Intuition and feel doesn't equal guessing and gambling.
After watching/trading x amount of markets there are times that I open/close a trade based upon no solid reasoning but I am ve+ on those decisions.
I can't rationalise the markets and make it fit into a formula. As traders are we trying to conquer the market or be profitable in the long term?
Scalping - Momentum, Reinforcement and Speed
The markets can't be conquered, but they exhibit recurring patterns which can be explained.
To be profitable over the long-term, you need to exploit a recurring market inefficiency (whether or not you are consciously aware of that inefficiency).
Doubtless, there will be some traders who have found a method that works, without knowing why it works. Maybe their gut takes them down the right path, but whether that's an advisable route for someone not at that stage to go down is another matter. 'Trading without a plan' can easily become 'trading from the seat of one's pants'...
Jeff
To be profitable over the long-term, you need to exploit a recurring market inefficiency (whether or not you are consciously aware of that inefficiency).
Doubtless, there will be some traders who have found a method that works, without knowing why it works. Maybe their gut takes them down the right path, but whether that's an advisable route for someone not at that stage to go down is another matter. 'Trading without a plan' can easily become 'trading from the seat of one's pants'...
Jeff
Golfer wrote: I can't rationalise the markets and make it fit into a formula. As traders are we trying to conquer the market or be profitable in the long term?
Peter. I take the view that novices have little or no experience of "trading" and quite often come from a gambling background. As such I do think it’s the wrong advice to advocate jumping into markets that they patently do not understand and where patterns of movement are not easily explained. For an experienced trader who fully understands the movement of odds the risk factor is greatly reduced but a novice will simply be guessing and compounding errors with mistakes or bad practise, such as going in play.Euler wrote:I'm always surprised when people say that, as I've always found scalping one of the simplest things to explain. I can easily frame an objective with scalping and what you need to do, when and how.James1st wrote:As I have posted before, I agree with Jaybee that "scalping" in the pre race markets is an almost impossible task and not one that novice traders should attempt.
Where would you recommend people start?
If a novice were to start with Soccer trading, he wouldn't be long in finding out that every match has a similar "pattern" and that the "interrupts" to that pattern are caused by an overt public event ie a goal being scored. Similarly in Tennis, one opponent scoring points against another and breaking the serve will cause interrupts to what would normally be a straight line chart, as it is in Soccer with no goals. Chart patterns and noise are easily understood in these markets.
Imagine a novice being trained to trade such events and then at some stage being told that he can no longer look at the score or watch the event whilst he trades. The fact that his line of sight of "significant events" is removed and would have to be replaced with an "assumption" that an event has happened when he saw the chart pattern change. We only watch events we trade in order to understand the market dynamics and to predict or make use of events that are real, logical and how those events affect the trading pattern.
Trading the pre race markets we are not aware of the "events" that happen behind the scenes and which cause a drift to turn into a steamer. So we have to assume blindly that some abstract event occurred and that event altered the current pattern. Some events that can be imagined eg a horse sweating, a bookie reducing his liability etc exist in reality but a trader of pre race markets will be unaware (nor should he care) of the actual event that mitigated the change in direction.
For this reason a novice trader needs to understand that pre race trading may look very similar to trading Soccer, Rugby or Tennis but in pre race trading the resulting patterns caused by external events may or may not be apparent to him at the time. It takes a long time to comprehend why the pre race markets move the way they do and trading “blind” is a whole lot easier to understand in overt event driven markets. In my opinion they are easier markets to trade for a novice who wants to learn how to trade.
Jeff, I didn't mean to confuse intuition for gambler's hunch. I genuinely meant the ability to sense the dynamics of market movement. I understand where it may overlap with guesswork (especially with novices) but for traders like you and I that have been at this game for a while (leaving profitability aside for now) it's more a case of recognizing these market movements from earlier experiences, and getting a feel for them.
For example, the charts/images I post in 'Chart of the Day', 'Spotting Money Patterns', 'The Art of Misdirection' threads are glaring market patterns that have come to my attention. At first I observe them from my conscious mind. But the more I trade the markets I begin to instinctively recognize a familiar chart/pattern/trade setup, or sense what might be coming.
One other thing I should point out is that despite what you might find in books written by Mark Douglas or Linda Raschke, I don't have a written Trading Plan and I don't like the idea of sticking to something rigid.
Please don't mistake this for laziness.
I have essential notes, charts, videos, basic strategies, checklists, to-do's, list of recurring mistakes, and well documented advice from pro-traders. I treasure these. Everything else matters not.
From hereon, I just practice, practice, & practice the same basic strategy, but using it as a guideline and not as a Rule.
I don't stick to any rule, or trading plan, or staking method - quite flexible in what and how I choose to do based on what I see. Again, not to be mistaken from a gambler's approach but rather that of an open-minded trader. Once you know the basics why limit yourself.
For example, I once successfully Lay scalped a heavy odds-on steamer at Caulfield for quite a few ticks. I broke some of the Rules of Scalping right there and still managed a decent green. Of course I was stupid enough not to see the steamroller coming my way
but if I were rigidly following a Trading Plan I would've never realized what I just did was actually possible. And I recorded the trade on video to remind myself when it works and when it doesn't.
Please excuse me if I diverge from this topic a bit to illustrate how I think about trading:
For any Classical music lovers on this forum you'll understand this better if you've ever played a musical instrument. Anyone can pick up a violin and play the notes of Beethoven's violin concerto in D Major, but not anyone can play the music - and that's a huge difference.
Wait till the concerto arrives at the cadenza, that'll separate one's that can simply play notes vs those that can play music.
When performing on stage, the soloist has to suspend all technicalities involved with playing the notes and switch to playing with 'feel' - the audience will recognize this immediately.
I think Pre-off trading is quite similar - once I know the basic techniques/patterns the rest is feel and play. This to me is trading from intuition!
A book on trading strategies will show you how a strategy works, but then it is up to the trader to make something out of it - and a lot of times it will depend on how the trader senses when the strategy will work or not, the book can't teach this. This is something I'm realizing for myself as I watch my own videos looking for mistakes.
I'm not qualified or proven enough to advice, hence most of the charts, videos, notes & comments I post on this forum are simply those of a trader on sharing his experiences and thinking style openly.
For example, the charts/images I post in 'Chart of the Day', 'Spotting Money Patterns', 'The Art of Misdirection' threads are glaring market patterns that have come to my attention. At first I observe them from my conscious mind. But the more I trade the markets I begin to instinctively recognize a familiar chart/pattern/trade setup, or sense what might be coming.
One other thing I should point out is that despite what you might find in books written by Mark Douglas or Linda Raschke, I don't have a written Trading Plan and I don't like the idea of sticking to something rigid.
Please don't mistake this for laziness.
I have essential notes, charts, videos, basic strategies, checklists, to-do's, list of recurring mistakes, and well documented advice from pro-traders. I treasure these. Everything else matters not.
From hereon, I just practice, practice, & practice the same basic strategy, but using it as a guideline and not as a Rule.
I don't stick to any rule, or trading plan, or staking method - quite flexible in what and how I choose to do based on what I see. Again, not to be mistaken from a gambler's approach but rather that of an open-minded trader. Once you know the basics why limit yourself.
For example, I once successfully Lay scalped a heavy odds-on steamer at Caulfield for quite a few ticks. I broke some of the Rules of Scalping right there and still managed a decent green. Of course I was stupid enough not to see the steamroller coming my way
but if I were rigidly following a Trading Plan I would've never realized what I just did was actually possible. And I recorded the trade on video to remind myself when it works and when it doesn't.viewtopic.php?f=5&t=7685&p=62004&hilit= ... ing#p62004Euler wrote:A market doesn't have to be rock solid to scalp it. So it's wrong to think that because a market moves up or down 5-10 ticks that you can't scalp it, it's a skill thing.
Please excuse me if I diverge from this topic a bit to illustrate how I think about trading:
For any Classical music lovers on this forum you'll understand this better if you've ever played a musical instrument. Anyone can pick up a violin and play the notes of Beethoven's violin concerto in D Major, but not anyone can play the music - and that's a huge difference.
Wait till the concerto arrives at the cadenza, that'll separate one's that can simply play notes vs those that can play music.
When performing on stage, the soloist has to suspend all technicalities involved with playing the notes and switch to playing with 'feel' - the audience will recognize this immediately.
I think Pre-off trading is quite similar - once I know the basic techniques/patterns the rest is feel and play. This to me is trading from intuition!
A book on trading strategies will show you how a strategy works, but then it is up to the trader to make something out of it - and a lot of times it will depend on how the trader senses when the strategy will work or not, the book can't teach this. This is something I'm realizing for myself as I watch my own videos looking for mistakes.
I'm not qualified or proven enough to advice, hence most of the charts, videos, notes & comments I post on this forum are simply those of a trader on sharing his experiences and thinking style openly.
There's a spreadsheet in this forum that will enter trades for you at random with a pre-set stop and offset. If you use that spreadsheet, you will lose next to no money over thousands of trades; your loss will be something like 0.1% of your turnover.Zenyatta wrote:Generally, the smaller the number of ticks I shoot for, the worse it gets for me. Trying to scalp, I may as well be burning money.
Doing the same thing, but in stable markets, and offering to the queue both when opening and closing your trade, might just prove profitable. You certainly won't lose much money. Give it a try!
Jeff
Your choice, but that raises the question of what burned you.
My guess is that it wasn't one tick scalping using sensible stakes and an uber-tight stop in flat markets.
In fact, I'd guess that it was the 'averaging down' of which you have previously spoken so fondly that burned you.
Jeff
My guess is that it wasn't one tick scalping using sensible stakes and an uber-tight stop in flat markets.
In fact, I'd guess that it was the 'averaging down' of which you have previously spoken so fondly that burned you.
Jeff
Zenyatta wrote: Not a chance. Hundred times burned, hundred times shy.
The only reason scalpers want to engage me in their silly games is that they know full-well they wouldn't last 5 seconds in a real tipping contest against me. Their only resort is to try and rope me into their dumb game where they try to trick me into accepting a bad price, then push the price against me to try to force me into the stop-loss scam. I'm not interested in playing those games.
Last edited by Zenyatta on Thu Sep 26, 2013 4:22 am, edited 1 time in total.
The problem with responding to particular patterns in the market is that the market is good eliminating inefficiencies, so what works today may not work tomorrow. Also, it's easy to be fooled by randomness and psychological biases, and over-generalize from the particular.switesh wrote:But the more I trade the markets I begin to instinctively recognize a familiar chart/pattern/trade setup, or sense what might be coming.
Might it perhaps be better to simply respond to the market rather than predict it?
I've never regarded you as lazy.switesh wrote:I don't have a written Trading Plan and I don't like the idea of sticking to something rigid.
Please don't mistake this for laziness.
Do you look critically at your assumptions? For every expert that says one thing, there's generally an equal expert that says the opposite, so it's best to check, check and check again your assumptions (within reason!).switesh wrote:I have essential notes, charts, videos, basic strategies, checklists, to-do's, list of recurring mistakes, and well documented advice from pro-traders. I treasure these. Everything else matters not.
Do you find you are now making an overall profit (or at least reducing your loss)?switesh wrote:From hereon, I just practice, practice, & practice the same basic strategy, but using it as a guideline and not as a Rule.
Catching a falling knife is not an entirely risk-free strategy.switesh wrote:For example, I once successfully Lay scalped a heavy odds-on steamer at Caulfield for quite a few ticks.
Interesting analogy.switesh wrote: When performing on stage, the soloist has to suspend all technicalities involved with playing the notes and switch to playing with 'feel' - the audience will recognize this immediately.
I would draw an analogy with chess. You can play with flair if you like, but ultimately you are playing a game of applied logic, and what matters is how effective your moves are, not how aesthetically pleasing they are.
I disagree. Does the fact that there are consistently profitable bots not suggest that it is possible to make money using a purely mechanical approach?switesh wrote:A book on trading strategies will show you how a strategy works, but then it is up to the trader to make something out of it - and a lot of times it will depend on how the trader senses when the strategy will work or not, the book can't teach this.
Jeff
At the end of the day you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink!
I'm sort of resigned to the fact that no matter what evidence or knowledge you have contrary to somebodies position, people rarely change their mind. Preferring to justify their position and anything that re-enforces it. But one thing I've learned, the hard way, is that you have to have an open mind all fronts.
If you know that somebody else is doing something that you think is impossible, what are they doing, have you got some fundamental element of your supposition wrong?
Jaybee says that the chance of a successful scalp is 50% because movements is random and unpredictable and therefore speed is of the essence. But if I plucked a complete novice off the street today I reckon I could get them a strike rate way above 50% with just some simple instructions.
So am I fibbing, or was that 50% strike rate not thought through?
I'm sort of resigned to the fact that no matter what evidence or knowledge you have contrary to somebodies position, people rarely change their mind. Preferring to justify their position and anything that re-enforces it. But one thing I've learned, the hard way, is that you have to have an open mind all fronts.
If you know that somebody else is doing something that you think is impossible, what are they doing, have you got some fundamental element of your supposition wrong?
Jaybee says that the chance of a successful scalp is 50% because movements is random and unpredictable and therefore speed is of the essence. But if I plucked a complete novice off the street today I reckon I could get them a strike rate way above 50% with just some simple instructions.
So am I fibbing, or was that 50% strike rate not thought through?
Sorry, I know this thread is about scalping, but I'm going to diverge a bit.
Don't take this the wrong way Jeff for I mean it with honest intention even if it sounds critical. I'm critical of myself to the same degree so this from one trader to another, nothing personal.
Any serious trader will have to face critics, for me I'm my worst critic. The best advice I've gotten on this forum is usually in the form of constructive criticism from James1st, Mugsgame, & Euler, including one snippet from yourself about "public self-flagellation" that I've never forgotten.
I document all of them. I took the positive from it and moved on.
Reading your posts I get the idea that you're reading lot of books & articles about trading, rather than actively trading itself.
You've also talked about random trading, and offered many suggestions to other traders (including a few to me about cutting losses, letting profits run etc) but have not shown any proof of having practiced any of it yourself.
Now I find you asking questions about strategies, PL's and what not, and I wonder how did you get the title "Archangel Professional"?
There are few other traders here with the title "Archangel Professional" that I'd frankly like to question just as critically. Not out disrespect, just out of curiosity to know if they're worth their salt.
Euler was right when he said that there's so much advice offered on the forum that it's a bit muddy.
Also, like you said earlier Jeff, for every advice offered by someone there's a contradictory advice offered by another person.
For me personally, it's more about what the person is worth, because that lends weight to what his advice is worth. And therefore it's no surprise that I throw more in the trash-can than I document in my diary.
I'm not debasing you, just putting you up for the challenge.
Forget about market efficiency, mathematics, bots, manipulators, doomsayers, etc. etc... and the garbage you read in Mark & Linda's books for the time being.
We're here to seize the Opportunity not to validate theories.
I don't care if the glass is half-full, half-empty, licked by the dog, spat by the cat, shat by the sparrow - I'm thirsty and I'm drinkin' it!
Just put in the needed 4-5 hrs of trading practice every day and hang on tight. That's what I've been doing for quite a while now. Occasionally I take a few days off to review videos and 1 day to rest, but other than that never a day thrown to laziness.
I don't care if what works today doesn't work tomorrow. There's no guarantee in life, why should there be in trading. I'll be sticking to and learning from people that ride the tide and prove themselves, in hope that some of what they have will rub off on me.
BTW, I'll drag Zenyatta into this as well because I think all 3 of us are in the same boat, but in slightly different seats. We'll all been at this game for a while now, the two of you slightly longer than me. So the question for all of us is 'Why are we not getting the result we deserve'?. The answer is within ourselves, not in any theory, or market manipulation, or what other traders say.
Speaking for myself, I've shared my PL's, spreadsheets, findings, and progress regularly on the forum. I'm no professional by a far stretch of imagination. I'm slightly profitable in some areas and not in others, but I practice all areas just the same and work toward areas I'm struggling with. My posts on this forum are a direct reflection of where I am as a pre-off trader. No perceptions, clean and clear.
I frequently ask for help from other pro-traders even if I have to beg & plea, without shame. I'm also delighted to return any favors I can to any help that comes my way.
If in the future I begin to get profitable in the areas I'm struggling with right now, I'll gladly accept it. Knowing that I've put in the hard work I'll take anything the market throws my way - flukes or charity. I'll simply think I've earned it.
Again, I meant no harm or disrespect in any sense, my critics are for all 3 of us to look within ourselves (and get help from the right traders, not ""professionals"") and fix the barriers that prevent us from getting what we've been working for.
I think we can all learn from one another and push ourselves in the right direction, else we'll linger behind simply "talking" about trading months from now and contributing to web-trash that'll end up in it's right place.
Don't take this the wrong way Jeff for I mean it with honest intention even if it sounds critical. I'm critical of myself to the same degree so this from one trader to another, nothing personal.
Any serious trader will have to face critics, for me I'm my worst critic. The best advice I've gotten on this forum is usually in the form of constructive criticism from James1st, Mugsgame, & Euler, including one snippet from yourself about "public self-flagellation" that I've never forgotten.
I document all of them. I took the positive from it and moved on.
Reading your posts I get the idea that you're reading lot of books & articles about trading, rather than actively trading itself.
You've also talked about random trading, and offered many suggestions to other traders (including a few to me about cutting losses, letting profits run etc) but have not shown any proof of having practiced any of it yourself.
Now I find you asking questions about strategies, PL's and what not, and I wonder how did you get the title "Archangel Professional"?
There are few other traders here with the title "Archangel Professional" that I'd frankly like to question just as critically. Not out disrespect, just out of curiosity to know if they're worth their salt.
Euler was right when he said that there's so much advice offered on the forum that it's a bit muddy.
Also, like you said earlier Jeff, for every advice offered by someone there's a contradictory advice offered by another person.
For me personally, it's more about what the person is worth, because that lends weight to what his advice is worth. And therefore it's no surprise that I throw more in the trash-can than I document in my diary.
I'm not debasing you, just putting you up for the challenge.
Forget about market efficiency, mathematics, bots, manipulators, doomsayers, etc. etc... and the garbage you read in Mark & Linda's books for the time being.
We're here to seize the Opportunity not to validate theories.
I don't care if the glass is half-full, half-empty, licked by the dog, spat by the cat, shat by the sparrow - I'm thirsty and I'm drinkin' it!
Just put in the needed 4-5 hrs of trading practice every day and hang on tight. That's what I've been doing for quite a while now. Occasionally I take a few days off to review videos and 1 day to rest, but other than that never a day thrown to laziness.
I don't care if what works today doesn't work tomorrow. There's no guarantee in life, why should there be in trading. I'll be sticking to and learning from people that ride the tide and prove themselves, in hope that some of what they have will rub off on me.
BTW, I'll drag Zenyatta into this as well because I think all 3 of us are in the same boat, but in slightly different seats. We'll all been at this game for a while now, the two of you slightly longer than me. So the question for all of us is 'Why are we not getting the result we deserve'?. The answer is within ourselves, not in any theory, or market manipulation, or what other traders say.
Speaking for myself, I've shared my PL's, spreadsheets, findings, and progress regularly on the forum. I'm no professional by a far stretch of imagination. I'm slightly profitable in some areas and not in others, but I practice all areas just the same and work toward areas I'm struggling with. My posts on this forum are a direct reflection of where I am as a pre-off trader. No perceptions, clean and clear.
I frequently ask for help from other pro-traders even if I have to beg & plea, without shame. I'm also delighted to return any favors I can to any help that comes my way.
If in the future I begin to get profitable in the areas I'm struggling with right now, I'll gladly accept it. Knowing that I've put in the hard work I'll take anything the market throws my way - flukes or charity. I'll simply think I've earned it.
Again, I meant no harm or disrespect in any sense, my critics are for all 3 of us to look within ourselves (and get help from the right traders, not ""professionals"") and fix the barriers that prevent us from getting what we've been working for.
I think we can all learn from one another and push ourselves in the right direction, else we'll linger behind simply "talking" about trading months from now and contributing to web-trash that'll end up in it's right place.
I could have expressed that more diplomatically, but it did irritate me slightly that you were wallowing in self-pity.switesh wrote:including one snippet from yourself about "public self-flagellation" that I've never forgotten.
I don't read many trading books. I sometimes come across good trading-related material on the internet that I share, however.switesh wrote:Reading your posts I get the idea that you're reading lot of books & articles about trading, rather than actively trading itself.
People shouldn't have to prove that they have done something themselves. It's not relevant.switesh wrote:You've also talked about random trading, and offered many suggestions to other traders (including a few to me about cutting losses, letting profits run etc) but have not shown any proof of having practiced any of it yourself.
By posting over 500 posts on the forum!switesh wrote:Now I find you asking questions about strategies, PL's and what not, and I wonder how did you get the title "Archangel Professional"?
That's it! You will automatically get that status when you have done so.
I think - and I'm not directing this at anyone in particular - that people could sometimes be clearer and more precise in their definitions. For example, 'swing trading' might be different things to different people.switesh wrote:Euler was right when he said that there's so much advice offered on the forum that it's a bit muddy.
'Counter trend trading' is another case in point. Some people think that it means standing in front of a trend and hoping that the train will reverse just before it smashes through you at 100mph. I sense that's the approach you take, incidentally. Others think it means waiting till there is evidence that a new trend emerging, and joining that nascent trend.
Only to an extent - I suggest you watch this video: viewtopic.php?f=36&t=8392&p=67106&hilit=gladwell#p67099.switesh wrote:For me personally, it's more about what the person is worth, because that lends weight to what his advice is worth.
Advice needs to be interpreted critically. If someone does something, it might work well for them, but unless you do everything that they do in the way that they do it (and no pro will share their secret sauce with you), will it work for you?
Also, you have to ask whether the results the other person has obtained are due to luck, or due to a long-term edge. As Peter has demonstrated in one of his blog posts, you can have an 'edge' that lasts for several thousand bets before the market catches up with you.
I haven't read their books, but it's not garbage.switesh wrote:Forget about market efficiency, mathematics, bots, manipulators, doomsayers, etc. etc... and the garbage you read in Mark & Linda's books for the time being.
Yes, but it's only through theoretical modeling and testing theories that you know if you are heading down the road to opportunity.switesh wrote:We're here to seize the Opportunity not to validate theories.
Science is the basis of a huge chunk of human knowledge, yet you seem to be advocating an unscientific approach in favour of an approach where you just go with your gut. Going with your gut might work if you're a musician - I'm a copywriter and I know instinctively whether a piece of writing hits the mark or not - but I question its applicability to trading.
Are you though?switesh wrote:I don't care if the glass is half-full, half-empty, licked by the dog, spat by the cat, shat by the sparrow - I'm thirsty and I'm drinkin' it!
If someone puts lots of time and effort into a business, it may be that it's a wise use of their resources, and they should continue. I'm sure many business empires were built from nothing that way. But it equally raises the question whether there's something flawed with the person's approach, and if they are throwing good money after bad...switesh wrote:Just put in the needed 4-5 hrs of trading practice every day and hang on tight. That's what I've been doing for quite a while now.
Speaking for me personally, what I've struggled with in the past is over-analysis, not sufficiently thinking through what I'm doing, and indiscipline. My main challenge more recently has just been indiscipline, but I'm beginning to get a handle on that.switesh wrote: 'Why are we not getting the result we deserve'?. The answer is within ourselves, not in any theory, or market manipulation, or what other traders say.
In your case, I would say that you need to look critically at the market, and ask yourself where you expect your profits to come from. What inefficiency are you exploiting?
I also think that you need to reconsider your approach to going against trends. I know that Peter goes counter-trend, but I suspect that he approaches it in a very different way to you, and waits for there to be evidence that a new trend is under way (although I could be wrong).
Jeff
You're right to question the credentials of anybody that isn't Peter Webb.
I'm always amused at my status of Archangel Professional, as even though I've been a full-time trader for 5 years, I don't make anywhere near as much as others. I also rarely trade horses as I can never make it work for me, so I'm clearly not an expert myself - I just make enough to avoid getting a proper job!
I think there are different levels of traders
Level 1- Peter Webb, the apex predator of sports trading
Level 2 - PC2 payers (most of them don't bother posting)
Level 3 - PC1 payers (including myself)
Level 4 - Traders making small profits, but not enough to pay Premium Charge, and definitely not enough to give up the day job
Level 5 - Traders having sporadic success. Not enough to make money overall, but understands the concept
Level 6 - Bloody hopeless, doing their bollocks
We all know where we fit into that food chain, and the only archangel professional should be Euler. I'd rather see full-time trader next to my avatar
I'm always amused at my status of Archangel Professional, as even though I've been a full-time trader for 5 years, I don't make anywhere near as much as others. I also rarely trade horses as I can never make it work for me, so I'm clearly not an expert myself - I just make enough to avoid getting a proper job!
I think there are different levels of traders
Level 1- Peter Webb, the apex predator of sports trading
Level 2 - PC2 payers (most of them don't bother posting)
Level 3 - PC1 payers (including myself)
Level 4 - Traders making small profits, but not enough to pay Premium Charge, and definitely not enough to give up the day job
Level 5 - Traders having sporadic success. Not enough to make money overall, but understands the concept
Level 6 - Bloody hopeless, doing their bollocks
We all know where we fit into that food chain, and the only archangel professional should be Euler. I'd rather see full-time trader next to my avatar
Well, I think if you try to do something you're not suited to, the results are only ever going to be a disaster. For example, personally, I'm much better suited to long-term swing trades/punting and I really can't get into the short-term stuff at all. So that's the first thing: stick to what you do best. Personally for me, loss of confidence and lack of discipline is what always undid me. I kept lapsing into price chasing, and then I started chasing losses. The 'averaging down' method works just fine for long-term swing trades, despite what Jeff says.switesh wrote:
BTW, I'll drag Zenyatta into this as well because I think all 3 of us are in the same boat, but in slightly different seats. We'll all been at this game for a while now, the two of you slightly longer than me. So the question for all of us is 'Why are we not getting the result we deserve'?. The answer is within ourselves, not in any theory, or market manipulation, or what other traders say.