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To all those who inquired what I am using now that I threw out TradeStation,
here is what I did. This does not mean anyone should do or think the same, nor
should anyone drop TS because I did. It is up to everyone to figure that one
out for himself.
Long before TradeStation or Systemwriter existed there were traders. Some made
money, most lost money. What's the picture today: Some make money, most lose
money.
Before, indicators and systems were difficult to manipulate let alone test. So
people used other techniques which made money for some and lost money for most.
Today, it is very easy to test something, although the TS results are only a
very approximate picture of the reality, due to data errors, time errors, bar
errors (tests on Eod data are useless if you use stops and reentries), rollover
errors, portfolio allocation errors, number of contracts errors etc... So
everyone and his neighbour is out there testing, testing, buying systems,
books, seminars, testing and usually still losing money.
Contradict me, but as far as I can perceive, and judging from the many
thousands of posts read on tens of lists over the last 3 years, people have
exactly the same problems they had before. The cars have changed, but they are
not better at car racing, and it is still as difficult to become a world class
driver.
So I am asking: if things are the same they were before, doesn't it mean
nothing has changed except for the details? PCs or not, TradeStation or not,
therein does not lie the problem. It is not the hammer that hurts you, it is
the hand that holds the hammer that is hurting you when you miss the nail. In
this case, with or without TS, results would be the same for anyone trying his
luck at trading.
Once came out a book "Market Wizards". The system craze started thereafter, as
the secret was out: "You gotta have is system babe if ya wanna make it, or ya
dead". From then on, you had to be in the soft and systems business to make big
money. Demand surged. Did we see more profitable traders???
Let me be clear, yes you need a "system", but this does not mean you need TS
and indicators and what have you. You need to know what you are doing, and why
you are doing it. You need to know how to enter, how to size, how to exit, how
to come back, how to remain "systematic". This has nothing to do with TS. All
this can be done and has been done for decades without TS. It doesn't mean you
should not use TS, it means TS is just one tool, not a way to win.
So I used TS, tested thousands of things and found NOTHING that works. OK I
know people who found things they feel comfortable enough with. But really,
they found a way to trade around some setup, and frankly, my belief is they
would have found it anyway even without TS.
OK now, what else can be used then? For research on market behavior, I use ...
Excell. What??? Yes, it is cumbersome, unsexy, and all but I trust my results
100%. I know exactly what i am doing, because I have to program the functions
myself, so I know exactly why this bar has been bought, why this one has not.
So that was it? NO. Where there is the most to be learned is by keeping all
sorts of trade statistics, time of entries, successive stop levels, maximum win
or loss intratrade, time of max loss compared to entrytime, you name it, you
can easily fill 20 columns of data like this. Next you analyse trends, patterns
etc that appear from these series, and believe me, these are real numbers you
can relate to, and anyway you trade, you'll be able to extract at least 25%
more profits by operating small changes. Not by changing the "system" which is
usually the entry and is rather irrelevant, but by changing your position
management.
Is that it now? NO. Next you need to trade properly. You need the best PC, the
best feed, the best broker, the best setup (office, desk, chair, recreation).
That's where it is the most important to spend one's money. I dumped TS,
because I no longer used it for trading, nor for research. Not for trading,
because troubles with feeds, bugs, and various glitches are just too numerous.
I want to race in the car, not to be a mechanic. With TS, you spend a lot of
time becoming a mechanic. So you need a platform that takes away all data
worries: I use CQG for futures data and various others for stocks, but I know
others use other feeds and platforms successfully as well. The key here is to
put yourself in a position not to have to spend one sec on those issues EVER.
In addition there will be more and more programs emulating TS available over
the net. The trend of e-brokerage just points that way. It is bound to happen
that one offers a safe, fast and convenient platform soon. But even without,
as all old traders did, the yet most effective way is to learn to read the bars
without the need of indicators or TS or else. At a time when everyone is
concerned about speed, that is the ultimate weapon: a direct bar picture to
hand conncetion, short circuiting the tools, brain etc, which are only delaying
things...
Now I got you confused here, never mind. Just remember trading is not TS, it is
using yourself for optimal market efficiency. Just as combat is not using the
latest weapon but knowing yourself and your enemy to the perfection, so as to
outwit and beat him flat without even having to fight... If TS is not
satisfactory for your needs, find another way. If it is, keep using it, until
it no longer is. Don't try to change the environment, change yourself. I mailed
Omega, because I find their claims outrageous and properly misleading, so I
said so, but frankly I don't care. It is not my problem, it is theirs.
Cheers to all, and good night...
Gwenn
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