Day Trading & Forex Forum

nkruger

Good afternoon one and all.

Have any of you out there ever been (or still are) a member of the STA ? (www.sta-uk.org ) Has it been advantageous for you ? Was it worth it ? Let us know your thoughts on the subject.

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Success is the ability to go from one failure to another with no loss of enthusiasm. Sir Winnie Churchill
Success in trading is the ability to go from one losing trade to the next without changing your strategy..... Winnie the Pooh

temptrader

as mentioned by real traders, no one would give a damn about such a society or spent pointless hours working towards their qualifications. Sorry to be blunt, but the only thing that matters is doing it for yourself live instead of following some silly suggestions by a bunch of people who probably never traded successfully in their lives.

level_head

A strong opinion there, temptrader. Have you ever been to an STA meeting to confirm your opinion that they're a bunch of losers who don't trade? You may actually find that STA Meetings are a meeting of like-minded individuals from all walks of life who meet to discuss the markets and expand their knowledge. I assume that by posting on this message board you're interested in knowing what others are thinking or doing? This is exactly what you could get from the STA, if you bothered to try it before judging it.

So to nkruger, I would suggest you contact the STA via the website and arrange to come along to the next available meeting (Which I think is September now, as July is fully booked and August is always a month off), then you can judge for yourself. We welcome guests with an interest in trading and analysing the markets and Technical Analysis techniques.

GammaJammer

Yeah for what it's worth I always got the impression that they're reasonably well regarded in wholesale circles (although I don't know for sure). Will ask one of the tech analysts on my floor (assuming I can drag him away from his charts for a second).

Think same goes for the ACI. Their diploma actually contains far more relevant questions for a treasury dealer than the SFA / IMC etc etc. Plus the top bods are all well connected.

GJ

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"That which doesn't kill me makes me stronger"

temptrader

Trading is one of those professions where, alas, theoretical qualifications account for very little.

Think about it clearly, if you were making decent money trading why would you give a f*ck what consititutes proper understanding of TA laid down by other people? Skim also made very telling remarks about Bulkowski's books that most people overlooked. I've always had the same missgivings about his books but only she put her neck out to state them.

I think most traders on this board who are making consistent money will join me in agreeing that working towards such qualifications is a total utter waste of time. Laughable in fact, like the majority of trading books which are, alas, not really written for the readers benefit . . . .

GammaJammer

Depends on what you're looking to get out of it. Remember, not all the people on these boards are retail traders punting tiny amounts in cable on some cr*ppy 5 min chart (not that I'm saying you are of course). There are all sorts of people within the 70k membership of T2W.

That said I wholeheartedly agree that theory can count for very little in the market, but that doesn't mean there can't be a place for training on how to apply practical techniques. And often with these sorts of bodies that's exactly what is on offer. I've seen the syllabus for the ACI diploma and am still mulling it over. Only thing stopping me is that I swore last time I did an exam (my IMC) that that was enough for me. I like my free time too much.

My $0.02 as always

GJ

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"That which doesn't kill me makes me stronger"

GammaJammer

Am I going mad? -temptrader quoted a post by skimbleshanks but I can't see the post itself.

I can feel a headache coming on....

GJ

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"That which doesn't kill me makes me stronger"

Hoggums

I totally disagree with you, I think it is important to have a grasp of TA as it is a self fullfilling prophecy. A lot of people who trade the markets look at the technicals and trade accordingly - as a result the market is influenced by the conclusions TA gives. Just look at any index chart over the last 5 years - how many times has it bounced off the bottom and top of the trend channels. Especially at a time like now where the fundamentals are getting ignored on the carry.

If you are saying TA is rubbish then you are saying that the markets are random - if that is the case we all might as well give up now and go to the casino!

People taking the TA exams are generally doing it to get into the investment industry - a qualification that will put you a step ahead of someone who doesn't have it.

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Hoggums

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Outside of a dog, a book is a man's best friend,
inside of a dog, it's too dark to read. -- G Marx.