Hi guys,

New poll contributed by @Zachary Standley, please vote & discuss:

What are you best at as a trader?

• Trade selectivity and context 31% (115 votes)
• Cutting losers quickly 18% (67 votes)
• Letting trades develop/run 13% (51 votes)
• Execution 13% (48 votes)
• Trade management 11% (42 votes)
• Research and Reports 9% (36 votes)
• Something else (discuss) 5% (20 votes)

Total votes: 379

Discuss Poll

 

Mike

I took the options straight from Zach more or less. But, I would personally add something like "Research and Performance Reports" because I feel it is one of the most critical areas of trading. I have mountains of databases and spreadsheets that help me track these areas, and it is super important to me.

Mike

OK, I added that...

Mike

@Big Mike, good poll.

It doesn't have a button to "Discuss" and go to the thread. Need that, I think.

Bob.

I selected Selection and Context and Cutting losers. I'm OK there most of the time.

I'm lousy at the rest of trade management and frankly, all the others.... Would be a minus number if we were rating them.

Goals for improvement.

Bob.

bobwest 

@Big Mike, good poll. It doesn't have a button to "Discuss" and go to the thread. Need that, I think. Bob.

Good catch, thank you. Will update in about 30 minutes.

Mike

I am the best at knowing I'm not the best at anything...meaning that every area of my business can be improved upon at all times. That will stop being true when I have all the money in the world...lol. Seriously though, if I start to accept proficiency in any area I stop developing, learning and getting better in that area.

If I break it down in to little increments it is amazing how much and how fast I can advance. The trick sometimes is balance. For example, is it ridiculous to think I can get 1% better each day? Say that 1% is make one more tick than the previous day. If that "goal" represented the cumulative improvement across those numbered choices, how would my life be different a year from now?

-Dan

I chose Execution as my strongest trading attribute. Just setting an automated strategy and letting run and not interfering... that is tough to do, though I find it easier than manual entries. I rarely will hit a discretionary trade, and I'm not too good at executing those.

Like @wldman, I don't consider myself the best at anything in the trading arena. I know where I am strong and weak, and I am always learning or relearning. Learning is where I am strongest, which is not the same as research to me. Every day I am finding more and more how much I don't know.

Thanks @Zachary Standley for the great poll idea!

~vmodus

I selected the other options

I for one don't think I am the best at any of those options and honestly I don't want to be the best at a single one. I try to be good at all of those.

I try to improve each day and some days I do focus a little more on one area then another but I think it is better to focus on one area at a time and then put it all together. EX: I am currently working on closing trades by hand and more pre market research. Since the new year has started I now do about an hour of pre market prep before I would do about 10-15 mins, this prep has helped a lot so far.

Second is the closing trades by hand, this is something I have always struggled with as I have a hard time determining when I need to let the winners run and when to cut the losers. Like today I cut a winner 20 ticks short of my T/P level because it failed to break the level for the third time and it was a major res level... know what happened next? It shot up hit my would be t/p then completely reversed, so I look at it as a win. ( now its trading under my entry)

When it comes to trading I would rather be pretty good at a basket of items then be AMAZING at one and suck at the rest. Trading is like a multi pronged attack, if one of the attackers fails then it all falls apart no matter how good the "last" guy is.

-P