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<i>"If one can find a system such that all the system's parameters suit your personality, one will probably have an easy time following the system with full faith, and thus the success will follow."</i> Well, sort of. A discretionary trader IS the system itself. All entry - management - exit...

TF +$250 gross, several turns... blotter too much effort for an essentially par day +7pt gain short to start the day, looked real promising. Then price action chopped back toward session highs, and slowly churned sideways in a teeny range from 10:30 est until now. Zero chance to add...

<i>"Uhh, not to sound rude but it sounds like your system is no different than a zillion others that work and then stop working and then work and then stop working and then work... "</i> Over-optimized for specific conditions which have not existed since September.

<i>"3. put a negative in for on of the variables and take the opposite of every trade signal. the wonders of profitable trading revealed. all your losers will become winners"</i> False. Logical assumption on its face... does not hold true in real time with real money

First day of 2009 is the dullest TF session in many months. 6pt total sideways, rolling range from 10:30am est to closing bell. Trade sequence went: -1pt short +6pt short -1pt short -1pt short x2 contract size -1pt short x2 contract size Upper resistance layer kept pinching thru...

I read the blog, and posted a link to it in this forum couple of weeks ago per the conversation of using indicators for trading. Don accomplished an incredible feat in 2008, absolutely no question about it. One detail for retail traders to keep in mind is the average profit per contract =...

<i>"I'll backtrack 2 weeks and see how the system performs with 2-3 different stop/target levels. Phew. I've got my work cut out for the long weekend :-)"</i> That won't show you anything but holiday-period behavior. What the ES has done in December versus what lies ahead from now thru April...

<i>"A 1.50 stop on the ES using a 15 min or longer term chart is imo pretty tight. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Understatement of the century. I use ATR.</i> ** A -1.5pt initial stop in ES is actually 1.25pt factoring bid/ask...

<i>"Bring on 2009, 'cause it can't be worse than 2008!!!"</i> If the TF keeps doing what it did yesterday and today, seven-figures by 4th of July is in sight. Viva la return of the Russell 2000 futures to directional glory!

<i>"Lastly, I want to thank the regular posters on this thread both past and present..."</i> That said and in the spirit of this thread launched by Szeven one year ago, it'd be very nice (and fitting) to see <b>RedInk</b> launch the P&L 2009 thread. Instead of someone random who never posts...

<i>"then the customers should be beating the S&P over say 5 years+. I have yet to see a single guru who has supplied proof of this...</i> P.S... not a good example, buy & hold S&P or any stock market index over the past five years. An earthworm farm would have outperformed that.

<i>"Buying guru products - even from the few that are ethical and profitable traders - does not make you money, and in fact will cost you money. That's the real secret that gurus are de(s)perate to keep hidden."</i> So in other words, just plopping their money into an account and trading...

<i>"or at least dreamers..."</i> I took that as a sincerely logical question. Because trading is a zero-sum game in the end, it's logical to think that every single transaction is perfectly offset by another. Linear black & white, cut and dried. In reality you cannot fade a constant loser...

<i>"Would that make you $350 a day other than wasted 3 hours?"</i> The opposite of every losing trade is not always a winning trade. In other words, midday consolidation periods often channel & chop sideways. It's common for both long and short positions to be stopped out for loss midday...

<i>"Again these are just a few examples, and I'm sure that many of you who do keep a trading diary can share your own. "</i> A written record of your trading day is akin to production records kept for a farm, a ranch, a factory, a restaurant... any other type of business. Data compiled...

<i>"Ericp, what do successfull traders think about indicators?"</i> <b>http://www.donmillerjournal.blogspot.com</b> ...indicators work for him... and others. They work equally well if not better for discretionary stock traders, not mechanical system traders. There is a difference in tools...

<i>"it's his STEP granddaughter and DIVORCED so it's not his real grandchildren."</i> Forget about the money aspect (he says to a board filled with people who are fixated on $$ alone) and think about him telling her that she was never adopted emotionally as a granddaughter, or whatever the...

<i>"Conversely, by following your plan, you have eliminated emotion from your trading. Over time, you can modify your trading approach to reflect your increased understanding of the market and to build in the lessons you have learned from your previous winning and losing trades. However, you...

<i>"Some of the same principals can apply to communication and/or knowing how to communicate or not communicate with a "know it all"</i> Yes that's true, but there is something to be said for having a mental joust with someone you know for a fact is on the losing side of that debate. Period...

<i>"Unless, of course, BS Bernanke destroys confidence in fiat and even the people with cash find themselves effectively bankrupt!"</i> Reality check: we're still on Bush & GOP timecard here. Have you seen the USD and savings rates this morning? What's left to be destroyed by anyone who...