Your points are well taken and I truly do appreciate the art of the trade. There is satisfaction that comes from gauging the market correctly, or working a loss into a win. But given a method that takes advantage of small pops in the market, well it is worth the try anyway. Heck, if the market is going to move, I might as well make some money as a result of it. Besides nitro, I am so bored sitting around with my positions all day, I need something to do. C'mon man. The thing works. Well, of course fumble fingers here hasn't tried to enter it yet, but I have Bracket Trader working and Quah wrote a nice Excel program. Gee whiz...a guy wants to have a little fun and Mr Grumpus has to come along..
My "proprietary pairs trading system" is not anything I could program into a computer - How long will it work - FOREVER because it is fundamentally the way the market works and CANNOT be arbed out. I am not the only pairs trader out there, and if all there was to my making money was my "pairs trading system" I would be in deep shit like many pairs traders have been in the past when everyone got in the game and arbed the way they were doing it out. Yes, there are alot of websites out there for pairs traders. You are making my point exactly In, IT IS NOT THE SYSTEM THAT MAKES A TRADER GREAT, IT IS THE TRADER THAT MAKES A SYSTEM GREAT. nitro
Nitro, Just out of curiosity, If my trading does not conform to your above definition of what it is to be a "real" trader -- then am I a fake trader
If a trader makes money, is satisfied with his or her progress and finds a method that is enjoyable to trade, then who cares how that person goes about doing it? Quah has something that works so far. Is anyone familiar with Murphy's Law? If your system is working, the time to fix it would not be when it is successful. ET's Whipping Child
Nitro, After trading for 6 years, I've come to know my strengths and weaknesses, and I know that I need a framework from which to trade. That's one reason I like systems, or at the very least a systematic approach. It limits the damaging effects of fear and greed on my trading. If I make money, I don't attribute it to my great trading ability, I just attribute it to the market doing its thing - moving. The market will never arb out movement, and as long as the market moves I'll be there observing how it moves, and looking for an edge. I will build a system from that data to give me my framework, and I'll trade off that framework to stop me overthinking my trades. Otherwise, I would just think the market to death. Plus I haven't daytraded in ages, so I merely offered the suggested entry setup out of curiosity more than anything else. Just to see if my thinking was accurate. Runningbear
If your computer is programed to take all the actions, and all you are is a monkey pressing the yes or no buttons, YOU ARE NOT A TRADER. If the computer is used to draw ATTENTION to a particular situation, and you are the one that has to decide the entry, the size, etc, etc., you are trading. I have no idea whether you are a trader or not - post what you do and I will tell you if you are or not. nitro
imo, there will always be opportunities. if many people are trading one way, they're also creating opportunities for another system. so yes, i would say the market always changes, but as it changes, new opportunities will also arise.