This is intended as a reply to popesidious's question, and for traders' education. There's no intentional inference with NoiseTrader's posts.
<FONT face="Comic Sans MS"><center>MURPHYâS LAWS
FOR
COMMODITY TRADERS</center>
1. It is morally wrong to allow a sucker to keep his money
2. Everyone has a trading strategy that wonât work
3. For every expert who says prices are going up, there is one who says they are going down
4. If you can drink it, donât trade it
5. The market is not logical; it is psychological
6. The successful speculator is one who dies before his time comes
7. If you drop a dead cat far enough, it will bounce
8. The market goes your way the day after your stop was hit
ITS COROLLARY
9. The big move begins the day after your option expires
10. He who sells uncovered options goes broke
11. If you feel like doubling up a profitable position, slam your dialing finger in the drawer until the feeling goes away
12. The perfect strategy works every time until you start using it
13. If your strategy seems to be working well, you havenât been using it long enough
14. The guy who owns the horse when it dies is the loser
15. When it comes to luck or skill, you canât beat luck
16. Pigs wonât eat $5 corn or $500 meal
17. When the plate of cookies goes around the table, donât forget to take a couple
18. When the market is wrong, it doesnât pay to be right
19. He who sells what isnât hisân, pays the price or goes to prison
20. Be right; sit tight
21. The best way to make a small fortune is to start with a large one
22. He who knows doesnât tell, he who tells doesnât know
23. When youâre hot youâre hot, when youâre not, take a vacation
24. The market knows more than the sum total of everyone in it
25. What everyone knows ainât worth knowing
26. The market will do whatever is necessary to fool the majority
27. Fundamentals are seldom what they appear to be
28. If you always do what youâve always done, youâll always get what youâve always got
29. The first five letters of âbrokerâ spell âbrokeâ
30. The market punishes those who make mistakes </font>
<FONT face="Comic Sans MS"><center>MURPHYâS LAWS
FOR
COMMODITY TRADERS</center>
1. It is morally wrong to allow a sucker to keep his money
2. Everyone has a trading strategy that wonât work
3. For every expert who says prices are going up, there is one who says they are going down
4. If you can drink it, donât trade it
5. The market is not logical; it is psychological
6. The successful speculator is one who dies before his time comes
7. If you drop a dead cat far enough, it will bounce
8. The market goes your way the day after your stop was hit
ITS COROLLARY
9. The big move begins the day after your option expires
10. He who sells uncovered options goes broke
11. If you feel like doubling up a profitable position, slam your dialing finger in the drawer until the feeling goes away
12. The perfect strategy works every time until you start using it
13. If your strategy seems to be working well, you havenât been using it long enough
14. The guy who owns the horse when it dies is the loser
15. When it comes to luck or skill, you canât beat luck
16. Pigs wonât eat $5 corn or $500 meal
17. When the plate of cookies goes around the table, donât forget to take a couple
18. When the market is wrong, it doesnât pay to be right
19. He who sells what isnât hisân, pays the price or goes to prison
20. Be right; sit tight
21. The best way to make a small fortune is to start with a large one
22. He who knows doesnât tell, he who tells doesnât know
23. When youâre hot youâre hot, when youâre not, take a vacation
24. The market knows more than the sum total of everyone in it
25. What everyone knows ainât worth knowing
26. The market will do whatever is necessary to fool the majority
27. Fundamentals are seldom what they appear to be
28. If you always do what youâve always done, youâll always get what youâve always got
29. The first five letters of âbrokerâ spell âbrokeâ
30. The market punishes those who make mistakes </font>
Quote from popesidious:
What works in Trading?
I'm still looking for that answer, but I think that the most successful speculators made their money betting against the ideas of the crowd. The successful speculator gets greedy when the herd is shocked by fear and gets scared when the herd is greedy.
Markets have an evil tendency to move in the direction which is going to hurt the most participants. Only a few make money while the herd gets slaughtered.