Hi Alan,
As in most professions, a learning curve involved during the first couple years, trading no exception. Myself, as a product of this maina, simply picking a stock and waiting for momentum to carry profits made this game a no brainer, to have ma and pa enter this arena, a no brainer as well...what learning curve?
Now that reality has set in, a changing of the season, to understand that trading requires more than noodle stickings, to trade the direction of the market, to understand trends, ranges, slippage, intraday, positions, swinging, individual risk tolerance, price/volume relationship, gann's, waves, theories...oh my...!
I've entered my third year of this intoxicating, overwhelming yet gratifying experience of trading...taken my lumps along the way, yet found a way to survive.
a clear objective of mine was to stay in this game, to survive not only thru this mania, but to survive thru this nasty anticipated correction, to make it thru the worst of trading times. Well, I'm still here, and in time we'll see what happens....But, another potential nastier curveball.
Now the pros tell me of another caution, another fear to survive this game, a recession, an evaporation of volatility, intraday long or short a lose/lose proposition, position and swings nothing but a bleeding cut. Sounding like doom and gloom?...not really, just what we have to look forward to as traders, to trade the mood of the market...Still, if this occurs, will I survive?
An area I'm trying to understand, or maybe just a matter of semantics...making money/trading well...us folks have been conditioned to make money, period...a profit center. If I hadn't made money at this business by now, my career path would differ. generally, I don't care to take steps back as I have a conservative fear of failure that follows me each and every day. I want to see my scorecard finish ahead of yesterday. If not, I want to do my best to understand why this did not happen.
So here it is, if I'm trading well, the likelihood of making money is greater. Still, If I'm trading well, I can lose money. If I'm trading lousy, I can still make money. Ultimately the scorecard will determine whether we are survivors...
I think I understand, yes, that we concentrate on refining our trading skills, profits will be a byproduct of trading well..and more so, to appeal to the fairness of the wiser as I continue to understand the relationship between trading well and to make money within proper perspective... |
