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What I understood from tigertrader's post is that I'm in no position to hand out advice because I'm inexperienced, and the advice I gave most likely isn't advice that would help you to profitability. What stood out the most to me was:
"The stuff that really works takes time and is hard work to uncover. That is, the methodological wrapper for inductively organizing the information gathered is accomplished through quasi-experimentation."
and
"Rational traders incorporate risk into the determination of their expectation, because their approach is reason-based, rather than driven by emotion. They are able to build positions, add to their positions, and follow the move-to-the-end. They focus on getting bigger, and size their trades to get the maximum compounded growth of their capital relative to the amount of risk they are willing to incur, and they trade the markets and use the strategies that allows them to accomplish these goals. They realize and accept that markets vary from day-to-day and even intra-day, and that it is unwise to trade the market the same way, on days that aren't alike."
I still have a ways to go. I think this post is enough to stop me from trying to help others, because trading is a very independent process. I suppose what I'm really trying to say is: take what I said with a grain of salt, if you hadn't already.
I could read your responses all day long. You are a true master with in-depth understanding of the market, trader mentality / psychology and behaviour. You know and understand our strengths and weaknesses, the root cause of our possible successes and imminent failures. You have made my decision to joining futures.io a benefit and a privilege. Thank you for sharing your knowledge, true knowledge and wisdom of the ins and outs of this magnificent game. I truly appreciate your contribution. Just reading your posts are bound to make me a better trader. I promise you that. You are a true master.
I always strive to be the dumbest person in the room (which isn't that difficult for me). If I was the smartest, I would never learn anything new, or of value.
@Fluid Fox, don't beat yourself up! I personally try to take in as much information as I can but I always filter it through the lens of what I "perceive" to be working for me, which is what I have found through live trading on my own.
You shouldn't worry, you are not going to accidently derail me or something, and I would argue that you should share your experiences. Everyone needs to have some ability to "separate the wheat from the chaffe" developed to some prerequisite level. ie. the ability to be open-minded, take what works, discard what doesn't fit your plan (or only temporarily discard certain things to come back to when they make more sense).
Its a slow Friday so I feel like rambling a bit about this notion of a holy grail.
My "grail" in my mind is kind of like an artifact splintered into many different pieces scattered far and wide across many different domains. There is a lot of ceremony I think through when not in front of the screen. I think about the vision of the end-goal. I think about where I am now. I am constantly refining the path between those two endpoints in my mind.
Doing this has led to a lot of meditating on whatever problems I am currently facing and I think one piece of the grail is enjoying this process of "becoming". Constantly keeping the subject of trading in front of you, journaling, reading. Finding an aspect of the markets that you really geek out about and following it and studying it. I love price-action to the point that I don't care if someone says it works, it doesn't work, its useless gambling, etc. because I know that when i study the spectrum of material that is called "price-action I improve as a trader. It is one piece of the (Big) puzzle that I feel good about (what is true about the market right now on the chart in front of me?) . Constantly evaluating my response to what I'm seeing on the chart, Constantly reviewing...over time I've noticed I don't have to deal with problems I used to be afraid of, that's one improvement from constant reviewing. You see your path being refined and if it is improving it creates a positive feedback loop. My development as a beginning trader has had many isolated days where some spark ignited (chart-reading from the trading sessions of Feb 27&28 earlier this year) where suddenly i started seeing in real-time all kinds of stuff I only saw in hind-sight prior to those days. If I didn't journal and constantly remember, review, revise I would forget because I didn't just flip a switch and suddenly transform, that ability all but disappeared for weeks at a time and if I hadn't written it down and sketched up charts and things I may have forgotten what it was like to be that aware. Since I remember, I've started having more and more days like that. I want to keep improving that awareness until its always presenet and I don't need to worry about "forgetting" it anymore.
The next piece of my grail that I percieve is more subtle and its kind of like "learning to perceive the differences between the feelings of different thoughts and impulses"...and creating a distance between them in your mind, so you can recognize things like impulse vs intuition, compare them side by side, think about them abstractly and gain an understanding of them. It will take more thought to write about that in a way that makes sense I think.
That's probably enough rambling for now and I'm probably going to write something the wrong way and get an earful about it but remember, this is just the way I perceive my journey and sharing it in the hope that it benefits others, not by telling them what to do to make money but by opening their ideas up, cross-pollination of ideas is a good thing.
Cheers and Happy Friday, I hope you all keep following your paths.
I was waxing nostalgic when I was reminded of one of my mentor's favorite precepts…
Not that it was anyone's business, and not that anyone really cared, but after the trading day was over, one was often asked matter-of-factly, "So how'd you do today?" Even back-in-the day (on the floor of all places) traders doled out socially acceptable responses to this very probing question. These responses were realistically based on a hierarchical assessment of one's intra-day p&l.
Ranging from bad to worse, were the losing days…
- they got me
- got killed
- at least I got my health
Ranging from good to better, were the winning days
- not a bad day
- got 'em
- had a nice week today
A gentleman never kisses and tells; and a trader does not provide full disclosure about his performance; the trader should instead exhibit humility. For those on the left, humility may be seen as political correctness by a different name, while those on the right may see it as a way of stifling free expression. However, like a poker player without a tell, one should never be able to discern if a trader had a good day or a bad one. A trader shouldn't whine, or proffer excuses on bad days; and there should be neither bragging, nor hubris tendered on the good ones.
Trading makes strange bedfellows. Individuals from disparate backgrounds with varying opinions, beliefs, and philosophies are brought together by their passion for profit. But, what should also unite them is a shared belief that humility is not only there to protect them, but is a kind of moral compass that should always remain a virtue.
I’m not sure how to say this but you sure are filling in a lot of gaps for me and I’m truly grateful. I’ve always tried to not let good days get to my head and had days affect my spirit or emotional state. This story really explains the importance of humility in trading or shall I say, in my trading life or future. Thank you for this piece. A true sparkling nugget.
Having traded for quite some years now, I can say that our BRAINS, as humans, have the ability to recognize patterns and setups that have seen in the past and form an "opinion" as to what trade to make. When such event occurs and my brain gives me the "trade", then without any hesitation I will start by placing a "Collar" position which makes known the "cost" of the trade right then and there. That "Collar" position is then adjusted as the "trade" develops. Keeping an eye on the "Options" volume and open interest further helps the "Brain" to recognize how the trade is progressing. Do I use any "indicators"? NO. I used to in the beginning, like anybody else (out of fear of the unknown and fear for my money). Some trading platforms, like the one I use from Interactive Brokers, have the ability to show with color if a price/volume/open interest is increasing (green), or decreasing (orange) from the previous value. That makes it extremely helpful for the "Brain" to make a decision as to how the "trade" is progressing. It would take someone some trading experience (of few painful years) to have one's "brain" reach that level, but eventually one will reach it hopefully still having money to continue to trade. One concept that has helped me a lot, and I have mentioned it here in past postings, is Rob Smith's "RevStrat" as he calls it. It has really made my life as a trader less painful and much more profitable. So there you have it, this is my "Holy Grail" in trading. Wishing everybody happy and profitable trading and keep looking at the price action, thus continuing your brain's training and eventually you will trade successfully.