Stages of a Trader (from Bo Yoder)

[dbphoenix]

Thanks DB. Much appreciated.

To me, traders are like ancient warriors. They need personal weapons in addition to skills. One size fits all does not suit them. Some of them did not manage to get the right weapon, some did not master the art of combat and as a result only a minority that can achieve both become true warriors. Very few of them chose become war lords with personal army.. the likes of Soros and Buffet.

Others, on the other hand, are more like sailors. They're not looking for a battle. They seek the current. When they find it, they go with the ebb and flow of it and ride it for as long as it lasts, or until it takes them where they want to go. Fighting the current makes no sense to them.

Db

 

[ammo]

i dont know what you trade,spx,dow ,nasdaq, they seem to move together so when i have a scalp position and its slowing down in all 3 i dump it. With the help of the other 2 indicators i get some confirmation,confidence,that i'm right. it sounds like you have a great many variables that need to be in line for each trade.control.a diamond cutter needs to be very rigid and precise.a trader needs to conform with every move. wisdom to change the things i can and finesse and grace to accept the things i cannot. you might be playing it too tight. let go of the doubt in your head and find confirmations elsewhere .CBOT has free class on web explaining market profile very useful

 

[hrokling]

I feel compelled to chime in and register my appreciation for the description of the various stages. It's spot on and an excellent description of the thought processes one goes through on the trading journey.

 

[ymonly]

good stuff........been every step of the way...from one end to the other several times.....the simpler u see it, the lower goes the pressure cooker .........too much confirmation/information creates what you are trying to avoid.....says douglas and personal experience........if 2 min chart says get ready on 5 min chart cut the 2 min out.....if 5 is key to entry....use the best stuff u have ....set the bar high for all u employ....emini daytrading .. i believe 1 chart and 1 time frame is easiest to trade.........all the other stuff is crutches for me......looking for excuse to avoid pain of losing again......all this is posted because i have no one to discuss this stuff with.....except 1 occasional talk with friend..................not looking to avoid the hard work of learning to being a successful trader........as hard as it gets......


it is twice as difficult to unlearn the million bits of information as it was to learn it.....

 

[ymonly]

db,

the sailor analogy is good........the current.......i don't like to swim against it......if the current isn't current current it can't be called current........realtime.......right now......

 

[ammo]

one way to trade s@pmini is with market profile chart and draw channels every morning ,shows 3to 8 trades a day, hardest part when sitting at computer all day is to know not to trade

 

[firewalker99]

"emotions rule decisions almost completely"

neuroeconomics researcher:

http://www.usatoday.com/tech/science/discoveries/2006-08-06-brain-study_x.htm

 

[newstart]

I thought I was the only one in the world that had gone through all the first four stages at one time

 

[hanzam]

Stages of a Trader

This is one of the best articles I have read about trading, I have been trading for about five years now. Thank you for this information.

 

[fxwinner22]

Nicely written my friend.

I agree with most things in that journey apart from this bit

"It is during this stage that the "intuitive" sense begins to manifest itself. As infrequent as it may be, he learns to experiment with it and to build trust in it."

That's exactly the bit that kills off traders - 'intuitive' suggests that you can predict the market and have some magical ability looking at squiggles on your chart - neither you nor anyone can predict the future consistently. No matter how long they study.

anyone can get away with it and get it right a few times which is fine if all you want is to have some fun and the odd flutter - but a trading career is tens of thousands of trades long - you cannot predict the future for that length of time.

by the latter stages you should realise that - if you havent then you arent there yet.

Trading forex is a coin toss - stop trying to predict the future and go design a weighted coin.

 

[fibonelli]

A great article

Compare and Contrast

Stage 1: "Price charts are a meaningless mish-mash of colored lines and squiggles that look more like a painting from the MOMA than anything that contains information".

Stage 6: "He understands and practices "active inaction", knowing exactly what it is he wants, exactly what it is he's looking for, and waiting, patiently, for exactly the right opportunity".