Trading is all about discipline. Ha ha ha

[Shagi]

Quote from i_c_fed_people:

Can you become 'in the know' from reading books?


Big powerful traders in investment banks etc are able to 'cheat' through various underhand methods.

Is to be 'in the know' to have access to information that only a few are privy too?

You don't need to be in the know to be successful and you don't need any inside information. It doesn't matter what methods these so called powerful banks use. They cannot make a market move of any significance without others seeing it and joining the party. Here I'm not talking intraday about intraday fluctuations.

By the end of the day nobody really knows where the market is going and how far it will go, so we are all the same, yeh sure some might start early but you can always jump in with or without inside information.

 

[athlonmank8]

Quote from Cheese:

There is no such thing as an 'edge'. At best it only means that a person claiming to have an 'edge' has learnt a part more than the parts he thinks he already knows.

The whole day session is rich in points, particularly so in volatile markets (eg CL). So the amateur with limited capital, if wise enough, will concentrate his study and preparations where the money is. The moneys in the gyrations, the sequential swings up and down (or vice versa) from open to close. Applying a reliable methodology the amateur trader can begin the process of taking as many points as he or she can from each swing.

The chief considerations for taking good points from each swing are (1) the type of charts (time, range and/or volume bars) you use and (2) accurate use of any indicators you deploy to help you.

Cheese, I have to reply to this again. You say there's no such thing as an edge. That is the DUMBEST thing I have ever heard. There's been several posters on this site who have posted their edge. STATISTICALLY QUANTIFIED.

You're leading people in the wrong direction with that nonsense.

 

[Handle123]

Quote from billyjoerob:

what about traders with too much discipline? Some reach the point where any big drawdowns are too painful so they won't accept anything less than a smooth equity curve. They sacrifice lots of upside in exchange for smaller, harder-won returns. They spend 80% of the time in cash. For instance take a visit to the guy at Alchemy of Trading. He seems like a knowledgeable trader who is so paranoid and protective of his capital that he's usually in a large cash position. This becomes a trap particularly when trading is your only source of revenue.

Very good point, too big a drawdown for me is too painful even though I am only risking one half of one percent on any one trading idea for long term trading commodities. I rather give up huge gains for a smooth equity curve. BUT this comes with where I am in cycle of life as well. If I was back in my twenties, I could recover from huge drawdowns and busted out accounts, but now, there is no way I am going to risk what I have accumulated cause I simply don't have the drive within me to fight to get it back. Although I do have much of my assets in cash and other liquid investments. Your thoughts of risk change as you get older and your drive to continue to pound away hours into the night become less, just a matter of reaching different milestones in the life cycle.

My "edge" is discipline, but unlike how many might think. The discipline to backtest over countless years knowing everything and anything about the method to trade. If you thoroughly backtest your method, your stats will tell you ever conceivable aspect of your method, this is the only way to dictate your equity curve. Usually bigger profit targets will make for wilder drawdowns, and smaller targets make for smooth equity curves. When I was young and dumb, I went for bigger is better concept of profits, but losses eventually tell you your "edge" is the discipline to test more and find what works best for your personality as well.

 

[jinxu]

What a bunch of crazy comments in this thread, especially from poster that I think are profitable. Makes you kind of wonder how you rank in this forum.

discipline is easy when you have an edge you can believe in.

One more post until no 270.

 

[konviction]

Quote from NetTecture:

Actually one can argue that this is true. With discipline they woldw watch their PnL and backtest enough to know that they have no edge.

^ +1 . They are one in the same.

 

[Hydroblunt]

Quote from Ghost of Cutten:

If you have discipline and no edge, you can work hard and eventually find an edge (or several). If you have an edge and no discipline, you will eventually blow up, or you edge will disappear and you won't find a new one.

Therefore, trading is all about discipline.

You're wrong on every point.