Yes, I did find this thread useful in methods and mindset. I have a question about the methods. So you use the moving averages as a buy signal when price crosses the average, in combination with divergence, and candles. Well how are you using bollinger bands? What do you look for in them? What do they mean to you?
The Trader's Academy - by Traders for Traders
- #903
- Feb 20, 2016 8:20am Feb 20, 2016 8:20am
- Joined Sep 2006 | Status: Trader | 10,702 Posts
every Saint has a past. Every Sinner has a Future
- #908
- Feb 20, 2016 1:18pm Feb 20, 2016 1:18pm
- Joined Aug 2006 | Status: Trader | 5,317 Posts
It never gets easier, you just get better
{quote} Yet, in most cultures of the world, there are stories and myths about our lives, where we follow a hero through transformational challenges towards achievement................. Thoughts on that?
I feel like a foul mouthed lad that has just been forced to wash his mouth out with soap
When appreciating a work of art, it's all in the intangibles, and if a life is a work of art, maybe we should evaluate ourselves in a similar way?
I really like that interpretation (if that's the correct word). So as the artist, our work of art is our self and the painting is never finished but always worked on, constantly refining until the end?
Which is all in the attitude, in how we respond to life's challenges. In other words, it may be about character and its expressions in the various contexts of our lives. All intangible/invisible things that money can't buy. Matters of style, if you like.
As for Aeschylus, for me it's about character development, family and friendships, and service - and trading is, at my current life stage, the best way to accomplish that.
So just to clarify though, if or when one day you leave trading behind, your purpose does not change, what you do (or how spend your days) has nothing to do with purpose but how you integrate what you do with your purpose?
- #910
- Feb 21, 2016 4:24am Feb 21, 2016 4:24am
- Joined Nov 2008 | Status: Trader | 3,270 Posts
I feel like a foul mouthed lad that has just been forced to wash his mouth out with soap
Apologies. That was not at all how it was meant. More than anything I was saddened by what sounded like low thoughts and feelings about yourself and your life. I may be completely mistaken, but that's what I noticed.
As Ayn Rand put it in the introduction to The Fountainhead: "...whatever their future, at the dawn of their lives, men seek a noble vision of man's nature and life's potential."
Then life happens, we take a few blows, and some of us end up somewhere between low self-esteem and self-hatred, and these are feelings that may be something one is unconscious of until issues arise, such as anorexia or depression. Again, I may be completely mistaken, but, based on what you wrote, I was wondering if something similar could explain your inexplicable large drawdowns.
However it may be with that, there's a good book, called The Mental Edge In Trading, which explores personality traits in relation to trading. It's written by Larry Williams' son Jason, who is a psychiatrist consulting with high net-worth on how to maximise wealth based on optimum mental and emotional well-being.
The book is based on a personality test, called NEO PI-R, and Jason has had a number of superstar traders take this in-depth test, and he then interviews them to further understand how personality relates to trading success.
The very interesting observation among all these star traders is that, when it comes to personality, they are a bit all over the place. The test measures 30 aspects of personality, and only in two are the traders all alike:
1. They're calm and relaxed and do not dwell on things that could go wrong.
2. They find it easy to resist temptation, and they have a high tolerance for frustration.
And the interviews are full of interesting insights about how the very different traders have worked around, and with, their particular personality traits to achieve success. Larry Williams himself, for example, says, after acknowledging that he has created many powerful trading systems, that "...the funny thing is I could never follow the damned things." So, in spite of that, he found ways of working with his personality instead of against it. And so on, and so forth, for the other traders in the book.
I really like that interpretation (if that's the correct word). So as the artist, our work of art is our self and the painting is never finished but always worked on, constantly refining until the end?
As Jason Williams puts it in The Mental Edge In Trading:
One of the key secrets to finding happiness in this world truly is in creating your own sense of identity, and the way you do that is by being a master at whatever it is that you do.
In other words, focus on process, not outcomes, which, yes, means always worked on, constantly refined.
The other part of that statement is about creating one's own identity, and, I would say, philosophy of life.
Then there's a third part to happiness, says the research quoted in the book, which is the feeling of relatedness, and a sense of belonging. This is where family, friends, nature, etc, come in. In your viewing of the night sky, do you feel a sense of belonging?
I think I understand now and thank you for sharing what purpose means for you. So just to clarify though, if or when one day you leave trading behind, your purpose does not change, what you do (or how spend your days) has nothing to do with purpose but how you integrate what you do with your purpose?
But, to answer your question, there's plenty of sharpening the sword to do - both trading related, and in terms of body, mind, and spirit - and there are all the aspects of relatedness, as mentioned earlier.
Hope that helps.
{quote} Apologies. That was not at all how it was meant. More than anything I was saddened by what sounded like low thoughts and feelings about yourself and your life. I may be completely mistaken, but that's what I noticed.
What I meant, was to say that my mindset is similar to the lad with a foul mouth, in that the soap is my medicine, the kick up the pants, the harsh reminder that I need to stay the course, remain focused and as you say keep sharpening the sword, no matter how hard it gets.
Then life happens, we take a few blows, and some of us end up somewhere between low self-esteem and self-hatred, and these are feelings that may be something one is unconscious of until issues arise, such as anorexia or depression.
Trading is like traveling through a shallow tunnel, moments of complete darkness, faint trickles of light, moments of blinding light only to fade back to complete darkness. The tunnels distance is different for everyone. I am as of now out of the tunnel but the opening is only a few feet behind me. The hard work has been put in, the system has an edge, the system is profitable and the the system is rule based. Now it's all up to the driver.
1. They're calm and relaxed and do not dwell on things that could go wrong. 2. They find it easy to resist temptation, and they have a high tolerance for frustration.
This is where I have gone belly up, mostly by trading without any real system.
In other words, focus on process, not outcomes, which, yes, means always worked on, constantly refined.
)The other part of that statement is about creating one's own identity, and, I would say, philosophy of life. Then there's a third part to happiness, says the research quoted in the book, which is the feeling of relatedness, and a sense of belonging. This is where family, friends, nature, etc, come in. In your viewing of the night sky, do you feel a sense of belonging?
Trading is not the only thing I do. And, after all, I could find myself forced, by unforeseen circumstances, to quit. Need to be prepared for that too. But, to answer your question, there's plenty of sharpening the sword to do - both trading related, and in terms of body, mind, and spirit - and there are all the aspects of relatedness, as mentioned earlier. Hope that helps.
+ a few beers
- #913
- Feb 21, 2016 9:59am Feb 21, 2016 9:59am
- Joined Nov 2008 | Status: Trader | 3,270 Posts
Ah, I'm delighted we finally understand each other 
We'll have to arrange something in due course
I hope one day our paths cross and I can shake your hand in person. But I'd prefer one of these
- #914
- Edited 11:50am Feb 21, 2016 10:09am | Edited 11:50am
- Joined Nov 2008 | Status: Trader | 3,270 Posts
- #916
- Feb 21, 2016 12:36pm Feb 21, 2016 12:36pm
- Joined Nov 2008 | Status: Trader | 3,270 Posts
Thank you for clarifying that
I have the deepest respect for what you are doing, and how you are doing it, and I had absolutely no intention to question that.
What got to me was the statement
As this is a thread with an educational intention, I feel obliged to point out that this is not so. And I could back that up with more statistical gobbledygook than anybody would care to read through.
For learners I would recommend never to look at faster charts than 30 seconds. I never do, for that matter.
On a 30 sec chart with standard 20 period BB and standard 1 ATR 10 period Keltner Channel, I see two entries:
1. A mean reversion entry, backed up by 2B pattern and divergence using a standard parameter MACD, with a 9 point stop
2. A trend entry on break of upper Keltner Channel, with an 8 point stop
Which one is best? A matter of personal taste, I think. You took the second one, I took the first.
Last but not least, and this is what got me started, if one takes the pain to go to sub-minute charts, as illustrated in this example, one never needs a wider stop than 10 points for DAX. At least, that's what I stick to, and then make tighter when circumstances allow. The exception would be NFP and ECB times.
I have the deepest respect for what you are doing, and how you are doing it, and I had absolutely no intention to question that.
What got to me was the statement
Entered on this 1m chart, a 20 pip SL would have been required
For learners I would recommend never to look at faster charts than 30 seconds. I never do, for that matter.
On a 30 sec chart with standard 20 period BB and standard 1 ATR 10 period Keltner Channel, I see two entries:
1. A mean reversion entry, backed up by 2B pattern and divergence using a standard parameter MACD, with a 9 point stop
2. A trend entry on break of upper Keltner Channel, with an 8 point stop
Which one is best? A matter of personal taste, I think. You took the second one, I took the first.
Last but not least, and this is what got me started, if one takes the pain to go to sub-minute charts, as illustrated in this example, one never needs a wider stop than 10 points for DAX. At least, that's what I stick to, and then make tighter when circumstances allow. The exception would be NFP and ECB times.
