I would say you are about 97 % correct. Well, I take experienced traders - usually flat price directional guys in the ES, CL, 6E, that type of thing and show them a specialty. You're certainly not going to be able to pick up correct spread trading entries, modeling, construction, and testing on a website, in a forum journal, or through any singular text book that I am aware of. Try it. There's actually alot to it.
I had no real mentors at all... learned everything thru trial & error paid to the school of hard knocks. That was hands down the longest, slowest, most costly way to learn by far. What I "paid" the markets in lost money, missed opportunity and lost time would be a staggering sum if lumped together. No one masters this game without paying a high $$ price in some manner or another. Period. NAD... you have only been in this site a few months now, it is all new to you. But I recall some years back now when a newbie alias "NEAT" who called himself "neat the trading freak" was born. He came aboard, asked a lot of newbie questions, hooked up with PureTick as a mentor and actually posted about how well he did in Alex' room back in the day. Must be that mentorship worked out real well, he changed his alias and reinvented himself here inside a lengthy educational thread. His new incarnation alias was "anekdoten". So it could be said that lots of people find value in mentorships of all manner
DEFINITELY pay heed to the list over in the Educational Resources section. The trading education field is unfortunately dominated by unqualified posers and scam artists. It is regrettable that the NFA, FINRA, the CFTC, the SEC and other orgainizations have not formed a registry or at the very least published a set of standards. Check references. Speak to clients. Check the NFA website for sanctions and disciplinary action. Does the vendor have any defaults, liens, bankruptcies, felonies, misdemeanors ? Do a google search for complaints from clients and formet clients - just make sure that the person complaining was indeed a client.
Anyone who claims he never had a mentor doesn`t actually trade or a loser or fucked his mind up to make it on his own.But you`ve gotta distinguish a mentor form a bullshiter. MENTOR can point you to what IS and what Isn`t about market.You can either recognize a mentor when he points you to what ISN`T part about the market - the most important thing to know.
I'm sorry but that "I didn't have a mentor, I just figured it out all by myself" Is just big ego speaking. Do you use charts any charts at all? Then what kind of charts? Eg. if you use Japanese candlesticks your mentors are Japanese rice traders for the least! Do you use any premade indicators? Like Bollinger? Then Mr. Bollinger is your mentor. Or you only use any indicators you programmed by yourself? Or was programmed for you especially? And so on. You see?
Good post. I'd agree with all this and had a similar experience. It takes 16 hour days for a while. Think of it like becoming a doctor -- 16 hour days working as a resident. "money talks, it don't sing and dance and it dont walk....forever in blue jeans..." Good tune!
Mentors are always a good idea, but finding one is another story. If someone is making more money from mentoring than trading, you probably want to stay away from them. If you want free mentoring here is what you do. Find traders that lose money(shouldnt be hard, 19 out of 20 fail), watch them for a few weeks, then don't do what they do.
Hahah that's actually a good advice. If you can't find a mentor, just follow losers and do the opposite.