16 hrs days were the short ones for me and that was 6 days a week plus a few hrs on Sunday. I've watched talented guys fail and guys with little talent win because of the difference in the amount of passion, dedication and resilience they could call upon. The turtle really can win the race in this game. The tighter your control the less you need psychology as the set ups either do all that is required or you need mind control over emotions. The reality is market always extracts a price in time and $'s while you invent a wheel, but you can reduce both with mentoring. You'll find 5 Simple Keys here... http://www.elitetrader.com/vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=183183&highlight=guide+great
As a securities broker I averaged around 30% fro my clients in 2012 , I charge from $100 to $150 per trade , I trade ETFs' and good stocks , i never use stop loss orders , and always wait for for the stocks to come my way.
Figuring out I donât know shit Figuring out that to be successful at trading â means to be successful at losing Figuring out â trading is not about being a master of trading â but being a master of self Figuring out â trading is a process, wrapped in a methodology, surrounded by a routine But then truthfully, I donât much consider myself a master trader either⦠master redneck possibly, but defiantly not a master trader Heck, I canât even tell ya what price will do tomorrowâ¦, todayâ¦, or in the next 5 seconds ========================== X, I like that link Sir RN
yes, market is out of our control, we do not know what price next 5minutes/seconds/days. but we can be sure, 100% sure: in next 5seconds or 5 days or 5 weeks, there are three results: red bar, green bar, or flat. or in your betting, either lose, or win, or B/E. I know 100% sure. that is the master trader's attitude. master trader knows the results, who cares how the market runs, deliver the results: maybe I want, maybe i do not. you just take the attitude to accept the gift the market gives. there is no such thing as master self. you will never be able to master you self. just like the market,it is in God's hand. the only thing you need know is: you are human being. sometimes you stupid, sometimes you smart... you 100% know those things. accept it. think it as a gift God gives to you.
step 1: a right attitude: objective view toward the market and yourself. accept what is. clold blooded. just like cold hard facts. do not outsmart those clod hard facts. dog eats shit, though you hate it, but no matter how you hate it, you need accept "dog eats shit". if you can not, then you stop, you are not suitable for a trading career. step2: willing to adapt/change, embrace challenge. willing to give up any things, include your money. if a soilder do not risk his life, he can not be a top gun solider. the environments or the market is constantly changing: the change is the only constant. you can not sit there, study and design a beautiful trading system which is suitable for bear operation, but currently we are in BULL market, you just sit there, wait and wait, with your perfect trading idea/system, but the market never becomes a bear market. you must be willing to immediately abandom your perfect bear operation ideas/systems, quickly follow up and find bull operation ideas to catch up and advance. Evolution is the key toward advance. I think you need 2 steps. others as what symbol, what setups, ... all are superficial.
I agree. I've learned patience will get you there faster. I also like that link. I had forgotten about that one. I especially agree with the 5th point. You need to work hard and pay your dues, like sitting at home on a Saturday night and studying while your friends are out having fun, wondering why you would rather be at home. But you can't do that all of the time. This "eat breathe and shit the market" attitude is what is necessary for a while. We have all been there. Thinking about the markets 24 hours a day, reading like sponges, getting up in the middle of the night and running to your trading machine because you just had an AHA! moment, etc. But after 4,5,6,7...... years, it's time to enjoy life, regardless of your level of success.
This short term trading is a zero sum game, it is a mathematical fact that most of you will by mathematics alone lose. It doesn't matter how hard you "study." I think most people on here have a lack of respect for the quality of talent in this business and greatly underestimate what they are up against. The best way to be a non-losing trader is to work hard at your current job and provide value to others so that you can one day transcend poverty and stop thinking about the money and start trading correctly.
What is a master trader? When you make money, when you have more winning trades than losing trades? Maybe when you can live well off the trading? Is their such a thing as a master trader?
I'm not a consistently profitable trader but I have had some success in this game. Below are what helped me: - Read up on people who did well in this field: all four market wizards, reminiscences of a stock operator, heretics of finance, inside house of money, alchemy of finance, etc etc. A lot of good information there and they will surface after reading second, third, fourth time. None of these stories offer the holy grail. We are not born in their era with their abilities/personalities and their opportunities. Still I find a lot of good lessons learned. - Losing money until it hurts. Most of my lessons are learned this way. If you don't know how this is possible, don't worry about it, just take note that a lot of people have said this and the implication to you is not to put up excessive amount of capital (e.g. borrow money to invest) at the beginning because chances are you will lose quite a good chunk of it. - Develop mechanical systems. There are many natural born traders. I'm not one of them. I developed mechanical trading systems and they have helped tremendously. If you find yourself not being a natural, mechanical systems are easier option than learning to become a good discretionary trader. - Do not over-calibrate and over complicate mechnical systems. In the fundamental world, long only guys often get beat by the index. In the technical world, complex quant systems often get beat by simple moving average systems. - Don't buy a system, develop one yourself. You will never trust purchased systems as much as the one you spent time developing. This is especially true when you get into a string of losses and you will lose faith in purchased systems very quickly. - Do not monitor your P&L. Seeing my total balance updated real-time, especially when it is decreasing by each tick, seriously impacts my trading psychology. If you planned entry/exit points ahead of time, your balance should be very safe from margin calls. Yana
Me too. Never used a stop, works well with me. Always wait for the price to come back! Haven't you heard Jesse Livermore's famous saying: It's the waiting that makes money!