>
>Samurai Trader's Email Digest Issue # 29 April 10, 1999
>----------------------------------------------------------------------------
>-----------------
>
>Welcome to the Samurai Trader's e-mail Digest. This BIMONTHLY digest
>features questions from readers of the book, Zen in the Markets. Answers
>are provided by the book's author, Edward Allen Toppel. Investment or
>trading questions unrelated to the book will also be considered. Last names
>and email addresses of those submitting questions are not listed so that
>total confidentiality is maintained. For details, visit
><http://www.samuraitrader.com>
>
>-----------
>TABLE OF CONTENTS
>
> *Moderator's Comments
>
> Last Issue's Contest
>
> *This Week's Questions
>
> 1. 28, 30, 31, 28 , 29 ? What to do??????
>
> 2. How much are day traders really making?
>
> 3. Zen Charts?
>
>
> *Closing Thought
>
> Mickey Rooney and the Shiek
>
>
>
>______
>MODERATOR'S COMMENTS
>
> Nearly everyone who answered last week's question about when the DOW would
>close above 10,000 got it right. So, I have to resort to a tie breaker
>question. "Why is trading the hardest way to make an easy living?" Points
>for the most succinct answer.
>
> Those who didn't respond to the previous question may do so and also
>answer this question as well. I publish the winning answer in the next
>issue of this Digest.
>
>THIS WEEK'S QUESTIONS
>
>Q.#1
>
>Eddie;
>
>I am new to trading and am certainly paying my dues. I have read your book
>and appreciated it's simplicity and insight. I always seem to be one that
>makes things more involved than they need to be. I especially remember your
>writing about the numbers 28, 29, and 30. 29 is higher than 28 and 30 is
>higher than 29 - therefore the market must be moving up. The problem seems
>to be that the numbers always look more like 28, 30, 31, 28 ,29 and God
>alone knows what is next. Any thoughts on how to pick an entry point is
>these inevitable less-than-linear movements?
>I enjoy your newsletter. Please keep it up.
>
> Phil from Peoria, Arizona
>*
>A.#1
>
>Dear Phil,
>
>Trickiest question in the book. Doesn't much matter where you jump in just
>as long as you have an exit point in you are wrong. In my book, I say that
>it is better to be whipped around than beaten. When you don't make the
>switch, that's the time you should have!! Reread pages 48 and 49 of my
>book. This is the price you pay for being a trader. There are many
>decisions to be made over the course of a day and if you don't make them,
>you'll be busted sooner or later.
>
>*
>
>Q.#2
>
>Eddie,
>
>
>When will we get the results of the questionnaire?
>
>I heard some statistics (re: day traders) that said the average trader
loses @
>$7100/month for three months; after 3 months the average trader (who stayed
>in) made @ $26,000/month. Do you have any hard statistics that
>agree/disagree with
>this?
>
>Thank you for all your information and the book!
>
> Celia S. from Florida
>*
>
>A.#2
>
>Dear Ceilia,
>
>First, thanks for reminding me about the questionnaire. I'll publish the
>results in the next issue.
>
>It is true that most beginning traders lose at the beginning. There is a
>learning curve involved. the trick is to keep the "tuition" small at the
>beginning so that you can survive the "school of experience".
>
>It has been said that the market s a tough teacher. It gives you the
>experience first and the lesson afterward$$$$$.
>
>I do not have any numbers about how much day traders are making or losing.
>My advice to all beginners is to go very slowly at the start. You have
>much to learn and the worst thing- as strange as it may seem- is to be
>successful at the beginning.
>*
>
>Q.#3
>
>Eddie,
>
>I know you do not like looking at charts, but I was pondering something. Is
>there not a Zen way of looking at charts? To look at a chart and say I should
>buy this because of so and so is wrong. But can't looking at a chart with a
>completely unattached eye give you a sense of what is happening, while at the
>same time the trader knows that anything could happen? I find many traders I
>know look at charts, and some even follow fundamental information. The
>successful ones seem to not expect anything from the tools they use but
>profit nonetheless. The losers expect something. I know traders who want to
>buy because they like the chart and then short the thing because it started
>to go down. How does that make sense? Just curious.
>
> Harry from Montreal, Canada
>*
>
>A.#3
>
>Dear Harry,
>
>The part about traders who bought because they like the chart and sold
>(shorted) because it went down makes sense to me. Charts can't tell you
>anything other than past history and I have always maintained that the
>markets never repeat themselves. Every moment is different. My problem
>with charts is that they set up expectations as where support and
>resistance MAY be. This goes against a Samurai Trader's motto, "Expect
>nothing. Be prepared for everything."
>*
>
>FINAL THOUGHT
>
> "I lost a million dollars trying to recover a two dollar bet."
>
> Mickey Rooney
>*
>
>Last Thursday's Wall Street Journal carried a long story about an Arab
>shiek who dropped $150 million
>trading currencies over a three year period. He started out with a small
>loss ( a couple of million) and ran it into a much bigger loss trying to
>recover his initial misfortune. I've seen these kind of stories (although
>on a much smaller scale) more than once. People get mad at the market and
>start doubling down on bad positions and start to trade much bigger than
>they should. They get themselves in a deep hole and never recover costing
>themselves much aggravation
>
>Are any of you guilty of trying to recover a small loss but finding
>yourself getting in deeper and deeper?
>If so, now is a good time to reflect upon what you are doing wrong. Maybe
>you should just quit! Or, at the very least, examine your trading methods
>and make corrections. Don't let this happen to you. It is not as uncommon
>as you might think.
>
>That's it for this week. Next issue April 24th.
>
>I am looking forward to getting your answers to my questions.
>
>Edward Allen Toppel
>***
>
>P.S. You can order your personally autographed copy of Zen in the Markets
>thru my direct order page at <http://www.samuraitrader.com/order.html>
>
>*****
>
>
>Forward this Digest to others you think may be interested.
>If you are not a subscriber, please follow the directions on our web site
>at: <http://www.samuraitrader.com>. To unsubscribe, email
>questions@samuraitrader.com and type the word UNSUBSCRIBE in
>the Subject box. Thank you.
>----------------------------------------------------
>
>The Samurai Trader's email Digest is a production of Samurai Press,
>Highland Park, IL.
>All opinions expressed in the answers provided are those of Edward Allen
>Toppel
>and are not meant to endorse, condemn or in any way guarantee any
>of the investment or trading opinions or decisions discussed.
>--------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
