I appreciate the comments, but the Announcements thread really isn't the place for it. Education is tough here. It takes a while to figure out who knows what he's talking about and who's inflating his resume. And even those who do know what they're talking about, even the heavy=hitters, are regularly run off by the loons. ET is really no different from TMF, though there was a much greater territoriality at TMF. You would not, for example, have somebody like bubbajack butting into thread after thread, trying to make it into his own. And you wouldn't conclude so many threads with what here is an inevitable flamefest and closure (or deletion). Definitely tough to get some momentum going, such as with the trend thread I tried to start. But, like I said, the Announcements thread isn't the place for this. We'll just see how things go
Brandon, I was there at the ET chatroom each morning these past few days and saw you in action. Imo, you did very well. On top of that, you took some occassional abuse very patiently. Not having seen any other vendor do that, I think that was extraordinary. Bravo!! I know that some people are just negative all the time, and you shouldn't listen to them. Some others have a good point here and there, and you, like everyone else, could benefit from understanding their perspective. No one (human) is perfect. The bottom line for me is that you were willing to open up and show what you do for a living, even under somewhat adverse conditions. I always have a hard time going somewhere I know I am not welcome by everybody. Your results were very good and your ability to keep your cool was even better. A certain amount of humility is extremely important in this business, and you demonstrated that too. That was a good lesson for the rest of us in the room. Thanks!!
Well, Gann, put that way, I would fall in to the camp that would consider you a complete loozer. There are plenty of legal opportunities to screw people for all sorts of bucks, big and small, 'cause the law is fuzzy. For instance, when you have dinner at a restaurant, and you are far from home, why should you pay a tip? I mean they aren't going to remember you so screw 'em? They should have made it illegal and part of the bill! Or say you are selling your car...you know it has some issues with the brakes that will take $300 or so to fix. Do you mention that or just see if the sucker is smart enough to figure it out? These are tacit agreements between partners in a transaction, and by not living up to the tacit part, you are breaking the trust for a whole herd of others wishing to engage in a similar transaction. With that sort of attitude, no, I would never take the other side of your transaction. Nor would I take your business as a customer, if I were a legitimate brokerage. Nor would I issue you credit. etc, etc. Unless you were being sarcastic and then I take back the "Jerry Springer" lesson of the day presented here...
If you ask any very successful person: "How did you do it?", one of the common threads you will find is that most had and followed the steps laid out by someone who was already successful. Becoming a professional trader is no different, and in fact having a mentor can be more important because of the risks taken during the learning curve. In order to become a professional trader you need to: 1: Have a valid philosophy in place that applies in all market conditions. Its not helpful if you have to use an entirely different method every month as many claim you do. 2: Define a proper strategy or style for yourself with in the context of this philosophy. 3: A written Business Plan that covers your goals and the means by which you will achieve them. 4: Understand the psychology of mastering yourself, so you can master the market. Understanding each of these four area's is essential to your ultimate success as a trader. Most services offer 1 to 3 day seminars going over the basics and then leave you to fend for yourself. I feel this has a very limited value to traders, so I have designed something different. It starts on Saturday with a seminar like so many others. During that time you will learn what you need to know to become a successful trader. But instead of leaving you to fend for yourself I will continue to work with you in a small group (no more than 6 people) all day every single day for at least one month to ensure that you are properly applying the principles taught in the seminar and to allow you to watch as I apply them every day running the TFMS Live Trading Room and trading my own account. This will be the last seminar/mentoring package available at the current $3000 rate and I will be starting it in the next month. The seminar/mentoring comes with a one week money back guarantee, so if after the seminar and first week of live trading you are unhappy with what I'm doing, simply ask for a refund and you will get one. I will also work with you until you reach your objectives that we will set before we begin the program, if it takes a month we will be together a month, if it takes two months then we work together for two months. If you are interested in the seminar/mentoring please contact me at bastiat@mchsi.com and I will call you to discuss if the program is right for you. Brandon
Thanks. I'd like to do it again sometime with a bit more of a lead in to it happening so more people can come and see. I really do think that if people see what I do they would not be nearly as hostile as most seem to be, but a lot of people base their idea of what I do upon what they see others have done. Brandon
Nitro, yep, I can understand where you are coming from and your skepticism. Let's consider your criteria for an acceptable teacher. A certifiable , audited trading account to assure you that your chosen mentor is the real McCoy. Sadly, the qualification of personal success at day trading is no assurance whatso ever that YOU will be also successful because you listen to him/her. I was astounded to spend a day following a very good trader in a room and entered trades with him and followed his calls all day. End of day, He had 4/5 and a great bottom line for his day Me? I had a breakeven, frustrating day of trading and following his calls. How so? because trading goes far beyond the mechanics of the trade and the "perfect" entry and the right setup. You can have all those and still lose money. I know I had to learn a whole lot more about position sizing, risk management, proper stops, taking partials. equal moves, and s/r targets. It is far more mental and developing confidence levels than just following the calls of your mentor. so, to me, your most important criteria, of an audited trading account to prove he can make money, means very little to me. What I need is someone who understands the process of becoming a trader and what's involved and pointing the way so I can be involved in that process too. His trading account is no assurance that I will be success also. Previous good teachers that I have followed , taught me that already. that is what my past experience has taught me. I will be interested when you do run acrossed the teacher that meets your criteria and gives you a copy of their account, what you do next and how you do with their help. For me, it is like when Jack nickolson came out of the shrinks office, and turned to all the other patients with their own neurosis and said to the room. "What if this is as good as it gets?" I think it is, and I dont need to search anymore. I just need to get on with the process of learning to be the best trader that I can be. The tools are already here, and the market opens tomorrow. What is it going to teach you? Just a thought Woodman.
Woodman... I know the post above was intended for nitro but here's my 2 cents. First, I haven't been in the business as long as nitro has. I've been in this business struggling to get in for 4 years and 3 years in it.{Edited... actually it's 4 years in it now...} There's a difference between nitro's experience and mine. But I've seen an acceptable part of the business that can enable me to speak based on my experience. Based on the above, there's a big problem with the marketing and sales catch that the industry has to deal with. This really goes into a lot about psychology of sales but marketing and sales techniques can greatly defer the true nature of the product you're selling. I've seen "great" brokers who can literally sell anything they want to, to anyone they want to. They are that good with what they do. Also, in a sense of crudentiality. I think nitro's signature explains best. "You've gotta do size." Can you apply the specific strategy with a large contract size? As an extention, it's a difference between paper trader and "live" trader. In my opinion, there's a big difference between how paper and "live" traders trade. Paper trading is easy for a "live" trader. But take that further and look at the difference between an 1 lot trader and a 100 lot trader. It'll be the same analogy between a 1 lot and a paper trader. Another would be, the business is self-fulfilling. I'm sure Brandon has been a very positive influence and I have respect towards you and BrandonF for the result, but I feel it's you yourself that made it happen. There's a saying in Hinduism, "When 'you' are prepared to take the next step, the guru will appear in front of you". I don't believe in destiny but I think you've built up the mentality prior to meeting Brandon to consider having him as a mentor. I think you, Woodman... you've built yourself to a point to intuitively or consciously decide and put into action to take BrandonF as your mentor. Which is a very praisable as a fellow trader. This is just my 2 cents.
Brandon: Why do you put trades on in the ET chatroom and then fail to follow up on them when you lose? Example Brandonf (Jul 21, 2003 12:01:49 PM) [11:07] 11:07:37 STOCK DAY TRADE: BUY SETUP QLGC above 47.55. Stops under 47.30 nitro (Jul 21, 2003 12:03:55 PM) Brandon - you are filled QLGC Brandonf (Jul 21, 2003 12:04:31 PM) yes nitro (Jul 21, 2003 12:04:40 PM) what is the target? Brandonf (Jul 21, 2003 12:05:32 PM) 48 nitro (Jul 21, 2003 12:05:36 PM) ok And that's it. According to my charts, QLGC traded as high as 47.80 at 9:35 PST and is now at 47.00 at noon PST. Do you intentionally not follow up losing trades thinking no one is paying attention? You did the same thing last week on an NQ trade you put on which was stopped out. Are you intentionally trying to deceive people?