It wouldn't matter. If someone wants to prove trading prowess, they'll have to provide a verified chat log. In the time it takes to post a chart, much less waiting 30 minutes or an hour, one can annotate all sorts of entries and exits that he "took" in order to realize "big profits" for that day. Want to see all the perfect entries and exits I made yesterday? Easy. --Db
I think practically 100% of baseball coaches and managers were professional players, maybe they didn't all make it to the majors, but they certainly got their feet wet for 2 or 3 years in class "A" ball, then scouting, coaching, etc.
Sarasota you make my point exactly. That is exactly what I am saying. There are plenty of single A, double AA, and triple AAA players who never made it to the majors. Does that mean they can't coach a major league team.? No! Because a person here has never made a million bucks trading, do they have nothing to offer? Wow, Daniel, I had no idea that many NBA coaches had NBA experience! Easyrider, you are exactly right. Your post highlights what I think IS the beauty of the ES and the low margin requirements. For relatively little money, a person can experiment with all kinds of strategies as well as learn some of their own psychological weaknesses. Really a great point easy. I guess you guys are all making huge huge bucks in the market because you make valid points and/or knew something I didn't. See my point, some would say, and have said, that your presence here means you are not making any real money, and therefore have nothing to offer...least of all trading advice. Well I have read posts from all of you previously, and they are all good. Except for dan when he's in a cranky mood!!!
Asking a successful trader to show you in real-time that he is truly good is futile. That's like going up to a good baseball player and asking them to hit homeruns in front of you. Everyone has bad days -- but that doesn't mean they aren't overall good over the longer term. In fact, even a very bad trader could have a spectacular day -- does that mean they're a good trader? No, it just means they had a good day. If you want to see a good trader, ask to see account statements -- months of them.
Well Captain Nihab you seem to espouse not listening to other people's advise - but who are you? What are your credentials? Why should we listen to what you have to say? Perhaps you could post your successes so we know why we should HEAR you. I think its true that most really successful traders don't hang out in places like ET, but we all have to start somewhere and for those of us not too far into this game it can be useful to hear what others on the same path have to say, even if its to discover what not to do. We just have to have the discrimination to take what others say with a pinch of salt, and test it to make sure it works. Personally I've picked up some great tips on ET which are contributing to me making more and more money each day. More than anything ET is a fun place to hang out on trading days which more often than not require sitting around patiently and waiting. Its always a good laugh to hear what crap everyone has to say especially our resident 'joke brunts' like Aphie, without whom ET would be full of boring, serious people that like to make absolute statements. Indie
For those struggling, Thee Best Indicator is.... Take a look at what prevented your trade from working, and avoid those circumstances on the next trade. If u keep analyzing your trades this way u will soon be profitable.
Gladiator, Although I see a certain logic in your statement, on balance, I would have to disagree: there is always an infinite number of things that could have caused a failure, just think of the great number of potential factors involved and their permutations. Avoiding failure is not only bad psychology, but also the wrong math. Instead, we should be finding things that worked and repeat them. Better yet, find successful traders and learn from them, emulate their approaches. It's called, learn from those who have the knowledge we need. Don't forget that humans have learned from each other for thousands of years. Difficult? Yes. Impossible? No. Not even very difficult these days.
Yannis, there is always an infinite number of things that could have caused a WINNER, just think of the great number of potential factors involved and their permutations. So if u have more winners than looser's, fix the looser's. If u have more looser's than winners, guess it's faster to fix the winners. For me, i fixed my looser's.
Gladiator, We may be stuck arguing this for a long time, and we may be getting close to a religious argument of some sort here, but let me try (just once) again: What I meant is that it is far more difficult to define something by looking at what it is not, rather than trying to identify what it actually is. Bottom line, imo: I try to look for things that went right and attempt to understand and repeat them, rather than looking for things that went wrong and trying to avoid them. For example, the statement above is clear, friendly and correct while there are millions of things this statement is not
Yannis, Ok i understand what u r saying, i'm just saying if a trade "works" most traders, especially newbie's, will simply credit the entry set-up and move on. ie: a NR-7 break-out after a test of support. It worked "WOW" that's a great set-up man. I'll use that next time. Next time it fails... Figure out why it failed It wasn't the set-up ! This same set-up has worked before many times just fine! So unless u look at what prevented it from working THIS time u will learn nothing.