There are aspects of my edge that would only be relinquished from my cold, dead hands, such was the effort and time that went into acquiring them.
But others are more general, and more readily available. Some will suggest that as a consequence they are worthless, but I disagree. A misconception of 'edge' is that it is one thing - usually how and why one enters and exits a market - but this is, as I say, a misconception. My edge i.e. my ability to consistently take profit from the market, is built on so many different things that I thought it would be worthwhile sharing some of these.
You'll notice a pattern with mine - most of them are a function of putting myself into the best mental and physical state from which to trade. Others will disagree, but I see trading as being 90% mindset and 10% technical. I know this because I bought my edge/system from another trader. It works, but it only makes up a small proportion of what allows me to profit from that edge. If you aren't consistently profitable then your input on the ratio of mindset to technical isn't really important; this isn't a Jose "never played but can still manage" Mourinho scenario - you have to have been there and done it to understand what the ratio is.
Meditation - trading is a mental game. If you aren't meditating in order to reduce noise and improve clarity, then you're missing out on enhancing your ability to control your response. This applies to all aspects of life.
Journalling - a trade journal is essential in recording the state that you are trading from. Far more useful than the omnipresent excel sheet that tracks entries and exits, the trading journal allows you to reflect on the circumstances and preparation that created your results.
Video recordings - it makes me laugh when manual traders think they can improve on trading without having a recording of what they've done. The adrenaline and various other chemicals that flow through your body when money is in the market make it impossible to accurately remember how and why you did what you did in a market. This is where video recording comes in.
Breathing exercises - making rash, thoughless decisions in the market is incredibly common. Breathing exercises are a useful tool in managing the state that creates these decisions.
I have written quite a few more but stopped short of posting as I'm interested in what others are willing to share.
A list of my edges:
for sure wish i had started doing screen recordings earlier, you look at it differently than in the moment, especially looking at older recordings from a week or more ago i notice what i could have done different rather than watch it immediately afterwards
had a problem also finding a software that didnt create lag, tried like 3 or 4 then put it off as thought wasnt that important and couldnt afford computer to lag, found OBS recorder the best works perfect for me now
not into meditation or breathing but doing strength/cardio for a few minutes when on a longer session helps me to clear the head
had a problem also finding a software that didnt create lag, tried like 3 or 4 then put it off as thought wasnt that important and couldnt afford computer to lag, found OBS recorder the best works perfect for me now
not into meditation or breathing but doing strength/cardio for a few minutes when on a longer session helps me to clear the head
You stopped short of saying a few prayers before trading. 
Meditation and breathing exercises are not applicable to what you're doing, rather, the person doing them. Some people will benefit (or think/feel they benefit) from them, others would be constantly thinking "WTF am I doing?". I don't video record my sessions and my trading has undoubtedly improved (you'd have to be a complete idiot if you always maintained newbie statue) but that could be down to style of trading. A trader who's looking for a set of signals before jumping on a potential swing would probably benefit more from recorded sessions than a trader whose entry point is less correlated with the rest of the market.
Meditation and breathing exercises are not applicable to what you're doing, rather, the person doing them. Some people will benefit (or think/feel they benefit) from them, others would be constantly thinking "WTF am I doing?". I don't video record my sessions and my trading has undoubtedly improved (you'd have to be a complete idiot if you always maintained newbie statue) but that could be down to style of trading. A trader who's looking for a set of signals before jumping on a potential swing would probably benefit more from recorded sessions than a trader whose entry point is less correlated with the rest of the market.I think the understanding of victim mentality has to be pretty high up on any list of edges, people seem to have a burning desire to blame the market or someone else for their own decisions. People sit and become victims while actively watching their losses become worse & finally act with a fuck it attitude "I may aswell let it go inplay" this then makes you fear future opportunities because you simply feel like a victim, the market always goes against me the moment I enter sort of attitude. Understanding that its simply about making the correct decisions and losses are unavoidable but manageable is basic logic that victim mentality chucks out of the window.
Decent thread btw.
Decent thread btw.
I'm like that outside of trading. Spill a cup of coffee and it's almost as though there's an invisible person in the room responsible for knocking it over. Fortunately, I'm quite self-critical when trading.
When my daughter went to college she asked what one thing should she definitely study and I replied. Psychology.
Most of my work for some time now has been working out why people don't do what they should. When you through risk into the mix, people consistently produce errors. But even if you are aware of them, it's still really hard to strike them out.
Most of my work for some time now has been working out why people don't do what they should. When you through risk into the mix, people consistently produce errors. But even if you are aware of them, it's still really hard to strike them out.
I can almost say a very similar sentence, only have to change up a few words. Most of my focus for some time now has been working out why I often don't do what I should be doing. I go to great lengths to clear up the path before me until it's crystal clear and obvious, but then I often don't even walk that path. It's the weirdest thing. I instead start working on clearing up a different path.
My very personal conclusions that I've made thus far go well beyond the scope of this thread and trading in general, but isn't this how you can potentially understand others and their decisions? By knowing yourself inside and out and understanding what makes you tick so that you can maybe apply some of it to others as well? Seems to work for all sorts of best selling authors around.
have started watching Mindhunter on Netflix (yup, have been a late starter but so much to do outdoors that only get a little evening *respite*Kai wrote: ↑Thu Apr 09, 2020 2:50 pmI can almost say a very similar sentence, only have to change up a few words. Most of my focus for some time now has been working out why I often don't do what I should be doing. I go to great lengths to clear up the path before me until it's crystal clear and obvious, but then I often don't even walk that path. It's the weirdest thing. I instead start working on clearing up a different path.
My very personal conclusions that I've made thus far go well beyond the scope of this thread and trading in general, but isn't this how you can potentially understand others and their decisions? By knowing yourself inside and out and understanding what makes you tick so that you can maybe apply some of it to others as well? Seems to work for all sorts of best selling authors around.
).. Anyway, although highly dramtised, it does make a decent effort at looking at how criminally insane individuals have an amazing capacity to make you walk their walk in order for you to start to get to grips with the *who, the where and the why*... In short, some of the storylines try to depict the way that our minds NEED to empathise even when we find the subject matter despicable. I guess trading has parallels in that you are trying to second guess (in an educated way) the market via your own relationship with it.
great stuff, highly recommend it.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mindhunter_(TV_series)
https://www.netflix.com/watch/80114855?source=35
Thanks for that Jimbo, I think?jimibt wrote: ↑Thu Apr 09, 2020 3:02 pmhave started wathing Mindhunter on Netflix (yup, have been a late starter but so much to do outdoors that only get a little evening *respite*
great stuff, highly recommend it.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mindhunter_(TV_series)
https://www.netflix.com/watch/80114855?source=35
Btw, my everpresent issue with trading discussion threads in general is that there's so much to talk about and discuss from the technical side of things, but because of the competitive nature of trading you just don't have the freedom to do it openly, you practically have to resort to generalizing and talking big picture stuff but all this tiptoeing can easily get tiresome. And as a direct result of that you get an overflow of these pyschological threads where grown ass men like to get together to talk about their "feelings"
Which can then in turn lead to overemphasizing the importance of psychology in general by many, particularly newcomers. I'm not at all knocking psychology as I'm as fascinated by it as many others, but only to a certain extent. The market itself is of far more interest to me than the human mind, even though there's a decent argument that the market is only an extension of the human mind in general. You've got people that are reading several psychology books before even dipping their toes in the markets, and that to me is madness. How can a person know what the books are even talking about when he's not even experienced any of it yet, it would surely all be too abstract to understand properly.
But I do believe that psychology is next to useless if taken out of context and if you've got nothing on the technical side, if I had to choose between the two which one to have I would always ditch psychology, because even with a terrible head on your shoulders you can still probably make some profit with a strong enough edge over the markets. Don't know whether I always believed that but a few friends definitely convinced me that it's very much possible. I'm not so sure whether the same could be said the other way around, whether you could make money off psychology alone. Really not sure about that one, have to admit that the only book I've ever read in my life is LotR back in highschool due to peer pressure, something that I feel equally ashamed and proud about
I would like to claim that my motto is "why read about things when you can experience them instead" but having not left the house in weeks I'm not sure that one is true. If I had to be serious for a moment I'd probably make a decent argument for myself by saying that I prefer to experience the markets through my own 2 eyes first and form my own opinions, before comparing them to the great trading minds around if need be. In any case, as useful as generalizing can be, it can sometimes be dangerous and misleading as well. To use OP as a convenient example here I can feel the very same underlying tone behind his post like in his last thread (Here's why you suck at trading) or something along those lines, and I would urge him to keep an open mind because I feel that definitive answers in trading are hard to come by. Every word of the initial post can be 100% correct, from his point of view and for his trading approach and his personality, but the caveat here is that most of it can at the same time be wrong when others are concerned. For example some of my trading has been quite the opposite, with 90% technical and only 10% mindset and I could go to great lengths to explain how and why that is but putting together such an argument would be equally as pointless imho. That's exactly why I like to use certain words more than others, even if I'm very sure that something is true I still prefer to keep an open mind and use the words "probably", "most likely", "perhaps", "maybe", "sometimes", "often" etc. If I did a keyword search on my username for some of those words I would probably hit hundreds of results. It also helps to keep the unnecessary counter arguments to a bare minimum, pro tip right there
You can tell that I'm bored
Only really wanted to comment a line or two but just kept on typing.-
ruthlessimon
- Posts: 2161
- Joined: Wed Mar 23, 2016 3:54 pm
-Data. Biggest regret; not getting into data day 1. But it's a slight catch 22, because I wouldn't have known what to capture & how to analyse it. Which leads onto the 2nd edge
-People (mentors & family). Although people are like leverage. If you've got the right people around you; humongous edge, humongous value. But if you've got the wrong people it's a recipe for disaster.
-People (mentors & family). Although people are like leverage. If you've got the right people around you; humongous edge, humongous value. But if you've got the wrong people it's a recipe for disaster.
-
CallumPerry
- Posts: 575
- Joined: Wed Apr 19, 2017 5:12 pm
Positive over so many markets then, yeah? Sure? 8th January in though, there are around 7/8 months where the equity line just decreases. Would take some balls to see that through, hoping for the tide to turn. How many bets are averaged each month?