Objective Thinking And Trading

Hello my name is Peter.

What is discussed here is NOT a "method" or "system" for trading but a proper way of thinking and a mindset that is 100% transferable between real life and your trading environment. It is your own thinking that you bring with you into your trading that works with great success or commits you to failure ... and is always available for change. THIS thread is for real life. There is NO fancy course or subscription or product for sale EVER. Either you learn or you don't. It is ALL on YOU. I am merely offering a portal to learn and grow both as a trader and a person.

Basic Guidelines: Trolls, Time Wasters, disruptors, rudeness and those with condescending talk and people who want to argue will be removed without notice. I have Zero tolerance for BS, zero tolerance for negative comments that are outside the scope of this thread, direct bad language and cursing, as it will be regarded as inappropriate behavior. Generally those who are becoming a pain in the ass and are interfering with the process of this thread will be removed without any warning.

It is recommended before embarking on this thread, that you have already gained some knowledge and some experience towards trading . If I feel you do not meet this criteria you will be asked to remain quiet so you can learn more as you go. If you do not agree to all the terms and conditions to this thread, you will be removed. This thread is not for doubters or 'know-it-alls".

Disclaimer: I am not a financial adviser nor am I offering financial advice. This thread is for information and educational purposes only. I do not endorse anything illegal or for sale or payment on this thread. Please read the material and watch any videos that are made available before asking silly questions that you COULD answer for yourself through your own researching efforts. Thank you.

NB - None of what is going to be put in print on this thread has ANYTHING to do with the following - religion, spirituality, new age stuff, the occult, pop Psychology or Pop Psychiatry.

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The reason for me starting this thread is simple - I come from the real world where real things happen and where there are causes and effects to everything and where silly thinking is costly and can be destructive. What I have noticed on this site is the plethora of misinformation towards the field of trading. Although it would be pointless to try and stop it all, I can however, offer people a well rounded approach to their thinking and activities of Life that include their trading.

When I started trading many years ago, the first thing I learned was that if your brain doesn't work properly, you WILL lose ALL your money. PERIOD.

Most people on social media basically make the same assumption - that an assumption is just as good as the real thing. When I looked closer, I began to see the same recurring assumption and I realized, that people have stopped thinking and have begun treating assumptions and opinions as fact. Giving them the same OR greater weight than the simple obvious truth right in front of their faces.

So I guess this thread has 2 main parts - your mental world and the activity and world of trading.

What I see with many people trying to trade today, is the over-reliance on technology and not enough basic healthy thinking. For some people, this is what I hope to remedy.

I grew up knowing that you must first understand the concept or idea of something before you can learn how to use it. So this is where I will begin.

I warn you upfront ....... THIS thread actually aims at breaking the formed thinking you have towards social media oriented "world of trading" and helping your mind to work properly once more. So there will be many things I say or speak of, that will probably make you uncomfortable or even annoyed. But as long as you appreciate the ongoing REASON WHY it is being said/described/explained, then you will not interfere with your own thinking and learning.

It is about Your Life THINKING and your TRADING...... in tandem.

One last thing. At the bottom of this post .... Post #1, will be the pdf you can download at your convenience. I will update its contents as needed so people can continue their study at their own pace. Thank you.

Objective Thinking and Trading Part 1



Objective Thinking and Trading Part 2

Being a trader puts you into two different groups .....

The first is type A who presumes, assumes and counts on the past repeating itself. And some people will even make plans around the future being just like the past. But there's a major problem with this ... what if you're not paying any attention to what's happening in the real world? How could this affect your expected returns?

The second type is .....

Type B who understands the past but works with different timings than type A and works more with generic structure presenting itself.

The following is important to understand the "WHY" of people's actions and decisions ......

Generic structure is based on 1 Tier, 2 Tier and 3 Tier reversal probabilities before the next action occurs. The basic probabilities are essential here as the trade setups are not based on fleeting situations eg. News announcements. These things are not part of typical fundamental analysis as this can be rather biased towards particular outcomes, eg. Central bank news or interest rate adjustments.

Generic structure is classified as - the nature of the market as it stands whether something or nothing is happening in the world.

The basic probabilities that are always in play are - Each trade setup offers a 50% chance of success. After this, the direct and indirect biases increase the chance of one outcome over another, however, biases are not concrete, so there must be a backup plan to ensure positive outcomes.

1 Tier, 2 Tier and 3 Tier reversal probabilities examples - Happens once = 33% probability. Happens twice = 66% probability. Happens three times = 66 + (66/3)%. Happens four times = 66 + ((66/3) x 1.05). As you can see, it is NOT 99% accuracy of likelihood because, a true probability MUST incorporate the unknown factor that can occur without warning.

Type A is usually someone who prefers to try and scalp or perform fast moving momentum trade activity or perhaps a trend trade.

Whereas Type B is someone who CAN scalp, momentum trade and trend trade as the needs arises.

Type A is usually a systems trader who uses indicators/indications alongside an EA or 1 or more indicators waiting for and expecting a trade signal.

Type B is someone who can use an indicator or perhaps market activity AKA "price action" to provide a signal or uses primary probabilities to send orders to market.

All the examples above are not taking into consideration the idea of or labeling of 'manual trading' or 'discretionary trading' vs 'semi/automatic trading' because the end result of trading from the perspective of an individual private investor, is always the same = to assert your time and energy to generate a healthy profit while understanding where the world is heading.

The most essential part of this understanding is - most people who try and trade the financial markets are not aware of the future risks associated with trading. They assume that if one order loses, then that loss is limited by a stop loss or some other form of capital preservation. But in reality, trading is NOT about trading the past, it is about what the future "may" and "will" bring.

A little while ago, someone asked me how I trade.

Unlike most people my study does not stop with just looking at the past to repeat itself in the present situation playing out. I look to the future as this is where my profits and losses will be accrued.

Within the pdf I attached to post #1, on page 151, there is a chart depicting Equalized Paths. This is to design an awareness of the future. There is no prediction here, but there IS an understanding that is based on more than just what the chart shows. It comes from thinking about many different trends of the current world economy and the different directions major situations could take the world. It might seem a grandiose gesture but it's not. Every person can do it. It requires nothing more than what's between your ears along with an interest in the world you already live in. But, like I said earlier, many people are too reliant on technology to do their "thinking" for them. If you don't believe me, try living without Google for a whole week but still try to live your life as per usual. I'm certain the results will surprise you.

What is so important about all this?

In good times people are happy and cheerful and full of glee. But in bad and dark times, people are scared and repressed and apprehensive. And they become very protective of many things they treasure, love and cherish.

If people do not know how to think then how can they make good decisions?

And what of their thinking?

Trading is a type of business activity. It has procedure and processes and requires more than just "average" thinking.

Type A traders or aspiring traders are prone to making several mistakes many times over before realizing what's happened. However Type B traders are more observant and use an "all inclusive" approach so they can better understand what is happening.

The main problem here today, is the false confidence people have in their tech use vs their truthful understanding and awareness of life on this planet and HOW this affects the markets they choose to participate in.

And social media is not helping. It tends to shape and mold people's views despite what all the facts and real life information is telling them.

Chasing profits today for nothing more than mere profits, is a fools errand in my experience. Private traders need to be MORE savvy not less.

Lockdowns and this virus stuff is not helping people either.

But if you want your trading to improve, you need to begin by being as brutally honest with yourself as you can muster. Do it in steps if you need to but you must do it.

This site and others like it are filled with people who are conned or taken in by stories and anecdotal ideas and thinking.

Trading can be simple, but only once you have revealed the truth of your own thinking and the beliefs that have spawned from that thinking.

To learn you must raise yourself to the next level NOT drag the knowledge down so you can dilute it until it is oversimplified just to suit your laziness.


I hope that helps.

Peter

This post is really great actually. PeterCaleb has got an amazing point regarding those two different groups. My dad is a history teacher, and as he likes to say "history is cyclical, everything repeats in a different from" that is why it is also a fact available for trading.

Greed is the one of those things that destroys people's trading careers, sometimes before it even begins.

Greed is what pushes a person to seek out "other setups" without first considering what they're sacrificing.

The silly and ridiculous thing I see with people trying to trade is their willingness to use less and less common sense thinking. I'm talking about where you have X and Y trade setups that you KNOW VERY WELL, (that you have a great awareness of when relating them to the basic probabilities that are always in play in the financial markets) that you're prepared to move away from to start risking unnecessarily.

Many people do not understand that the markets are akin to someone with multiple personalities. "The Market" may have let's say, 20 different personalities = 20 overall trades setups. But not every setup carries the same risk-rate of return ratio (NOT the same as Risk:Reward). Out of those 10, you may find 2 or 3 that offer a high degree of promise for a 'better' trade return than the others. But even still, there is no guarantee of anything. And yet people try to manipulate all kinds of data and insights to attempt to find a more profitable way to buy or sell or both.

Once I saw the rise of people "seeking Alpha", I laughed so hard I nearly fell off my chair !!

The basic probabilities haven't changed in over 100 years and it's likely they won't anytime soon. Why?

The financial markets have become more like a circus than a place for financial transacting.

With so many "stories" and "personal truths" floating around now, it's easy to see that people have lost their way.

But for most people, they wouldn't know the difference. Why not? They're too busy "trying to make money". This creates an enormous vacuum in society because of the unnatural influx of people who want to try their hand at trading and "making money".

Normal everyday people 'trying to get a piece of the action'. For many people in this situation, they do not understand there is a foundation of knowledge and information that exists and they will need to learn it before realizing exactly WHAT they've just walked into.

Sites like this one are setup to take advantage of this vacuum. This much is certain. I would say, literally, most of the people I have encountered on this site are operating in a very subjective manner. And through this observation it becomes clear that most are just 'feeding off each other' in one way or another, never really learning what is in fact necessary if one wants to have a long career in the financial markets.

The irony of all this, is that trading IS actually VERY simple and fun. But people would not be aware of this experience unless they've gone beyond their previous plateaus of learning.

'Creating a day job' out of trading is workable however definitely NOT as people today are trying to do it. Staring at screens all day and finding yourself "waiting" for the next setup can generate many reactionary problems - impulsiveness, irritability, irrational problems, impatience, basic frustration and many more. The one thing I have observed that people are not paying attention to is - THEMSELVES and their connection to real life.

"I wish the market would hurry up and just DO it!!"
"Why can't the market just do what I need it to do?!"
And on and on.

If you placed 100 random traders in a room and showed them a price chart of a market on a large flat screen TV, what do you think would be their reaction ?

So for those people, for instance, who believe the markets are "random", or those who believe one 'story' over another, it may be time to look again, this time with a more objective observation point.

I've scratched a number of surfaces of different aspects of the financial markets and trading here, but that's the point.

This thread is NOT about giving you a "story" to "follow" and feel all warm and comfortable.

The whole point is to give you piece after piece so YOU have to think about different things and YOU have to put some effort in, instead of just seeking answers.

I hope that helps.

Peter

This is what I see when I look at most people's trading because they choose to ignore/are not aware of certain basic principles

Attached Image (click to enlarge)

Why?

To answer this properly and truthfully, a person simply needs to return to earlier years of the financial markets and look at a price chart from that time. Yes some things have changed but the basics are still the same as they've always been.

- Protect what's yours.
- Be sensible with your money
- Have a plan that is well researched

With the rise of 'Systems trading' and all its derivations, it's easy to see that people's desire to 'make money' is in direct conflict with their comfort levels when interacting with their market of choice.

How would I know this?

Trading is a self starter activity. It is started NOT by a computer or an EA or indicator or trade signal but by the person with the interest or desire to do so.

With people trying to get an EA to trade for them, or to setup their activities and run them around a blind system signal, is where the insight can be tested here.

At the end of the day, the person is the trader. The person is the one most responsible for what happens on their end of the process. So therefore, it's also the person's ignorance that determines the consequences of what happens.

Past to Present to Future.

There are indeed certain aspects of trading and the financial markets themselves, that correlate to real life in the physical world.

If I punch you in the nose really hard, will you be happy I did it?

Of course not. Why? A person, usually, is not comfortable with this being done to them so they will take great offense to it happening. BUT, what if, someone did it to themself everyday after waking up? How would THAT change the situation and how would this alter a person and would they then react or respond?

It's EXACTLY the same with trading.

Some people trade using a Multi FX currency accounts setup. Sure they'll pay a higher than normal "spread cost" premium compared to those people trading through an OTC FX broker, however, they would enjoy the extra 'security' of having that bank 'backing' their accounts. So what Peter? How's that relevant?

As of 29th March 2021, the Continental US AND EU and Asia Pacific will all have Reduced Leverage Caps imposed on private trading activities. I know that some people may say "so what?!" and others may say "It won't affect me".

But to understand this in proper perspective, one needs to stop using a microscope and start using 20-20 vision.

Below is a link to a page that will give you a basic start so you can understand other things. And remember, this is NOT about opinion or conjecture, it is about thinking and observing and creating an understanding of the small, medium and big picture.

https://www.nber.org/digest/jun17/when-government-borrows-heavily-firms-reduce-leverage

I hope this helps.

Peter

Objective thinking in life is about including all things involved and seeing the full picture.

In trading, subjective views are simply when you send an order to market that is set to be a 'one direction only' order. Eg. a buy only entry strategy. The main issue with this view is it limits your perception of your observations. When a trader is "trying to make money", there is a type of pressure a trader places on themself. When you combine all of this, it can cloud a person's judgment.

So while believing it's "time" to buy, it all becomes very limited for options.

Objective view vs Subjective view .....

Subjective



Objective



Peter

Trading is not about following or searching. It is about seeking and learning. There's no play on words here. It's usually only in hindsight that someone learns this Life lesson. But not always.

This is what stands out for me when I look at most people, not because of judgment or opinion, but through simple observation .......

Attached Image

The biggest hurdle for people today is, they are not comfortable with admitting they're wrong. They seem to cling to their opinion like it's gold or as a desperate attempt to hold onto reality. But in the world of trading, an opinion will only get you so far before it self destructs. That is why sites like this seem to perpetuate the same "mantras" and realistically, only someone who values their thinking above what is assumed to be true and correct, will succeed in learning how to trade properly. There is a very big and very real difference between someone who "lives" on a forum vs someone who does/has lived in the real world and trading is no different.

When someone comes at trading from the information end of the "stick", they are trying to remain the same person while filling their head with the knowledge and know-how to make money from their trading activities. This is a VERY backwards way to approach trading.

No one I have ever met or known, who is consistently profitable, has remained the same person. They HAD TO change from a place that goes beyond information alone. This site is full of people who look to other people on this site for help and guidance.

...... WHAT IF .......

THEY don't TRULY know any more than you ? It only SEEMS they do.

From what I've seen so far, this would be a rather scary thought for most people. It would mean that the people who are actually trying to learn are now stuck between a rock and a hard place. The reality of what is going on now presents itself. So the person trying to learn must identify and question their TRUE motivation for wanting to learn how to trade. Is it just to quickly make money? Is it just a game to them? Are they simply looking for a quick and easy way out of their current situation in life? Or are they willing to make the commitment to learn what they truly need to learn so their future is bright?

From what I have seen so far on this site, most newcomers or the people trying to learn are far too trusting when it comes to this site and sites like it. And they are far too naive when it comes to the conversations that happen here. This is not good for someone whose goal is to learn how to trade. When you combine the intention of learning with wanting to make money, it's ripe for manipulation.

For me, it's not very hard to spot the people who are liars and manipulators. They are the ones who lack any truthful depth of knowledge and know-how towards trading but MORE IMPORTANTLY, towards Life itself.

On this site, it has its "ranking system". This is not based on real life it is based on pseudo social participation and is wrank with manipulation and misuse. So for someone who is seeking to learn how to trade, unless this person has their wits about them, they are ripe for being misled.

I have encountered MANY 'medium' and 'high' status members on this site who speak of many things to do with strategies, tactics and mental philosophies. However, once they're put to the real test in the real world, you find out just how unsustainable they have been and will always be.

At times I have tried to point this out, but the people I was speaking to, are stubborn and unwilling to concede that their knowledge and experience of real life is capped. So they play the usual "blame and fault psychological game" to go off topic and/or redirect attention away from the real issue. I know from real life experience, that IF a REAL TRADER ever did this with their trading activities, they would lose A LOT of money..... and FAST !! And so common sense should kick in here and show - IF they are willing to behave that way, speak that way, act that way, then it stands as reasonable that they also think that way in general life. And in all my years alive AND trading, that combination of traits and living could NEVER add up to someone being consistently profitable in their own trading activities. Not even if they ran an EA to make their trades and take care of the management side of their trading. There is no escaping the actual human involvement in the activities of trading.

So, as I said, it's not difficult to spot the liars and manipulators.

So here, a particular Life lesson appears. We as people, cannot filter what lessons show up in our lives that act as opportunities to learn something. Nor can we 'pick-n-choose' who and what can be our teacher. Too many people today remind me of toddlers with nappy rash rather than adults who have already learned specific Life lessons. So I suppose it's not surprising WHY people talk a lot about a lot of things but really, when you probe deep enough, you find they're not the adult they want the world to see them as at all.

It's also not too surprising why these "medium and high" status members get rather uncomfortable when someone shows up who doesn't fall for their 'site antics' and 'chest pumping'.

But keep in mind it's not isolated to just these status members, it happens with the low status members too. These are usually an additional site account that's been created to hide or mask any unsavory activity. Oh you gotta love the "Code of Conduct" on sites like these.

There is ONLY one way to get around all of this. Stop doing this .......

Attached Image (click to enlarge)

The only way you as a person can go from who you are to who you will need to become, IF you are serious about learning how to trade properly, is to accept that you don't know everything AND probably don't know ANYTHING that is actually WORTH knowing. From my own observations with people on this site, THIS is the No.1 thing that most people are unwilling to acknowledge, accept and respect.

****** THIS is the most paramount point in learning how to identify information based knowledge from wisdom based knowledge. The person who actually learns is the one who is willing to be open to learning. NOT NAIVE or GULLIBLE but coming to understand that sites like this one, pervert and twist an opinion and judgment. This is why so many people spend so much time over a number of years, involving themselves with different things on a site like this. They have not yet learned that they're not socializing, they're going in circles.

The only way to remedy this for yourself, is to step aside from opinions and judgments entirely. I'm not talking about seeing things through the filter of facts and conclusions alone. I am talking about an all inclusive approach. Starting with the understanding that an opinion and judgment as well as a fact and conclusion have a life of their own and if left unchecked, will either become self-sabotaging or self destructive.

It's known as being objective. You do not judge or "play God" with what is deemed "important" or "relevant". Instead, you acknowledge that it exists therefore, has a place in the whole situation. And so, if it has a part to play then it cannot be excluded from your awareness and understanding. Then you'll be more succinct in arriving at solid conclusions and understandings.

This is the difference between a "social media trading forum trader" and a real life person who is a real life trader. If you doubt what I am saying to be true, go and find someone who has been trading with real money in real markets for years and decades and ask them what they think about social media trading sites like Forex Factory. I sense you'll be surprised to learn what they REALLY think.

A real life trader HAS TO think about the future. There is no choice here. If they rely on trading as a source of income or surplus cashflow into their life, then they MUST realize that the past DOES play a part in the future, however, the role and responsibility of a real life trader is to manage the present that is turning into the future and the future changing into the present. Otherwise they can kiss their money goodbye.

I hope that Helps.

Peter

An interesting read for someone who has not come across this information and understanding before......

LEARNING ABOUT TOXICITY: WHY ORDER IMBALANCE CAN DESTABILIZE MARKETS

https://poseidon01.ssrn.com/delivery.php?ID=583078083024093001122124110106101124033019081079037056018099107075099021014086081087062026096028010010047022007097029097106066033073037085088108076023114122115101088040081094123113096119002088084074020081115026089073104006029091064077080118111087067114&EXT=pdf&INDEX=TRUE

Attached File(s)

SSRN-id3286933.pdf   1.0 MB | 790 downloads

I hope this helps.

Peter

I remember years ago I saw George Carlin on stage and yesterday, my friend shows me this youtube video of George talking about something that most people never like to talk about but is actually very important and relevant.

It's never good or healthy or useful to get involved in something armed with just an opinion.


Watch this and then we'll continue ......


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XdH38k0iUgI


Many people on a site like this, may think that trading is all about "the algo" or "the banks" or "the price chart". But if you step back a little and look, you'll see that these people have neither the knowledge nor the mental aptitude to appreciate real life, beyond all this "trading stuff". It's hilarious to watch a person trying to explain something to a newcomer/beginner and watch that newcomer lapping it up like a cat to a bowl of milk.

YOU DON'T KNOW THAT PERSON. Are you kidding me? They're just someone who has created a username account on some website and is sprouting about something they read somewhere else, PROBABLY from someone who DOES know what they're talking about. It's easy to know if this is true or not. Put EVERYTHING they say and talk about TO THE TEST.

Step 1 = Start by 'superimposing' what they're saying onto a random, blank chart. Let the generic chart show you what IT is showing and saying and then look at what they're talking about.

Step 2 = Now go look at that person's activity on their Profile page. Begin at the first reply or response they made somewhere and as you read through all of the things they have said, get an idea of HOW they feel and what they say when they are challenged, or confronted by someone, or don't get what they want.

As I have said, it's VERY easy to tell the difference between people here. You have the posers, the troublemakers, the fraudsters, the silly people who just want to argue about everything. THEN you have the people who genuinely want to learn and the REAL people who try to help and share what they know and understand.

The delinquents on a site like this are usually easy to spot.

So you need to decide whether you value your Life and time enough to simply get in with a plan in place, learn what you need to and leave VERY quickly. Why quickly? REAL people understand that life is TOO short to hang around sites like this and talk crap with people who you don't know any better than the person who lives 200 miles from your home.

If I gave you the following list, how long would it take you to either -

A) Lose interest, give up and move onto something else

OR

B) Start to realize I never gave you any idea of the context of anything on that list.

Technical tools are only as good as the emotional maturity of the person using them.

THE LIST ....

Market Activity and relative STD DEV of this activity
ADR
Relative Highs and Lows
Immediate Short Term Direction
Larger Time Horizon (HTF)
Time Of Day
News or No News
Heavy Duty Political Events (Eg US Election)
Pre-Market Open or Close (Eg. Sunday Night/Monday Morning and Late Friday)
Real Life Real Time Upper Low Resistance (M1)
Trade Type
MTF Magnification
Style of Entry = Early, At, With Confirmation
Market Activity - Previous Relative Highs and Lows
Inline trade or Reversal Spread Trade (Multi pair trades)
First Or Second Touch Trade
Up, Down, Sideways or Unknown

To my mind, majority of people on sites like this one are simply regurgitating the same BS and calling it something else. There's no REAL thinking involved at all. So you have fools who are fooling other people with their "chit chat". Meanwhile, the people who genuinely want to learn, have to continually sidestep these people's onscreen masquerade, 'because they're bored' or whatever the apparent reason is in real life.

I've lost count now, of how many idiots I've met on this site who PROVE they haven't the foggiest idea what they're talking about BUT IT LOOKS good on the screen and sounds good on the page. But unfortunately, most of these newcomers are going to have to wade through a lot of crap to find out what IS REAL and what is not.

Real traders in REAL LIFE, know that you need to be flexible enough with your thinking so you can buy or sell or both, when needed.

But if you follow all the fools on this site who claim to know what they're talking about, then you KNOW what awaits you. In years to come you'll end up just like them ..... Fools on a website and that's all. The markets and the real world will change a number of times and they'll still seek refuge in their 'hidey-hole' site seeking comfort from the weather.

Is that REALLY what you want for yourself? To hang around silly or stupid people who don't care about the real world implications of giving other people 'bad information'?

Learn to think in a way where you're not satisfied with finding "the best opinion" or the "safest belief" so you can make some money.

For me, it wasn't too hard to work out which people were and were not consistently making money from their trading.

It takes more than just 'pretty charts' to trade or "a simple strategy" to be consistent.

"If I removed your brain from your skull, could you still think properly to trade consistently and continue to be profitable?"

A simple query however you'd be surprised how many fools think it's a stupid question that doesn't require any response.

So just by using this very simple approach, people are willing to show you how emotionally immature they really are, especially when you move the conversation away from trading. You find out VERY quickly what they're probably like in real life. And so from this, you can summize that they're not really a very good trader, because they place far too much weight and emphasis on mental and intellectual information instead of appreciating that information is just a "thing". You are a human and so you have other faculties that need proper exercise and maintenance.

People don't seem to understand that information can be falsified but someone's emotional bearing on a situation cannot be false.

So for example, people who take an interest in Mark Douglas and his works, you must understand you cannot just "switch on and off" emotional maturity. Either it is in you or it's not. Trading or no trading. PERIOD.

Life Lessons are better teachers than any "advice" you get from someone on this site about trading. If you stop looking at trading as this "BIG THING" then you can appreciate what I just said. But if you continue to let other people 'think for you' because you believe 'they seem to know better than me' then you will likely lose all your money and end up just like them.....cynical, bitter, overprotective and scared.

In real world terms and words, the people who end up like this are the losers of the pack. I'm not trying to be insulting or offensive here. It's a simple fact and a basic truth.

For some people you are entering into trading at the worst possible time. Why? The extent of the spread of dumbed-down stupidity and laziness among people has reached historic levels. They're exhausted, scared, panicky, lazy, over-stimulated by information and under-stimulated by emotional integrity. Mixed together, people have become even more introverted within their own lives and have lost touch with real life beyond the walls of their ears.

But this is also good news. Why? Because it's identifiable and so it can be remedied.

For someone reading this, you will need to decide. either learn and grow up for real, or don't and be the next person to try and do it the way most others have tried ..... tried and are failing.

The choice is yours.


I hope this helps.

Peter

Filtering for useful information is what I have been doing since aged 5. Not with any kind of preparation as such.
Except for attending schools and universities, I never took any tuition or courses as such.
Lucky to have a public library with 500,000 manuscripts and books at 10 minutes walk from home.
Started enjoying children fiction books and often used self-help books to learn about carpentry, paper craft, drawing, painting, writing, typing , PC by investing in buying tools rather than go for courses.
My dad was a person who wore several hats on a daily basis and as a child just followed in his footsteps without knowing what is multi-tasking as such.
Neighborhood was inhabited by poets, writers, journalists, professors, sports persons, middle level bureaucrats and 99% all were professionals.
If you walk around with a grim face, you will be approached by people unknown to you, trying to find out if everything was OK in our lives . As if they had third eyes to see or read kind of trouble written on faces. Except for money, the offer was to help by way of finding jobs or giving suggestions on educational opportunities.

As a person living in that environment, it was assumed that real world is like that.
Reading of fiction books, including thrillers, historical novels, family drama, love stories, travelogue took me to another world.

I always believed that I am living in two worlds: the real world where I faced no difficulty or any conflicts that affected my life.
Another world painted by books was full of conflicts and drama. I took that also to be another facet of real world particularly family drama and crime thrillers made a lot of sense to me. Never for a moment, I felt uncomfortable and co-existence was never questioned.
A short stint in crime reporting and writing real-crime stories strengthened this idea of co-existence.
It is when I learned that living in grey works well for me. I am able to accept people as they are and feel confident enough to undertake various kinds of unrelated activities with no monetary or recognition goals.
Intuitively, I am able to filter information that promotes binary way of life.
My approach towards handling words is like this: it can never cause any pain to me as long as I have no personal expectations.

I am not sure whether I have grown to be such a person because of a seed planted in me at the time of my birth, nurtured by environment I lived in, or conditioning or indoctrination.

Was it by design? May be it was not deliberate but when you look in hidsight it seems so.

If yes, can neuroscience help a person become a consistent trader subject to fulfilling the condition of having financial resources and the ability to conduct trading?

Quoting simnz

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{quote} Filtering for useful information is what I have been doing since aged 5. Not with any kind of preparation as such. Except for attending schools and universities, I never took any tuition or courses as such. Lucky to have a public library with 500,000 manuscripts and books at 10 minutes walk from home. Started enjoying children fiction books and often used self-help books to learn about carpentry, paper craft, drawing, painting, writing, typing , PC by investing in buying tools rather than go for courses. My dad was a person who wore several...

Ignored

simnz,

It sounds like you had a rather interesting life growing up.

As to neuroscience - I am always skeptical and wary around man-made manipulative forces. They are usually prone to misuse by the user and others. However there would be things to learn from including it into one's awareness of Life.

The real lessons that helps a person to trade more effectively are the same ones that helps someone to live life better. Trading is just one of millions of activities available for someone to participate in while alive. So it is reasonable to conclude that becoming better as a person = becoming better as a trader. Otherwise greed and other things will overtake a person's thinking and cloud their emotional judgment.

People seem to assume they're going to live forever and so, simple but powerful Life lessons are not seen as imperative to their life.

I could say more here but it may not be warranted yet.

Peter

Not be warranted yet?

I like to know more if you feel appropriate.

Life is a funny thing sometimes. Many people get so engrossed in what they're doing that they forget about the way Life actually tends to keep moving.

This pic depicts it beautifully for me.....

Attached Image (click to enlarge)

And when it comes to trading, the person's fundamentals are always the same. This is not something people like to accept because they are fighting between individuality and collective group, so they ebb and flow between all kinds of extremes ..... never taking a breath to observe the "grey area" that stands between all of the extremes. Now some may think this is philosophy in play but philosophy is really just a collaboration of past-present events with words and ideas of maybe and could be. What I find most interesting is context. To me, this is the glue that binds it all together.

Out of ALL the Life lessons I can think of right now, the one that stands out to me considering what is happening in the world at present, is geared around this .......

Attached Image (click to enlarge)

Attached Image (click to enlarge)

People put far too much effort into arguing over learning. Into being right over being aware. So I wonder just what people are teaching their children.

I would call trading an 'interest skill set'. And the usual lessons about self discipline and self worth all play a part in the learning. These lessons are completely transferable into the real world. But I'm not seeing them transferred, not really.

There's a lot more but that's the beginning of it all.

The fight between the aspiring trader and the "wannabe" trader. The battle of right-wrong over what is true.


Peter

There is a VERY REAL and VERY STRONG correlation between the level of mental & emotional stability of a person and their ability to learn, change and adapt.

What I am about to speak of is NOT just from a book, or website or someone else's post here on this site. Although I'm sure it wouldn't be the first time someone has spoken about it.

There is and has always been, a direct relationship between heart and mind and action. It doesn't matter if the action is small or large, it's always the same.

If I was a bouncer at a nightclub and instead of checking for ID's, I was checking people's basic motivation for wanting to start trading ..... what do you think I would find in you?

This scenario SHOULD raise some interesting thoughts in you AND it should concern you GREATLY.

For the private individual trader, we are given the right/privilege to access the financial markets and try and grab some profits as we do it. But just as easily and quickly as we were given access, it COULD be taken away. Why is this relevant?

People usually build their lives upon many assumptions and usually they build their beliefs on these assumptions. THIS is why it's relevant. Most of the time, the same thinking that entered with you into trading is the same one that will exit with you. It's just that when you exit you have "more information" stuck in your head. But beyond that, what's different? What's changed?

Forex .... Stocks ,,,,, Indices ..... Bonds ,,,,, Annuities => It's all the same in the end.

Either you have black-n-white thinking or you have learned a specific Life lesson and now you have a better understanding of something that many try to ignore or run away from.

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Here's the Life Lesson => "No person can escape the living and no person can deny the dead."

This is where I have to tell you to forget about "categorizing" this as "philosophical" or any other "genre" of intellectual thinking and simply realize the simple, honest truth this lesson holds and offers.

It can be related to ANY category of living, ANY source of knowledge and ANY type of perspective.

You don't need LSD to 'expand your mind', just the willingness to learn, minus the assumption that all learning occurs in your brain.

One very simple way to interpret this lesson is - "the people and situations that are all around us at present, offer a way to observe, appreciate and understand through seeing all THREE sides of the situation. The dead are and were the deeds and situations that are passed into history and still linger/hang around so other people can improve the situations that present themselves, over and over again."

I know there are several other interpretations but this one is simple enough to get people started.

Attached Image

People have forgotten that an observation is and always was, ONLY an observation. No mixing of opinion or sensations of better or worse.

I have noticed people operating in a very compartmentalized way. History has PROVEN, TIME AFTER TIME, this is a really unhealthy way to live.

Compartmentalized ....

verb
past tense: compartmentalized; past participle: compartmentalized

1. divide into sections or categories.
   "he had the ability to compartmentalize his life"

This is the part where I warn you NOT to just dismiss this and try to deny it's happening. Instead, try to begin with the temporary assumption that it's TRUE and then begin to investigate based on THIS premise. Most people are far too reactive and too impulsive and so they believe it's not true or not possible or worse - not important. And this makes it EXTREMELY easy to gain insight into what a person is REALLY thinking and whether they're a real life trader or something else.

Your thinking, as a person, minus all the labels and assumptions of "your life" or "information about trading", is what will always determine what you think about. And it will be HOW you connect to your emotions. And this in turn, will guide your trading activities. Some people on this site have witnessed how shallow many people can be towards their trading. This is a good start in learning to "think with your feelings or emotions". Sounds cooky right? I guarantee you it's not. If you are a person who "knows lots about trading" but freezes when it's time to send an order to market that is of real money, then you are not thinking with your emotions, you are thinking with your brain. Your brain will tell you "to think more about it" or "what if this or that happens" etc. And then the "fear" kicks in and you sit and do nothing.

The other thing this shows is that you are not allowing your instincts to play a part. They are the final step in placing that trade. Your brain does the intellectual thinking, analyzing and processing, your emotions help determine AND reinforce your motivation and do your WHY thinking, then your instincts grab the baton and sprint to the finish line by initiating the ACTION necessary for you to participate.

It takes some practice to get comfortable with this process. That's where the practice demo account is useful.

A simple way to appreciate the 3 sided coin approach, is to start by thinking of it as good, bad and neutral. Or black, white and neutral.

These are fundamental in so many living examples for all of us to observe and investigate. And it's no different in trading.

Up. Down. High. Low. Short term. Long term. The list goes on.

The main and best use of the 3 sided coin approach is to learn.

Start small. Start simple and see how you go from there.

I hope this helps.

Peter

Attached Image (click to enlarge)

Price Over Time vs Time Over Price


Up. Down. Was. Is. Could Be.


Personal Intentions. Professional Interests.


Local View. National View. Distorted World View.


Price And Time.

Attached Image

Peter

Over the years I have come across all kinds of people. And these days we have a kind of 'sub-culture' of people that believe or think that the markets are run by 'an algo' or 'algos'.

On this site and many others too, there are many conspiracy theories floating around, both on threads and AS threads. (Hehehe, and again, gotta love this site's 'Code of Conduct' Rules) With stress on the word THEORY. Watching price behavior is no signal of algorithm manipulation ..... world events ARE. People who cannot think properly, who cannot put the puzzle together with ALL of its layers, both from the real world AND the financial markets have no hope of understanding the world they live in.

They are thinking and behaving as if there is no real world 'out there'. And have forgotten that the real world trumps the financial markets in the layering of Life and what happens on this planet. The markets were not born, they were made. People do not rig a computer to the markets JUST to manipulate some money from its participants. You'd have to be VERY ignorant, shortsighted and gullible to believe that a market operates in isolation to the real world. Ignorant of history and of people and civilization in general.

The major problem here is this -

* If a single algo is running the whole thing, what are YOU going to do about it? Probably nothing. Why?
* If a single algo is running everything, wouldn't that mean a trader has a 100% chance of losing all their money? Seeing as the algo can see everything happening, right?
* Why is it whenever these people are asked to tie it to the real world, they can't?

On THIS site, there is ONLY ONE individual I have come across (And I have looked far and wide) who shows feasible connections and inter-connectivity AS IT REALLY IS. Just one.

https://www.forexfactory.com/bionics
https://www.forexfactory.com/thread/727775-the-equilibrium-a-key-to-success

Many of the others as I can see, need their heads checked.

The added problems with many people these days is they cannot tell the difference between what's real and what's not.

So it doesn't really matter what the reality of all this truly is, what are YOU going to do about it?

Gather people together to make it all stop?

"Educate people" enough about something that you cannot tie to real life (beyond the financial markets)?

So it doesn't matter if someone has 'cracked the code' on an algo or not. If they're not going to do anything about it and people's thinking much of the time is too extreme, to one way or the other, why argue about something like this?

Why not simply come up with backup plans to deal with what you CAN deal with.

IF there IS some big algo, then there is ONLY one thing it has in its arsenal - ignorant perception and fear in concert. That's all.

There's no need for pomp and ceremony about it all. No need for long conversations or threads or websites.

It's always been the same with any kind of conspiracy in this world. The more extreme and unbalanced a person's mental and emotional state is, then the harder it is for the simple truth to be conveyed. Here I am talking about BOTH the person trying to convey the message AND the receiver of the message. Usually one or both don't have a solid enough understanding of this world to appreciate how the pieces all fit together.

Of course if people just stopped arguing and would BE grown ups (AKA Adults), then the discussion could happen swiftly and the message could be disseminated. But people are addicted to their opinions, so they continue to squabble. Therefore they're not adults.

Real traders always come up with an action plan. Other people merely keep trying to talk about it.

The other very relevant point to be made here is this - if someone is NOT a proactive person, then it WILL NOT matter if they have cracked the code or they tell 100 people. Mouth pieces are not action people. They are a distraction. A diversionary tactic.

If you want to trade around the "algo" then you need to pull your head out of your ass and pay attention to 'what is' when faced with the algo.

Remember, if you won't think for yourself then there's ALWAYS someone else who's prepared to do it for you.

Generic structure and basic probabilities CANNOT be manipulated because they are evergreen.

Amateurs believe stories and real people remember they are real people long after the market closes.

A professional at ANYTHING is merely someone who knows what they're dealing with AND has worked out HOW to deal with what they're dealing with. PERIOD. They don't have time for bedtime stories or 'psych outs'.


Peter

For me, I don't care how "fancy" you want to try and get with your trading, some things are evergreen. This means no matter how much manipulation occurs or doesn't occur, they still hold true because they are built into everything.

Take for example the below pic .......

Attached Image

A simple example of price over time vs time over price. Or, for most price action style chartists, X axis vs Y or Y vs X. Tell me, what do you notice about the characteristics of the situation presented on this chart pic?

Try listing all of the characteristics that you can see and notice and then compare this to the list of what you don't think is useful or "applicable". I'm sure you'll be surprised what you can learn from your own "preferred observations" vs the others.

I hope this helps.

Peter

PS - Beware of pretenders. People who shadow other people's posts or ideas.

I watch screen by setting up boxes or bands based on own defined pips (height) and Time (bar width) sizes to get a feeling of momentum building up.
Pips height and width is based on previous experience of trading and after digging the sizes information from the historical trades done previously.

I don't find difference between Momentum trading and horse race. So it is easy for me to trade that way. I don't trade no other way. I never trade more than 2 symbols at any time. Mostly it is just one symbol.

Idea is to exit in the first wave of burst of momentum thrust like when the race starts and bets go up and down until the winning post is touched.

Once my mind identifies momentum situation, I put a limit order way below - around 30 pips from the current price. And once I feel the momentum is going to drag down then I sell limit order with around 5 pips above. If my reading of momentum is correct, I collect my gains. Daily target is 6 trades with 150 pips target.
I don't trade FX at all. Only DJ30 and DAX .

No pre-analysis of any kind. No prediction. No straining of eyes on DOM. No long thesis on how it done. Pure practice is the key. Trading is all about DOING IT.

Intuitively you know what market makers plug-ins are looking for. Feed them a few carrots and see their benevolent side. If you play hide and seek game with them, you will be inflicted with psychological pain for quite a long time.


I use mobile phone to execute trades. My eyes are at the screen and the fingers are on the buttons of the mobile phone.
Since I use pending orders, it is quite relaxed trading.

Quoting simnz

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{quote} I watch screen by setting up boxes or bands based on own defined pips (height) and Time (bar width) sizes to get a feeling of momentum building up. Pips height and width is based on previous experience of trading and after digging the sizes information from the historical trades done previously. I don't find difference between Momentum trading and horse race. So it is easy for me to trade that way. I don't trade no other way. I never trade more than 2 symbols at any time. Mostly it is just one symbol. Idea is to exit in the first wave of...

Ignored

simnz,

Ok good to read. So what else can you observe and identify within that pic re: price and time?

Why are you using a phone? You know they're all just a toy right? At least use a tablet so it doesn't strain your eyes so much. Your eyes will thank you later !! Hihihi.

Peter

Price and time have some kind of connection. Can't figure out. It just gives you some idea of how much time the breakout is going to take. All depends on
the market. But hot hours work the same way - all the time. So I trade only during hot hours when entry and exit is likely to be between 2 minutes to 15 minutes.
Identification of hot hours is an art.

I use micro projectors (priced at less than US$100) to watch MT4 on 80 inch screens , some times lying in the bed , seeing the images on the roof of the bedroom.
It is putting both eyes and fingers to good use.