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Tools used by top discretionary traders

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Gringotts Bank said:
[edit] Oh you mean as an effect... No I wouldn't expect that. I would expect most people to be pleased by winning and annoyed at losing.
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Yes that's what I meant. Hope and fear are big emotional drivers and someone under performing has reason to feel more of both. If you're having a good day then "Hey look, another win to add to the list." or "A loss eh, no matter, I'm still up for the day".

A new trader on a bad day would be more "Yes! A win! There's still a chance to be up by the end of the day". Or, "F me another F'ing loss. The brokers are hunting my stops!".

But that's just my opinion. Regardless of the findings of that particular study, there have been many studies over the years that show the various benefits of meditation. And I think all would agree that approaching any task with a calm mind is more conducive to success than being emotional.
 
Trembling Hand said:
GB I'm a little confused about the thread topic and your posts? Can you link them for me?
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Don't be confused, the title is my opinion, worded in such as way as to generate traffic. There's zillions of threads on thousands of forums on the web, so you have to have a catchy title, eh.

You and others are free to try to disprove that opinion. No holds barred.
 
Trembling Hand said:
One thing that is rarely pushed in books/pop culture etc on the paths to success is response rates. When you look at any group of elites in the performance field you are looking at people who have found a niche that they for whatever reason improve more than the average population for any give amount of effort.
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I think this is a a very important point. Training plans are designed to elicit a positive response from the person. It's not just about how good the plan is but how well you respond to it.

The other part I feel goes with this is focus and commitment. When the average Joe looks at the elite, I think they often underestimate the behind the scenes effort they put in to get there in addition to their natural ability. Not only do you need a training plan that you respond well to, but you also need to be putting in the consistent effort required to get a response.

I think it's important that effort is focused in the right place, on a structured plan designed to produce a positive response. Many people, such as myself, expend much effort but get nowhere because that effort was not appropriately focused. Look at the local gym for example, people spend many hours every week in the gym doing random exercises but six months later they look no different. Then they quit. It's not because they were non-responders, they were unfocused and thus didn't give themselves the opportunity to see a response.

Anyway, that's my 2c. Now I should take my own advice.
 
A bit off topic, but related...

True discretion in trading is very hard to isolate. I think many times disc. traders are actually trading a system, just that it's not been validated (not that it needs to be, but that's my observation).

eg. You have a bunch of set ups or 'plays'. These are almost identical to the strict BUY conditions of a systems trader. When x and y and z happens, I buy or short sell. How different is that to a systems trader? Hardly any. So I see value is systematic back/fwd testing as a way of saving time and avoiding frustration.

But I also see value in developing pure discretionary insight, free of pre-defined set ups, patterns and 'plays'. I might do a thread on using a simple MA cross for entry and exit. We know that about 40% of the signals will be profitable, regardless of the MAs period. Such an experiment would attempt to isolate discretion, as then the only decision is which signals to take and which to leave.
 
I agree

Both Technical and fundamental.
I think a lot of ''Accepted" truisms are traded.
EG Value investing OR
Buy anything trading above its 150 day ma (Weinstein) etc. (I'm aware Weinstein has a few more conditions).

More to add but no time now.
 
Gringotts Bank said:
No ****! The amount of hours I've wasted trying to come up with something better is a hard slog. If you can suggest a way of being more efficient, great.
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GB you seem to have a a new approach every other day. I've been a fulltime trader for longer than a decade and have only traded 6 instruments with close to the same approach. (well 98% of my trading anyway)

Accumulated load...... it's hard....
 
Trembling Hand said:
GB you seem to have a a new approach every other day. I've been a fulltime trader for longer than a decade and have only traded 6 instruments with close to the same approach. (well 98% of my trading anyway)

Accumulated load...... it's hard....
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I have my standard systems which I continue with and I'm ahead this FY. I'm looking for something better because it's not enough. So yeh I push the envelope. Are you going to help me or anyone else? Nope, not a chance of that. So you're successful FT trader - great, thanks for letting me know.
 
Tools used by top discretionary traders

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Although I think this may be the tool being used by a lot of potato heads strutting their stuff on forums
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Gringotts Bank said:
I'm looking for something better because it's not enough. So yeh I push the envelope. Are you going to help me or anyone else? Nope, not a chance of that. So you're successful FT trader - great, thanks for letting me know.
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LOL you skip your meditation ses today?

Have a look at what Modest has done. Thats the way to do it. Actually admitting that consistent work is what is required no matter how hard it gets. Documenting it and daily assessment. Not like yourself who comes up with a different stupid idea every second day to cover up your laziness, lack of skill and out right cluelessness.

Lets face it if you have been at it for more than a few years and you're not well on your way you are a non-responder. There is no way around it. No amount of sitting quietly on a rug is going to change you from poor to great. What may help though is actually doing some constant work on the same thing day in day out. Or do what most including myself do once they realise they are making no progress. Quit. It will make you a much better person and happier.
 
Gringotts Bank said:
I have my standard systems which I continue with and I'm ahead this FY. I'm looking for something better because it's not enough. So yeh I push the envelope. Are you going to help me or anyone else? Nope, not a chance of that. So you're successful FT trader - great, thanks for letting me know.
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Gringotts Bank said:
another useless contribution brought you by craft
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You might want to take a breath or two before posting again...

The two people who just posted seem to be some of the most knowledgable on this forum. Yet, when they comment, you take offense to it... Ego never helps.
 
A person wanting to become a top discretionary trader probably needs to focus on macroeconomics over meditation. Sure, you can do both, but the former is much more important.
 
Valued said:
A person wanting to become a top discretionary trader probably needs to focus on macroeconomics over meditation. Sure, you can do both, but the former is much more important.
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Nah, not necessarily, depends on time frame. I'm a fan of Macro, but daily weekly CONTEXT is more relevant if you're an intra-day equity index trader. Context is also very relevant intra-day equities....
 
CanOz said:
Nah, not necessarily, depends on time frame. I'm a fan of Macro, but daily weekly CONTEXT is more relevant if you're an intra-day equity index trader. Context is also very relevant intra-day equities....
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Agreed. The trap many day traders probably fall into is they trade their setup based on price action or volume then have no idea what the rest of the market is doing. I recall Modest falling into that trap early on.
 
Valued said:
Agreed. The trap many day traders probably fall into is they trade their setup based on price action or volume then have no idea what the rest of the market is doing. I recall Modest falling into that trap early on.
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Allot of traders seem to be able to trade price action alone, I can't and see it a huge edge to be able to have the theme of the day/week behind me....TH was responsible for that light bulb moment and i never forgot it....If you can can align some kind of fundamental overlay to your trade plan, its 100% easier to pull the trigger and stick with the plan....for me. I need a rational reason for trend.
 
CanOz said:
Nah, not necessarily, depends on time frame. I'm a fan of Macro, but daily weekly CONTEXT is more relevant if you're an intra-day equity index trader. Context is also very relevant intra-day equities....
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This is hard if not impossible to code and why the human brain is still far superior to machine.
 
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