Why do you care so much about having an "edge?

I find it ironic a market affected by psychological supports and movements can be so blatantly disregarded by their own psychological arrogance. Irony?

Maybe i'm too much of a behaviorist :mad:
 
Great post. Very true. Period.
Quote from NY0BScalper:

It is obvious you are a not a trader.


No matter how good your edge is if you just get out of a multiple year relationship with a woman you were extremely in love with because you found out the bitch was cheating on you, if someone in your close family is very sick from cancer, if your strategy is having an off week, if you are tired one morning and it makes you slow so that you miss your out and start the day down your daily target, in all those cases you won't have the same mindset on the next trade as you did before the problems were triggered.

As long as you are human you will feel emotions while trading and no trader can keep his emotions from affecting his decision making 100% of the time because it is impossible to be aware of every single trigger in that will make you view the markets from a distorted perspective. Since no one has experienced every possibility we all can be struck or ticked off by something we have never experienced before. When someone undergoes a drastically unique emotional experience for the first time no matter how calm and cool he was in other situations because what he experiences is new and frightening he will be susceptible to errors.

The easier and more mechanical the edge the easier the discipline is - to a certain extent at least.
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Quote from trickshot:

No, the reason why most traders fail is because they think they have an edge when in reality they have none.
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Excellent point.
They think they have an edge then develop the mental edge to stick through it thick and thin, then before you know it, the account's blown. And the market infrastructure thanks you for your contribution.

So for my own benefit:
GET AN EDGE!
YOU NEED ONE!
STICK WITH IT!
 
No one here with a record on their profile, but me. It takes awhile to get one, and it's worth money when you got it. I never got "edge" out of anything. I have strategy. A little bit different.
 
I totally agree with this post:

Quote from trickshot:

No, the reason why most traders fail is because they think they have an edge when in reality they have none.

Psychology is just a sry excuse for pikers who have no real edge. I do arbitrage for a certain instrument day in day out and have been consistently profitable for the last 3.5yrs, psychology has nothing to do with my trading.
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It's obvious that a lot of the posters in this thread have no freaking clue what an edge is, but that hasn't stopped them from spouting off with noise that may make sense to them but is just so much monkey chatter to the rest of us.

So for the screeching monkey brigade, here's a little Edge 101, because I'm bored and have nothing better to do:

Edge is just another word for "positive expectation". Positive Expectation is something you either have or don't have. And if you don't have it, all the best money management and especially all the psychobabble in the world won't save your sorry ass, or your sorry-ass trading account.

You might get lucky without an edge; people do get lucky everyday in Las Vegas and Atlantic City. And sooner or later, some schmuck has to win the super-lotto jackpot.

But that's not an edge, that's just dumb luck. And you know it's dumb luck because for every winner, there's at least a thousand losers who were DOING THE EXACT SAME THING AS THE WINNER.

There aren't a thousand losers with positive expectation for every winning trader, there are just a thousand losers who got tricked into thinking they had a winning strategy.

And like the man (Jack Schwager) said, if you don't know your edge, you don't have one.
 
Quote from kut2k2:

I totally agree with this post:



It's obvious that a lot of the posters in this thread have no freaking clue what an edge is, but that hasn't stopped them from spouting off with noise that may make sense to them but is just so much monkey chatter to the rest of us.

So for the screeching monkey brigade, here's a little Edge 101, because I'm bored and have nothing better to do:

Edge is just another word for "positive expectation". Positive Expectation is something you either have or don't have. And if you don't have it, all the best money management and especially all the psychobabble in the world won't save your sorry ass, or your sorry-ass trading account.

You might get lucky without an edge; people do get lucky everyday in Las Vegas and Atlantic City. And sooner or later, some schmuck has to win the super-lotto jackpot.

But that's not an edge, that's just dumb luck. And you know it's dumb luck because for every winner, there's at least a thousand losers who were DOING THE EXACT SAME THING AS THE WINNER.

There aren't a thousand losers with positive expectation for every winning trader, there are just a thousand losers who got tricked into thinking they had a winning strategy.

And like the man (Jack Schwager) said, if you don't know your edge, you don't have one.
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Monkey Chatter is a pretty good way to describe it. I was going to type what you typed, but just didn't want to haha.
 
There's a saying that goes something like this -

The one who starts with certainty will end with only questions.
And, the one who begins with only questions will end with certainty!

Arrogance is a good indicator of where a No Eyed-Deer is probably lurking! Simply, because they don't show even a basic understanding and control of their weakness, and so try to hide behind bullying and abuse! If they can't first understand themselves how can they possibly understand anything else! On that note I'll leave you with another thought -"Self praise is no recommendation."

Regards

Johno
 
Quote from NoDoji:

Jon,

Support and resistance constitute the "head game" of those who are playing the same game as you. Trading equities, support and resistance levels within your trading time frame tell you where the majority of people playing the game wished they'd gotten in or out of a position. Support is that price level where people wish they'd gotten in before and they pile in now; resistance is that price level where those who piled in at the high end of the last uptrend and got burned desperately want to get out at least at break even.

When a support level is broken, stops get triggered and prospective buyers will wait for the stock to hit the next lower support level to pile in. When a resistance level is broken, buy stops are triggered and the short squeeze ensues. The price may then pull back and resistance may be tested again. If resistance is tested strongly more than once it tends to weaken, because the many of the shorts covered. When that weakened resistance level is then broken, prospective buyers may fear the stock price will run away from them and they may pile in at that point.

Will the breakout hold up? It will if there are now more buyers wanting in than there are people who bought at that level before and got burned.

I've never traded e-minis, but I would guess the same S/R behavior applies to investors and longer term traders with regard to these market indices as a whole.

The mental toughness you need as a trader is the patience to wait for strong setups based on S/R levels, improving your probability of success, rather than the desire to "make something happen" where action is unwarranted.

The other mental toughness you need is the ability to cut losses based on an advance plan WITHOUT HESITATION.

Donna
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good post..
 
Psychology vs the Edge:confused:

I look for value by rotating sectors that are in or out of favor. I trade only long in Bear or Bull Markets. My Edge is a good scaning sofware "Telechart" (no spam). I was trading oil and precious metals when they were in favor and now I am trading Healthcare, Long distance Carriers and Bio-tech. I use weekly charts to stay in my positions and the daily for my exit and entry. I guess you could say that I am a trend investor because although I dable lightly in some day trading I like to hold my positions until I see weekness in first the sector on a weekly chart and then ultimately in my positions.

Psychology plays a part in every thought we have and in every decision we make. So to say that there is no place for it in the world of trading is just not true. Is my style of trading an edge? I am not sure, I always thought that an edge was somthing that you had that no one else did. I am sure that there are plenty of traders doing what I do, and maybe even better. I am successfull and a full time trader, but not quit worren Buffet if you know what I mean.

I guess what I am trying to say is that you have to know who you are, find a trading "Edge" that fits your personality, apply comon sense risk and trade management. Learn proper portfolio managment (allocation or share size) and be of a sound psychological mind. A fine ballance of all these things and years of practice will yield results.

These are just my observations.
 
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