How obsessive are you with trading?

pinetboltz · Oct 16, 2018

They say it's 99 percent perspiration, 1 percent inspiration.

Maybe in trading it's 99 percent execution, 1 percent strategy, where 'value investing' has tons of followers, but only 1 Warren Buffett (superior execution due to cash flow and long holding period, enabled by insurance company), likewise with 'momentum trading', where tons of guys who say they trade momentum, but still try to pick the tops and bottoms.

I'm curious to know how obsessive ur with trading?

a few famous examples that come to mind,
- Louis Bacon, who supposedly gets his staff to take pictures of his trading screens, dismantle everything and fly all the equipment to his vacation spots, where he trades

- Greg Coffey, the guy who made like $700mm by age 40, also rumored to trade 16-20 hours a day

- George Soros, there was a biography of him that said he never took a day off from trading in the early years before starting Quantum

- Paul Tudor Jones, where the documentary of him showed how he woke up at 4am to trade the Deutschemark back in the day

speedo · Oct 16, 2018

As a rule, those who tend to work harder tend to be more successful....in any endeavor.

zdreg · Oct 16, 2018

I am obsessed like a millenial who lives in his parent's basement, doesn't have a regular job, doesn't have a girl friend and plays video games 16 hours/day.
can one deny that the trading screen is the greatest video game of all?

schweiz · Oct 16, 2018

pinetboltz said:
likewise with 'momentum trading', where tons of guys who say they trade momentum, but still try to pick the tops and bottoms.

That can be a good strategy, if they try to pick the tops and bottoms in a lower timeframe...

speedo · Oct 16, 2018

schweiz said:
That can be a good strategy, if they try to pick the tops and bottoms in a lower timeframe...

Yep, that's how many of us trade trends, by identifying correction completions on lower tf's.

d08 · Oct 16, 2018

Quite obsessive. I've never taken a voluntary day off trading in the last 9 years. I've missed about 5 days due to technical problems and delayed flights etc. Automation helps now though.
On certain days, going to bed at 4 to wake up 8 for the Asian open does occur but after a few days like that, I will look as if I'm dying.

Frederick Foresight · Oct 16, 2018

pinetboltz said:
...I'm curious to know how obsessive ur with trading?

a few famous examples that come to mind,
- Louis Bacon, who supposedly gets his staff to take pictures of his trading screens, dismantle everything and fly all the equipment to his vacation spots, where he trades

- Greg Coffey, the guy who made like $700mm by age 40, also rumored to trade 16-20 hours a day

- George Soros, there was a biography of him that said he never took a day off from trading in the early years before starting Quantum

- Paul Tudor Jones, where the documentary of him showed how he woke up at 4am to trade the Deutschemark back in the day

I don't know. Once you've reached a certain level of financial comfort, is that really how you would want to live your life?

speedo · Oct 16, 2018

I agree with Fred, learning to trade requires a lot of time, effort and focus...call it obsession if you will. These days I review my trades at weeks end and compare with all potential signals and log results of mfe, mae, win/loss %, size, time of entry and so on. Periodically I adjust my tf's, targets and stops as to current market volatility and range. Other than that I get up in the morning, pull up my charts, take my signals and trade my rules. That leaves plenty of leisure time to practice tai chi and wing chun, play my guitars, go to the gym, read and spend time with family and friends.

beerntrading · Oct 16, 2018

I have a tendency to get obsessive about it, but I keep that in check by forcing myself to read, or play computer games, or go to the bar. So I'd say not. I really disdain the idea of working more than 35 or 37 hours in a week, and the idea of burning out on something I really do enjoy I take very seriously.

speedo said:
As a rule, those who tend to work harder tend to be more successful....in any endeavor.

Counterpoint: Working hard is not working smart. Bezos / Buffet vs. Musk.

My former boss has a theory on management; if you give the hardest job to the laziest person, they'll find the easiest way to do it (and guess who got all those accounts

). FWIW, a 37 hour week was a long one for me (in insurance), and I got head-hunted with some regularity. I can't tell you how many job candidates shot themselves in the foot thinking that showing they were a workaholic would help. If you worked overtime where I worked, you job was in danger (not because there's anything wrong with overtime, but if you couldn't get it done during the normal work hours, you were the slowest of the herd).

speedo · Oct 16, 2018

beerntrading said:
I have a tendency to get obsessive about it, but I keep that in check by forcing myself to read, or play computer games, or go to the bar. So I'd say not. I really disdain the idea of working more than 35 or 37 hours in a week, and the idea of burning out on something I really do enjoy I take very seriously.

Counterpoint: Working hard is not working smart. Bezos / Buffet vs. Musk.

My former boss has a theory on management; if you give the hardest job to the laziest person, they'll find the easiest way to do it (and guess who got all those accounts ). FWIW, a 37 hour week was a long one for me (in insurance), and I got head-hunted with some regularity. I can't tell you how many job candidates shot themselves in the foot thinking that showing they were a workaholic would help. If you worked overtime where I worked, you job was in danger (not because there's anything wrong with overtime, but if you couldn't get it done during the normal work hours, you were the slowest of the herd).

I believe you'll find that Bezos, Buffet and Musk have all worked hard and smart.