"How many pages do you think would be left if you tore out the MATLAB code and the cut-outs from his free blog? I'd rather have paid $4.95 for one month instead of overly paying for the book, and I recommend everyone else do so." I agree, I bought the book after reading this thread: http://www.elitetrader.com/vb/showthread.php?threadid=160969&perpage=6&pagenumber=1 Total waste of money
travis, you lost me when you said out of 33 systems you had 25 that were profitable. it took me 4+ years to develop a single automated system that makes consistent $ (sample size of 9000 real$ trades) .. & here you are saying you've got 25 of 'em. in any case, it sounds like you've got it all figured out, so what is there to say? keep doing your thing
As my automated trading keeps on producing money, the same question keeps on popping up in my mind: how can it be possible? How can I, from home, with my very limited means, limited knowledge, limited capital, make money, pretty consistently, and without doing anything? I am sure there are plenty of people here who are doing the same thing, and there must be some of them who have asked themselves the same question. I have worked at it for 10 years. During all these years, despite what others around me were saying, I thought I would ultimately make it and find a way to make money trading. Yet now that it's happening I still wonder, often - how can it be possible? What's the answer? Tell me. ___________________________________________________ Travis, Let me give you an musical analogy. One can be a very good composer/songwriter without being the best at playing an instrument. Beethoven wasn't the best pianist, and Lennon/McCartney were not the best guitarists out there. All you need is some know how on music theory, write notes and have an average capacity at playing an instrument. The rest is your own creativity, and the amount of hours you are willing to put into your work. I see developing models as very much the same thing. You don't have to be the best trader, but you have to have a notion on charts, some technicals and where to look. Then you don't have to be the best programmer, basic knowledge will be enough. The rest is your own creativity, which in this case is what you pick up when you look at charts and how you process the information gained. And by the way, I've never heard a composer asking himself "how is this possible?" after he has written a string of hits. This shows a certain humility about how you go about things, which I believe is a big, big plus when doing what we do. Cheers Max
Thanks, I understand what you are saying. Also, your post is quite poetic - that's how I wanted this thread to be: poetic, psychological, and so on. I am glad that some of us still managed to remember the original question and, despite the negative posts, to speak their minds sincerely.
Get a room. I see the original post as passively pompous, self-congratulatory and attention seeking -- anything but humble.
The thread was dying so I will answer even a hostile remark to revive it, but I will put you back into my ignore list afterwards. You say I am not modest. I am sorry if I disgusted people by "self-glorifying" - I would rather say that I am conscious of my efforts and achievements. The truth is that I have been paying compliments to myself for a while about this system I've been building, since nobody else would. I had to do it, to keep myself working. Also, I came here from time to time to get some advice and support. I think that if I felt content, I wouldn't have posted. Just like others wouldn't interfere with this thread if they felt content. On the other hand, if you set out to build a money-making machine, a machine that turns historical data into money, you can't be that modest to begin with. I mean, you can't be thinking "I am just as good as everyone else" or else you would be one of those guys saying "if it were possible, then everyone would do it, so it can't be possible". So, instead, what I thought was "I am better, so I must find a way to do it". When I say "better", of course I don't mean better than that scientist, your fellow ignore list member, who told me "you need to FOCUS" (thanks, you changed my life) - I just mean better than average people.
Since you "know" you will make 10 pts in the S&P, why don't you trade all day? oh, you just answered that: "that's what I've done for 7 years."