Question regarding Brooks' book

Ego said:
Hi, long time lurker, finally got an account because... I have questions that I can't seem to find an answer to. I've read A LOT on trading, and studied A LOT of charts -- and no matter what, I can't seem to find an edge.

This irks me for a few reasons.
1. I read and hear of a lot of people who, despite the odds, are doing pretty well from actively trading using charts.
2. The skeptic in me says that since I can't find a statistical edge, they must mostly be BS'ing me and others. This is possible but it's also possible I'm thinking this just to feel better about sucking.
3. I'd really like to get good at this, and I think I'm the problem but I don't know what to fix.

I'm a very logical person. Probably to a fault. If I can find some rules to follow, I have no problem following them. The biggest issue I see is that at any given point in time, I can argue both ways for a given market. Which makes sense, everyone must have a reason to either buy, hold or sell.

Which brings me to Al Brooks' book. I've read good things about it, but I'm having a hard time with it because when I try to apply his teachings, I end up seeing both sides of the trade. One trendline ends up consisting of multiple trendlines. And once you see the fractal nature of it, it's very very hard to pick a direction. I'm guessing I need to go with the predominant trend to better my chances, but that seems kind of nuts given that a 5 minute chart is all over the place, so who cares what the hourly or daily or weekly chart says?

Am I overthinking this? Should I just go with the long term trend?

As an introvert, I would LOVE to become a good trader. Good enough to replace my current job, even if I earn (much) less than what I currently make. Markets/charts have a certain magnetic quality for me -- I can't stop watching, I just want to figure it out and it's just the biggest puzzle! Thankfully I haven't lost much in my training, maybe that's my problem -- too scared to lose too quickly.

For you successful traders out there, any suggestions? I don't want your system, I just would like to know that there ARE statistical edges for me to find, instead of spinning my wheels looking the rest of my life.

Thanks in advance!
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Flash! You're looking in the wrong place. You're asking the wrong questions. I am one of only 3-4 traders I know who is honestly profitable trading, as opposed to teaching, writing, or marketing videos. I make about 150% per year trading. The information you seek is not in the charts, the brokerage, the news, books, or videos. It is within you. It is your mindset, your psychology, your strongly-held beliefs. your opinions. That's all I can tell you. Ask yourself, "What do I honestly and strongly believe"? At least one of your strongly-held beliefs is not true.
 
Steve Alexander said:
Flash! You're looking in the wrong place. You're asking the wrong questions. I am one of only 3-4 traders I know who is honestly profitable trading, as opposed to teaching, writing, or marketing videos. I make about 150% per year trading. The information you seek is not in the charts, the brokerage, the news, books, or videos. It is within you. It is your mindset, your psychology, your strongly-held beliefs. your opinions. That's all I can tell you. Ask yourself, "What do I honestly and strongly believe"? At least one of your strongly-held beliefs is not true.
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I agree.

But it’s only through watching others that I see where my errors in mindset were. Following Brooks is a long way to get there, but already I see some key errors I was making due to fear of loss, mostly. Stops were being placed too close, and I was waiting too long for pullbacks. I was chasing low risk entries which he points out rarely work. So, some work needs to be done to prove to myself that shifting to higher risk is justified (higher probability trades should increase long term profits).

30% complete, already well worth the $400 in my mind, fwiw.
 
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