The Penny Drops

I am new to forexfactory. I am an old newbie. I have traded stocks (Aussies) for years and want to trade futures so forgive me for asking this question here but this seems to be the most informative place I can find on the net. I am at present looking at the ES (EminiSP). I am not successful yet but it seems that just when I get close .... it slips away again.
Question for traders who are actually making money on a consistent basis. I imagine you have all been where I and many members have been and finally started making money consistently. There must have been a turning point for you which moved you from one side of the line to the other. An aha moment if you like. What was it. It might help me and others struggling to get over the line.
I have a reasonable understanding of technical analysis, and price action. I don't think I am far away but clearly I need more. I hope there is somebody out there who does not believe in half a dozen indicators on a chart to help guide me and others towards getting to the other side of the line.
I am available either by PM if you would prefer.
I am determined to succeed but I think I might be too close to the forest to see the trees.

Let me begin by wishing you the best of luck and welcome you to Forex.

I finally turned the corner when I realized that 1) I could not predict where the PA was going and decided to stick with straddle methods only and 2) when I realized that the most important system is Money Management. MM is the true system behind the systems that let's you into the inner circle of successful traders.

Hope that helps!

Thanks Blueace,

I agree with what you say in regards to MM but it seems that it is the system in front that is missing for me. Not being flippant.

Try this thread. Sift through the kaka and you'll find serious gems of wisdom.

http://www.forexfactory.com/showthread.php?t=131043

To the mod who moved this .... thanks. It has now been successfully buried. How many 'successful' traders do YOU imagine read the rookie page. Maybe the odd ego tripper. This was not a rookie question but an oportunity for some of the real guys to pass on the kind of gems that made a difference to them to the benefit of the 95% who are still losing. Maybe when you exercise a little empathy you will understand what I am saying, and maybe reinstate this to the forum that I DELIBERATELY placed it in in the first place.

Thanks Opie. Appreciate the heads up.

I think you'll be surprised at some of the people who do help with the rookies. If your question is good it will not get buried. Calling those that might help you 'ego trippers' probably won't do you any favours.

max

Directxxx, the link mentioned by Opie is a very good one. In particular read the posts by Topherhk88 (#53,#72) and Gaston (#55,#73). I can relate very comfortably with the points that they make.

Here’s another good thread, along similar lines. The link is to my post, but there are also posts there by more experienced traders than me.

For an understanding of forex basics, read PeterFM’s sticky thread, and also here and here.

There's some good material on this forum, but a lot of junk also. To help get you started, here are three highly rated approaches (that happen to use the bare minimum of technical indicators): James16, BillyRayValentine and Jacko.

I have been studying forex for more than 2 years now, and although I'm still very much learning, and developing confidence, I believe that I'm starting to reach the point where the profits outweigh the losses. But it's early days, and obviously the key is long-term consistency.

Good luck,
David

Thanks David,

Much appreciated. I very much enjoyed the link from Opie. Seems like I share many of the frustrations of the original poster of that thread. There is some great material on this site but it takes so long to wade through a thread, with time wasters and tangents I often find it so hard to stay on track with a thread when it moves to a tangent which has tangents. You know what I mean. Cheers again and I look forward to being where you are.

- the "Odd Ego Tripper" - - - letting a little thing like a thread being moved get to you is silly....

My 'Aha' occurred when I gave up the need to be right. To realize that everything I know may not be correct- that is the beginning of learning. I ask myself daily; "What do I believe that is incorrect?"

"Reasonable knowledge" of the Structure of the Markets, Mindset, TA and PA is not enough.

I can understand how you feel since I have been there as many others too. The days where I was looking on the Trading Systems Forum to try out yet another Indicator System are not that far away. "Wait for indicator 1 and 2 to confirm and buy". After a long time I found out that there will be no such sytem that can make money on the longterm. I mean if you only had to wait for a signal why are there 95% losing money in the forex market? I also asked myself quite often "When those people use 3 indicators and each has 5 different adjustable settings. How many different combinations and by this different systems and trading approches would that be? 100 Million? And they found the one combination that makes money? Yeah right!
Which led to the conclousion. Everything you need is on the naked chart. The onlything that matters is Support and Resistance and Candle Pattern. Because they never lie. It's the product of people trading the market. If they sell and break a support line. You can observe this. This way you are always right on time and know just what trades around the globe think right now (indicators tell you this after it happend) which is reflected in the chart. But i don't think that it was "bad" that I have wasted months on trying out every indicator system some indonesian or malaysian or indonesian teenager has posted here. It's like walking against a wall again and again and than realize that there is a door to get trough. If you just go through that door it's not that AHA!-Effect. Even than it was hard to complete stop using indicators. From time to time I thought "Mhh maybe if a add a filter.." Just like a bad habit. But now I'm trading purly naked and that's when I stated to see consistant profit which are supported by solid risk and money managment which are the basis of your trading.
You will often hear people saying "Price is bumping into the 34 EMA/SMA or whatever on the M15 Chart." They don't realize that this is ALLWAYS some EMA that will get hit at the moment on sometimeframe! How should that help anyone trade? If you fiddle with the numbers those indicators can turn from yelling BUY to yelling SHORT. How should that help anyone to trade?

What help me the most here on FF was the James16 Chart Thread which deals with Price Action Patterns etc. And Jackos House of Pleasure and Pain which tought me that there is no point in trying to scalp 3 pips on 5 second charts. It's important to trade on larger timeframes and with the big trend. Because that's created by the big boys. And they know how to trade not some 15 year old nigearian teenager gambling with his pocket money. Both James16 and Jackos "Strategy" fit perfectly together. There is nothing that can help you make better trading decissions than what Price Action tells you. Because that the chart itself speaking to you. Everyone trades with the same price quotes so there is no one who knows more than you with some fancy indicator because the indicator just takes the numbers that are already there. It does not add any extra information.

I hope I could give you a little insight on how I found what's working for me and why I'm so happy with it.

It feels good to write about all this. It's like a bit of therapy where I reflect my trading carrier till now. Always keep the bad times in mind and how you got out of that mess. Some people might feel offended by my post but I don't f*cking care. That's me.

Regards,

TJPLD

The penny really dropped for me when I decided I was sick of losing and either I was going to take it to the next level or just be another failed trader. Taking it to the next level meant really committing myself to keeping a journal and sticking to it, not just saying I will and then giving up on it a week or so later, (somewhat akin to my attempts to start flossing - I still haven't cracked that). It also meant that I had to remove as much emotional distortion as possible so I demo traded until I knew I could turn a profit. It meant I had to make changes to my life, to make the time to trade, to read, to learn, to analyse, to rest and just generally be professional in my attitude and approach to trading. Before, I was not a complete slacker but I thought I could get by without doing things, by cutting corners like I had done in everything else in my life. I knew that the methods I was attempting to use worked or could work but due to, looking back now, ridiculous reasons I was not making them work for me. It was not until I faced up to my own shortcomings and wrote it down on paper that I could begin dealing with these issues.

Trading was no longer really difficult, it became much easier, like I had walked up a huge mountain, got to the top and it was all downhill from thereon - what had appeared to be extremely hard work and had shied away from (despite knowing deep down it was the only way forward), it was actually much less stressful than the previous scenario. I still have my moments, I still make mistakes, I still have lapses, but since birdt version 2.0 I have not had a losing month.

So, no great revelations about technical analysis - there were and still continue to be, but I do not think these are important, and even if I attempted to explain these concepts I probably would not do justice to the thoughts in my mind, and I suspect it would take somebody who already knows to understand. The most important thing for me was the paradigm shift in my attitude, and it was the losses that motivated me to make this shift. I had a choice of getting angry/depressed or motivated. Next time you feel like punching your computer screen, where are you going to focus that energy?


If you care, the techniques that I believe in and work for me are largely based upon support and resistance (Andrews pitchforks, trendlines and horizontal past points of singificance) and observing intraday price action a la Joe Ross. I would not say any of the most important things that I now hold to be true about the market were learned from a book though, it was mostly screen time. Perhaps the seeds laid by the concepts introduced by mentors and literature sprouted into these observations but I do not believe it is possible to learn to trade from a textbook.

Wow! I'm sure that the last couple of posts must be
just what directxxx was looking for. So many good points
and so much truth. To break down our ego and accept
what is being said...that's the trick!

Thanks for the thread and replies,
Brent

[quote=birdt; I knew that the methods I was attempting to use worked or could work but due to, looking back now, ridiculous reasons I was not making them work for me. It was not until I faced up to my own shortcomings and wrote it down on paper that I could begin dealing with these issues.
[/quote]


Thanks birdt,
Want to really get to know yourself?
Try trading Forex.

Tjpld, Byrdt, and Tommyd. Terrific. Between you, you have described exactly where I am at the moment. There are lots of pointers and links for me to look at. Big weekend coming up by the sounds of it. I have Skype. If any of you wuld like to talk, feel free to PM me.

Things really "clicked" for me when I realized the impact that my thoughts and beliefs surrounding money, wealth, and success have on my reality in every aspect of my life including trading. I realized that my thoughts and beliefs create my reality.

Here's a good read:

Think and Grow Rich - Napoleon Hill (a classic!) - This book was written in the 1930's during the depression. The author interviewed hundreds of high achievers (millionaires, inventors, highly successful individuals) to research common characteristics in the thought patterns of these people. From these commonalities he devised laws of success that anyone could apply in order to gain success in their life. I think this kind of book is an important read in times like this where economic downturn has caused people to lose hope and feel like they have no control over their financial realities. The link below has the entire book in PDF, but I think it is worth spending the $15 or whatever and owning a physical copy of this one. Highly recommend it!!
http://www.soilandhealth.org/03sov/0....Grow.Rich.pdf

and something else I recently found interesting and helpful:

The Secrets to Emotion Free Trading - Larry Levin - This ebook really focuses in on the role that self-image plays in trading success.
http://www.earnforex.com/forex_e-boo...radingBook.pdf

Thanks Ziva,

I hear you loud and clear. I read TAGR many years ago. Maybe time to revisit. Thanks for the 'heads up'.

Among other things the realization that ~99% of stuff posted on trading forums is basically misguided nonsense! No offence to the people who have posted replies here but this thread is a classic example.

Everyone is at a different point on the learning curve, hopefully a few will re-read their comments at some future date and be embarrassed by their naivity.....or perhaps not if the failure statistics in this business are anything to go by

Pipmutt,

If much of the stuff here is misguided nonsense, do you feel that you addaed something by your last post or are you embarrassed. If you would care to add something constructive I would be delighted. Feel free.

I would say trading forex is actually very simple.