Trading wisdom from 30 Under 30

This is a thread for mindset.

“The wisest man knows he knows nothing, the fool thinks he knows all.”

However, wisdom is gained through experience; knowledge on the other hand is learned.

Young traders (such as me) lack experience, lack wisdom. But we can fall and get up again. We can strive to learn and also try to learn from other people’s mistakes.

There is no reason for trial and error, no reason to blow real accounts of hard earned money (even if you are rich). Don’t reinvent the forex wheel; there are many awesome threads here in FF already for trading methods.

To each their own.

If you have truly learned a method, whether it is:

1.Long term trading

2.Short term trading

Based on:

1.Technical Analysis

2.Price Action

3.Fundamental Analysis

4.Automated Systems

5.Etc.

Unless the system is truly flawed, then the only blame for failure is the trader him/herself.

Forex is a continuous learning process.

The more I trade, the more I learn about myself. I really believe this.
I learn that I can get greedy, that I can get pissed off. That I can throw blame and act a fool when things are bad.
I also learned that I can come back from a blown account, that I have focus and a thirst for knowledge.

I don’t know what we will discuss here (or if things will be discussed at all).

Thoughts, rants, arguments, aspirations, just anything related to forex can shared here.

We’re all traders here. Don’t trade alone.

Thread Title borrowed from http://www.forbes.com/special-report...-under-30.html

My type of threads

i think we can share quotes/videos for motivational purpose.

my favorite related quote is:

“Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.”

Live as if you were already dead.

Saw that once in a war movie haha. It removes the fear.

I went swimming today.. Whenever I got to the deep end I had fleeting thoughts of drowning. (True story)

I egged myself on... Instead of trying to swim, why don't you try drowning?

Doesn't make sense right?

But why do I try to drown when I trade? Trading over-leveraged, trading when I'm not sure, or trading after prices have already moved.

I don't get any rewards for sinking an account and then bringing it back.

It’s funny. I had the entire week planned out, every day filled with stuff to do. Yet falling asleep is an issue. And I thought I was supposed to be really good at it after spending 30% of my life sleeping.


Sometimes when I trade, not sometimes, maybe once a year, if I get the sudden urge to gamble… place that one order that can make or break my entire account…

The last time I did this was August 2011. 3 lots of EURUSD, 21 hours, took away half my account.

I decided to kill the damned position instead of risking more money.

2 days later the price came back… and I wouldn’t have even been margin called (stopped out) before that.

I always think about this trade as a turning point for me. Damn was I in the gutters after that trade. Couldn’t look at fx for an entire half a year.

Until I learned that many traders.. blow their accounts.

Looking back, if I had waited longer, if I had hoped for some miracle.. I could have gotten out of that trade with a positive result even. But would such an outcome just reinforce a very bad habit?

But then again there was no way of knowing if prices would have come back, then.

Maybe back then, I thought my only options were to close the position or blow my account.

Watching that money drain away I guess I lost hope.

I revisit that trade sometimes.

Don't lose hope. But don't trade on hope, trade on what you know.

Mind you, I would never do this on a customer's account.

So a moderator changed my thread title to "Trading Wisdom from 30 Under 30"... hmm and my first post clearly states that I lack wisdom

I guess it could mean that this thread is to Trade Wisdom.. which, again, I don't have. I just have a Bachelor's Degree from some US University.. who doesn't?

I am not competitive enough in the job markets...

Anyways, I'm actually following a Curriculum with these posts. I didn't mean for this thread to take this route, I didn't know what I had in mind actually, but at least I can post some of my Homework from what I am studying... and hey, might as well have it here if people wish to comment on it or what not.

In my last post I visited on a really bad trade in Aug 2011, so I'll go chronologically from there, and hopefully touch upon some aspects of the curriculum that I am following without having it sound like BS.

So after I finished gathering myself together to start learning about fx again in March 2012 (this was around the time that I joined FF). The only problem was that I was going into the army that May, if you all know about mandatory drafts, they have mandatory drafts in Korea and Israel, just to name 2 places that come to mind.

So a few days before I went into boot camp I placed a 0.1 lot sell order in EURUSD.

I wasn't able to babysit the trade while in the army, with internet usage and cellphones being forbidden and all that. (although some people do sneak in cellphones)

Anyways, the trade was good. The price shot down and never looked back. It took 4 months for the price to come back to where I had entered (yes, QE3), and the EURUSD had dropped 800 pips at it's furthest point from where I had entered.

I came out even on that trade, no regrets about not having taken profit at maybe 600, 700 pips away. I was content with just having my trade go so far, and then come back to break even.

I learned to be at ease, to let the market decide and flow with it. The market will do what it does, it doesn't care about what you are doing.

So get over it! Move on to the next market opportunity.

I'm new to trading and I've been having some trouble lately but this trend definitely gives me hope to keep on going.

Best Regards,
David

Hey David, thanks for the reply. I'm just doing some homework here but I'm glad it could be of some use to someone.

I'm having trouble with my next assignment, I'm not sure how to relate it to what I've been through. Or maybe I know all too well and I just don't know which scenario to present this in..

To be honest, I've had quite a few bad habits.. picking my nose, wiping my mouth with my sleeve. Oh wait that was way back then.

Picked up a few good habits such as eating healthier, doing my own dishes, exercising, reading.

But I still smoke like a chimney, and when friends are around I get pissed drunk because I know they will take care of my ass.

Hmm.. well aside from trading currencies I also part-time in English tutoring. We have this reward system for the kids, you could call it stars or points, but the point is, they can exchange reward points for small items: rubrics cubes, pencil boxes..

This only works on the smaller kids, being able to bribe their attention with a reward system. They are like small dogs (puppies), do something right and get a treat. Imagine if you gave a dog a treat each time for pissing on the carpet. Point is, don't reward bad habits.

I guess that's the problem with smoking, it's a bad habit but the nicotine rush is a reward.

Damn, is this becoming a train of thought writing or an impromptu speech?

To conclude, don't reward bad habits or one day it might kill you. Okay, well that just got serious real fast...

Don't get me wrong though, I like my students. It's just that I worry if I'm the best role model sometimes, but since I worry about that I guess I should be fine.

I think that while trading, yes, it is important to have time off from the markets. All that trading is about is making money, and it's not even guaranteed! Do traders add value to the world? Maybe if you donated your earnings, which is very commendable... but seriously, correct me if I'm wrong here.

If you're a doctor, yes you make really good money but you save lives. If you're a construction worker, you make some money but you get to say, Hey look, I built this house. What about traders? We're just more straightforward maybe. We work to make money, and we make money with money.

And I guess good traders can teach others to trade.. which is the gift of paying it forward.

I don't make a lot at my teaching job, but sometimes it's the best couple hours I get out of the day.. just having fun with the kids and making sure they don't get hurt or anything. Plus it makes me look as if I'm actually doing something with my life. This is me hitting myself.

Last story before I start posting my thoughts on The Art of War (good stuff).

So back in the 3rd grade... as students we had to raise silk worms. Every student got a few silkworm eggs and hatched them, fed them leaves, and had to record their growth by the day. This might have been science class, but it was also a lesson in responsibility.

After a while, these silkworms would become chubby white caterpillars.

Short story short, they would weave cocoons made of silk.

Real silk does come from silkworms, and to get the silk some kids would cut open the cocoon before the moths ruined the silk as they emerged.

Out of the silkworms that I had raised, only one had made it to the stage of cocooning itself. The others had acquired some type of bacterial infection that was pretty nasty. So I let the cocoon just sit there for a while, letting the caterpillar do it's thing. Finally, one day in class, I decided to cut open the cocoon to get to the silk, just like the other students were doing.

I accidentally cut the caterpillar inside by half. If I remember correctly, this did ruin the silk, and I don't remember what grade I got for the project.

So, no rushing. although it feels like time waits for no man, and everything these days is about speed. Still, it takes the needed time.. 12 years of school. then 4 years of University.. then there's masters programs and doctorates.

I think that people will take away from lessons what they want to take away from lessons.
This applies in my interpretation of the following chapters of the Art of War.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silk
( mulberry silkworm Bombyx mori )
(yes they're caterpillars not worms.. and they turn into moths, not butterflies.. )
(caterpillars that turn into butterflies form chrysalis, not cocoons :nerd:blush:.

Yes I agree there is much learning to be done. I know this well as I am still in pharmacy school (6yearprogram) and who knows what I decide to do afterward. But being young, at 21, I feel that I can afford to be adventurous and feed my curiosities without suffering too much from the burden of mistakes.

Yes I have learned from trading that anxiety is a killer but my impatience is difficult to tame. Had I not tried trading I would not have faced many of the obstacles that it has bought before me. I am not taking about learning how to use S/R or anything specific like that. I am talking about the emotional obstacles that really manifest in a newbie trader like myself. I am sure you all know what I am talking about.


I am not doing horrible in my trades now but I have made a good number of mistakes. This trend gives me a glimmer of hope that learning from my mistakes now will hopefully cultivate success later.

Hopefully this forum can help me learn more than if I had to go about it alone.

And I couldn't teach kids even with my best efforts so I laud you as a teacher.

There will be 13 posts coming from me regarding the Art of War. Just bear with me here

Posting here is good for reviewing what I know and what I have learned.

I read the material, jot down notes... and elaborate how I see the material in it's relationship to Forex.

Then I post it here while reviewing the material again. Constant planning, preparation, and reviewing (practice makes perfect).

The book translation that I am reading from is different from the translation I have on my computer. Parts in "quotations" are commentaries from the book. Please don't ask me to cite my sources in the APA MLA format

This is my interpretation of AOW, we will each have different takes on the material, feel free to share yours.

Chapter 1: Laying Plans.

- "This is the first and foremost step."
Study Forex, have a strategy planned for different situations you will encounter.
Also, are you in the right mindset to plan? Did you sleep well, eat a good meal, and exercise?

1. Sun Tzu said: The art of war is of vital importance to the State.
2. It is a matter of life and death, a road either to safety or to ruin. Hence it
is a subject of inquiry which can on no account be neglected.
- "War can restore a state that has perished, or it can bring danger to the altars. However, to see beauty in victory is to rejoice in the killing of others."
How true is this? Many will have fallen where you have succeeded. So, be humble about your victories.
Saying shit like "I made 1 million in ten hours" helps no one...

3. The art of war, then, is governed by five constant factors, to be taken into
account in one’s deliberations, when seeking to determine the conditions obtaining in the field.
4. These are: (1) The Moral Law; (2) Heaven; (3) Earth; (4) The Commander; (5) Method and discipline.
- "This is in a specific order."

5. The Moral Law causes the people to be in complete accord with their ruler,
so that they will follow him regardless of their lives, undismayed by any
danger.
- "First, consider the compassion and good faith of the ruler." (consider the mindset of the trader)
With the right mindset, "the army will be of one mind". (your trades will be placed according to your plans)
When you have planned well and place a trade, then when the trade is losing money, the markets have not "gone against you". It is not "Why are the markets against me? Why is God against me?" The question is then: why have you deployed your army in a bad position?

Note:

Other translations of The Moral Law is "The Way" aka "The Way that can be spoken of is not the true Way". Yes, that "Way".

6. Heaven signifies night and day, cold and heat, times and seasons.
- Time and Cycles. Are European bankers out on Summer Vacation? Are you trading during a news release?
"When the sun stands at midday, it begins to set; when the moon is full, it begins to wane. The fullness and emptiness of heaven and earth wax and wane with time. How much truer is this of men, or of spirits and gods!" and true of markets too.

7. Earth comprises distances, great and small; danger and security; open
ground and narrow passes; the chances of life and death.
- "Knowledge of terrain." Are you trading into an area of support or resistance, where prices have been contended previously?

8. The Commander stands for the virtues of wisdom, sincerely, benevolence,
courage and strictness.
- Think about a person who you would follow into battle. Who would you not follow into battle? Which characteristics do you show when you trade?

9. By method and discipline are to be understood the marshaling of the army
in its proper subdivisions, the graduations of rank among the officers,
the maintenance of roads by which supplies may reach the army, and the
control of military expenditure.
- Are you trading within your means, or are you over leveraged/ under funded? Are you trading with money you need to feed your cat?

10. These five heads should be familiar to every general: he who knows them
will be victorious; he who knows them not will fail.
- There is a dichotomy at use throughout AOW: win/ lose, victory/defeat, success/failure.


11. Therefore, in your deliberations, when seeking to determine the military
conditions, let them be made the basis of a comparison, in this wise:–
(a) Which of the two sovereigns is imbued with the Moral law?
(b) Which of the two generals has most ability?
(c) With whom lie the advantages derived from Heaven and Earth?
(d) On which side is discipline most rigorously enforced?
(e) Which army is stronger?
(f) On which side are officers and men more highly trained?
(g) In which army is there the greater constancy both in reward and punishment?
- (a)-(f) If you think of the enemy as large institutions in this case.. Are you well trained enough to go against Dealers, Brokers, and other Highly Trained Traders?

(g) Rules and Laws apply to the highest ranking General to the lowest ranking soldier. Rewards and punishments should not be excessive, but punishments must not just be empty threats and must be followed through. In the case of blowing up an account, is monetary loss enough punishment? Is beating yourself over the head for a bad trade excessive punishment?


12. By means of these seven considerations I can forecast victory or defeat.
- Even though we cannot forecast the markets, are we set up for victory when we trade? Preparation is key.

13. The general that hearkens to my counsel and acts upon it, will conquer: let
such a one be retained in command! The general that hearkens not to my
counsel nor acts upon it, will suffer defeat:–let such a one be dismissed!
- "Master Sun is trying to persuade the king of Wu to employ his services."
Military advisers could pick and choose where to serve. If you are a good, consistent trader, then Bosses will come looking for you!
I treat forex like a job, well, it is a job.. So, would I want to hire someone like myself?


14. While heading the profit of my counsel, avail yourself also of any helpful circumstances over and beyond the ordinary rules.
- "Settle on the basic plan within, develop it strategically without, thus helping to bring about victory."
All battles are different, all traders are different, pick the plan which suits your needs.

15. According as circumstances are favorable, one should modify one’s plans.
- Be flexible, adjust to circumstances.

16. All warfare is based on deception.
- Beware of false breakouts.

17. Hence, when able to attack, we must seem unable; when using our forces,
we must seem inactive; when we are near, we must make the enemy believe
we are far away; when far away, we must make him believe we are
near.
18. Hold out baits to entice the enemy. Feign disorder, and crush him.
19. If he is secure at all points, be prepared for him. If he is in superior
strength, evade him.
20. If your opponent is of choleric temper, seek to irritate him. Pretend to be
weak, that he may grow arrogant.
21. If he is taking his ease, give him no rest. If his forces are united, separate
them.
- This makes me think of how to deal with trolls in FF.. Also, beware of the tactics that trolls use!

22. Attack him where he is unprepared, appear where you are not expected.
23. These military devices, leading to victory, must not be divulged beforehand.
- "Measure the enemy in your mind, spot the opportunity with your eye."

24. Now the general who wins a battle makes many calculations in his temple
ere the battle is fought. The general who loses a battle makes but few
calculations beforehand. Thus do many calculations lead to victory, and
few calculations to defeat: how much more no calculation at all! It is by
attention to this point that I can foresee who is likely to win or lose.
- This is the importance of practice, experience, and knowledge. Plan a lot, be familiar with these plans as to be quick to execute in a moments notice, instinctively.

Depending on how well you are prepared, the battle is already decided.



I should have a cool sign-off...
4tiger, out.

If there's one thing that changed the game for me, it was moving from using leverage of 1:200 down to 1:100. For the first time in my 3 years of trading I'm actually making consistently profitable trades. My 2 cents anyway

How did you decide what kind of leverage is best?

Wow! I can't believe I missed this post.. sorry, I had gotten used to the fact that my thread was pretty much just me posting

Thanks for sharing. I think that a good take away would be this: Why does pharmacy school take 6 years? And take doctors for example, Med school, then residency, then maybe even fellowship... Yes I know quite a few people in the medical field good people.

Same with trading, it takes time. How much time? Depends. I don't know. All I know is that there is a learning curve.. and tuition is payed to the markets, decided by the trader him/herself.

Best not to go at it alone, sometimes even forums aren't enough! Maybe if you meet people who are into investing (even stocks, bonds, commodities), you can talk to them about trading. Just talk about it for fun, most people have good things to share.


Would that be related to this:

9. By method and discipline are to be understood the marshaling of the army
in its proper subdivisions, the graduations of rank among the officers,
the maintenance of roads by which supplies may reach the army, and the
control of military expenditure.
- Are you trading within your means, or are you over leveraged/ under funded? Are you trading with money you need to feed your cat?


"what kind of leverage is best" seems like a misnomer, because even with 1:200 leverage you don't have to use all of your leverage.
1:200 leverage just gives you more bang for your buck than 1:100 leverage, and it's a killer.

I think you should see what Lot size is best.

If you have an account with $1,000 bucks.
:: for an account with 1:200 leverage. Your maximum position size is $200,000 (2 lots).
:: for an account with 1:100 leverage. Your maximum position size is $100,000 (1 lot).

So while it costs the account with 1:100 leverage, $1000 to trade a $100,000 position.
It takes the account with 1:200 leverage, only $500 (half) to trade a $100,000 position.

needless to say, neither account with only $1,000 should be trading 1 lot ($100,000)!!!!

On EURUSD, 1 lot = 10 bucks / pip.
lose only 10 pips and you will have lost 100 bucks out of $1000, that is 10% of the account!!

What is scary about leverage, is that if the 1:200 leveraged account trades up to 2 lots (max leverage),
2 lots = 20 bucks / pip.
then with a 10 pip loss, 200 dollars, or 20% of the account will be lost!

So, don't use all of your leverage.

Chapter 2: Waging of War.
"Preparations for Waging of War is the next logical step after laying solid plans."

1. Sun Tzu said: In the operations of war, where there are in the field a
thousand swift chariots, as many heavy chariots, and a hundred thousand
mail-clad soldiers, with provisions enough to carry them a thousand
li, the expenditure at home and at the front, including entertainment
of guests, small items such as glue and paint, and sums spent on chariots
and armor, will reach the total of a thousand ounces of silver per day.
Such is the cost of raising an army of 100,000 men.
- know your margin ratio/ leverage. Sending out too many men (thus using too much of your leverage) is dangerous.

2. When you engage in actual fighting, if victory is long in coming, then
men’s weapons will grow dull and their ardor will be damped. If you lay
siege to a town, you will exhaust your strength.
- would you rather earn 10 pips in minutes, or earn those same 10 pips after a few hours?
laying siege to a town: trading into a price where it has previously been contended before or is still being contended (supply/ demand areas or support/ resistance areas or FTA/ PPZ)

3. Again, if the campaign is protracted, the resources of the State will not be equal to the strain.
- take profits when able to, do not let a winning trade turn into a losing trade or prolong the time the position is open (swap rate applies here too)

4. Now, when your weapons are dulled, your ardor damped, your strength
exhausted and your treasure spent, other chieftains will spring up to take
advantage of your extremity. Then no man, however wise, will be able to
avert the consequences that must ensue.
- when your concentration and energy is spent, you will not be in the right mindset to trade.
other traders, the smart money, will take advantage of the street money

5. Thus, though we have heard of stupid haste in war, cleverness has never been seen associated with long delays.
- trading too soon: trading before a possible breakout when prices are still actually just ranging.
trading too late: trading after prices have already broken out and gone a distance, thinking that prices will be carried further

6. There is no instance of a country having benefited from prolonged warfare.
- Would it be better to make the same amount of pips in an hour or in a day?

7. It is only one who is thoroughly acquainted with the evils of war that can
thoroughly understand the profitable way of carrying it on.
-"with rapidity"

8. The skillful soldier does not raise a second levy, neither are his supplywagons
loaded more than twice.
-best to win the position on your first strike. also, do not get into a situation where you must load your account with more money to keep a position alive

9. Bring war material with you from home, but forage on the enemy. Thus
the army will have food enough for its needs.
- gained pips are those "foraged from the enemy" use these to your advantage. having pips between the price and your entry always gives a sense of ease.

10. Poverty of the State exchequer causes an army to be maintained by contributions from a distance. Contributing to maintain an army at a distance
causes the people to be impoverished.
- be careful when adding to a position after prices have already moved a distance

11. On the other hand, the proximity of an army causes prices to go up; and
high prices cause the people’s substance to be drained away.
- an open position that has a hard time moving from away an entry point might be a red flag. is it low liquidity? or have the buyers and sellers really fighting it out (price isn't going up or down). this puts strain on the trader

12. When their substance is drained away, the peasantry will be afflicted by heavy exactions.
-when prices have trouble moving away, the trade might come back on you. I would hope that prices would hurry up and move away from my entry point asap

13.With this loss of substance and exhaustion of strength, the homes
of the people will be stripped bare, and three-tenths of their income will
be dissipated; while government expenses for broken chariots, worn-out
horses, breast-plates and helmets, bows and arrows, spears and shields,
protective mantles, draught-oxen and heavy wagons, will amount to fourtenths
of its total revenue.
14. Hence a wise general makes a point of foraging on the enemy. One cartload
of the enemy’s provisions is equivalent to twenty of one’s own, and
likewise a single picul of his provender is equivalent to twenty from one’s
own store.
-do not add to a position that is not far from entry, wait until enough pips are captured before safely adding to a position

15. Now in order to kill the enemy, our men must be roused to anger; that
there may be advantage from defeating the enemy, they must have their
rewards.
-trade only when there are noticable profits to be taken, maybe from a break in s/r towards a s/r zone further away

16. Therefore in chariot fighting, when ten or more chariots have been taken,
those should be rewarded who took the first. Our own flags should be
substituted for those of the enemy, and the chariots mingled and used in
conjunction with ours. The captured soldiers should be kindly treated
and kept.
-don't lose captured pips

17. This is called, using the conquered foe to augment one’s own strength.
-take profits after a leg, then use those profits to trade

18. In war, then, let your great object be victory, not lengthy campaigns.
-take profits swiftly, any profits are a victory.

19. Thus it may be known that the leader of armies is the arbiter of the people’s
fate, the man on whom it depends whether the nation shall be in
peace or in peril.
- a good trader is the one who is in full control of his trades

My favorite 故兵無常勢 水無常形

Which means a soldier's conditions are constantly changing, water has no constant form

So we must always adapt to our environment.

能因敵變化而取勝者，謂之神

Chap. 6: Weak Points and Strong (jumping ahead but I'll go with the flow)
31. Water shapes its course according to the nature of the ground over which
it flows; the soldier works out his victory in relation to the foe whom he
is facing.
32. Therefore, just as water retains no constant shape, so in warfare there are
no constant conditions.
33. He who can modify his tactics in relation to his opponent and thereby
succeed in winning, may be called a heaven-born captain.

thanks d4munche3z. Why is this your favorite from AOW? and how do you think it relates to trading? just wondering..

This one can be applied to any aspect of life. I believe the question is how can it not be applied to trading. From my shallow knowledge of trading that I have amassed from my numerous months of trading I realize that the market is never the same no matter how many cycles it goes through. The ability for a trader to adapt to the market is essential. The market is to the ground as we are to the water... can water flow against the ground? Not without much great effort... But i can only say so much I have neither the experience nor the knowledge to properly trade... but I will learn.

Hey David, good details, I like.

For me, I need to learn to adjust to different strategies (trading systems). What I'm posting here, the homework, is a lead-in to a special strategy (is special the right word? well, in a sense that it is something new for me). If you know which thread I'm pulling this information from, I suggest you check it out! Straight to the source, so to speak. So I'm really anxious about how I will adjust to and learn a new method.

Chapter 3: Attack by Stratagem.


1. Sun Tzu said: In the practical art of war, the best thing of all is to take the
enemy’s country whole and intact; to shatter and destroy it is not so good.
So, too, it is better to recapture an army entire than to destroy it, to capture
a regiment, a detachment or a company entire than to destroy them.
- "To take a state intact is victory through the Tao, and to destroy it is victory through force."

You can try and throw all the soldiers (money) you have at the market, and you will not be able to make even the smallest dent.
You cannot take pips by force, you can only capture pips by flowing with the market.

2. Hence to fight and conquer in all your battles is not supreme excellence;
supreme excellence consists in breaking the enemy’s resistance without
fighting.
-Be skilled at winning without striving, without anger. In order to do this, planning is important.
Psych out your opponents.
"Victory through battle entails great loss of life."

3. Thus the highest form of generalship is to balk the enemy’s plans; the next
best is to prevent the junction of the enemy’s forces; the next in order is
to attack the enemy’s army in the field; and the worst policy of all is to
besiege walled cities. (Civilians live in cities.)
- Attack the enemy's strategy itself. Recognize the strategy that the enemy uses. Win without fighting.


4. The rule is, not to besiege walled cities if it can possibly be avoided.
The preparation of mantlets, movable shelters, and various implements
of war, will take up three whole months; and the piling up of mounds
over against the walls will take three months more.
- see Waging War #1, it is costly. Costly both in terms of money and mind (it will wear out your focus).


5. The general, unable to control his irritation, will launch his men to the
assault like swarming ants, with the result that one-third of his men are
slain, while the town still remains untaken. Such are the disastrous effects
of a siege.
- control emotions or you will suffer losses. Do not fall into traps set up by the enemy. watch your ego, plan well.


6. Therefore the skillful leader subdues the enemy’s troops without any fighting;
he captures their cities without laying siege to them; he overthrows
their kingdom without lengthy operations in the field.
- Brute force is not the best method, the pen is mightier than the sword.

If you are flowing, you are not fighting. Again, haste and speed is key.

7. With his forces intact he will dispute the mastery of the Empire, and thus,
without losing a man, his triumph will be complete. This is the method of
attacking by stratagem.
- war is not only won on the battlefield. war is won first in the mind, and through planning.


8. It is the rule in war, if our forces are ten to the enemy’s one, to surround
him; if five to one, to attack him; if twice as numerous, to divide our army
into two.
- strategic use of order placements, don't use your entire army at once when you can split up your forces for rescue or attack.


9. If equally matched, we can offer battle; if slightly inferior in numbers, we
can avoid the enemy; if quite unequal in every way, we can flee from him.
-if available margin is too low, then do not attempt to fight.

also, can be read as if the enemy is brokers/ large institutions, do not fight them head-on.

10. Hence, though an obstinate fight may be made by a small force, in the end
it must be captured by the larger force.
-"they could not be strong, not did they know how to be weak, and so they were defeated."

Ego! Retail traders are smaller forces by definition. Maybe guerrilla warfare in this situation would work better (fast strikes).

11. Now the general is the bulwark of the State; if the bulwark is complete
at all points; the State will be strong; if the bulwark is defective, the State
will be weak.
- place orders in accordance to your general plan. The general's actions should benefit the state.


12. There are three ways in which a ruler can bring misfortune upon his army:
(a) By commanding the army to advance or to retreat, being ignorant of
the fact that it cannot obey. This is called hobbling the army.
(b) By attempting to govern an army in the same way as he administers
a kingdom, being ignorant of the conditions which obtain in an army.
This causes restlessness in the soldier’s minds.
(c) By employing the officers of his army without discrimination, through
ignorance of the military principle of adaptation to circumstances.
This shakes the confidence of the soldiers.
- confidence in your actions. "tactical flexibility" is a military rather than a civic virtue.

use the right tactics and the right man in the right place.

13. But when the army is restless and distrustful, trouble is sure to come from
the other feudal princes. This is simply bringing anarchy into the army,
and flinging victory away.
- "we ourselves create the chaos; we ourselves give away the victory"

14. Thus we may know that there are five essentials for victory:
(a) He will win who knows when to fight and when not to fight.
(b) He will win who knows how to handle both superior and inferior
forces.
(c) He will win whose army is animated by the same spirit throughout
all its ranks.
(d) He will win who, prepared himself, waits to take the enemy unprepared.
(e) He will win who has military capacity and is not interfered with by
the sovereign.
- a) choose entry points wisely. determine when to attack, and when to defend.

b) know how to deploy large and small numbers
c) can't be bullish and bearish, the army must strive towards the same goal
d) preparation is key
e) The sovereign gives broad instructions, the general makes battle decisions.

15. Hence the saying: If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need
not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the
enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know
neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle.
- study the markets well. Inside-out like the back of your hand.
the way you trade reveals a lot about you, understand this too!

"To know others is wisdom; to understand oneself is enlightenment. To conquer others requires force; to conquer oneself shows strength."

These posts are just my musings on what I take away from AOW and the fx markets in general, and are in no way real, or tested lessons from the market. (oh you could tell? good for you )

Again, this is just some practice that I am doing myself and posting here. Please do your own homework. I'm not sure that anything that I am posting here is correctly related to fx. I am still learning.