thanks, chessman. very good and interesting points. coaching and consulting in trading is only for the few who want to take their game to the next level. paul tudor jones, probably the best trader/ money manager of all time, hired a coach to help him with several issues in his trading. michael jordan, without a doubt the best bball player ever, has a coach. i guess if one is happy eeking out a living from the market, or earning 100k or whatever from a slave job--- coaches / consultants are irrelevant. however if you are at the top of your game and want to push the envelope of success--hiring an expert is the way to go. skilled and highly educated coaches like flavia are for already profitable traders / money managers looking to break into the next level. yes, if you dont have a master grasp of the basics and beyond, a coach will not be of much use. if the people making the negative comments knew the level of trader who seeks out this type of guidance, they would be quite surprised and quickly silenced. the mediocre will never understand what its like living on the edge of your capability and wanting more. happy holidays, surfer
Or, not to put too fine a point on it, anyone who questions the assertions made about "Flavia" is by definition a mediocre trader. And anything which a famous trader endorses must as a matter of course be of substantial value (just as doctors once endorsed a given brand of cigarette over another). Steve's points are well-taken. If "psychological" issues are preventing one from "going to the next level", it's unlikely that the issues themselves are the sole culprit, and believing that they are so can simply postpone the inevitable. Examining, for example, one's fear of losing money > fear of being wrong > fear of loss > fear of death blah blah may or may not be a "good thing", but it need not have anything at all to do with trading success if one has not taken the steps which steve enumerated. All the control and focus in the world isn't going to be of much effect without a plan which has a statistically significant probability of success.
while i'll agree with you that "winner take all" by wm gallacher is one of the best market books ever written, your blatant disregard for the psychological aspects of trading is disturbing. quant system ( which you seem to be advocating ) or no system-- psychology plays a critical rule. when your perfect quant system is experiencing a drawdown-- psychology is critical in regards on how to handle the situation. i can only ascertain, based on your posts, that you have never managed significant capital--either your own or others-- in a direct , final say capacity. if you did, you would understand the role psychology plays in this game. best, surfer by the way--buffett was never mentioned in any capacity in regards to this topic.
Focus... blaaahhhh... Over-focus leads to blindness... Over-focus leads to ignorant bias... Over-focus leads to neurotic confidence....
I think that if you are not a profitable trader, then a trading coach is worthless. You would need a mentor to teach you how to trade first (or learn yourself). Now if you are profitable and only desire to be the best, a trading coach would be awesome. So many people forget what they are capable of and let their own fear/greed get in the way. All top athletes now days have a performance coach. They try to find out the weak spots of a athlete (physical, mental, etc.) and help them break through plateau's and barrier's. As a former top athlete myself, I had many mental stops similar to trading. If trying to beat a course record (without competition), it would take lots of focusing to try and keep a great pace and proper time splits. Man was created in God's image, but we also have the weakness of flesh. If you can conquer that weakness then you have no limits.-
... Leo Melamed used to say that you were either a trader or you were not. He meant that some people can handle trading and some just dont have the personality etc. to excel in the business. Over time I have come to agree with this position. I have watched legions of so-called "Traders Coaches" do nothing more than extract dollars from their clients for services that really are based on common-sense. IMHO if you need a traders coach to be a good trader then you dont have the stuff necessary to make it in this business.
steve cohen, from SAC, manages 4 billion dollars and works with a trading coach. as i said earlier, coaches are only for those who want to excell, all others need not apply. enjoy your weekend ! surfer
How come coaches still find time to moonlight outside their own trading? enjoy your weekend ! nononsense