Interviews Member Profile: rathcoole_exile

Well, I have to confess to being very surprised at being asked by Tim to create a short background piece. I haven’t been around T2W much lately, and when I do pop up it’s usually just to shoot somebody down with an acerbic comment or two and then disappear again for another few weeks. Even when I was most engaged and active with T2W a few years ago, I don’t think I was ever the most popular member. I got a few bans for arguing and standing my ground. I like to call a spade a spade and an idiot an idiot.

Karl6666 summed it up best with the quote I use in my signature: 'Why doesn’t anybody like you R_E, is it because you shout?'

My Background
I’m ex-British Forces, that most famous of oxymoron’s, Army Intelligence. I subsequently spent the best part of a decade in and around Dubai, Kuwait, KSA etc. All the usual ****-holes.

I’ve lived in Thailand for over seven years now, since the birth of the first of my two daughters. After the second one came along, the wife and I split up and subsequently divorced. I am now that rarest of creatures, especially in this matriarchal dominated part of the world, a Single Dad with full custody of my kids. It’s not easy bringing up two girls in a foreign country, especially one as bizarre and alien as Thailand can be at times. But I wouldn’t change things for the world.

In addition to trading as fully as possible, I’ve allowed myself in the past to get dragged into working with - or for - companies. At one count I was a director of seven companies a couple of years ago. I have since managed to extricate myself from all those other commitments. So, apart from the kids and trading, my only other distraction is my almost full-time involvement and commitment to Freemasonry.

Trading - the early years
When we first moved toThailand I was trading options exclusively. Had some great success, then got too arrogant and faded (Naked Call) the all time high at 1600 in 2007 but not before getting triggered for some heavy losses. I gradually started to add in some Futures trading, but I was really clueless for a year or two, jumping from one set up to another, jumbling timeframes etc. I still use options occasionally now, particularly to straddle a position when the market has reached an extreme, from which it will usually burst free or collapse.

Trading now
Nowadays I tend to focus mostly on ES futures, with some confirmation on the Russell. I do occasionally look at Gold, Oil etc, but find it’s too much to keep on top of if I spread myself too thinly. I’ve never been a fan of Forex trading, as readers of attacks on T2W will be aware, but I do sometimes gain exposure to the currency markets through Dollar DX futures. Method? I sometimes flirt with Ichimoku Kinko Hyo, usually to prevent me from entering trades if bumping up against a huge block of resistance. Otherwise, my bog standard method is to slap on 4 horizontals lines onto a Weekly chart. The upper two lines form one box, the lower two another box. When price is between boxes I sit on my hands. When price enters either box, I set STOP ENTRIES to catch the break-out or break-down.

When I have a lot of time on my hands I also use the same method with Daily charts, but time is precious and with the time difference it means sitting up all through the night.

Future plans
As long as it’s still working, I’m more than happy to keep doing what I’m doing. I guess the next step would be to completely automate the triggers. I’m not very technical and the problem I find is being able to automatically re-set the triggers if I’ve been stopped out. But it might be interesting to have the set-up running across a wide range of markets and instruments and do some sort of monthly, quarterly or annual performance comparison.

Tips to pass on
I’d say a maximum of 3 out of 10 trades are truly profitable. It’s about having the courage and conviction to cling on during the losses.

Happy Trading!
Garry
 
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Trading Ratios

Garry, you're not far off the mark with the 3 out of 10. Have a look at the INDE benchmark and this also quotes 0.3 under this same Number ratio, taking a huge S&P500 data set on a stop-and-reverse basis, using a simplified version of Wilder's DIs. And on a positive note, the Return still manages to tip into profit. Like you say this Number ratio hints at a 'confidence' factor, once you know the odds it helps greatly in approaching the markets. Before compounding however this ratio really needs to be improved otherwise you're in trouble - you at least need to get to 1:1 to stand a chance. Trying a dual-time approach, and also a more sensitive price indicator than the DI crossovers, can help in this.
 
Thanks Gaz
Well written, and nice to see you're working well within your framework.
It takes courage to be a trader, and good to see you've still got what it takes.
Stu
 
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