Through the Looking Glass
- Thread starter illiquid
- Start date
Here is a great and rare interview of Marty Schwartz in 1999. I find myself go back and listen to it once every few months just to try to remind myself. A few points:
On trading strategy/tactics:
Wait for the extreme levels to play, avoid the chatter. If you play every race, you are likely to lose.
Identify trend and wait for the turn, then move with momentum.
(NODOJI, looks like you have Marty's mind, all you need now is his balls and guts)
On trading psychology:
Keep control of P/L and hit singles.
Would you rather be right or would you rather make money? Are you big enough to admit you are wrong?
How do you handle a bad trade? Get out and see more clarity. Sometimes you hurt yourself and thatâs the hurt you can handle and you start to make it back.
To have the guts, you have to have a plan and knowing you can risk X, and the key thing is you have the discipline to accept the defeat and play the probability.
Remain flexible and humble and be honest with who you are.
Here is the link:
http://www.wallstreetuncut.com/wsuArchive.aspx
Scroll down to the middle and find the interview: Can you handle the pressure? Can you? 10/22/1999
Hope this will help and good trading to all!
On trading strategy/tactics:
Wait for the extreme levels to play, avoid the chatter. If you play every race, you are likely to lose.
Identify trend and wait for the turn, then move with momentum.
(NODOJI, looks like you have Marty's mind, all you need now is his balls and guts)
On trading psychology:
Keep control of P/L and hit singles.
Would you rather be right or would you rather make money? Are you big enough to admit you are wrong?
How do you handle a bad trade? Get out and see more clarity. Sometimes you hurt yourself and thatâs the hurt you can handle and you start to make it back.
To have the guts, you have to have a plan and knowing you can risk X, and the key thing is you have the discipline to accept the defeat and play the probability.
Remain flexible and humble and be honest with who you are.
Here is the link:
http://www.wallstreetuncut.com/wsuArchive.aspx
Scroll down to the middle and find the interview: Can you handle the pressure? Can you? 10/22/1999
Hope this will help and good trading to all!
This is definitely true for me as well, but it makes sense right? Higher volume days for me are usually a result of frustration, impatience, or outright poor timing. We need to realize and hold this attitude of waiting for that one good trade, whether we've had only losers or 10 winners already in the session. It's easier said than done, to be honest.
When I average in I do so very carefully, because my worst trades are the impulsive adding to losers that I somehow trick my mind into thinking I'd pre-planned it. On the vast majority of trades I'm better off just getting out and finding a re-entry if I still believe in the trade, and most likely I'm even better off letting those go altogether and moving on.
Quote from ~~~:
illiquid,
i think one of the biggest appeals of ammo's ".......that's a big load off your mind, clears up plenty of thinking space for the market" I reckon, is weightlessness.
example...like the Lamborghini Gallardo LP570-4 Superleggera has made the new car 70kg lighter than the LP560-4. That's equivalent to nulling the weight of the driver. So, in effect, stepping from the regular Gallardo into the new Superleggera will be like becoming weightless.
the idea is simple: By taking out the superflous, what remains will be the purest of engineering nectar that a suitably skilled driver can savour on a race-track.
I think ammo's dead on, let go of one's ego and suddenly your fingers dance on the kb much quicker than before.
But . . . to be perfectly honest, I cannot hold the same benign/indifferent view he seems to express of the markets. Things just aren't as liquid as they used to be, at least not in the names I trade, and each day is a reminder to me how voracious an appetite a market can have for ill-timed or uninformed capital. In fact, I think the most underestimated part of trading is how inherently hostile the markets are.
Anyways, well said. Sadly I can only appreciate your posh analogy from a purely conceptual angle
This is a very deep statement and I doubt most traders really understand it and the incredible damage that's done by big egos.
My common word of warning to counter-trend traders: You want to know where price will go? Imagine putting on a position counter to the current trend and ask yourself where you'd place an absolute disaster stop, a price level that just seems ridiculous. THAT'S where price will go before turning.
Quote from illiquid:
I think the most underestimated part of trading is how inherently hostile the markets are.
Anyways, well said. Sadly I can only appreciate your posh analogy from a purely conceptual angle
the market is merciless
thus, you and i, the trading warriors need to come well-prepared for the market/war that's showing no mercy. we fight/trade with no emotion and fearless but if we got injured, we must retreat to heal and fight/trade another day! 
illiquid,
some of the self-taught traders here are so talented and you are one of them. ( but sadly some ... are just wasting their times and $ because not everyone can be a good trader---- just like not everyone can be a brain surgeon)
because you are completely self-taught with no good mentor by your side, you had/have to go thru so many extra miles and years of toiling to become a successful trader. I had a very good mentor to coach me..and if you had my mentor, maybe you are not just driving a Lamborghini Superleggera but flying your own private jet
the chinese have a saying "Green emerges from blue and is superior to blue" When i first started, my mentor told me i will make more $ than him oneday ... but money is not everything .. is nothing but just some extra zero in the bank.. so besides donating to charity.. it's my duties to train/coach my junior traders. I am happy that my traders are probably more competent than i am and will make more money than me and hopefully oneday... they will become a good coach / mentor to the next generation.
working alone and ill-timed/uninformed capital etc are so frustrating ... but that's what you choose as your occupation..so try to cheer up .. smiles
Quote from ~~~:
working alone and ill-timed/uninformed capital etc are so frustrating ... but that's what you choose as your occupation..so try to cheer up .. smiles
Gracias for the encouragement, it's true it was quite a twisted path to get to where I am now, but I can say my past experiences will always be a guidepost for the future longer term. I don't know anyone in my office nor have read any posts from other traders here who trade the way I do, and I have to admit I take some comfort in that.