# The Secret That Makes For a Successful Trader



## strudy (4 July 2008)

There are hundred of articles and books that will tell you how to trade successfully.How to look out for certain charting signals which will tell you when it is the right time to buy. 

Of course you do your own research. Of course you buy when the stock is trending upwards.Etc .You stick to your preset plan of when to sell at the best profit possible.You do everything that they tell you to do and more besides.

Then you can have purchased the best software program available, which has cost you thousands of dollars.Then you also subscribe to to the numerous newsletters and listen to expert advisors who will tell you what to buy and when to buy .All for a substantial fee of course.

Even with all this going for you is there any guarantee that you will be a success? I am afraid the answer is a resounding NO!

By doing everything above you have given yourself a better chance of being a successful share trader than the amateur. But without that “Secret Ingredient”you are doomed to eventual failure, for the odds are stacked against you.

Have you figured out yet what it is? Without this knowledge you are almost doomed to failure. What I am about to tell you will make a big difference towards your trading success.For without it you hard earned starting up capital will be lost very quickly.

Ok! you have twisted my arm. The Secret is nothing more simpler than Risk Control.

The successful trader accepts risk as an inescapable fact of life while he is trading in the market.It is his devotion to risk management that will determine his trading success.

*I shall explain in more depth how important managing risk is.For without it your days in the trading market are numbered.*

The very first thing you must look at is Your Own Attitude To Risk. It is essential to know exactly how you react to risk and what sort of trader you are. I am afraid I cannot help you here.For it is a decision that you alone and you alone can make.Now for a closer look at risk.

It is of vital importance that each and every trade has to be assessed individually for the risks vary with each separate stock.
We shall assume that you have done your basic research before you picked this particular stock to invest/risk your capital in.

The next thing you have to look at is the stock itself. Take a look at todays' chart and you will find that the stock can only go in one of three directions.i.e. that is upwards,downwards or sideways. If it is it is going steadily upwards the risk of it going downwards are already reduced in your favour.

Understanding charting activity plays an important part in risk management because it reveals possibilities and gives you more choices.

*I also employ a probability factor scale,* you can adjust the percentages to suit your own risk tolerance.It is basically this:-

1. If the stock is currently going upwards it has 70% chance of continuing upwards, a 20%chance of going sideways and a10% chance of going downwards.

2..If the stock is trending sideways it has 50% chance of going up or down.An even money bet in other words

3. If the stock is trending downwards then it has a 70% chance of continuing downwards. 20% chance of going sideways and a 10% chance of going upwards.

Of course there are no guarantees but it effectively reduces some, but not all of the risk factor in your favour.

*You have secondly have to look at the “Time Factors” involved .For Time is the most difficult risk variable in your trading plan.
*
*1. How long will will the trade take to complete?* Is it a short trade measuring days or is it of a longer duration?

For the longer the trade is open the more chance the market has of turning against you.For you have no idea which future events may influence your stocks share price.
For it is the activity in the market itself which determines the outcome of your stock,that is whether the share price goes up or down.

*2. Two constant companions in the stock market are Fear and Greed.* Let these two emotions govern your trading and your risk factor has just been multiplied astronomically.

So be aware of how they can effect your trading. either by paralysing you or by keeping you in that trade little bit longer than you should have been.
Letting your emotions rule your trading is a sure fire way to financial ruin.

3. *Employ a stop loss to minimise your losses and use a trailing stop loss to lock in any profit you may have already made.
*
4*. Use the 2% rule.*That is limit the risk on ant single trrade yo no more than 2%of total trading or portfolio capital i.e $100,000 capital means that we lose no more than $2,000.
The correct application of the 2% rule may mean the loss in a single individual trade may grow to to 10% or 30%. However it will not exceed the dollar amount of $2,000

5. *Diversify!* This means basically spreading your investments, this spreads your risk.Do not trade just in resource or mining stocks.But have some exposure to other areas of investment.
As you may have noticed some sectors in the market have already been hit harder than others.

Learn by your past experiences or better still the experience of others .Remember each trade is just one of a series of probabilities and your success or the lack of it is determined by how you use that “Secret Ingredient” Risk Management.
*The higher the rewards, the higher the risk Only if you do nothing to manage risk.    *


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## roland (4 July 2008)

good read strudy, thanks for posting - I for one have learnt my lesson (I hope) of trading against the trend, looking for the turnaround - just too hard in this market.


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## professor_frink (4 July 2008)

your not a half bad writer sturdy!


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## Nick Radge (4 July 2008)

All common sense, if not simplistic, but even great risk control won't help the account.

The use of fixed fractional position sizing is appropriate, but using 2% is not for everyone. A person with a lower drawdown tolerance, say 20%, and a strike rate of 50% will more than likely not succeed or fall into the beginners cycle.

I'd like to see the anecdotal evidence of your probability scale.


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## IFocus (4 July 2008)

Hmmm no mention of testing.......


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## explod (4 July 2008)

There is an enourmous amount of technical evaluation, a lot of it from experience, that needs to take place, from the objective set to the conduct of the trade to nurse it all the way.   The focus of course will depend on the time frame.  

Sound trading requires more than a few pages, but this could be a good thread Strudy; maybe the heading needs a tweek to capture the attention it deserves, I could only read the first couple of words on the home page and dropped in only out of curiosity in this case.


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## It's Snake Pliskin (5 July 2008)

strudy said:


> Ok! you have twisted my arm. The Secret is nothing more simpler than Risk Control.
> 
> The successful trader accepts risk as an inescapable fact of life while he is trading in the market.It is his devotion to risk management that will determine his trading success.
> 
> ...




I disagree. It's too hard to prove. 

Answer this: how long will it take until you have no money left if you have 100% losing trades. Fine you cut your losses short to hold off D-day but where is the money making element? Where is the edge or the unique read?

2% rule? C'mon. That $2000 could be 4 trades risking $500 prolonging D-day presuming there is no edge.


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## >Apocalypto< (5 July 2008)

strudy said:


> There are hundred of articles and books that will tell you how to trade successfully.How to look out for certain charting signals which will tell you when it is the right time to buy.
> 
> Of course you do your own research. Of course you buy when the stock is trending upwards.Etc .You stick to your preset plan of when to sell at the best profit possible.You do everything that they tell you to do and more besides.
> 
> ...




very well written!

has the feel of a sales pitch. "want to know more then see what my course will do for you"


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## Sean K (5 July 2008)

Protect Capital. 

Nothing else matters, imho.


Oh, and follow LN's ramps.


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## IFocus (5 July 2008)

>Apocalypto< said:


> very well written!
> 
> has the feel of a sales pitch. "want to know more then see what my course will do for you"




LOL yes once that word "secret" is mentioned..............


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## nizar (5 July 2008)

Nick Radge said:


> The use of fixed fractional position sizing is appropriate, but using 2% is not for everyone. A person with a lower drawdown tolerance, say 20%, and a strike rate of 50% will more than likely not succeed or fall into the beginners cycle.




Can you expand on this please Nick?
Why are they not likely to succeed?


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## MichaelD (5 July 2008)

nizar said:


> Can you expand on this please Nick?
> Why are they not likely to succeed?




(Masquerading as Nick).

Drawdown tolerance of 20%.
Risk of 2% per position.
50% win/loss rate.

The maths guarantee that sooner or later (more likely sooner), 10 losses in a row will be hit which = 20% drawdown. At that point, psychology takes over and the plan will be abandoned.

Hence why amateurs say "so little" to 2% risk and pros say "so much".


(I'll let you in on a little dirty secret of mine...even I'm getting fatigued taking my 0.5% losses at the moment)


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## Sean K (5 July 2008)

MichaelD said:


> (Masquerading as Nick).
> 
> Drawdown tolerance of 20%.
> Risk of 2% per position.
> ...



So, now you're contibuting to the boom thread?



Another Pro, 

Contributing when it's convenient.

WTF! 

I'm lost.


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## IFocus (5 July 2008)

kennas said:


> So, now you're contibuting to the boom thread?
> 
> 
> 
> ...




Kennas, have you been chewing to many cocoa leaves...........or maybe not enough?


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## Sean K (5 July 2008)

IFocus said:


> Kennas, have you been chewing to many cocoa leaves...........or maybe not enough?



Not enough. But tomorrow night watch out!


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## jman2007 (5 July 2008)

Nice thread strudy,

Probably one of the better spelt out arguments on the site re trading systems.

I guess that's what makes ASF such an interesting place to visit, everyone has their own system and theories about the best way to trade.  Personally, I'm starting to come around to the idea that a combination of t/a and fundamental analysis is what will probably work best for me. 

I guess you can never discount the human element in any marketplace, we are essentially creatures of habit, but our decision-making and attitude to risk is very hard to predict under times of stress such as a market correction, like we saw on Thursday. 

Hard to stop the inner-lemming in all of us coming out sometimes. :

jman


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## nioka (5 July 2008)

My view on successful trading is that it is necessary to know as much as possible about the company involved. I would never buy a stock that I have not researched. That is my policy, not my secret. I have had a 75% return on capital in the past financial year even with a few dogs which may even yet help provide a similar result this financial year. 

If you don't make an effort to understand the stock don't buy the stock.


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## tech/a (5 July 2008)

nioka said:


> My view on successful trading is that it is necessary to know as much as possible about the company involved. I would never buy a stock that I have not researched. That is my policy, not my secret. I have had a 75% return on capital in the past financial year even with a few dogs which may even yet help provide a similar result this financial year.
> 
> If you don't make an effort to understand the stock don't buy the stock.





Where as I am the complete opposite.
I have very little to no idea about the stock---only its code.


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## Sean K (5 July 2008)

tech/a said:


> Where as I am the complete opposite.
> I have very little to no idea about the stock---only its code.



Legend.


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## tech/a (5 July 2008)

kennas said:


> Legend.




Method.


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## Trembling Hand (5 July 2008)

nioka said:


> My view on successful trading is that it is necessary to know as much as possible about the company involved. I would never buy a stock that I have not researched. That is my policy, not my secret. I have had a 75% return on capital in the past financial year even with a few dogs which may even yet help provide a similar result this financial year.
> 
> If you don't make an effort to understand the stock don't buy the stock.






tech/a said:


> Where as I am the complete opposite.
> I have very little to no idea about the stock---only its code.




That just sums up how ridiculous the title of this thread is. It is not risk management that makes you successful. Its skill, edge, knowledge.

Risk management will not stop a blowup if you have no edge and don't know how to exploit it. it may just keep you around a tad longer.


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## Sean K (5 July 2008)

tech/a said:


> Method.





................................................................................................


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## tech/a (5 July 2008)

Risk management is a part of trade management which in itself can give you better return on an average application which has a positive expectancy.

However risk and trade management on a fundamentally flawed methodology wont turn it from disaster to profit,no matter how good it is.


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## MichaelD (5 July 2008)

kennas said:


> So, now you're contibuting to the boom thread?
> 
> 
> 
> ...



It is an interesting phenomenon that when markets turn sour people turn nasty.


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## MichaelD (5 July 2008)

Trembling Hand said:


> It is not risk management that makes you successful. Its skill, edge, knowledge.
> 
> Risk management will not stop a blowup if you have no edge and don't know how to exploit it. it may just keep you around a tad longer.




I only partially agree.

You can have an edge, but if you don't apply proper risk management, you will blow up.

Take a perfectly profitable system traded at 25% position size and change the position size to 100%. It guarantees that you will blow up in the long run.

Trading successfully requires the "perfect storm"; edge, risk management, money management, psychology. You can't ignore any one of these components.


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## Trembling Hand (5 July 2008)

MichaelD said:


> I only partially agree.
> 
> You can have an edge, but if you don't apply proper risk management, you will blow up.
> 
> ...




Yes Yes but I will take skill/edge any day as the first and most important "Secret".

The rest is obviously a part of the whole game but mostly its just Blah Blah Blah. The most elusive is still a quantifiable edge.


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## tech/a (5 July 2008)

Define edge.
Define quantifiable--against what?
Out performance?--against what benchmark?


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## Trembling Hand (5 July 2008)

Quantifiable edge = positive historical results that you know HOW you came up with them.

Who mentioned anything about Out performance.


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## Trembling Hand (5 July 2008)

There is a whole industry/Rambling Bullsh!t going on about psychology and risk management and discipline but its all a *scam*. 

I get ATLEAST one email a week from someone struggling with trading and they all have the same theme. Discipline/Psychology/Risk Blah Blah Blah.

What none of them say is I have developed these trading skills but risk management is stopping me making money.

GET SOME TRADING SKILLS thats the bloody secret. The rest is just looking after business.


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## MRC & Co (5 July 2008)

Trembling Hand said:


> Quantifiable edge = positive historical results that you know HOW you came up with them.




But that edge is also tied up in the trade management etc.

I don't think you can define one aspect that makes you successful (as a trader) in the markets, it's the entire package, as Michael stated earlier. 

You cannot quantify any given 'edge'.   

If that makes sense.

One email a week?  Geez, you have built up quiet the reputation eh!


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## weird (6 July 2008)

I would have thought that risk management would be considered just part of the secret ... find something that 'works', and 'do' it 'as much' as possible.

3 pillars of trading


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## theasxgorilla (6 July 2008)

Trembling Hand said:


> Yes Yes but I will take skill/edge any day as the first and most important "Secret".
> 
> The rest is obviously a part of the whole game but mostly its just Blah Blah Blah. The most elusive is still a
> quantifiable edge.




Here's an assertion...the significance of Blah Blah Blah is inversely proportionate to the potency of your "quantifiable edge".


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## Sean K (6 July 2008)

MichaelD said:


> It is an interesting phenomenon that when markets turn sour people turn nasty.



Sorry Michael. It's not the market. It's alcohol. Apologies.


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## theasxgorilla (6 July 2008)

Trembling Hand said:


> Risk management will not stop a blowup if you have no edge and don't know how to exploit it. it may just keep you around a tad longer.




Hopefully long enough for a bull market to arrive to prove the method your guru sold you works...what me? cynical?


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## SGB (6 July 2008)

Trembling Hand said:


> There is a whole industry/Rambling Bullsh!t going on about psychology and risk management and discipline but its all a *scam*.
> 
> I get ATLEAST one email a week from someone struggling with trading and they all have the same theme. Discipline/Psychology/Risk Blah Blah Blah.
> 
> ...




I think what TH is trying to convey about the edge theory is being able to master your own style without spending scrupulous amounts of dollars about the analogies of trading .i.e.  Same theories but different paraphrasing.  

Being real about your own skill level while trying to have an edge means finding your own niche as an individual, and fortunately, requires all that BLA, BLA, BLA before you can actually arrive to that destination.

I’m on your page TH about the hype that is a given in these situations, but also feel it’s important to go through these lessons to not only define who you are as a trader but also unravel the weeds that cross the maze into where you want to go.


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## tech/a (6 July 2008)

Trembling Hand said:


> There is a whole industry/Rambling Bullsh!t going on about psychology and risk management and discipline but its all a *scam*.
> 
> I get ATLEAST one email a week from someone struggling with trading and they all have the same theme. Discipline/Psychology/Risk Blah Blah Blah.
> 
> ...




Strong accusations.
Could be expensive.

Even your own results when studied showed that profit came from those few outliers that skewed your trading in your favor. You didnt know when they would come or how you'd find them. Your edge was and still is the ability to catch ENOUGH of these moves to make profit---you didnt get them all.
Without that skewing your results that I saw were as ordinary as the next guys.

There are only 3 ways to achieve profit.(That I know of).
(1) Far more wins than losses.
(2) Far more profit than losses.
(3) Both.

You dont have risk management?
You dont have a psychological edge that others dont?

An edge isnt an edge unless you can skew profit in your favor.
Many edges find themselves discarded as their owners can do this.



> What none of them say is I have developed these trading skills but risk management is stopping me making money.




Obviously then they have no idea how to apply it.


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## wayneL (6 July 2008)

IFocus said:


> Kennas, have you been chewing to many cocoa leaves...........or maybe not enough?




Cocoa leaves aren't much fun. Coca leaves on the other hand....


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## Trembling Hand (6 July 2008)

MRC & Co said:


> One email a week?  Geez, you have built up quiet the reputation eh!



Maybe one day when you have something to say that cuts through the bulls*** and can show some results you too can build a following. Until then just work on being more arrogant.:


tech/a said:


> Even your own results when studied showed that profit came from those few outliers that skewed your trading in your favor. You didnt know when they would come or how you'd find them. Your edge was and still is the ability to catch ENOUGH of these moves to make profit---you didnt get them all.
> Without that skewing your results that I saw were as ordinary as the next guys.



Love it. after 8+ years of trading and hundred of thousands of trades you see 1 day and are an expert on my trading. 



tech/a said:


> You dont have risk management?
> You dont have a psychological edge that others dont?
> 
> Obviously then they have no idea how to apply it.




You have missed my point. All the money/trade management/risk/psyc stuff is part of the game for sure. BUT its just a part. People that struggle seem to get stuck on these risk/psyc issues. I would say that they would be better off developing trading/investment skills rather than taking the line that risk management is the "*Secret That Makes For a Successful Trader*". 

Trading as you know is your own one man business. When starting any small business the skills to make or supply a superior product is the starting point. When starting a building biz as a one man show you don't raise capital, put together a killer biz plan then go do an Apprenticeship. You do the apprenticeship FIRST, you get skills first.


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## Sean K (6 July 2008)

wayneL said:


> Cocoa leaves aren't much fun. Coca leaves on the other hand....



It takes 8kg of the leaves to make a gram. Apparantly.

So, chewing on it isn't really that great anyway. 

Have tried it, and it's really not that pleasant.

Coca tea is quite nice though. Good for altitude sickness and hangovers. 

You know that coca plants are grown everywhere here. It's the gum tree of Peru. I imagine that Koalas would like to live here. They usually sit at the entrance of hotels, along with a San Pedro cactus. Google that. eeeek!!


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## tech/a (6 July 2008)

Trembling Hand said:


> Love it. after 8+ years of trading and hundred of thousands of trades you see 1 day and are an expert on my trading.




TH I have and can only comment on what Ive seen.
Are you saying that your trading is successful inspite of M/M--T/M?
That if you critically look at your results you cant say that your success has been attributed to any one or more of the 3 listed above?




> You have missed my point. All the money/trade management/risk/psyc stuff is part of the game for sure. BUT its just a part. People that struggle seem to get stuck on these risk/psyc issues. I would say that they would be better off developing trading/investment skills rather than taking the line that risk management is the "*Secret That Makes For a Successful Trader*".
> 
> Trading as you know is a your own one man business. When starting any small business the skills to make or supply a superior product is the starting point. When starting a building biz as a one man show you don't raise capital, put together a killer biz plan then go do an Apprenticeship. You do the apprenticeship FIRST, you get skills first.




While I can see where your coming from Id be suprised if you didnt agree that SOUND trading methods can be rescued and improved even turned spectacular with great M/M and Trade management.
More over M/M and Trade management will in the very large degree save most from ruin even with a flawed methodology. Which after all is extremely important.


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## IFocus (6 July 2008)

wayneL said:


> Cocoa leaves aren't much fun. Coca leaves on the other hand....




Thanks Wayne .......I think it might have been to much or not enough of  chicha.....military types never change


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## Trembling Hand (6 July 2008)

tech/a said:


> TH I have and can only comment on what Ive seen.
> Are you saying that your trading is successful inspite of M/M--T/M?
> That if you critically look at your results you cant say that your success has been attributed to any one or more of the 3 listed above?



I will send you some more results then. :

Yes I agree you NEED M/M--T/M. in fact T/M could actually be THE skill needed.  



tech/a said:


> While I can see where your coming from Id be suprised if you didnt agree that SOUND trading methods can be rescued and improved even turned spectacular with great M/M and Trade management.
> More over M/M and Trade management will in the very large degree save most from ruin even with a flawed methodology. Which after all is extremely important.




Yep agree. But most never get to the SOUND trading methods.


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## jersey10 (6 July 2008)

Trembling Hand said:


> There is a whole industry/Rambling Bullsh!t going on about psychology and risk management and discipline but its all a *scam*.
> 
> I get ATLEAST one email a week from someone struggling with trading and they all have the same theme. Discipline/Psychology/Risk Blah Blah Blah.
> 
> ...




If you were relatively new to trading, what / where / how do you think is the best way to go about getting some trading skills? Also, what are the most important trading skills to master in your opinion?


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## cordelia (6 July 2008)

For what it's worth...I think it is a balanced combination of all the things mentioned in the previous posts... Relying too much on any one aspect is ineffective IMO  and it results in fantasizing about the market. Being able to look at the market and see what is actually there is the real skill. Not many people can do this...I have a hard time staying focused on what is actually going on rather than imagining what might happen..its a constant battle...It's all very well to plan trades but sticking to them is really hard and I think that is a real skill if you can consistently stay focused and not try to second guess yourself...

As for stops..I use them but often close out a position before my stop is triggered if I feel things aren't right....All the trades that my stops have been triggered I have known beforehand that I should have closed but have let imagination take over....


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## MRC & Co (6 July 2008)

Trembling Hand said:


> Maybe one day when you have something to say that cuts through the bulls*** and can show some results you too can build a following. Until then just work on being more arrogant.:




Actually, that was meant to be a compliement.


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## tech/a (6 July 2008)

> As for stops..I use them but often close out a position before my stop is triggered if I feel things aren't right....All the trades that my stops have been triggered I have known beforehand that I should have closed but have let imagination take over....




A better trait to have than watching price sail through stops because you "Feel" your analysis is right and price will turn around when all those other idiots realise how stupid it is selling such a great stock!


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## Trembling Hand (6 July 2008)

MRC & Co said:


> Actually, that was meant to be a complement.




I would type out an apology except I'm still trying to get the keyboard out of my mouth. :bonk:


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## MRC & Co (6 July 2008)

Trembling Hand said:


> I would type out an apology except I'm still trying to get the keyboard out of my mouth. :bonk:




lol, no problemo, my arrogance shielded the blow!


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## James Austin (6 July 2008)

*When we first start trading there are many holes in our dingy: risk management, trade management, money management, entry strategy, exit strategy, the very important trading behaviour and market experience, ie. “trading skill”.

If we don’t patch each and every one of these holes, and keep them patched at all times, then as sure as night follows day, our dingy will sink.

james
*


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## MichaelD (7 July 2008)

cordelia said:


> As for stops..I use them but often close out a position before my stop is triggered if I feel things aren't right....All the trades that my stops have been triggered I have known beforehand that I should have closed but have let imagination take over....




I can show you several big multi-R trades that came within a whisker of my stop loss before taking off for the sky.

The idea of getting out if things don't feel right is appealing...but may be flawed.

I've tested lots of stop methodologies to achieve the aim of getting out early when things "aren't right", but all of them to date have harmed expectancy.

I'm starting to think that all of our fiddling has more to do with our need to be in control than anything else and that the best mindset is to just accept what the markets provide at any given time.


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## It's Snake Pliskin (7 July 2008)

MichaelD said:


> I'm starting to think that all of our fiddling has more to do with our need to be in control than anything else and that the best mindset is to just accept what the markets provide at any given time.



Interesting point MD.
And this is where the non-epistemocrats miss the point.


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## strudy (10 July 2008)

Great replies and posts.There were some good points made.And what is important is that it got you thinking.

Ok I confess. Risk management is only a part of the  big picture.BUT it is an essential part, without it you are in trouble.And the same goes for Skill that is not enough on its own either

Of course you need skill,knowledge etc and you are never going to know it all.Though some think they do.

Remember we are all individuals and that comes to trading as well. What works for me won't necessarily work for you and vice versa.

So we keep on learning and this site is a great place to do just that.

Happy successful trading.


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## white_goodman (10 July 2008)

strudy said:


> Great replies and posts.There were some good points made.And what is important is that it got you thinking.
> 
> Ok I confess. Risk management is only a part of the  big picture.BUT it is an essential part, without it you are in trouble.And the same goes for Skill that is not enough on its own either
> 
> ...






hear hear


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## Wyatt (4 June 2018)

Stumbled upon these sage words whilst browsing around the traps

http://www.collaborativefund.com/blog/the-psychology-of-money/


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## Triathlete (8 June 2018)

Trembling Hand said:


> *GET SOME TRADING SKILLS thats the bloody secret*. The rest is just looking after business.




+1


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## tech/a (8 June 2018)

Specifically what are “ trading skills “
What are business skills
Life skills

Radge once told me 
You’ll know when you can trade and what it is you need to trade 
Profitably for the rest of your life.

I struggled with that for 5 yrs
He was right and I was amazed how simple it was/is 

I had to look in all the wrong places to find the right place.

It’s *ALL* about the *NUMBERS.*


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## Triathlete (8 June 2018)

tech/a said:


> Specifically what are “ trading skills “
> What are business skills
> Life skills
> 
> ...




Yes I have to agree...trading is not as complicated as it looks but you need
 to *work out how and why*... that is the hard part when starting out.

Even with what I have learnt I probably only use 30% but I have the other 70% in the toolbox if I need it.


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## tech/a (8 June 2018)

Triathlete said:


> but you need
> to *work out how and why*... that is the hard part when starting out.




*How.*
Buy low sell high --- buy high sell higher.
Sell High buy low ---Sell low ,buy lower

That's the *HOW*

Everything else that you *"Think"* is the how ---- is identification of an opportunity.
The how doesn't come until it happens. *It is a consequence of allowing it to occur.*

*Why*
Income exceeds expenditure.

That's the* WHY*

Everything else you *"Think"* is why *is the consequence of MONEY and TRADE management.*

The missing link

*Confirmation.*

(1) Years of trading your implementation of How and Why
OR
(2) Rigorous and repeated testing of your implementation of How and Why.


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## Triathlete (8 June 2018)

tech/a said:


> The missing link
> 
> *Confirmation.*
> 
> ...




 This is the hardest part for a beginner in my opinion because what are they going to test (what methods, styles, timeframes...... this is time consuming and they give up......

What works in a Bull market just about everything...

What happen when the market is in a bear market or trading sideway ranges for years...This is when we find out who the traders really are....


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## Wysiwyg (17 June 2018)

tech/a said:


> *How.*
> Buy low sell high --- buy high sell higher.
> Sell High buy low ---Sell low ,buy lower
> 
> ...



That's it in a nutshell Tech. Love concise explanations.


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## ASFscalp001 (13 July 2018)

I don't think there is any secret ingredient in forex that can help you become successful. Whatever there is to know about forex is all out there. Rather it is a combination of lots of factors that determines your success in this field. Just keep working hard and keep your eyes and mind open.


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## Damian$ (26 July 2018)

There are no secrets which will you convert in a successful Forex trader overnight. You have to be disciplined, focused and patient enough; if you are actually serious then surely you are going to taste the fruits of success in future.


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