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Strategies & Market Trends : DAYTRADING Fundamentals -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: TraderAlan who wrote (4162)	9/18/1999 10:32:00 AM
From: Matthew L. Jones	Respond to of 18137

Allen, That is one of the most concise, lucent and well stated arguments I have ever read on the subject. Your stock just gapped up $2 on my L2 screen! <ggg> I applaud you for making such a statement, particularly when you are in the business of educating traders. It really is not about some magic trick or some holy grail-- it is about seasoning, discipline and money management. Great post! Matt

To: TraderAlan who wrote (4162)	9/18/1999 10:40:00 AM
From: Leland Charon	Read Replies (10) \| Respond to of 18137

TraderAlan (and the rest of the thread), I was wondering how many of you folks that frequent this thread trade from home and how many trade at an "office." Kind of like a survey question I guess. Also for those of you who trade at home what type of internet connection do you utilize (if using direct access software such as RT III). I currently trade at an office and have for the past 2 1/2 years and I must say that it has been very helpful to my career. I think it really helped me thorough the learning curve aspect of trading (although that learning curve continues to this day). I am thinking about making the switch to home based trading as I have recently become "distracted" at my office. I was wondering if anyone else has had this happen before? I am hoping that being at home (alone) will help me maintain focus and become an even better trader. Any insight would be great, Leland

To: TraderAlan who wrote (4162)	9/18/1999 1:11:00 PM
From: Richard Estes	Respond to of 18137

Very good post. The BIG item not mentioned is stock selection, we have 1000s of stocks to choose from. It is wrong to think any stock is tradable at any time. Writers can pick the best charts that prove their methods, forgetting the other 1000s of stocks and what happened there. The internet produces instant experts, the greatest Bull of all time helps all ships to rise. But fame and money are fleeting things saved for the few. The selection of the stock and the proper time nullifys the Level II and ECN advantages, if there are any.

To: TraderAlan who wrote (4162)	9/18/1999 5:18:00 PM
From: Dan Duchardt	Respond to of 18137

Alan, Thank you for the thoughtful reply. As others have already noted, yours is truly a well constructed and memorable post. I don't see anything we disagree about. From the perspective of your experience and knowledge of the "better way" you are stating more clearly the conclusion I came to after going down what was certainly for myself, and as you say for all beginners, the wrong path. I loved your comment Scalping was how the principals at these BDs made their living before they bought a brokerage. For most, it's ALL they know so they can't teach anything else. Try telling them that when you are a neophyte without being pegged as an upstart know-it-all and being written off as "unteachable". I give myself personal kudos only for having the good sense to figure out there had to be a better way, and setting out to find it before becoming another tragedy. Dan

To: TraderAlan who wrote (4162)	9/19/1999 3:20:00 AM
From: Bilow	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 18137

Hi TraderAlan; Re scalping. I believe that at least 90% of those who try to learn to scalp will fail, even with the best training, so your statement Unfortunately, scalping is the LAST technique that should be taught to a new trader. is probably correct. Nevertheless, scalping is the the most elegant technique of trading, in my opinion, and it does have some advantages. Scalping provides the largest number of trades per day, and therefore provides the best statistical indications of profit or loss. It also (if done profitably) probably provides the highest return for a small account size. In some ways, scalping is also the fastest way to learn trading, in that the feedback is quick and immediate. And lastly, I believe that the chart reading that scalping requires improves longer term trading as well. But most people will never be able to scalp profitably, simply because they are too slow, in addition to all the other self-modifications that trading requires. Scalping is a trading technique for the video game generation, where profits depend on fractions of a second, and, perhaps, the attitude that each new quarter in the slot is a whole new game isn't a bad one to take for a trader. -- Carl