It does not appear that we will get any real strategy ideas from this discussion. But there have been good ideas related to how one stays open to strategy trading ideas. Al Cibiades, who brings to trading recognized skills as an orator and soldier, talked about the importance of epistemology to trading. I, with my reputation as a mental health pioneer, deserve to have my say, as well.
I come to trading from the zeitgeist of one of the first healers to rid psychology of demonology (would that I could do that for ET). I paved the way for Bleuler, James and Freud. Freud and Jung then nurtured the greatest psychological mind of the twentieth century, Karen Horney, who explained how multiple personalities can exist in a sane mind.
Why am I telling you this? Because I manage the multiple personalities inside a trading mind.
Why that particular mind chose to incarnate me as one of its personalities I am not sure. I certainly am not in fashion today, and few people even know who I was. But I digress. Why do I consent to this managment role? Well, first, it beats being dead. Second, IB will not let dead people open accounts. Third, I am permitted the luxury of having my own identity on ET, shallow though that distinction may be.
So why are multiple personalities good for trading? Because to survive as a trader you need multiple strategies. And because those strategies often are so diametrically opposed, it is too much to ask one mind to faithfully manage them all.
For example, suppose you discipline yourself only to take longs when price is above the open and vice versa. A simple enough discipline which improves the odds. But there are times when it will kill you. Do I want to be constantly distracted trying to determine if NOW is one of those times? No. I want to trade the trend and then put the personality that traded it faithfully to sleep.
But that means I need a guy working in the background who is watching the REAL P,V relationship (not that Jack sheiz, pardon my Franzoesisch). That guy knows how to spot exhaustion, or at least ennui. But at midday I don't want either of them in my hair. ("Did I tell you I put some good Napa champagne in the freezer this morning?" and off they go.) No I want a guy with infinite patience, the type that likes to watch paint dry. That never needs a potty break, to watch for midday reversal breakouts like a hawk. A detail guy. Watching the tape. Recognizing how the inside market responds to large orders. A guy who knows that at midday any event outside of the market he's trading can be the excuse for a breakout.
I could go on about the types of personalities it takes to trade different types of strategies, but I think you get the point. I eagerly await learning what kind of strategies Steffie trades.
I come to trading from the zeitgeist of one of the first healers to rid psychology of demonology (would that I could do that for ET). I paved the way for Bleuler, James and Freud. Freud and Jung then nurtured the greatest psychological mind of the twentieth century, Karen Horney, who explained how multiple personalities can exist in a sane mind.
Why am I telling you this? Because I manage the multiple personalities inside a trading mind.
Why that particular mind chose to incarnate me as one of its personalities I am not sure. I certainly am not in fashion today, and few people even know who I was. But I digress. Why do I consent to this managment role? Well, first, it beats being dead. Second, IB will not let dead people open accounts. Third, I am permitted the luxury of having my own identity on ET, shallow though that distinction may be.
So why are multiple personalities good for trading? Because to survive as a trader you need multiple strategies. And because those strategies often are so diametrically opposed, it is too much to ask one mind to faithfully manage them all.
For example, suppose you discipline yourself only to take longs when price is above the open and vice versa. A simple enough discipline which improves the odds. But there are times when it will kill you. Do I want to be constantly distracted trying to determine if NOW is one of those times? No. I want to trade the trend and then put the personality that traded it faithfully to sleep.
But that means I need a guy working in the background who is watching the REAL P,V relationship (not that Jack sheiz, pardon my Franzoesisch). That guy knows how to spot exhaustion, or at least ennui. But at midday I don't want either of them in my hair. ("Did I tell you I put some good Napa champagne in the freezer this morning?" and off they go.) No I want a guy with infinite patience, the type that likes to watch paint dry. That never needs a potty break, to watch for midday reversal breakouts like a hawk. A detail guy. Watching the tape. Recognizing how the inside market responds to large orders. A guy who knows that at midday any event outside of the market he's trading can be the excuse for a breakout.
I could go on about the types of personalities it takes to trade different types of strategies, but I think you get the point. I eagerly await learning what kind of strategies Steffie trades.
