System longengevity? How long can a decent system last on average?

Discussion in 'Strategy Building' started by mdl060374, Nov 20, 2003.

  1. Yes I think it was from Teresa Lo that I first saw trades explained like this. I seem to recall that you spent some time in her chat room, did you find her chat room helpful?
     
    #31     Nov 23, 2003
  2. dbphoenix

    dbphoenix

    Yes and no. It was helpful for the time, but Teresa's approach wasn't broad enough, and when volatility fell and ranges contracted, her retracement strategy just didn't cut it. And her prejudice against breakout strategies affected me too much (my fault). And I wound up spending a great deal of time (over a year) experimenting with this and that, with nearly every path a dead-end.

    I agree with her position (don't remember where she got it from) that all trades fall into one of those three categories. That clarified a great deal, revealing all "new" approaches as just a variation on the same old same old. She also stressed original-source material, like Dunnigan (an extraordinary amount of what you read these days is plagiarized), as well as the importance of planning and discipline.

    But what I wish she had done was encourage students to develop strategies for all these contingencies. I imagine all gurus/traders have a favorite approach and naturally tend to stress that approach when working with somebody else. But if I had known more about reversal and breakout strategies a year ago, I probably would not have had to spend so much time figuring it out for myself. OTOH, figuring it out for myself means that I know it in a more fundamental way than if I had just read about it somewhere.

    Having over-answered your question, I have no idea what she's doing these days, but I found her to be a far better trader at the time than anyone else I've observed since.
     
    #32     Nov 23, 2003
  3. nkhoi

    nkhoi

    #33     Nov 23, 2003