Mastering the game.

[Crap Buddist]

Just came across this quote and thought it very relevant to this thread.

"To see what is in front of one's nose requires a constant struggle." -- George Orwell, 1946

hmmm doesn't help as at some point most people have to remove their head from their assholes.

Wonder if thats Mr Orwell was thinking? guess we could say Brown Nosers are the new enlightened ones. ?

 

[TWI]

I was just amazed at how many people on this board seem to think trading is an easy game. I have been professional in the biz for 16 years and I still work hard every day to stay ahead of the game.

 

[black bear]

hmmm doesn't help as at some point most people have to remove their head from their assholes.

Wonder if thats Mr Orwell was thinking? guess we could say Brown Nosers are the new enlightened ones. ?

Hi Crap Buddist & T

Turned one PC and well the above two posts lifted my spirit

Right ready to have some FUN

 

[Rhody Trader]

Just came across this quote and thought it very relevant to this thread.

"To see what is in front of one's nose requires a constant struggle." -- George Orwell, 1946

Watch a young child walking along the sidewalk and observe how he's staring at the ground at his feet to the point of walking into a lamp post.

Now watch an adult walking the same sidewalk and notice how he's looking so far ahead that he trips over a crack in the pavement.

 

[Rhody Trader]

I was just amazed at how many people on this board seem to think trading is an easy game. I have been professional in the biz for 16 years and I still work hard every day to stay ahead of the game.

It's the marketing pitch. Buy a stock at $50 and watch it go to $100. Seems easy. Of course, no one talks about the work that goes in to finding that stock, and to finding others so you're not just a one hit wonder. Nor do they talk about the process of realizing that betting your whole account on one trade will almost certainly blow you up at some point.

 

[nine]

There are some real conflicts in this though:

- As longer term traders, new optimistic traders provide liquidity and continue to do so no matter how negative experienced traders are. If you are too negative on a board they will just go somewhere more encouraging.

- Trading isn't actually "hard" so the sales pitches are not so wrong; its just hard to do consistently and well for the reasons Mark Douglas pointed out.

 

[TheBramble]

Watch a young child walking along the sidewalk and observe how he's staring at the ground at his feet to the point of walking into a lamp post.

Now watch an adult walking the same sidewalk and notice how he's looking so far ahead that he trips over a crack in the pavement.

This is Bush, right?

 

[BSD]

LOL, good one Tony ;-)

Interesting posts. But to be honest, I think life will always pretty much become what you believe it to be, life is pretty much, imho, a self-fulfilling prophecy. If you think it's complicated that's the way it'll turn out, if you think it's easy, ditto.

I personally think that trading is simple enough, at least per my simple swing trading style which basically goes long when prices are going up and short when they're going down, not unsimilar to the Captains Three Ducks system.

I just generally try and emotionally ignore the outcome of individual trades in favour of letting the edge do itÄ's long term thing. Which is obviously not to say that I don't have periods where I could throw a phone or two around the room, lol.

But still, my biggest breakthrough came when I realized that it's fine to be wrong most of the time, provided I adhere to that old saw of cutting my losses short while letting my winners run.

Not glamorous or sexy or even particularly clever, but it works, and for me at least that's all that counts.

I think the most important issue is trading a style that fits your personality, so if you want a higher hit rate or more consistency then that'll probably need some more sweat going into the venture than my lower hit rate style.

 

[Rhody Trader]

This is Bush, right?

If you mean is it a Bush quote? Then not that I'm aware of. I actually came up with it myself one day many years ago on a day when I watched a little kid with is mother nearly smack into a railing and I shortly thereafter tripped over a seam in the pavement.

Life has its ways of teaching us the lessons we need to learn.

 

[TheBramble]

No. I meant, was it Bush walking into the lamp post and tripping over a crack in the pavement (sidewalk surely RT)?

 

[TheBramble]

Which off-topic rambling has circuitously brought us accidentally right back on topic…

Does anyone consider Dubya has ‘Mastered’ his own Game?

If not why not: What stands out as underlining his failure to have mastered it? (please choose wisely from your list…)

If you consider he has: What marks him out as a master?



It is sometimes easier to identify mastery within fields in which one is not personally engaged ....

 

[BSD]

I think W's biggest and, as far as that goes, only game, that he ever displayed even a modicum of talent at, was an ability to con some of his more gullible countrypeople into falling for his spiel. What I must respect though is that his modus operandi there certainly adhered to my own cherished KISS standards, consisting as it did of nothing much more than constant repetition of scaremongering fabrications.

Looking at his current approval ratings looks like he's at the very least undergoing a severe drawdown at the moment, although it's probably going to lead to a total blowup as there's no more conning in his future, seeing as how there's nothing he could run for after this, nor would he be able to win any elections anyway as his bluff's been terminally called ;-)

Hmmm. Does that discredit KISS in general...

 

[dbphoenix]

I think W's biggest and, as far as that goes, only game, that he ever displayed even a modicum of talent at, was an ability to con some of his more gullible countrypeople into falling for his spiel. What I must respect though is that his modus operandi there certainly adhered to my own cherished KISS standards, consisting as it did of nothing much more than constant repetition of scaremongering fabrications.

Looking at his current approval ratings looks like he's at the very least undergoing a severe drawdown at the moment, although it's probably going to lead to a total blowup as there's no more conning in his future, seeing as how there's nothing he could run for after this, nor would he be able to win any elections anyway as his bluff's been terminally called ;-)

Hmmm. Does that discredit KISS in general...

The "talent", however, is not his. Dubya was and is little more than a puppet, and there have been a variety of hands shoved up his back. This should be clear to anyone who's ever listened to him deliver a speech, much less be forced to speak impromptu (why else does anyone think his "town meeting" appearances are so carefully staged?).

Dubya is often compared to Nixon due in part to the similarity of their approval ratings. But Nixon was very clever and very crafty. Dubya is neither. He is, at best, suggestible and malleable. And he is a monumental embarrassment to us. The advantage to this sort of dynamic is that it cannot hold; at some point, the thing shreds and the artifice of it all is apparent to all but the fanatically faithful. The disadvantage lies in the damage that's done while the play works its way toward its conclusion.

Db

 

[BSD]

DB, good post. Btw, one thing I do want to clarify is the part about the gullible countrymen, that's certainly absolutely nothing American per se as we Germans can only too aptly attest to...

 

[dbphoenix]

DB, good post. Btw, one thing I do want to clarify is the part about the gullible countrymen, that's certainly absolutely nothing American per se as we Germans can only too aptly attest to...

No, gullibility is not an exclusively American trait. But that doesn't make our situation any less frustrating.

Db

 

[BSD]

DB, I think life's pretty yin and yangish, bad times will be followed by good times, that's the good thing to look forward to.

 

[TheBramble]

Btw, one thing I do want to clarify is the part about the gullible countrymen, ...

My understanding is their situation was less one of gullibility than powerlessness.

Most Americans realised there was something ‘up’ with the election results (2000), but had no personal legal recourse to address it, or perhaps suffered from the same lethargy or dilution of responsibility all democratic electorates exhibit. Same as the Brits, or indeed, any other democratic people. Even those actions which were taken in the Senate to formally record objections to the situation were treated to a degree so dismissive that they would have potentially triggered open rebellion in a less well-ordered or well-mannered nation. There’s the skill, in keeping the folk just comfortable enough not to really feel the need to rebel, not today anyway, maybe tomorrow - and powerless enough not to be able to do much even if they did get taken with that crazy urge.

The brazen nature of the ‘feather’ that tipped the balance (in reality, there were a number of manoeuvrings that tipped the balance) of using brother Jeb’s state for the dirty deal was I suspect what rubbed most American citizen’s noses in the brown stuff. Outrageous. I think even the Americans themselves were surprised they’d voted him in the 2nd time. LOL. “How the hell did that happen!”. Guess.

I guess that’s mastering the game – not Dubya, but those that engineered his ‘victories’ right out in the open and under people’s noses.

 

[Rhody Trader]

I think even the Americans themselves were surprised they’d voted him in the 2nd time. LOL. “How the hell did that happen!”. Guess.

Speaking as one of them, we weren't really surprised Bush got a second term. There were a lot of angry people (why completely baffles me), but I don't recall many folks being honestly surprised. His opposition wasn't a particularly enticing candidate and it's quite hard to unseat a sitting president. To my mind it really came down for many folks to a lesser of evils decision and better the devil you know.

 

[BSD]

My understanding is their situation was less one of gullibility than powerlessness.

Tony, I meant him having been voted in initially, and the quite enthusiastic cheering that went on for quite some years afterwards in Germany.

One can have the best minders or spin doctors and all, but it still takes the people to tango along, at least initially while they still have a choice.

To be honest, the only explanation I have is that there isn't really any great explanation, it's just one of those things that happen once in awhile, occasionally crowds simply exhibit a disturbing tendency to go mad.

Most Americans realised there was something ‘up’ with the election results (2000), but had no personal legal recourse to address it, or perhaps suffered from the same lethargy or dilution of responsibility all democratic electorates exhibit.

The brazen nature of the ‘feather’ that tipped the balance (in reality, there were a number of manoeuvrings that tipped the balance) of using brother Jeb’s state for the dirty deal was I suspect what rubbed most American citizen’s noses in the brown stuff. Outrageous. I think even the Americans themselves were surprised they’d voted him in the 2nd time. LOL. “How the hell did that happen!”.

I do agree.

 

[dbphoenix]

DB, I think life's pretty yin and yangish, bad times will be followed by good times, that's the good thing to look forward to.

45 years is a long time to wait . . .