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Why do we trade?

  #21 (permalink)
 FB2012 
Munich Germany
 
Experience: Beginner
Platform: MultiCharts .NET,MultiCharts,Amibroker
Broker: Interactive Brokers IQFeed
Trading: Stocks,Index CFDs
Posts: 149 since Aug 2012
Thanks Given: 81
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I totally agree with the thoughts made by PandaWarrior, nice to read such deep insights in an journal.

To cite one of my famous heros Joda "Fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate and hate leads suffering"

The next passage is not related to Pandawarriors thoughts. Those are my thoughts about love in people.
But sometimes there is a much shorter way to hate it goes over love.
Missing somebody you loved can lead to a hate on the rest of the world.
Therefore i consider love to anything can be implicitly dangerous.

But yesterday i had a good idea about maybe the best motivation for trading.

In my early years i received a book called LoL²A in German
Lo is an abbreviation for "Loslassen" the German word for letting go.
That means if you have an target you want to achieve you should not concentrate too much on the target.
And therefore not getting to obsessed by achieving the goal, this is the most difficult thing in trading.
L² Means love squared the author tells to love what you are currently doing, therefore the steps (even the smallest step) should be loved and this will square the outcome.
A stands for Actio equal Reactio. In general how a person acts to somebody else will influence that somebody to act in a similar way. (Sometimes that does not work because the thoughts inside you are maybe saying the total opposite)
But for the market it means to me. I have to respect the market and when i respect the market the market will honor that in giving back respect to me.

One last citation of Joda related to my previous paragraph
"Death is a natural part of life. Rejoice for those around you who transform into the Force. Mourn them do not. Miss them do not. Attachment leads to jealousy. The shadow of greed that is. Train yourself to let go of everything you fear to lose." Maybe the hardest task of the letting go state of mind.

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  #22 (permalink)
 FB2012 
Munich Germany
 
Experience: Beginner
Platform: MultiCharts .NET,MultiCharts,Amibroker
Broker: Interactive Brokers IQFeed
Trading: Stocks,Index CFDs
Posts: 149 since Aug 2012
Thanks Given: 81
Thanks Received: 84


Big Mike View Post

At the end of the day, there are many more people that need your money than I do. I do appreciate all the private messages I have got over the years where people have asked to basically give me more money. I will tell you what I have told them, which is that I would appreciate it if you would instead give it to a rescue to save dogs lives. One that I support completely is this one:

Dallas / Fort Worth Labrador Retriever Rescue Club

DFW Lab Rescue is where all three of my labradors have come from. My mom is also an active foster. I also donate a large amount of money each year because I don't have a lot of extra time to give, and this rescue is such a great place. They take any Lab from any shelter under any circumstance, no matter how much help they need, no matter the cost of surgery or etc. Then once the dog is ready to be adopted, they have a flat fee of around $250 (can't remember exactly) which really only covers basic vet costs, shots, microchipping, and spay/neuter, heartworm treatment, etc. So they rely on donations and time contributions from people to pay for boarding costs, food, and all the vet bills from the more difficult cases. They are a non-profit.

You can find a donation button on their website.

Mike


Maybe it is a good idea as mentioned by Big Mike to have a
part of the money made by trading invested into a higher goal, like the goal to support
dogs which are helpless. I think it could lead to a better motivation for trading and to higher
winning percentage.
Yet i have not thought how much of the return i will give to charity.
It is difficult from a german perspective I give maybe half of my annual salery automaticaly to charity (tax which supports people not willing to work).

But maybe it is better to know who i support, to get a better feedback that my earned money can improve the world.


Patrick S View Post
My definition of a True Warrior is someone who serves a purpose bigger than himself.
A Mercenary on the other hands serves his own purposes. Mercenary - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Would you like to explain what you mean by your warrior statement?

I think your question has unveiled a motivational flaw in myself. Maybe i was just too selfish,
the last years.

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  #23 (permalink)
 
DarkPoolTrading's Avatar
 DarkPoolTrading   is a Vendor
 
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FB2012 View Post
Maybe it is a good idea as mentioned by Big Mike to have a
part of the money made by trading invested into a higher goal, like the goal to support
dogs which are helpless.

I dont want to get too far off topic, but since animal shelters are being discussed, if you're an animal lover and are thinking of getting a pet please consider getting one from a shelter rather than a breeder / pet shop. The dogs (and other animals), who have been abandoned or abused make just as good pets as any that you would get from a shop. You'll be surprised at how great it feels to adopt a pet who was abandoned and clinging to it's last hope for life, only to go home with you and live a long happy life.

If you're not looking for a pet, but are still an animal lover, then make a donation as was already mentioned.

Below is our new puppy we got from a shelter 3 days ago.

Ok, back on topic.




Diversification is the only free lunch
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  #24 (permalink)
 
Patrick S's Avatar
 Patrick S 
Raleigh NC
 
Experience: Beginner
Platform: Ninja
Broker: Mirus/ZenFire
Trading: Oil
Posts: 628 since May 2012
Thanks Given: 394
Thanks Received: 518

I was reading through some comments @ft71 made and thought I would post it here.

"In trading, we are in the business of behavior modification whereas everything else we have been trained for is a matter of manipulating the external environment in order to get what we want. This presents a huge issue for folks who have a fickle commitment to trading or life-change in general".

This behavior modification he speaks of is one of the top reasons I trade.
I have seen myself grow more patient with people.
The gain or Loss of money does not affect me as much.
I read more than I ever have and I can retain more information than I used to. Exercising the brain with new information has increased my intelligence.

The funny part is I am changing my behavior so I can have more money and more time to spend the money but the money is not the important part

If you always do what you have always done you will always get what you have always gotten.
Celebrate because you executed your edge. Not because you won.
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  #25 (permalink)
 
GaryD's Avatar
 GaryD 
Orlando, Florida
 
Experience: None
Platform: shoes
Trading: happy
Posts: 6,462 since May 2011


DarkPoolTrading View Post
I dont want to get too far off topic, but since animal shelters are being discussed, if you're an animal lover and are thinking of getting a pet please consider getting one from a shelter rather than a breeder / pet shop. The dogs (and other animals), who have been abandoned or abused make just as good pets as any that you would get from a shop. You'll be surprised at how great it feels to adopt a pet who was abandoned and clinging to it's last hope for life, only to go home with you and live a long happy life.

If you're not looking for a pet, but are still an animal lover, then make a donation as was already mentioned.

Below is our new puppy we got from a shelter 3 days ago.

Ok, back on topic.





If you are going to get off topic, that is a great direction to go.

My wife and I are on dog #3 and cat #5.

Our dog, Piper, was found locked in a closet during a drug raid, abused, starving, sick. It took Melissa over two months to get her, because the drug case needed to be completed before the dog was adoptable. She is now very healthy, happy, the sweetest of the three we have had. Sleeps against me every night, wedges Melissa away...

The new cat is not a "shelter" kitty, technically, but her mother was a feral cat and the litter was born under Melissa's friend's house. "Short Squeeze" is what I named her, but my wife seems to be ignoring that name.

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  #26 (permalink)
 
MarketPilot's Avatar
 MarketPilot 
Des Moines IA USA
 
Experience: Advanced
Platform: InverstorRT, NinjaTrader
Broker: Mirus Futures/Zen-Fire
Trading: ES
Posts: 114 since Oct 2012
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Patrick S View Post
Why do you trade?
The Quick easy answer is... For The Money.

Am I niave to say that the money will only come when you can break through your own personal mental blocks?

So shouldn't the answer to the question of why do I trade be... I am on this journey of self discovery. A journey that takes a lifetime. As I hit certain waypoints I start to make more and more money.
I believe that if it was just about the money we would never enjoy it.

I found the mental blocks to be the hardest part of trading. I found it very interesting that we can all make similar mistakes and repeat those mistake over and over even when we know we should change and not act emotionally in trading.


DarkPoolTrading View Post
I worked in the corporate world in IT for 8 years. I always knew I was unhappy in my career but could never find a way out. Although im a friendly enough person, im not an extroverted people person. Some people thrive on human interaction. Not me. I thrive on research, statistics, burying my head in a task. More than anything, I thrive on tasks that I do because I see the value in them and because they impact me directly, not because a company tells me that they need to be done. To say I hated working in the corporate world would be an understatement. I never felt a connection to the goals of the companies I worked for. Some people get motivated when management talks about company goals and objectives while working together for the greater good. I couldn't care less about any of that.

Trading allows me to be true to my personality and strengths. It gives me the freedom (and solitude) required to learn more about myself and how I view the world. It allows me to take my career in which ever direction I want.

I have found myself being a better husband and person in general because I am happier since leaving the corporate world. I now have time to read books on motivation, psychology and history and am finding my view of the world maturing as a result. This is something that never would have happened spending 50hours plus in a job I hated every week.

Trading for me is not about getting rich. Trading allows me to live a life more suited to who I am. The more I do this, the more I see how important it is for people to do what they're passionate about in life. Whatever that happens to be. You spend more time working every week than anything else. So why spend the majority of your life doing something you hate.


I fit close to DarkPools description ( freedom and solitude) with some differences. Trading for me started as a way to get out of an IT consulting business where I had a bad partner. We had grown steadily grown the Business for ten years, but I knew I needed to get away. I wanted a new business of my own and saw trading as the best opportunity for me.

My Buyout allowed me to focus on Trading full time for almost 2 years. At this time it abruptly stopped when my ex-partner crashed the business. (something I saw coming) During this time I fit the profile of the average trader that expects to grow to be very profitable in a short period of time.

I had to get a day job again, but never gave up on my trading. I wanted to get "my business" running again. In my day job I have the luxury of fairly flexible hours and working from home when I do not need to travel to a customer. I have been dabbling with my trading for a couple more years. Manually evolving and back testing my own system. Now that I have firmed up my rules to the point there is little discretion in my trade entries, I finally have the confidence to break all my prior bad emotional behaviors.

PS - I also find it extremely interesting that many of us are animal loves and support our local shelters. I volunteer locally and also have foster dogs in my house to train to get adopted to their furever homes.

Trade Wise, Trade Well

John
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  #27 (permalink)
 
Patrick S's Avatar
 Patrick S 
Raleigh NC
 
Experience: Beginner
Platform: Ninja
Broker: Mirus/ZenFire
Trading: Oil
Posts: 628 since May 2012
Thanks Given: 394
Thanks Received: 518

I am in the middle of reading a book Amazon.com: It's Your Call: What Are You Doing Here? (9781434764393): Gary Barkalow: Books

It has brought to light the answer to my question of why I trade. The book has forced me to ask myself what I receive the most enjoyment from.. What is it that turns my crank. What lights the fire of passion within me. That something that just makes me grin from ear to ear, snicker, chortle. stands the hair on the back of my neck.

That something is not trading.

However

I like trading because it is different every day.
It helps me keep my mind sharp.
I can raise my salary whenever I want.
Work just a few hours a day.
No employees
No Customers
I could be a quadriplegic and still trade. My present job as a HVAC mechanic would be over if I was seriously injured.

What this book has helped me realize is that I do not need to take trading so damn serious. There is a delicate balance to life and when I teeter to far to the left... I forget the other stuff that I truly enjoy on the right.
And when that happens my trading generally falls into the crapper.
I think it would be interesting to find out my typical trading results after I take a couple days off from it.

If you always do what you have always done you will always get what you have always gotten.
Celebrate because you executed your edge. Not because you won.
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Last Updated on July 12, 2013


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