Share your EUREKA moment | Forex Factory

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Share your EUREKA moment

  • #1
  • First Post: Mar 1, 2009 11:18pm Mar 1, 2009 11:18pm
A lot of people at FF talk about an "Ah Hah" moment.... when the lightbulb goes off, and something clicks.

I am very mathamatical with my approach to trading. About 10 minutes ago, I found what I believe to be the most efficient money management method possible. 1/2 of it is already described in the "My Money Management (advanced)" thread.

Well, I am eager to see what discoveries some of the other members have had in recent times. I am very pleased with my own progress, but can only celebrate once the money is in the bank.
  • #2
  • Mar 1, 2009 11:39pm Mar 1, 2009 11:39pm
when i learned that support/resistance lines + trendlines, indicators, etc. were not important because of themselves or some pattern they made but because of what they represented (price action). things finally made sense why when one day X pattern or X setup worked and why the next was just a fakeout or why some indicator worked here but not there
  • #3
  • Mar 1, 2009 11:52pm Mar 1, 2009 11:52pm
Your not going to get any interesting posts back to your question.

Maby afew people who have been lucky recently will chime in with something of no value what so ever.
Living the adventure in my head.
  • #4
  • Mar 2, 2009 1:00am Mar 2, 2009 1:00am
Mine came when I learned to take profit from my account once in a while. After all, why are we doing this? I know that taking cash reduces the compounding effect, but on the other hand, if we take a little off at new high water marks, eventually we'll take enough out that our account can be called a winner no matter what happens. This epiphany came when someone pointed out a huge equity spike on an account utilizing the Kelly Criterion. The sensational gain was followed by an equally sensational fall. The account owner could have taken a huge hunk out at the new equity high and the following fall would have been far less damaging.

Also taking a little hunk out now and then is psychologically uplifting. Why work for nothing? If someday the account is blown, but your withdrawals total more than the original stake, you have still won. Once the original stake has been captured and removed, you are a winner and some of the pressure is off.

This may not be interesting enough for some, but it doesn't come from a recent run of short term luck. It comes from two and a half decades of timing mutual funds, long and short term equity positions, and watching profits wax and wane with too much cash left to evaporate on its own.
  • #5
  • Mar 2, 2009 1:01am Mar 2, 2009 1:01am
Realizing that the markets are always in flux and this was something I needed to embrace rather than resist.
The breaking of a wave cannot explain the whole sea.
  • #6
  • Mar 2, 2009 5:01am Mar 2, 2009 5:01am
My aha moment came to a head this weekend after reading "The Art of The Trade" by Jankovsky. I realized the more time I spend on public forums the longer it is going to take for me to reach my goal of trading for a living. Of course I knew that before deep down but it slapped me around this weekend and woke me up. That idea was validated this weekend by some 10v comments to a thread recently started by a guy making no claims or promises, just asking a simple question to get some discussion going.

I especially like what Jankovsky said about people who demo trade;

Quote
Some true idiots do something called 'paper trading'. The idea behind this form of mental masturbation is this: "If I pretend to trade long enough I will learn how." By that reasoning, if you play enough video games, you would become qualified to fly an F-16 into combat against someone trained to kill you, and do it equally as well as Chuck Yeager.
This and other public forums are filled with folks who talk a big game, ego strokers I like to call them. Tell me, are you going to take advice from a guy with a 10v rating who does not even know the markets are a zero sum game?
  • #7
  • Mar 2, 2009 5:25am Mar 2, 2009 5:25am
That isn't a great analogy - fighter pilots train use flight simulators extensively and there is obviously value and wisdom in doing that. No-one is saying that demo trading is a perfect substitute but it is useful in some respects, just the same as with a flight simulator there is not the danger of death, the reality, the physical forces at work etc., demo trading can not simulate the emotions of trading real money (unless you have a particularly vivid imagination). But just because it isn't the same doesn't mean it is useless and dismissing anyone who does see some value in it as a 'true idiot' is somewhat ignorant. Demo trading will not refine you as a trader but if you are aware of its limitations it can be an extremely useful tool in developing the skills to analyse markets real time and to test a strategy. If you don't agree with that, that's fine, don't demo trade, the different schools of thought are not mutually exclusive. Resorting to insults betrays a weakness of belief in the argument.
  • #8
  • Mar 2, 2009 6:53am Mar 2, 2009 6:53am
I agree with Craig and Jimmy Jones ...
My aha moment was limiting losses. Sitting at home, at the time, watching Layer Cake in all its wisdom when I realise, I needed to stop letting my losses run and never let a winning position turn into a lossing position (even if you're up 300+ pips. Which has happened to me twice.). Treat trading like any other business and stay away from the end user (these fx boards). Trade by a few set rules ... rules that are non-negotiable.

I will have always thank my wife for introducing me to that movie. Some of my favorite Layer Cake quotes that has given me some hard, grounded prospectives on trading:
Quote
Always remember that one day all this drug monkey business will be legal. They won't leave it to people like me... not when they finally figure out how much money is to be made - not millions, fucking billions. Recreational drugs PLC - giving the people what they want... Good times today, Stupor tomorrow. But this is now, so until prohibition ends make hay whilst the sun shines.
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I'm not a gangster, just a businessman. And my commodity happens to be cocaine.
Quote
It is vital that we work to a few golden rules. Always work in a small team. Keep a very low profile. Only deal with people who come recommended. And it's like selling anything else: washing machines, hand made shoes, blowjobs. As long as you don't take the piss people will always come back for more. And that is not to say we don't have that special kind of magic that makes two kilos into three. But never be too greedy.
Quote
Have a plan and stick to it. Quit while you're ahead. Barring any fuckups, I'm leaving it all behind.
  • #9
  • Mar 2, 2009 1:43pm Mar 2, 2009 1:43pm
Trading 10 binary losing trades in a row, chances of which were 1 in 200.
  • #10
  • Mar 2, 2009 2:16pm Mar 2, 2009 2:16pm
Quoting Leonlorenzo
Your not going to get any interesting posts back to your question.

Maby afew people who have been lucky recently will chime in with something of no value what so ever.
Yikes! Someone had a bad day/week/month/career!
  • #11
  • Mar 2, 2009 2:40pm Mar 2, 2009 2:40pm
S/R is not a line; it's a zone

Stops are not a fixed number; Since when were all swing l and h created equal?

The trend might be your friend, but he doesn't write or call much. I needed a range thing a ma bob in my tool bag.

As soon as you subscribe to a thread, it gets hijacked. "i know this is a daily discussion, but will it work on a tick chart?"
  • #12
  • Mar 2, 2009 2:43pm Mar 2, 2009 2:43pm
Quoting smittens4212
Yikes! Someone had a bad day/week/month/career!
Yikes, another 100 pip a day Pansy!
Living the adventure in my head.
  • #13
  • Mar 2, 2009 2:46pm Mar 2, 2009 2:46pm
Quoting Leonlorenzo
Yikes, another 100 pip a day Pansy!
I'm not the one coming into threads hating on everyone And calling names on an internet forum? Nice one, mate.

If you don't have a moment to share (and no, typing some smartass response doesn't count) and contribute to the thread, why post?

Another 'ah ha!' moment I had was that there's a million different systems that can be profitable. Give the same system to two different traders and you'll get two different results. It's not the system that makes the trader, it's the trader that makes the system.
  • #14
  • Mar 2, 2009 2:58pm Mar 2, 2009 2:58pm
Quoting smittens4212
I'm not the one coming into threads hating on everyone And calling names on an internet forum? Nice one, mate.

If you don't have a moment to share (and no, typing some smartass response doesn't count) and contribute to the thread, why post?

Another 'ah ha!' moment I had was that there's a million different systems that can be profitable. Give the same system to two different traders and you'll get two different results. It's not the system that makes the trader, it's the trader that makes the system.
No hate- Peace and Love -- to all.



PS. I must be a natural born bad trader. Is it Genetic?
Living the adventure in my head.
  • #15
  • Mar 2, 2009 3:01pm Mar 2, 2009 3:01pm
Quoting smittens4212
It's not the system that makes the trader, it's the trader that makes the system.
Sigh...
The breaking of a wave cannot explain the whole sea.
  • #16
  • Mar 2, 2009 3:28pm Mar 2, 2009 3:28pm
I doubt the people who had a "aha moment" are even on this forum.

They either realised that trading is not for them and quit or are so content with their trading that they don't need to visit here trying to get the "low down" on the next crazy system posted by Mr Noobs in the hope they will be millionaires next week </sarcasm>
  • #17
  • Mar 2, 2009 4:50pm Mar 2, 2009 4:50pm
There are many knowledgeable people on this forum that are willing to help others.

Sure there's a heap of egotistical "experts" that seem to enjoy nothing but stroking their ego and comparing the size of their genitalia with others. It's a public forum, so it is to be expected. And yes, there are many lost souls looking for that holy grail. They don't realise that it already exists within. They just haven't learned how to unlock it. It is naive to say that EVERYONE here falls under the above.

I keep having "Ah Ha's" after 6 odd years of trading (1 year demo, 5 years live). I hope they don't stop either...

Now remember people, an Ah Ha moment may be common sense to some and a complete godsend to others. Ah Ha's also do not just click sometimes, it comes after a change in your trading style and you start to see the benefits later down the track.

So, where do I start...

First one I remember clearly was that you don't need a psychedelic chart full of the latest and greatest oscillators/indicators to tell you where the market may or may not go.

Another was there is no such thing as a "holy grail" trading system/method. The sooner you stop searching, the better off you're going to be. The only thing you're going to ever get close to a holy grail is to build your knowledge and put in the hard yards of practice, practice, practice. Not all people (if any) are born profitable traders. Just like when you learned how to walk, talk, eat and shit in a toilet, you can learn how to trade profitably. Expecting it to happen overnight is like saying, I can be a surgeon without going through 10 years of University.

Another that comes to memory is when I started to accept losses as part of the business. Not so much of an "Ah Ha" moment until I experienced the benefits of thinking this way. Reflect on the mistake (if there was one), but don't dwell on it and MOVE ON.

Time, practice, experience, patience and discipline were all elements of my most significant Ah Ha moments.
  • #18
  • Mar 2, 2009 5:11pm Mar 2, 2009 5:11pm
My Ah ha! moment came when I realized that Money Management was the most important system in relation to how I trade. As long as my winners were larger than my losers I only had to be right 50% of the time (or even less!) to make money. That has made all the difference.

Great thread Tdion it's one I hadn't seen before.
  • #19
  • Mar 2, 2009 5:50pm Mar 2, 2009 5:50pm
I learned that if you just rub it a little .....

Get your heads out of the gutter.
+ Charts Happen
  • #20
  • Mar 2, 2009 5:55pm Mar 2, 2009 5:55pm


Quoting Passholder
I learned that if you just rub it a little .....

Get your heads out of the gutter.
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