Ok, sorry to keep you Newbies waiting for so long, but I won't be able to carve out the time necessary to keep anymore live trade journals going. I thought I was going to be able to pull it off a few months ago, but I'm really not into it anymore, to be quite honest with you.
The whole online trading thing as basically taken its toll on my maximum patience threshold and I really don't have anything else to offer. I've been online for longer than I ever expected, since the late 90's. Some of you (if you are still around) will remember my old Stock List, with NOC as my favorite options play (the underlying - I forget what the options symbol was). GD, was also a favorite, along with NVDA and of course the Triple Q's and Diamonds, though their options delta was never that spectacular.
Then, a good friend of mine told me that he looked at Forex data using one of my very early Indicator Engines (back when I was actually sharing my Engine work) and told me that I needed to check it out - so I did.... and never looked back. I've been in FX ever since and never saw any reason to go back to equity options. Though, I have often wondered what stock data would now look like inside the new 7th Generation of the system. However, most of what I do now, is so tightly integrated and customized for Currencies, that I'd have to make far too many changes to convert the system back to Stocks. So, I won't be taking that on as another project.
Bottom line, I'm just burned-out on the whole online thing and a decade doing this stuff is enough. I typically say that I'll make a visit one per year, shoot the breeze, talk tech, try to inspire and maybe drop a trade or two live, but that's over as well for me. I'm also pulling myself (very reluctantly) off of Political Forums as well, even though at times, the political and economic issues of the day, drive me to the point of unleashing a torrent of blowback on wrong-headed politicians and those who continually support their campaigns. I'm just losing the fire for being online anymore.
I've learned a lot by being online. Most of what I learned, could very well be part of a tremendously successful thesis in Human Psychology & Social Behavioral Science. I've learned that People (Human Beings) engage in herd-like behavior, more often than they might realize and very often, to their own detriment. Its been really sad seeing that kind of behavior, but the very nature of "online" sets-up People for precisely that kind of behavior. I've also learned that People can do some amazingly outstanding things and accomplish some amazing feats, if only inspired to do so! This has been one of the primary things that kept me online this long - seeing People make progress, move forward and get closer to their dreams. Its been really good seeing that side of the online world as well.
Mostly, its just time - that's all. My other projects have reached the point where I'm finding myself almost as busy as I was when I had a corporate job. I'm flying to meet people on other projects, about 3 times a month, which keeps me really busy in post-meeting work/research. Most of the trading I do now, takes no more than 15 minutes a day and I can do it from anywhere on the planet, with the rest of my time spent on projects that have nothing to do with trading, or developing new trading ideas and concepts. But, at this point, my attention needs to turn to other projects on a full-time basis.
My last bit of advice to the Newbies is this:
Don't listen to Naysayers and believe that being profitable as a Currency Trader, is in fact possible. I'm living proof that it is a profitable business. I've lost tens of thousands in this business, but I've made millions in return and since 1998, when I first began getting involved with the idea of being a Trader, I never once regretted ever having left the corporate world as someone else's employee. I've owned my own time and my own destiny as a direct result. You too, can realize what real success as a Trader means, but you cannot listen to Naysayers - they are Trolls of the highest order and they will drain the life out of you, if you let them, with their perpetual drum beat of "it can't be done." Stick to your guns, do as much research on raw market data that you can and develop your own unique indicators, system and/or methodology for trading. Develop an eye for looking at raw market data (OHLC) in a row and column format, there is a ton of good information in there and plenty of keys or building your own custom indicators - the type and kind that no one else has.
Don't be afraid to develop and test new ideas - there are no dumb ideas. The only dumb ideas, are the one's you allow fear to suppress, because somebody else doesn't think the idea has merit. It could be that very idea that sets your trading results apart from the masses, and believe me, being different in this business is the coolest thing you can possibly imagine. Learn the importance of setting good Risk Reward Ratios. You can take 30 positions a day, lose on most of them and easily end the day with Net Positive Profits, but your RR needs to be structured correctly and based on trade signals, configurations and set-ups that you KNOW will ultimately put your capital on the right side of the market at some point during the day. Don't be afraid to take small (RR based) losses, somethings multiple losses in a row before the "winner" rectifies the problem. Most of all,
remain persistent and consistent. If you have developed a good system, strategy and/or methodology, your winners will eventually show-up at the right time and claim the day for you. It can take a while to learn this lesson, but it is one of the biggest and most expensive lessons you will learn as you make the move to consistently successful Trader.
There is enough information out there, for you to become routinely successful in this business. If you already know about TCDs, then use them in multiple time-frames and find the conditions that are best suited for the types of trades you want or need to make - whether you are a Scalper, Day Trader, Swing Trader or Position Trader, TCDs can be an invaluable tool. Listen to people that have been there and done that before. Listen to people that know what they are talking about and eat their own dog food. If you like "historical trend" trading, then listen to someone like
Daryl Guppy. This man understands the meaning behind "historical trends" and he knows how to make "trend projections" off of those historical patterns. If you like the idea of Fibonacci Numbers, then you really need to pick-up Constance Brown's book: Fibonacci Analysis, Bloomberg Market Essentials, she KNOWS her stuff when it comes to essential nature of the Golden Ratio, Proportions, Expanding Markets and Contracting Markets.
Stick to the people that KNOW what the heck they are talking about. You will know them when you see them because they write and speak with comfortable specificity about their niche and/or their expertise in the business of Trading the Markets. They are not all over the map in public - they are focuses on what they know works and they develop their other ideas in private. They are also very positive minded people and they do not mind helping Newbies become successful Traders. Find THOSE people and stay clear of taking advice from the trollish naysayers. Equally as important, find people
with an ethical backbone! There is nothing more frustrating in this business, than to get unfortunately hooked-up with some unethical con artists who out for himself and willing to screw you to get there. Ditch these people from your trading life and career. You don't need them in your orbit.
Learn from the best. Develop your own unique niche. Stay focused. Remain positive. Be persistent. Don't fear doing homework, welcome it. Have faith that you can achieve and you will achieve. Honor
discipline with everything you have and it will pay you huge dividends in the end-game. Develop a creative mindset, if you don't have one already and get used to taking meticulously calculated risks when necessary and always know worst case scenario BEFORE you enter any position. Your best defense against catastrophic loss, is KNOWING what you can and cannot lose, before you lose it. The rest will become academic over time - give it time.
This is not an overnight proposition, but if you persevere as a Newbie, you too can join the ranks of the very highly successful Traders of the world!
Good night, good trading!
