Hardest and Most Valuable Things In Trading

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What are the hardest and/or most valuable things in trading that you have dealt with or are dealing with?

What are the most valuable things you have acquired or want to acquire in trading and investing?

We are not asking that you divulge the things, but describe their nature, importance, value, etc.

You can also comment on what you think is the worth of the most valuable things in trading? For instance, how much would I pay you to give me your most valuable things in trading? If you do not have the most valuable things in trading (or at least not all of them) what do you think you would pay to acquire them and what returns/benefits would you expect?
 
Too many items to list. There are somethings in life that can't be taught, they can only be experienced. Someone can teach you how to shoot a jump shot, but until you get on the court and practice you will not be a good shooter no matter how much information you have about shooting jump shots.
 
The market rewards what is difficult. I think three of the most difficult things for new traders to master are trading with a trend, honoring protective stops, and letting winners run/adding to winners.

What seems easy: Price just made a second new high and is falling; that means price went too high, is now reversing and it's time to sell. Price just made a second new low and is rising; that means price went too low, is now reversing and it's time to buy.

What seems difficult: Buying/selling pullbacks in a trend because it feels counter-intuitive. What's even more difficult is buying/selling as price returns to, and breaks through, the previous high/low.

Trend-followers enter or add to positions in the direction of the trend on these pullbacks (that look like trend reversals). When price resumes movement in the direction of the trend off the pullback, it usually returns to the level of the last new high/low (where all the contrarians' stops are located). In a trend, price tends to break right out to yet another new high/low as those protective stops become market orders and breakout traders pile in. Very rewarding if you did what seemed difficult; very frustrating if you did what seemed easy.

What seems easy: Moving a protective stop as price is about to hit it, because price will reverse soon and you need to give the trade a little more room to work. You can't stand the thought of actually making an unrealized loss become "real", only to then watch the trade go your way.

You placed a protective stop to protect you in case price did not move as you expected it to. If you were driving and suddenly saw an oncoming car drifting into your lane, would you decide to unlatch your seat belt?

What seems difficult: Seeing a trade become profitable rather quickly, holding the position with a proper trailing stop through small price retraces, then adding to the winning position.

Your initial unrealized profit provides a buffer that allows you to add to a position that's moving in your favor. You get to take additional profits and on larger size. Very rewarding.
 
First rate comments, from first rate and very experienced people. Thank you. Please keep the comments coming. For the less experienced, you also have very valuable information: the problems/frustrations you are dealing with. Please share them.
 
Hardest thing(s): letting winners run and keeping losses small. That's because they both go against human nature.

Most valuable thing: picking good entries consistently. If you don't have good entries even the best money management in the world won't save you.
 
The truly valuable things in life you don't buy, you earn them.

Whatever you guys are selling, I'm not buying. :eek:
 
For me the hardest and most valuable thing in trading is my dick. After years of surfing porn to first the relieve the stress and later the boredom of trading, I developed a curious confusion of sex with trading. Consequently my dick gets hard when I see a really great setup.
 
1 Time and health is far more valuable than money.
You can lose your entire net worth and then regain it 100x more.
But every second you lose is a second you can never regain.
And the damage that losing time/money causes to your health is unrepairable.


2 The mind deals with gain and loss an a vastly asymmetric way.
Losses produce huge spikes in pain.
Such pain is never offset by gains because gains can also produce pain as you count how much you lost by not taking profits soon enough or taking profits too soon.
And so trading with equanimity of mind is a huge challenge. You will never be happy otherwise no matter how much money you make.


3 Having focus means you have only one focal point, everything else is a distraction or diversion.
In trading, all focus needs to be on comprehensively limiting risk.
 
Quote from tradingjournals:

What are the hardest and/or most valuable things in trading that you have dealt with or are dealing with?

Hardest: acquiring a fully differentiated mind

Most valuable: the set of principles that govern markets. And secondarily the pass foreward concept for allowing others to perfect their differentiation.

What are the most valuable things you have acquired or want to acquire in trading and investing?

Critical mass of traders and self selected team for global problem solving.

We are not asking that you divulge the things, but describe their nature, importance, value, etc.

You can also comment on what you think is the worth of the most valuable things in trading?

Everything above is priceless; that is to say, everything has been made public more or less.

For instance, how much would I pay you to give me your most valuable things in trading?

It turns out that "takers" can only conceive of paying and that simply filters them out of the picture. What those who acquire the most valuable things do is "give". Time is the most important and it is given by doing drills to acquire knowledge and skills through purposeful "experience". At a critical point in time the giver begins to give time to others. When he does this, he really acquires knowledge and skills in a better context.

If you do not have the most valuable things in trading (or at least not all of them) what do you think you would pay to acquire them and what returns/benefits would you expect?

The most valuable things have a pragmatic hierarchy of supports and services. I paid time and intellect from my differentiated mind in support of manifesting the hierarchy and I have the utility of using tha entire hierarchy for problem solving on an unlimited basis.
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Take a look at the educational systems of the world. Learning to learn is withheld from most. Support of learning is withheld as well.

As the workaround for this sad state is put in place, one major consequence will become very evident. New generations will have the ability to think logically. As they do, they will cause more and more resources to be applied to problem solving.

Two tons of cement can be made from one ton of C oh 2.

The earth's biology thrives on the rounding value of the three largest uses of solar energy. Storing solar energy will be done with one chemical primarily and it is mostly found in Bolivia.

This element will be taken from its residence the same way oil was taken out of oil shale not using thermal processes.

What solves problems is two things: changing the problem and putting givers to work on the solution.

The oil industry cannot take oil out of shale. The solar industry cannot take lithium out of brine.

When shale is no longer shale oil flows out. When brine is no longer brine, lithium appears.

You have "taker" questions. You are in the majority in the financial industry. You may not know it as yet but the minority controls the markets.

You will find, in your terms, that the markets are counterintuitive. To acquire wealth, it is extracted from the huge markets. There is no noise nor anomalies. What is required is science. Science is NOT inductive. Science is NOT probabilistic. Science is NOT incoherent.

You can't get from where you are to where the minority is using your mind the way you do.

Mindfulness is required. One word: ...... mindfulness.......
 
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