Fair enough. But remember, you came up with the criteria that determines that bias. And when you enter a trade based on your predetermined criteria, you are ipso facto exhibiting a bias based on the market's action. But, hey, we're just playing with words at this point. We see eye to eye.
Its ok that you dont "get it", I have been daytrading for 7+ years now and have made low six figures every year since 2001. I may not be the best trader out there (I am not ), but my own steadyness has proven to me that I know something of what I speak. PS "End of story" seems close minded. Open up, you'll be suprised at the stuff you didnt see before.
As cocaine says "you don't get it." You first paragraph has absolutely zero content that applies to many trading systems whether manual or ATS. Specifically. I am in the market all of the time. I continually perform a series of tests that give me a set of binary answers. One of the elements of each set is a question that is answered always in the affirmative. It is: are my contracts on the right side of the market? That is, am I on the same side as the minority which is causing price change in my favor? There is no predicting involved. I am not hoping or anything like hoping ever at any time. I have zero expectations when I am trading. I must be on the right side of the market at all times and that is one of few very important considerations. You do not get this about trading. What is required to trade is to know what is going on and to know that you know. you are betting and probability oriented and that is not in any way related to making money. It is not a factor for making money. Betting and using probability are unecessary in trading. Here is an example. Consider price movement. Try to think up how many directions in which price can move. It is a small mumber. the number is so small that if price is observed in the present as moving in one direction, you know for certain that is is not moving in the only other possible direction. This kind of certainty is the gift of the markets to traders. People do NOT determine market direction; it is given by the market to a person. The person accepts it as time passes and acts accordingly. Your second paragraph expresses a kind of forcefulness and intensity. There is no intensity nor "forcing of anything" to be making money all the time during RMH's or RTH's. At all times it is just a matter of fact what the market is doing and secondly what the capacity of the market has to do what it is doing. Capacitiy is not force. I have a neutral bias so does the ATS that I use. People tune their trading systems to a neutral bias as part of an optimization process. Making money is a neutrally oriented enterprise. To be systematic about making money requires that a person not be like you are and what you believe. your beliefs are not helpful for making money. They interfear as a a matter of fact and that has been well proven through simple statistially significant testing procedures of very skilled (with respect to their paradigm) and highly paid mediocre traders. The market dictates how money may be made at any instant of time. A trader stays neutrally bias to be able to hear what he is being told and what he is being told to do. Anyone who is otherwise biased or taking personal control to determine his bias is screwing up. You are being told this repeatedly and you even post threads to ill inform others in educational locations. It is a damn shame that these initiatives on your part can continue. finally, your second paragraph imparts a falsehood of prime consideration. It is a major major mistake to ever trade using as a reference yourself. You are not important. The market is the only important thing to traders. Using an entry price and direction as the standard against which to measure is a cardinal sin of the stupid trader. the one and only reference in the present (where all trading takes place) is the market and what it is dictating to the trader. One never bases any trading activity in any way whatsoever on a market position. For trading there are two basic requirements that a traders has to meet at all times: He must maintain a nuetrla bias in order to be instructed by the market which is always correct at any time. Second, he may not kill the liquidity of the market by violating the capacity of the market at any time. you do not have to worry about that since you do not have that capability nor will you ever. personally I make it a rule to NOT trade any more than 10% of the cummulative volume being dictated to me by the market on any day during RTH's. Your comments are totally off the mark and you are now obligated to bear their consequences permanently. There is no way you, at this point can recover mentally from what you, by your choice, have visited upon yourself.
Personally I think Jack and Cocaine are dead right on this issue. You just have to remain neutral until instructed to do something by the market. Every morning I sit down, turn on my computer and have NO CLUE what the market is going to do. I know there will be some up moves, some down moves, maybe some sideways action (that we all love!) but I really have no idea as to the when, or how or how far or whatever. So I sit, neutral and observe, and as stuff plays out, I see reasons to be in the market. Thats when I take action. Solely dictated by the larger force, and nothing to do with what I want it to do. I used to try and predict movement, probably like almost everyone else who has ever set out to trade but I have learned that this is by far the lesser way to approach things. Since I have no control over the market, why try and enforce my opinions to what should happen? I know that this just doesnt work with the consistency that I would like. So instead, I just focus on understanding how the market moves, and its really cool how things start to make sense. The feeling of lightbulbs going off or epiphanies or whatever you want to call them is really something special.
how could you possibly make money in a completely random market? I dont understand how? please explain the concept of any trading system that you think could pull this off....... once you factor in commission you are dead in the water on a completely random market