too which is excellent. All best wishes for trading success. It's funny but when I agreed with what Hamlet wrote that you might have read this tread I was contemplating what your nic might be at Elite and hardrightedge is what I came up with. How about that.