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I don't know how people can tranlate this into applied Trading
Psychology but to set the record straight.
Re the relevance of spirituality/personal development to trading:
Using Indian spiritual philosophy as the example.
There is no single philosophy but rather a myriad of inter-related
and sometimes conflicting ones.
However, as a generalisation, the ideals of Indian spirituality are
passive (to a Westerner) and can be summarised as:
- Man is a small replica of God (potentially)
- the goal is to sublimate the mind of Man to the mind of God (Yoga
is the union of Man-God)
- various practices are used to faclitate this (meditation, prayer,
singing/chanting, dancing etc)
- permanancy of the union is a long and difficult goal, seldom
achieved
- temporary intimacy with the Gods, achieved via spiritual practices,
TRANSFORMS the practitioner and hence their culture
- psyhic powers (Siddhi) are a byproduct and considered a distraction
and/or dangerous
- worldly success is considered somewhat of lesser value than
spiritual success
"From the Unreal lead me to the Real".
Once again these are gross simplifications which have been vigorously
debated for thousands of years.
Western spirituality is active.
We seek to "petition the Lord" to intervene in our lifes/culture and
to give us the Power(s), ostensibly to do his work.
In both cases the spiritual path is the same, except that the
emphasis is different, however all variations on the theme are
operative in both cultures, via their sub-cultures.
Applying this to trading:
Will adopting spiritual practices, say meditation, or prayer, make me
a better trader?
Is there any correspondence between the transcendental consciousness
of meditation/prayer and the mindset that successful traders have
(assuming there is such a thing as a common identifiable traders
mindset)?
Possibly.
In my own experience, if I had any advantages in this area when I
started out trading i.e. I did "know myself" before I started
trading, I still had to get to know the markets, TA, my broker, data
provider and software etc as well.
Re 'Positive Thinking' and 'The Power of The Mind'
This has been borrowed from spiritual teachings (power of Prayer etc).
This is an application of a limited part of spirituality, and without
the attendant ethics etc it can bring about Worldly Success but that
doesn't neccessarily equate to Life Success i.e. it is a partial
spiritual practice without the full experience or spiritual knowledge.
Is there a mindset that successful traders have (as claimed by Mark
Douglas "In The Trading Zone")?
Possibly, or Mark could have just found a good way to make some money
OR be projecting his personal needs/worldview onto the trading world.
As a hypothesis (a lot of traders say that trading changed the way
they think i.e trading changed THEM).
In my experience we tend to:
- spend more and more time alone in the trading room
- spend less and less time 'socialising'
- spend long hours focused on single issues
- our trading rooms are sensory deprived environments
- undertake intensive problem solving/creative tasks
- are confronted by our extreme emotional states etc
It is possible that intense traders could eperience trading as
personally transformative under those conditions and that they do
experience, or even cultivate, altered consciousness (to some extent)
while actively engaged in trading.
Based on the above is there anything we can do to facilitate trading
success?
Sticking my neck out I predict super succesful traders would have
some of the following habits/qualities:
- they use positive thinking, either consciously or otherwise (they
almost certainly set goals)
- they have self-confidence or self-esteem (if they don't have it
when they start out they acquire it)
- they are psychologically mature & comfortable in their skins
(through other life experiences - not necessarily only acquired
through academic success)
- at some time in their life they have read or thought about the
psychology of life/trading but it is not really a prominent part of
their daily thinking (they tend to do it rather than think about it)
- they are not very concerned with defining their style or over
defining their trading
- they have rituals (the way the office is setup, the time of the day
they do certain things) and they do things in order (download data,
scan, add to watchlist etc )
- they have one trade that they do over and over (probably they have
some spare trades up their sleeve)
- they have practised their one trade over and over (like a golf
swing == 10000 repetitions)
- they will be biased to simplicity and only add complexity where
they are forced to
- if they have more than one trade they will use it in a different
time and place (unless it is part of a portfolio approach)
- they don't consider their trade perfect i.e. others might have
something better but it works for them and they are satisfied with it
- their trade is very personal (like a favourite son or daughter)
- possibly they don't like to talk about trading, even the extroverts
probably become trading introverts (the trading ego is like an alter
ego that they put on and take off as they enter and leave the trading
room)
- they don't like interruptions while trading
- trading talk is noise to them
- they are not as interested in buying things as they used to be
except stuff for their trading environment (new computers, software
etc)
Anybody recognise themselves in there anywhere?
On a slightly different note:
It is rather funny logic that we would think that all of the traders
who are 'in the zone' are discretionary traders and that all of the
other traders don't have the right stuff OR that there is only
discretionary trading versus mechanical trading.
Anyway, any trader who is consistently successful has the right
mindset even if they/we can't define it.
BTW I am not an authority on anything I just aim to share some
opinions that others may find authoritive if there is any truth in
them.
brian_z *:-)
--- In amibroker@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, "brian_z111" <brian_z111@xxx> wrote:
>
> Jan,
>
> 100,000 repetitions indeed!
>
> Quite correct.
>
>
>
> However on the subject of 'mindNOT' and Samadhi etc.
>
> There are a lot of misconceptions floating around in the
west/modern
> culture, on these subjects, because of the mis-interpretation of
the
> spiritual tenents of our BROTHERS OF THE EAST by unqualified and
> unauthorised 'teachers'.
>
> There is a dirth of true spiritual teachers in the West, for
reasons
> that I won't go into.
>
> You are mixing up two different principles.
>
> In symbolic terms:
>
> CONSCIOUSNESS wears the CROWN.
> The objective NOT is the subjective ALL (THE LOGOS).
>
> You are confusing the "Son of God" with our "Heavenly Father"
>
> In general Kharma Yoga is the method for the west/modern culture ==
> the SOUL as an active principle == GOOD WORKS
>
> Pragmatically:
>
> Don't be concerned about NoMind - it is not for most of us - a very
> abstract subject beyond the ken of the majority.
>
> NoMind != mindlessness
>
> You can't achieve it because it is not there to be achieved in the
> way that you are conceiving it.
>
> Intuition is what we should be concerned with.
>
> Intuition is not mind reading OR an inferior psychic faculty i.e.
> inferior to the Concete Mind (objective logic).
> It is not the sixth sense, although we experience it as if it is.
> It should be more correctly known as super-rationality.
> It is our higher mind (also know as the Higher Self, the OverSoul,
> The Solar Angel, Abstract Mind, Manas).
> It bridges the gap between Heaven and Earth.
>
> In trading it is most appropriately used along the lines
of 'positive
> thinking', the 'power of the mind', 'untapped levels of
> consciousness' etc which is the popular form of it in the USA where
> it is a pseudo-religion (the reason for that is that it is so
aligned
> to the methods that are appropriate for the times).
>
> These methods are safe to use but it is very unfortunate if the
> admonition to do GOOD WORKS doesn't accompany them.
>
>
> In your case; you and your trading are working well and if it ain't
> broke don't fix it.
>
> Forget your search for the spiritual Holy Grail of NoMind - that is
> an impossible dream because it doesn't exist.
>
> I wouldn't worry about your personal spiritual welfare - you seem
to
> be sitting quite pretty.
>
> brian_z *:-)
>
>
>
>
>
> --- In amibroker@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, "Jan Malmberg" <jan@> wrote:
> >
> > Hi,
> >
> > Well, I had 6 years of martial arts training, where I understood
> (but
> > unfortunately not yet attained) the principle of "no-mind" when
> executing
> > tasks. I have also had some limited time as a military
instructor,
> and it
> > became obvious that during patrol and combat, when people fire at
> you
> > (blanks and smoke grenades, but still), there ones who make it
are
> the ones
> > who do not take the time to think.
> >
> >
> >
> > However, ones ability to enter this state of mind is dependent on
> having
> > enough training so that you subconsciously know that you really
do
> not have
> > to think about how to move and shoot properly.
> >
> >
> >
> > Of the Tekki Shodan pattern, the ancient warriors said something
to
> the
> > effect of "Most patterns require at least 10 000 executions
before
> being
> > mastered. However, you should not even consider demonstrating
Tekki
> Shodan
> > to your master before you have had 100 000 repetitions."
> >
> >
> >
> > It is interesting to note that to reach the original state of
mind
> while
> > carrying out un-natural activities, you do need lots of training,
> and that
> > some things in every field are a lot more difficult than the
> average task in
> > that skill set.
> >
> >
> >
> > Best regards / JM
> >
> >
> >
> > _____
> >
> > Från: amibroker@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:amibroker@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]
> För
> > brian_z111
> > Skickat: den 1 augusti 2008 05:32
> > Till: amibroker@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> > Ämne: Re: SV: [amibroker] Anyone actually making money?
> >
> >
> >
> > > 3. Level of spiritual attainment.
> >
> > Semantics plays a part in any discussion, especially when we are
> > crossing cultures etc. It plays a greater role in 'spiritual'
> > discussion than it does in any other.
> >
> > So, first the semantics.
> >
> > We are not limited to the term 'spirituality' as we can talk
around
> > the same area in many different terms (objective mind/subjective
> > mind, rational/intuitive, super-consciousness, super-rationality
> the
> > collective unconscious, God, the Soul, the Divine, the Supreme
and
> > millions more).
> >
> > For ease of discussion I will stick with 'spirituality'.
> >
> > A few basic points:
> >
> > - generally the 'spiritual gene' is latent in humanity, across
all
> > cultures
> > - it is more virile in a small %
> > - it is particularly latent in the West/modern culture where we
> have
> > turned our back on our spirituality
> > - I dare say this forum has more than its share of latent
> > spirituality under the surface
> > - the psychic opposites are not antagonistic forces e.g. soul
> versus
> > body but rather a complimentary whole so that is not a matter of
> > logic/programming trading versus intuitive/discretionary trading.
> We
> > are all using both, at different times and places, even those who
> > deny it (there is no such thing as a 100% objective/rational
> person).
> > - a healthy psyche has a good balance and flows between each
> psychic
> > pole in its own season.
> >
> > The main pragmatic points:
> >
> > - we can't bootstrap our subjective mind so we have to turn to
> > mentors for written or oral teaching
> > - some have more aptitude for it than others
> > - I was very priviliged to have some experience in these matters
> long
> > before I started trading (my subjective consciousness/soul was
> > already active and able to express itself in the world) but it
> still
> > took years of pragmatic, practical, objective work to 'program'
the
> > trading mind to match i.e. I had to pass a sufficient number of
> > exams, in the core units, at the 'University of Trading', before
I
> > could 'enter the trading zone'.
> >
> > In laymans terms, my intuitive mind was functioning but I still
had
> > to go out and tediously train my rational/objective mind, and
learn
> > as many of the objective rules of trading as I could, before the
> > subjective and the objective minds could synchronize in the
trading
> > room.
> >
> > "Give unto Caeser that which is Caesers AND give homage to your
> God".
> >
> > brian_z
> >
> > --- In amibroker@xxxxxxxxx <mailto:amibroker%40yahoogroups.com>
> ps.com, "Jan
> > Malmberg" <jan@> wrote:
> > >
> > > Hi,
> > >
> > > I sometimes daytrade using even delayed data for the charts,
and
> a
> > list
> > > compiled list stored in my broker's web application. It works
> > alright. Most
> > > of the time I do short-to-mid-term swing trading. With just the
> 15-
> > min
> > > delayed data. Ok, real-time for the indexes.
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > Here's my opinion.
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > The three components that determine your success are usually:
> > >
> > > 1. Level of analysis. How good you can produce low-risk entries
> > with a
> > > probable future outcome, which of course is never totally
> possible.
> > > 2. Level of money management. How much you bet on one single
> > trade, how
> > > well you scale in, scale out, set and stick to stop-orders, and
> > more.
> > > 3. Level of spiritual attainment. How much you have attained the
> > > "no-mind" state of the ancient warriors and spiritually
achieved
> > people.
> > > Which means that you fearlessly execute trades while
maintaining a
> > > risk-appropriate behavior. Only really possible when you no
> longer
> > fear the
> > > horrible market and what it might do to you.
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > Which one is most important? The one you lack the most at the
> > moment. I was
> > > fortunate to start out with fairly solid money management from
> the
> > start.
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > Best regards / JM
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > _____
> > >
> > >
> > > From: amibroker@xxxxxxxxx <mailto:amibroker%40yahoogroups.com>
> ps.com
> > [mailto:amibroker@xxxxxxxxx <mailto:amibroker%40yahoogroups.com>
> ps.com]
> > On Behalf
> > > Of Louis P.
> > > Sent: Thursday, 31 July 2008 2:15 PM
> > > To: amibroker@xxxxxxxxx <mailto:amibroker%40yahoogroups.com>
> ps.com
> > > Subject: [amibroker] Anyone actually making money?
> > >
> > > Hi,
> > >
> > > I was only wondering... Anyone actually making money or making
a
> > living
> > > with AB and trading?
> > >
> > > I've been working on ideas and plans for over 7 months now and
> > didn't find
> > > anything convincing yet. I've been searching daily data, then
> > hourly,
> > > 15-minute and now I am into 1-minute data and nothing seems
> > satisfying.
> > > Been searching RSI, MFI, ADX, MA, HHV, LLV... nothing seems to
> work.
> > >
> > > So... Anyone is making consistent money with this, and if so,
at
> > which
> > > timeframe and how do you do it?
> > >
> > > I'm beginning to think about switching to tick database; it
seems
> > even
> > > 1-minute is too slow for intraday trading. Anyone making money
> with
> > > 1-minute?
> > >
> > > Thanks,
> > >
> > > Louis
> > >
> >
>
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