Anything posted can be faked. The trading plan cannot. If there is one. Which there usually isn't. If there is, all one has to do is follow it to determine whether the posted results are reasonable or not. If they are far different from what one might reasonably expect from following the plan, then they're faked.
Al Brooks, I apologize..
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Anything posted can be faked. The trading plan cannot. If there is one. Which there usually isn't. If there is, all one has to do is follow it to determine whether the posted results are reasonable or not. If they are far different from what one might reasonably expect from following the plan, then they're faked.
I trade and I golf. There are trading forums and golf forums.
Trading forum exchange:
Me: I read an article by Linda Raschke on identifying trend days, and I feel it really helped me hold my trade longer on Xday for a larger than normal profit.
eTroll: Post your pnl.
Golf forum exchange:
Me: I had a new Super Stroker grip put on to my putter a few weeks ago, and I dropped three putts off my average on my latest two rounds!
Fellow Golfer1: Awesome!
Fellow Golfer2: I tried one last year and my putting went to hell. Nice to hear it worked for you!
Fellow Golfer3: Thanks for the heads up. I've been thinking of trying one myself.
If Golfers acted like eTrolls:
Me: I had a new Super Stroker grip put on to my putter a few weeks ago, and I dropped three putts off my average on my latest two rounds!
gTroll: Post your scorecard. I want your USGA handicap print out.
Trading forum exchange:
Me: I read an article by Linda Raschke on identifying trend days, and I feel it really helped me hold my trade longer on Xday for a larger than normal profit.
eTroll: Post your pnl.
Golf forum exchange:
Me: I had a new Super Stroker grip put on to my putter a few weeks ago, and I dropped three putts off my average on my latest two rounds!
Fellow Golfer1: Awesome!
Fellow Golfer2: I tried one last year and my putting went to hell. Nice to hear it worked for you!
Fellow Golfer3: Thanks for the heads up. I've been thinking of trying one myself.
If Golfers acted like eTrolls:
Me: I had a new Super Stroker grip put on to my putter a few weeks ago, and I dropped three putts off my average on my latest two rounds!
gTroll: Post your scorecard. I want your USGA handicap print out.
The psychological dynamics in trading are a bit different:
How many traders have you read who go out and explain they are losing traders?
May golf fanatics have no qualm saying their are not "pros".
For many trading is all about EGO.
How many traders have you read who go out and explain they are losing traders?
May golf fanatics have no qualm saying their are not "pros".
For many trading is all about EGO.
I 100% agree. Though I've played golf for money enough times to know that on the course, quite a few golfers are likewise undone by their egos - I've witnessed everything from broken, clubs, clubs thrown into water hazards, to outright cheating. You'd be amazed how many golfers have thrown fits because I wouldn't concede them a 5 foot put lol. The funniest part is that they immediately set to steaming and the 5 footer they wanted me to concede goes onto be a 5 putt lol
I have often thought that money is the root of (most) ego problems. Sex being the likely cause of the rest.
Not astonishing really.
I don't really know about the link between ego and money : may be money is a tool used for ego reasons. As regarding sex, it is becoming evident to me that sex/intimate relationship problems or issues are reflections of child/parents issues and the context in which a child was conceived ( aka a bad start in relationship starts with your parents at conception time). But then it is just some views.
I think the common link is competition and the tendency to compare oneself to others. Rousseau's Emile paints this portrait rather well, imo.
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Yup! we are turning this into a psychology thread!!!
Anyway, we did go through Emile ( but in very critical way at the time...),
but I will check these aspects of competition and comparison. Thanks for the insight.
Forty,the comparison to golf or almost anything else is sooner or later, one will see if the golfer did indeed ad 20 yards to s drive,or dropped 3 putts.More to the point,if someone is bullshiting you regarding their golf/tennis,there is Very little downside.
Trading is a double edge sword that cuts deeply.I have been in the business way too long to trust first,ask questions later.I'll rather hope for the best,but expect the worst.
Trading is a double edge sword that cuts deeply.I have been in the business way too long to trust first,ask questions later.I'll rather hope for the best,but expect the worst.
Competition and comparison are natural if the Ego is not involved. However if the c&c devolve into willy-waggling, then an entirely different dynamic is in play. What is used for comparison will vary. If money is used to keep score (which it generally is since it has importance only in relation to what others have, or what we think they have), then the money is all about Ego.
In terms of trading, for the immature to admit loss is to acknowledge that one was wrong, and to acknowledge that one was wrong is damaging to the Ego, and the Ego erects many defenses. Which accounts for much if not nearly all the trolling (if I can prove that you aren't successful, then whatever I'm doing, or not doing, is okay, i.e., it's not my fault; if you provide a trading plan, I can defend myself by not reading it).
If one only wished to be happy, this could be easily accomplished; but we wish to be happier than other people, and this is always difficult, for we believe others to be happier than they are.
-- Montesquieu
Since this is now the Most-Viewed Thread, we may as well.
(Congratulations, MarketAddict!
)