Following a mechanical strategy isn't as easy as it sounds, especially when it starts going into a slump, where it starts to trend downward over, say, a month or two, and especially when your account is down for the year and you don't want to experience any more drawdown. You'll start saying things to yourself like, "if only I had used some discretion and avoided taking this trade, I would have avoided a $1,000 loss today."
One of the most pithy comments ever made on ET! Only logic and discipline can overcome this headwind. Success in the markets is about... Observation Analysis Deduction/Logic Discipline.. to do and to NOT do If you're weak in any area, expect to struggle or worse. You want to succeed in the markets? Think and behave as Mr. Spock would!
Greetings all. I am a timetraveller from the year 2059 and I have travelled back in time to 2009 for the express purpose of helping struggling traders gain an edge. Fire away...
wake up all there is o such thing as the mind being an anti-edge. the anti-edge is the market itself, in the form of slippage and commissions. he who control emotions and trades automated is as prone to failure as anyone else, provided both trade with the same frequency. hence, in trying to avoid the so called anti-edge, think in minimizing the costs of trading rather than anything else.
If your transaction costs are the difference between success and failure, you are "fishing in a dry hole"..