AHA moments in your trading career

Yes wait for retracement before jumping..

No amount of technical analysis will predict:

a) low volume price moves
b) "large order" price moves
c) pre-news, or news moves.

Happened when I realized that [generally speaking] when the EMA 8 is below the EMA 21 I must only trade from the short side and vice-versa.

You need to read "The myth of the Rational Market"

Good Book, discusses how our professors in college are so stuck on the efficient market theory and how they are so wrong.

Exactly, I've posted up many calls that were right, in fact virtually 99% of mine have been but I don't actually expect people to take them - trade your own way. :agree:

Very true, which tells you when you should be staying out of the markets!

....... I started to turn the corner when I decided to ignore conventional 'wisdom', and think for myself about exactly what was required, in order to be profitable; when I focused more on reading charts and less on reading forums.

Ergo, the strongest trend is your best friend.

When I realize that with proper money management, I can have less than 50% accuracy, and still lose small, and that with just 50% I am profitable.

Not that trading is plain sailing since then, but still...

In addition to the above, Hanover's previous post (#67) has just triggered a big light for me too - the above realisation came into being not long after I stopped listening to other people's advice about trading - when I realised that many people offering advice were in fact full of sh*t, and that even if I found and listened to the good traders - the real traders - it would be highly unlikley I would be able to replicate their situation or results. When I decided to "go it alone" was when I finally learnt how to learn and when I started to develop realisations such as that I quoted above..

Two before trading:

1. Viewing the world in terms of maths.
2. Only taking good price.

Since trading, and roughly in order. Some void earlier ones, and some were "rediscovered" to be done properly.

- Support and resistance.
- Only need charts.
- Trade the waves.
- High cost of fast trading.
- Trade the trend. More of bias than a rule.
- Pyramiding.
- Support and resistance.
- Position trading:
a. Very profitable if done aggressively.
b. Overnight exposure is beneficial.
c. Importance of global macro analysis.
d. Far lower cost of trade, more chance of success.
e. Suits me.
f. Quality versus quantity.
g. In summary, that position trading is not necessarily less profitable, and carries a higher chance of success.
- Minimise stop.
- Scale-in aggressively.
- Minimising stop is far less important and productive than I thought.
- Price matters less than I thought. For a position trader, having a position is more important.

I'm sure there are others that I don't remember. It's amazing how it took time for a fair few of those to sink in properly, even when I was already aware.

very nice lots of revelations here keep them coming

regards damien

trading with the trend thats a big AHA for everyone but it should be the first thing we learn i think starting forex looking at charts and identifying trends. then worry about patterns and support and resistance. its always or seems to be to me its in this order.

1. find a broker
2. look for an awesome strategy in the strategy section cant find one try a million.
3.have a sulk that trading is not as easy as you thought. and blame everyone but yourself.
4. get sent to james16 chart thread
5. search for more price action
6. realize that price is random it goes up and down and sideways in waves
7.have a few AHA moments and realize trading isnt exciting its far from it when your profitable.

regards damien

also another AHA for me is if you cant make money in the major currencies like eur/usd and such you sure as hell wont make money on any currency at all. the same with stocks if you cant make money on the major stocks you wont make money on any of them

regards damien

We do learn much of it, we just don't get it. Many of my "aha" moments were things I was already aware of, but didn't truly appreciate. I imagine the same is true for many people.

My biggest AHA moment was when I discovered that all my previous AHA moments I was dilusional!

yes it is like that for me i wont say was as im still learning and always will be.
also patience to learn patience is trading is one of the biggest AHA moments ive had only take the best setups why take a setup that could go the wrong. it doesnt make sense to take half assed setups when you know a+ setups are just around the corner.

regards damien

Unfortunately I don't have the stamina to go through the whole thread so apologies if these few have been repeated already:

 

1. An up-move can indicate weakness and selling.
2. A down-move can indicate strength and buying.
3. At least 9 out of 10 traders will choose to ignore a method of trading that is guaranteed to be profitable if persevered with.
4. Trading doesn't have to become complicated.
5. Indicators are a distraction.
6. A trader must come to terms with being deserving of success. Sub-conscious fear of success is a much greater problem than fear of failure.
7. There are a great many ways to profit from the markets. There is no ultimate truth so give up on that idea you might find it.
8. Leverage is a key tool if utilised correctly.
9. News releases are a perfect time for the market to go where it always intended to (usually by heading in the opposite direction first and trapping a great many traders).

Kind regards,

O N D

very nice OND also i think intermarket relationships was also a big big AHA for me or the most recent one anyway. ive been reading everything about jesse livermore. currently reading trade like jesse livermore by wiley very good book i reccomend anything about jesse livermore.

regards damien

I thought I was the only one knowing that secret. And I would really like to read something about it.

Explain that point some more.

Are you referring to the notion that consciously someone will refer, talk of or look to success whilst in reality their subconscious is in conflict, lacking confidence, and in all honesty expects failure?