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Like a turtle to his balcony...

  #1741 (permalink)
 
GaryD's Avatar
 GaryD 
Orlando, Florida
 
Experience: None
Platform: shoes
Trading: happy
Posts: 6,462 since May 2011


Brutus View Post
Gary, can you expand what you mean by this.

I'll try to. It may get off topic, since I am starting that way. Pulling things from my head that are not in chronological order right now.

I made a new trader friend just this past week. Very experienced guy, in his 60s. As we talked on Skype and I told him I had over 30 books on trading, he laughed at me. Later sent me a video about it. I asked "how many have you read?" His reply, "One". I laughed at him. Or maybe not at him, but at myself.

Being willing to do whatever it takes is how I have always seen myself. As a teenager, working union construction, My dad got me a card when none were available, and that caused me to get a lot of attitude from other workers who were twice my age and up. So when breaks came and they all leaned on shovels and smoked, I kept working. When there was something "too hard" to be done, I offered to do it.

That developed an approach to work, of almost feeling pride in working harder than anyone I knew. And when I went into business for myself several years later, I was more than ready to work the hours that were required. Whatever happened, I could always find a way to fix it. My work ethics took me further than I had ever imagined I would go, I had whatever I wanted, went wherever I wanted. Houses and boats, etc. And then the market I was in started to shift, slowly. And over the next few years I rode my "never give up" way of thinking right into the ground.

It is little wonder that I brought the same mentality to my trading, as it is hard to change one's nature. But the difference about trading and the previous career, is that if I applied the same approach today in real estate and construction, it would be succesful again. I know, mostly because I have done it. I have a new company, work keeps rolling in, and I have worked 80+ hours again making it happen.

But trading requires balance. Sure there has to be tenacity and hard work, but that is only part of it. Working harder translates into adding to losers. Taking control translates into taking profits early, or scalping in general. But truly trading well means I also have to be accepting of what the market has to offer, even if that means I make money one day and give it back the next.

I almost have to be two different people at the same time; one who works his butt off to achive a goal and will get there or die trying, and another who shows lttle to no concern about the results, takes defeat the same as victory. Yes, I have a preference, and yes, I will see what can be learned from being wrong, so that in the future my results will improve. But I have to maintain my center, and a part of that is surrendering to the unknown outcome. And that is a very hard pairing to do for someone like me. It may be mostly genetic. Both of my parents were overachievers.

I have known for several years that my technical analysis is good enough to be an edge, I know that I learn quickly and digest information very well. My struggle was more psychological, and it took a long time before the real issues became apparent to me. It has taken a lot of very focused work on my part to be able to see through my own ego and pride to reveal some things that I would not let go because they had served me well in the past. Qualities I felt were a part of me that I should keep, regardless of the outcome.

Back when I decided to become a trader, truly made the decision to pursue it as a profession and not some easy way to get rich, my first observation about myself was that I lacked discipline. So, to reinforce that I put the word up on my computer desktop. When my 3 monitors would fire up, it was a black background that said "DISCIPLINE DISCIPLINE DISCIPLINE". I also had T-shirts printed through some online place where I could upload my own designs. That is an example of what I meant by the comment "I will accept or else", (or however I said it in that post you referenced). I am hard core and will force myself into submission if needed, by perpetual bombardment. I could not begin to guess how many hours I studied, backtested, anything that traders do to gain an understanding and, hopefully, an edge. A lot of it was anything but enjoyable. That was not important to me at the time.

Today my word was "SURRENDER". Not in writing, except here. But in my head as I sat down to go over my thoughts for the trading day. I know what I know, and I will make my best decisions based on that knowledge, but after that I have to surrender to forces beyond my control.

Surrender alone is not the trick, it is part of my goal to remain balanced, and when I see myself leaning to one side I try to figure out what needs to be added to balance me out again, and that is what it felt like I needed more of this week. Next week I may be a ballbuster again. But hopefully, if I am, it is only because I see that is what is needed to maintain balance.

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  #1742 (permalink)
 
GaryD's Avatar
 GaryD 
Orlando, Florida
 
Experience: None
Platform: shoes
Trading: happy
Posts: 6,462 since May 2011





Going into "I" period, my read on the day being rotational as early as "A", meaning I started to capitalize on it there, and feeling confirmed by "C", was a great personal win. Days like today used to be so hard to trade correctly.

Major runs up combined with major resistance levels, buyers exhausted, sellers seeing risk versus reward, aiming for a runaway day in conditions like this create what I was taught to call being whipsawed. A word designed to place the blame outside ourselves. "The market did it to me today."

To complicate things, being "whipsawed" can then cause a trader to try to fade a runaway market, because the market taught them to do that too. "It can't go much further" born from the experience that it didn't while I was in it the other day...

That is what I loved so much as I started to dig into market profile. Understanding more what the market is trying to do, why it is trying to do it, as best as possible learning to think like a market. If it actually thought, which it can't. It feels alive though, feels very organic.

For today to have been any different would have been a surprise to me. And that feels good today. It has only been a couple months maybe since I even tried to understand MP, and not that many tight rotational days for crude oil. Neutral, or NonTrend, or Normal, does not matter too much to get the exact definition right as to understand the concept. I could improve on my trade locations.


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  #1743 (permalink)
 addchild 
Bay Area California
 
Experience: None
Platform: TT T4
Broker: Phillip Capital
Trading: Futures
Posts: 809 since Nov 2011
Thanks Given: 926
Thanks Received: 898



GaryD View Post
If I had more monitors... I switched to ES for a minute and saw that it was coming into key resistance just as I closed my short in CL.

....



But, I kept a lot, keep messing with them. It is slowly making sense how each says something just a little different. Some are just for clarity.

Maybe I'll buy a new computer this month...

What is that 15 charts to see if one market is going up or down?!?!?

Uncertainty (risk) is like herpes: sometimes you can't see it, but that shit never goes away.

And to paraphrase Biggie "Mo' monitors, mo' problems."

.
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  #1744 (permalink)
 
GaryD's Avatar
 GaryD 
Orlando, Florida
 
Experience: None
Platform: shoes
Trading: happy
Posts: 6,462 since May 2011


addchild View Post
What is that 15 charts to see if one market is going up or down?!?!?... to paraphrase Biggie "Mo' monitors, mo' problems."

I said something similar to my wife years ago as she adopted pet #6.

I have been trying to stay down to two monitors actually, but then gave in and added a 3rd. Today saw something on another workspace that I missed. I guess it's just whatever makes you feel comfortable. I saw a guy last week who had 3 walls of 10 each. If he's happy...


P.S. It's 16, plus a quote board, plus ES, plus Bloomberg, plus CNBC on the tv in the background with the sound off.... lol!

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  #1745 (permalink)
 
Deucalion's Avatar
 Deucalion 
Calgary, Canada
 
Experience: Intermediate
Platform: Multiple
Broker: Multiple
Trading: Multiple
Posts: 428 since Aug 2009


addchild View Post
What is that 15 charts to see if one market is going up or down?!?!?

Uncertainty (risk) is like herpes: sometimes you can't see it, but that shit never goes away.

And to paraphrase Biggie "Mo' monitors, mo' problems."

"like herpes"....lol

Uncertainty is a pro trader's best friend, it is essential to NOT know, Among our greatest frailties; is in our assumption, that what we know is correctly deduced.

It is more rewarding to not know, to simply live with curiosity and happily co-exist with fear. Uncertainty equates to fear, drawing on our survival instincts, it takes time and effort to overcome this and it is almost always a constant battle.

In life or trading, fear makes us do things that, when we look back given the luxury and healing power of time, we realize, are patently stupid. Whereas making decisions, happily accepting uncertainty, brings us closer to contentment. My most deeply rewarding days have almost always been ones when I had no clue what the market was about to do. As I am sure you understand and appreciate.

The reward is not we think it should be, but much much more.

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  #1746 (permalink)
 
GaryD's Avatar
 GaryD 
Orlando, Florida
 
Experience: None
Platform: shoes
Trading: happy
Posts: 6,462 since May 2011


addchild View Post
What is that 15 charts to see if one market is going up or down?!?!?


I only look at a couple to make trade decisions, the others I just kind of scan as I am putting together my thoughts of what is occurring.

Probably half of the charts I had up today are not my charts, I don't know them well, I don't understand how to use some effectively, I may decide to remove some, combine some, etc. I am refining my trade location, and am a big believer in confluence, so just getting familiar with some things I am not yet competent at.

I will be working towards dividing them between two workspaces, one higher analysis, and then have those drawings / notes mapped over to a trading workspace.

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  #1747 (permalink)
 
GaryD's Avatar
 GaryD 
Orlando, Florida
 
Experience: None
Platform: shoes
Trading: happy
Posts: 6,462 since May 2011


Deucalion View Post
"

Uncertainty is a pro trader's best friend, it is essential to NOT know, Among our greatest frailties; is in our assumption, that what we know is correctly deduced.

It is more rewarding to not know, to simply live with curiosity and happily co-exist with fear. Uncertainty equates to fear, drawing on our survival instincts, it takes time and effort to overcome this and it is almost always a constant battle.

In life or trading, fear makes us do things that, when we look back given the luxury and healing power of time, we realize, are patently stupid. Whereas making decisions, happily accepting uncertainty, brings us closer to contentment.

You were far more eloquent than I was, but that is pretty much what I rolled into my word for the day, "Surrender".

It does not suggest giving up, to me it is the act of embracing uncertainty. That area is something that I have learned I need to stay aware of, and when it slips I try to bring it back into focus. In trading, not having enough surrender in my equation causes me to close trades before their target, not take trades because something seems less certain than other times.

It is similar to "Trust", but different to me in that I am trying to pull out more submissiveness as I reach into my subconscious. To me, "Trust" implies that there is more certainty to the outcome, which over a series of events there is.

But trade by trade, there is nothing to trust. There is no reason to trust. It is more about surrender. I have made my decision, now I wait.

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  #1748 (permalink)
 
GaryD's Avatar
 GaryD 
Orlando, Florida
 
Experience: None
Platform: shoes
Trading: happy
Posts: 6,462 since May 2011


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  #1749 (permalink)
 
GaryD's Avatar
 GaryD 
Orlando, Florida
 
Experience: None
Platform: shoes
Trading: happy
Posts: 6,462 since May 2011

I have decided to cut some calories from my normal diet, more water,more raw fruits and vegetables, less sugars, etc. As part of that, I built this little beer calculator. Averaging one beer a day, I could cut 40,000 calories a year, if I could stand to drink Beck's Light, which I can't. I drink Sierra Nevada Pale Ale as my regular beer, but I went out tonight and bought the ones highlighted in blue instead.

Just thought someone here might get some fun or at least a laugh out of it.

To use it, just enter the "Beer Per Day Average" (US average is about 1 a day), and/or replace the list with your beer info.

Cheers

Attached Files
Elite Membership required to download: Beers.xls
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  #1750 (permalink)
 
Deucalion's Avatar
 Deucalion 
Calgary, Canada
 
Experience: Intermediate
Platform: Multiple
Broker: Multiple
Trading: Multiple
Posts: 428 since Aug 2009



GaryD View Post
I have decided to cut some calories from my normal diet, more water,more raw fruits and vegetables, less sugars, etc. As part of that, I built this little beer calculator. Averaging one beer a day, I could cut 40,000 calories a year, if I could stand to drink Beck's Light, which I can't. I drink Sierra Nevada Pale Ale as my regular beer, but I went out tonight and bought the ones highlighted in blue instead.

Just thought someone here might get some fun or at least a laugh out of it.

To use it, just enter the "Beer Per Day Average" (US average is about 1 a day), and/or replace the list with your beer info.

Cheers

Tis why you have single malt. Drink neat, preferably slowly.

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Last Updated on August 5, 2013


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