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Hi Philip,
Again, you are very kind to me.
>... If you prefer to respond via the list, so much the better. There are more people "out
>there" who would profit ...
Well... I feel it would be impolite to put off my response to you any further, even though
these days were erratic to me. So my thoughts may look not well organized to be of help to
anybody on the List. But anyway, I'll try.
>>...patience...
>... although it's not one of my personal strengths...
As you might guess, I've got so clever <g> on this issue just because it's not my
strongest point, either .
On more serious note, I think there are at least 3 factors related to our psychological
profile which affects trading performance (all that follows is drawn from my own
experience, and not sure if it applies to everybody). First, our temperament, the way
we are made. You cannot change here anything, I guess :-( . And you cannot ask yourself
for something you don't have. So, the only thing you can change, adjust is your trading
style which refers us to a trading system, in the first place (this is a reason why I
abandoned systems that seemed promising, but had too long time horizons - I just don't
have enough patience for them, to put it simply). For me it was important to start
realizing that I am a primary thing to be concerned with in this business (sounds
flattering, but actually the face in the mirror didn't look that pretty). The only way
to learn myself was to observe myself, my assessments, reactions to happenings while,
of course, trading. So you start at disadvantage - to trade successfully one has to have
a system for which one should know yourself for which one should start trading. In other
words, you start without a good system. And I mean this, because as you know, there is
a huge difference between backtests of a system and real life. This stage is where, I
believe, many people leave the game. They have assumed they are ready to make money
whereas in fact they are only about to start a journey into themselves. So preserving
the capital had to be their priority.
Comes to mind a recent discussion on mentors. As you may guess, I would say that a mentor
may help you tremendously in seeing a big picture of markets, trading, show some tricks
of the trade, but cannot help in learning yourself. People seem ready to shell out a
few hundred (thousand) bucks to buy a crashing-smashing-money-making system or attend
a seminar to learn trading tools, but guess their response if asking instead to pay much
smaller amount for an insight into themselves... Perhaps, $5 from those who know that
a palm reader on a boardwalk wouldn't come down any further <g>. Disclaimer: I am not
selling anything here; moreover, I don't have anything to sell even if wanted :-(
Second, I suspect another reason that may contribute to our "impatience" is a deep-rooted
initial mistrust to our own trading system. Nearly all of us start with hard earned money,
and the very thought that just a few mouse clicks may bring much more money than we used
to make working all day long seems nearly absurd, even though everybody (almost?) comes
to trade with just this idea. It also takes time to overcome this, ironically due to a gradual
realization that it's not really easy money. A funny twist, isn't it?
The third and last consideration is that a trader should condition him/herself for trading
to moderate the impatience: keep him/herself in a good mental (and physical) shape, and
always have a sound respect for market. Not fear, but respect. So if I know I haven't done
anything to provoke the beast (market) to show its ugly face <g>, I feel more confident.
Let me wrap up here. Sorry, it's got too long. I feel even more humbled recalling that
when I was a novice and hounding the "best" trading system, revelations like this one seemed
just as annoyance, at best :-) .
Thank you for your time.
Cheers, Vitaly
Philip wrote:
> Vitaly,
>
> Several people have commented on your post and I would like to add my thanks to theirs.
> With regard to patience, I correspond privately with one experienced trader who actually
> "looks for reasons not to trade." So yes, patience is certainly key . . .
>
> > Actually every day, and in many cases it means not an ability to act fast (like
> > firemen, paramedics), but rather to act slow, i.e. to have enormous patience.
>
> . . . although it's not one of my personal strengths. Other than the losses you mention,
> what specifically has helped you to become more patient? I think, too, that patience is
> closely related to the much discussed "discipline" required in trading. It's a process, I
> know, but how about some pointers?
>
> Best regards,
> Philip Schmitz
>
> P.S. I have contacted you off the list because I thought you might be unwilling to discuss
> matters further in public. If you prefer to respond via the list, so much the better.
> There are more people "out there" who would profit from your comments than you might
> imagine.
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