A trader's job

I think that's a great question. But one should never deviate from the rules mid-trade. I think it's ok, even encouraged to always look to improve your system. So, if you notice a slight modification of the rules will improve your system, then great. Do it. But the decision should be based on an objective back/forward test approach and not some hunch you take mid-trade that happened to work out a few times and then...BANG you change your system. That just sets a poor psychological foundation of what it means to stay disciplined.

Just my two cents

I think that's worth much more that two cents!

Changing the rules is the job of the system developer not the trader. To change the rules, the system developer needs to make the modifications to the code and then pass the new system to the system analyser who then determines if the system is better than the previous one. If it is, it is passed on to the trader to implement.

I am certainly not suggesting that you should never change a system but as the dvescio said, your can't do it on an adhoc basis. If you take a trade outside your system, then you are trading an untested system and you don't know if it is going to work long term nor do you know if the system characteristics are appropriate for you objectives (drawdown and P/L for example). You would also need to implement the changes that you are making outside your system consistently to ensure reproducable results.

Simon

Has anybody been following up on the Hans system? Posted on several other forums. I have read that it worked 100yrs ago and works today, it is basically elementary but what I find is it is hard to code to a program. How could something that is supposed to have worked so well a hundred yrs ago and still works have been overlooked all these yrs. Is this another fad systen which wiil fail? What do you stud programmers think of the system being backtested. I am not an programmer and no nothing about using code. Some are critizing the system, but I feel it may have some merit and maybe needs a little tweaking for entering and exiting trades, It is an ideawhich lays out the foundation in which could be tweeked for optimum performance. Is any one choosing the foundation and trying to find indicators for entering, etc I thing programming is like science, you are given the answers and then you search for the questions. The right question can support a valid approach to making the system reliable. Hans has the answer, can you fit the question to the answer. Lets not critize free advice but find its flaws and work to better the system. If you wantsomething for free it is our job to analyze,find the flaws and hopefully arrive a t a new system to add more merit to the originalystem. It is an idea in which all companies start from. Every think in this made made word started from this approach, That is how evolution will succeed thru trial an error. Nothing is lost but something could be gaind by this approach. I still wonder if a system did win a very large amount of trades and was very successful that in 6 months to a year there would be so many traders taking the approach that some would counter trend the approach, false breakouts etc. Set ups to get you in while the savey still breakyou down and swallow your pips like a lobster dinner. Just like stop hunters, when that happens you are left with another dilema, Which way will it go.Maybe you can counter the counter traders. Its to bad their aren't enough traders to control the bait for the big moves Such as countering stop hunters etc.Reel them in on your line make them drewl for easy pickins and watch them pucker their butts when it is all whipped away from them an put on our sides for a change. Maybe I finally lost it. Who knows?

I really like your thread. is this a conclusion from your experience?

That's right, in trading the most important thing is consistency. If you understand what your next step will be and you can at least roughly predict what you will do next if your plan does not work, then you already have all chances to start earning. I also believe that one of the most important components of a successful trader is, of course, statistics, which allows not only to estimate the result as good or bad, but also to find out much faster those moments or elements of trading that contribute to your failures or can help you to achieve the result. That is why I have been keeping statistics for quite a long time and I really manage to cope with the difficulties faster and get out of the drawdown.

Well, I could have said it a little easier, because in fact, each of us has about the same sequence. First of all, we perform market analysis that consists of charts and news analysis, because it allows us to evaluate the market situation as correctly and competently as possible. Then we identify the most likely deals that deserve our attention. After that we determine the stop loss and take profit, as well as the amount that can be applied for this order. At the next stage we buy an order and accordingly observe it to predict what will happen in the market and what the potential is in the current situation. Of course, I have omitted a lot of details, but on the whole the situation looks like this.

Trading is always a difficult process, even if you take a short term position, because you need to follow almost simultaneously the many details that occur in the market and make up your strategy, which you apply on a permanent basis. Our strategies and approaches are so multi-faceted that sometimes we do not even think about it, we just do everything as we are used to. And this is in some way the influence of experience and the influence of the fact that we are engaged in trading systematically. I think I've already forgotten how I acted when I was a newbie, because all I remember is the current work, although at that time trading took more time just because I was easily distracted and generally spent a lot of time on emotions.