waiting for a setup and then trading it.....if you knew the number 3 horse was going to win in the seventh race ,you wouldn;t bet the 1st six races,wait for a tell and then place your bet...the longer your at it,and you have to win to stay trading, the more tells you will see..recognize when not to trade and don't
Characteristics of a Successful Trader
- Thread starter EricP
- Start date
Dr. Van Tharp himself is just a blotter, or in another term, a loser in trading. if he is a successful trader, then he does not need sell advices write books to make living.
I totally disagree with you mentioned secrets. secrets are supposed to be kept. if anyone can access them, then they are not secrets.
my suggestion is: if you want to or desire to be a successful trader:
commit yourself to it, the number one rule. based on that, nothing is not achievable.
I often laugh at those people who lose becuase they believe trading is100% psychological. what a joke. those people who think trading is 100% psycholigical are doomed to be losers, why?so they just found something like psychology as an excuse to explain their losing
if you commited yourself to trading, then you have no excuse for any loss or any mistake, you will blame yourself, not the market, not your pshology, your experience,your fat fingers, your wisdom etc., always you find better ways do your best to avoid mistakes and achieve higher performance.
I totally disagree with you mentioned secrets. secrets are supposed to be kept. if anyone can access them, then they are not secrets.
my suggestion is: if you want to or desire to be a successful trader:
commit yourself to it, the number one rule. based on that, nothing is not achievable.
I often laugh at those people who lose becuase they believe trading is100% psychological. what a joke. those people who think trading is 100% psycholigical are doomed to be losers, why?so they just found something like psychology as an excuse to explain their losing
if you commited yourself to trading, then you have no excuse for any loss or any mistake, you will blame yourself, not the market, not your pshology, your experience,your fat fingers, your wisdom etc., always you find better ways do your best to avoid mistakes and achieve higher performance.
like " if I hold, I will gain a lot", in reality next time, they still do not believe their own judgement and shaken out , again and again
like "if I do not listen to analyst's upgrade/downgrade, I will win", in reality next time, they listened again and again
......
people who donot commit theselves to trading, always do those things, how can they grow?
like "if I do not listen to analyst's upgrade/downgrade, I will win", in reality next time, they listened again and again
......
people who donot commit theselves to trading, always do those things, how can they grow?
ok lets talk about getting shaken out -
you must plan and know you have a edge if you do this or that.
you must execute that plan and stick to it. do not modify the plan just stick to it. if it does not work out and you lose all your money then you did not plan properly in the first place.
you must plan and know you have a edge if you do this or that.
you must execute that plan and stick to it. do not modify the plan just stick to it. if it does not work out and you lose all your money then you did not plan properly in the first place.
This is about as ignorant a statement that - as it continually comes up - I have ever read.
The assumption; that if one teaches about trading or gives advice to those that trade; can't trade, or they would and wouldn't need to sell stuff for a living, simply shows that those who believe it to be true are probably not happy with their own lives as they have a need to try and knock someone else down.
Kinda hoping you now feel better about yourself (but not really)
I have no direct knowledge of Dr. Van Tharp, so I can't comment on him specifically. However, the assumption that those who teach about trading are generally unsuccessful in their own trading is more true than false, IMO.
Certainly, there are some exceptions. However, why would someone be charging $250 per month, or $3000 for a trading seminar, if they were able to make $1M per year or more in their personal trading? Why bother? Assuming the generally just enjoy teaching, then why charge a fee at all? As a said, there are certainly some exceptions, but the broad majority of trader 'educators' are successful only in terms of separating their clients from their money. Many of these same 'educators' can also accurately be referred to as 'slimebags' or 'snake oil salesmen'. Maybe one in a thousand of them would be willing to provide their potential clients an audited trading record to validate their proclamed trading success (which is a perfectly legitimate thing to expect, if they are seeking your money to teach you trading).
I am further amazed by the cascade of newbie traders that will come along and validate a slick salesman, confirming what a wonderful trading course they bought and attended from a firm => AND their recommendations are based upon how well they <i>enjoyed</i> the course or how much they <i>think</i> they learned. What matters, is whether they can trade profitably after taking the course. That's it. Are you now a profitable trader?? If you can't claim trading success after taking a trading course, then what are you recommending? A feel-good afternoon of 'instruction'?
A newbie can study and learn 100% of everything 'taught' in a seminar, and still be a consistent loser, if the wonderful sounding stuff being taught does not work in the actual markets. It doesn't matter how great a trading method sounds, or how many glorious (well chosen) examples are plastered on the overhead projector during a seminar => If the methods taught do not work in the actual markets, you will lose money.
Now, for the sad summary: <b>Most methods taught in trading seminars do not work in the markets</b> Granted, they will make profitable trades, but the costs of the losing trades will outweight the cost of the profitable trades and the trader will be a consistent net loser.
The trading world would certainly be better off if every single seminar provider was required to show proof of personal trading success prior to taking any money from potential students. I recall two or three years back, on a thread dedicated to some problems at Tuco trading, that I pointed out that legal documents from that case showed that a prominent trading instructor had traded an account with that firm over a ~2 year period and was a consistent loser in his trading. This is a guy that had taught dozens of $3000 seminars, and had trading DVD's that were widely sold, and yet documented court records showed that the guy was a loser in his trading.
There are exceptions, but the typical trading seminar instructor cannot trade successfully, and the methods taught in the typical trading seminar will result in steady trading losses, as well as the loss of the time and tuition paid for the seminar. Buyer Beware.
Successfull trading for me:
First of all I can't fail. I'm a financial math drop out with no job prospects. I love trading. This helps me being disciplined and cut losers early. I can't afford to loose 10k a day.
I've stopped wrecking keyboards. They cost money and it takes time to buy a new one.
Unless I'm drunk I don't spend much money. I call my broker from time to time to discuss commissions. Commissions is my largest cost. I've managed to talk them down substantially.
Read some trading books. I don't expect them to make me a successful trader, but they can help me see trading for another perspective and become even more objective to the markets.
Never ever trade with a bias. I learned this the hard way.
Follow your plan. Don't let people around you affect your trading or your future plan. Keep your P&L to yourself. Nothing good comes from sharing this.
I don't trade to get rich. I trade because I love it, because I like to be my own boss, because numbers has always been my strength, because of the freedom, because your improvement is limitless....
Happy trading. I really thought the European session would go south this morning, but my respect for the market really helped me. It's been good.
First of all I can't fail. I'm a financial math drop out with no job prospects. I love trading. This helps me being disciplined and cut losers early. I can't afford to loose 10k a day.
I've stopped wrecking keyboards. They cost money and it takes time to buy a new one.
Unless I'm drunk I don't spend much money. I call my broker from time to time to discuss commissions. Commissions is my largest cost. I've managed to talk them down substantially.
Read some trading books. I don't expect them to make me a successful trader, but they can help me see trading for another perspective and become even more objective to the markets.
Never ever trade with a bias. I learned this the hard way.
Follow your plan. Don't let people around you affect your trading or your future plan. Keep your P&L to yourself. Nothing good comes from sharing this.
I don't trade to get rich. I trade because I love it, because I like to be my own boss, because numbers has always been my strength, because of the freedom, because your improvement is limitless....
Happy trading. I really thought the European session would go south this morning, but my respect for the market really helped me. It's been good.
I will and do agree with a lot of what you say -
There are to many of those who say they teaching what they trade and not really doing so - and only making money from their sales, so perhaps as a general rule this all may be true.
Perhaps its simply the negative attitude that I was picking up on. I don't know VanTharp and have never taken any of his stuff - the only stuff I have ever paid for was Ken Roberts many years ago.
As I ponder my response, let me simply say again, it seems to me it was the attitude I was picking up on and thus came my own attitude and my type of response was not necessary. I guess perhaps I am generally touchy on generalizations, and broad brush strokes, even though there may be some or a lot of validity in them.
I get a deal monthly or more from VanTharp (not paid for) and I don't recall anything within it that he states that he trades with whatever information he is giving out. Most of what you pay for with Van is personal improvement type stuff - basically psychology. So why charge a fee if he teaches for the joy - there is a fee for almost any service.
I also get a daily deal from Larry Levin (not paid for) - who does indicate that he does trade his stuff. There you would be paying for direct trading education. Again - why charge a fee, here I would call it value added - make money trading and teaching.
I also get probably 10X as many solicitations that are probably junk but the hit file 13 and I don't put much thought in them.
I guess what would and does bother me is the deception from vendors - and I don't see this in either case I gave above.