What was your "a-ha!" moment?
- Thread starter schizo
- Start date
One of the very few advantages a retail trader has over institutional money has is that you can exit relatively instantly. It's one of the very few things that really work, like e.g that stocks trend more then random.
It took me 7 years to really understand and use the advantage.
How do you know it's a real 'trap', and not an imaginative event build on assumptions of assumptions?
It took me 7 years to really understand and use the advantage.
How do you know it's a real 'trap', and not an imaginative event build on assumptions of assumptions?
Mine was to realise i had plenty of time, instead of rushing in and taking trades that weren't really good setups because i didn't want to miss the move, just wait it out. There will be plenty of opportunities, there is no need to force myself into the markets the first hour because i want to catch a move. Wait for the prime setups, if not later in the day then tomorrow. My strategy only has a handful of trades per day, but there are also days my strategy wont have any decent signals and that's okay.
Taking sub optimal trades because of FOMO was one of the major things that was holding me back.
Taking sub optimal trades because of FOMO was one of the major things that was holding me back.
earlier on i had the "fortune" of working alongside someone, who let's just say, got their job solely on the basis of their connections (there was no other plausible explanation lol)
they were the best reverse indicator ever, no joke
after a while, i got to really analyzing why they were making those calls - like no "normal" person could be wrong that much, >90% of the time.
i realized it was a combo of a few things
1) their analysis was flimsy, eg. they cherry picked a few easy-to-understand tidbits/ talking lines & made it their whole reasoning
2) once they formed an opinion about something, they did not budge, ever
3) they were deeply insecure & always needed to be in trades which made them "look good" at the moment, eg. becoming super bullish on Netflix at the very peak, when the "cool crowd" was bragging about how much they made on holding Netflix, but they were late to the party and getting in just as the others were cashing out
so i knew a good starting point would be,
1') to work harder than the next guy, eg. not stop at the easy stuff that everyone knows
2') not be fixated on any opinion, eg. many "thematic stories" don't materialize anyways, we just pretend to agree & cash in, then gtfo when the facade has popped to move onto the next thing
3') to be secure even in doing "uncool" trades which are "uncool" in the moment but in retrospect very profitable/ at the very least not insecure & see through the BS that people are always selling, ie not be anyone's exit liquidity
they were the best reverse indicator ever, no joke
after a while, i got to really analyzing why they were making those calls - like no "normal" person could be wrong that much, >90% of the time.
i realized it was a combo of a few things
1) their analysis was flimsy, eg. they cherry picked a few easy-to-understand tidbits/ talking lines & made it their whole reasoning
2) once they formed an opinion about something, they did not budge, ever
3) they were deeply insecure & always needed to be in trades which made them "look good" at the moment, eg. becoming super bullish on Netflix at the very peak, when the "cool crowd" was bragging about how much they made on holding Netflix, but they were late to the party and getting in just as the others were cashing out
so i knew a good starting point would be,
1') to work harder than the next guy, eg. not stop at the easy stuff that everyone knows
2') not be fixated on any opinion, eg. many "thematic stories" don't materialize anyways, we just pretend to agree & cash in, then gtfo when the facade has popped to move onto the next thing
3') to be secure even in doing "uncool" trades which are "uncool" in the moment but in retrospect very profitable/ at the very least not insecure & see through the BS that people are always selling, ie not be anyone's exit liquidity
You brought up a good point about institutional vs retail. Hence, you need understand who sets up these traps. Is it institutional or the collective retail traders? No need for me to answer, right?
Now, one thing that might help you better understand TRAP is the notion of "prisoner's dilemma". The underlying premise goes something like this: everyone will benefit if we all cooperate, but if I don't cooperate (but know that you will likely cooperate), I will win big and you will lose.
My revelation has been a few big issues I thought I could fix myself actually proved to be not so. The final solution turned out to be utilizing mechanical systems/processes so I don’t have to fix them myself.
For example, one problem I had was using large sizes, e.g., 2000+ shares of tsla. In the end I pulled out my trading capital so the max size I can ever have is no more than 500 shares of tsla. Another example is I tend to add to losers. Eventually I decided to always enter each trade with the max size so I cannot add any more shares. It increased my trading outcome volatility but I never could add to a loser. LOL
For example, one problem I had was using large sizes, e.g., 2000+ shares of tsla. In the end I pulled out my trading capital so the max size I can ever have is no more than 500 shares of tsla. Another example is I tend to add to losers. Eventually I decided to always enter each trade with the max size so I cannot add any more shares. It increased my trading outcome volatility but I never could add to a loser. LOL
Good Evening schizo,
My ah ha moment came a week ago around 3am at night.
1. Trading the ES futures market is VERY easy, and I will be filthy rich in 3 months.
2. The ES futures market is the most easiest on the plant to get rich in a few weeks.
3. Trading is not hard.
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