You've got to have the right mindset to trade profitably day after day, and come out with a winning record, even when market conditions change. Some of the traders as profiled in the Innerworth Master Interview series are former college or professional athletes who see a connection between trading and sports. For example, Scott Shellady, a Chicago-based trader and former University of Colorado Buffaloes football player says, "a lot of this relates to athletics. You have to analyze what you're doing wrong. Sometimes it can be the market and sometimes it can just be a little bit of bad luck, but at the end of the day, you have to take each day separately, and try to steer clear of sticking them all together and saying, 'Boy, I've really stunk in the last 10 days.'" Andy Bushak, a former Cleveland Browns' linebacker equates trading to preparing for a football game: "The whole week you watch game films of the other team. You look for tendencies. You practice. When it comes to game time, you don't have to think. You have to react. Trading works the same way." Christopher Tate, a trader based in Australia, sees trading as analogous to surfing. "You don't know when the next wave will come, but you know one will come eventually. When the right wave comes along, you need to be ready to ride it, take advantage of it, and make a win." What all of these traders know is that stock analysis alone will not make one a winning trader. One must be ready physically and mentally to be a winner. Andy Bushak, who offers seminars to traders through Advanced GET, has noticed that former athletes tend to make good traders. It's probably because they are used to sticking to a game plan, recovering from setbacks easily, and are comfortable acting on their perceptions. They don't second-guess their decisions and actions. Instead, they get some key support and resistance levels, come up with a plan, and go into the markets to see what patterns and setups are consistent with that plan. When they see a setup that will work with their plan, they act decisively, without hesitation or doubt. Since they have protection of their capital through proper risk management, they are not worried if they make a mistake. They can recover quickly and take advantage of the next opportunity, or "ride the next good wave," to use Christopher Tate's surfing analogy. It's useful to think about how trading is similar to playing a sport. Considering these similarities and applying them to your trading style may help you improve your trading performance.
i just heard bob bright say on the radio now is the best time for trading stocks in a long time. i guess i had better pay attention. http://www.kfnn.com/listen.asp
Ok, now I know where I am losing you. I am female and thrive on change. Drives men nuts. I have been trying to devise a system that changes with the market that I prefer to trade which is ES or NQ. I do not want to spend a lot of time researching stocks like I used to. I just want to get up in the morning and trade and have a life. I had a couple of really good days, so I am happy about it. And I think I found what helps. I change one of my moving averages to the pace of the market. 5,15,195 or 5,30,195 or 5,45,195 on a one minute chart. Get in right at the cross. Vinigar gave me the idea to look at volume instead of stochastics. Which was very helpful to me. I also change the pace of the trades. In a choppy market, I do not let anything run. Less than 4 minutes I am out with whatever I can get. In a market with longer cycles, I would be in 30 minutes or more. I look for slim jims and sit them out until breakouts. I look for candle patterns that tend to reoccur at tops of waves. I am not a guru by any means. I just think I have found a way to trade this market and make money. It is really simple, but totally discretionary.
No, we don't. We let anything that is not big or well-connected fail. LTCM, anyone? Airlines are our current day example. They're getting a 3bln bail out package following a 15 bln bail out package following September 11th. The 3 bln isn't going to do anything, it is just throwing good money after bad. We'd have a much stronger airline industy if we made ineffecient companies like UAL and AMR get their houses in order or die. JBLU or SW would pick up the slack. Ik
Though I don't use indicators, I agree with what you're saying, and I'm glad you've found something that will work for at least a little while. This amplification of your original post is helpful considering that this thread is at least in part a discussion of the advantages of futures. It should be clear now to interested beginners that there's more to it than scalping one or two points all day long and that it does take more than 2k to trade even one contract, even if one is careful. --Db
To be able to scalp, you need a flexible vehicle. I used to use QQQ as there is no downtick rule there either. I am taking advantage of natural cycles in the marketplace with the MAs....just makes it easier to see for me. What kind of chart do you use Db? No indicators?
db....I am a newbie at this...just have been on a subscription chat room for 2 1/2 months now. I was just observing that good money is being made every day. If you want to know, I haven't made diddly because i've had about 2 months to observe the strategy and the last few weeks i've had triggeritis attempting to switch over to real trading!! So, I have my own problems to work out But to say that stock trading is getting worse, and that to 'look for traders to all but quit trading equities' is laughable! Maybe its a relativity thing...I wasn't around last year or the years before that I think everyone should find their own way of making money. If people think the markets are too hard, maybe they are in the wrong market. My personal observation of nasdaq stocks (qlgc, klac, ebay, et al..) are that people next to me are making them into ATMs each and every day. Kinda frustrating, but hopefully I'll join them in their consistency some day...I won't stop until I get there!!!