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I am an investor turned trader. I was a pretty good investor. I am a pretty bad trader.
Sure I made money, but I lost even more. I kept throwing in the towel, only to come back and repeat the cycle.
My last venture back into the markets was the most educational. Not because I made money, but because it prompted me to do more research, to learn candlesticks, to do my own back-testing and attempt to come up with my own methods. I SIM traded several methods that I came up with. I tested with real money.
My conclusions were as follows:
1) I need to re-invent myself.
2) I need to stop trading, scrap everything that I think I know about trading, and start over from scratch.
3) I need to throw away the charts.
4) I need to face the fact that I may never be a skilled trader, but to keep that from happening...
5) I need to interact with other traders. Not mentors. Not salesmen. Traders.
Its funny my story is almost the opposite of yours. I started as a daytrader and I have become an investor also. Mostly realestate and renewable energy. Your story about trading sounds so familiar to me. I blew out an account or two myself. Maybe you will find this helpful. If I can do it anyone can. Its all about perseverance. Find a technique that many people have had success with. Avoid buying a secret technique or indicator. There are none. Its like most things in life, putting in the work makes it work. This forum will be a great asset for you but be careful of one thing. You need to find a methodology and perfect it. You cant jump from methodology to methodology even if they all work. It will set you back. I hope this helped. Reach out if you have questions.
Trading: The one I'm creating in the present....Index Futures mini/micro, ZF
Posts: 2,311 since Nov 2011
Thanks Given: 7,341
Thanks Received: 4,518
Glad you are here! You are in the right place to obtain your goals.....
There are natural advantages to many endeavors. Without the natural advantage the endeavor can still be done well it may just be a bit more difficult or require a unique twist on a skill set.
Glad to hear you were/are good at investing because one advantage to trading is account size (think height in NBA, short stature gymnastics). With a large account you can risk a reasonable amount, incur an expense (non-winning trade) many times and still be in business. Just saying this to frame the business.
From my way of thinking a great way to re-invent yourself is as follows...... Don't.
Just realize what you do in your normal everyday life can be applied to the markets and should be because it's the exact same-thing going on. With a few tweaks.
Say you purchase fuel for your vehicle. You have a good idea of the price you are willing to pay for it (value). Driving along to an appointment with a half tank of fuel and you see a sign advertising a price to good to pass up even though you risk being late for the appointment. In scenario 1 you say I'll stop there on the way back home. Scenario 2: you pull in and top off the tank. Scenario 1: as you drive back to the station after the appointment to fill up the tank the price is back up to "value" the price you usually pay.
Now just do this same exact thing in trading.... scenario 2....
Ron
...My calamity is My providence, outwardly it is fire and vengeance, but inwardly it is light and mercy...
The steed of this Valley is pain; and if there be no pain this journey will never end.
Buy Low And Sell High (read left to right or right to left....lol)
That is interesting! I have read a few stories about people who were employed as security analysts at investment banks but wanted to make money for themselves and so became floor traders. Your story is the opposite of that! (Please note that I am not a security analyst - I simply read some books on how to perform the analysis to determine the value of a security.)
I hear your advice, and I know it is sound. I learned it from the school of hard knocks.
Now, to implement the advice you have given me is the next step!
Scenario analysis....intriguing. Similar to opportunity cost with risk adjustment. And the skills/practice needed to implement them in a day-trading environment.
Thanks Ron - for the time being, I am banning myself from using charts. I am currently learning how to read the DOM and I have been advised to stop looking at charts during this period as it will be too tempting to gravitate to my comfort zone and I won't learn the DOM like I feel I should. I am sure I will be interested in such analysis, but only once I have learned the DOM.
