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To: High Country Trader who wrote (77629)	7/19/2003 4:58:25 PM
From: bcrafty	Respond to of 209892

HCT, his assertions are somewhat true He and I clearly have a difference of opinion on the entry issue, as he says "entry is probably one of the least important ingredients in a complete and well-designed trading system." But although his approach doesn't seem to play into the first part of my thesis on entries, he does endorse the part on stops with his simple statement "you simply don't hold losers." If you put the two ideas together it seems to imply this: if your entry is not good and you get stopped out then look for another entry later. But then again, if you're looking for another entry later, then timing your entry thus becomes an issue, either directly or implicitly, for a better odds trade than the first one. About the trader who got signals from aliens ("yet made money because he had a knack for exiting his trades correctly") I feel that he had some luck in his favor. For him to make money because he had "a knack for exiting his trades correctly" the market first must have moved in the direction he favored. If the trade had moved against him and he got stopped out, then he would have lost money, and the author wouldn't be using him as an example.

To: High Country Trader who wrote (77629)	7/19/2003 5:00:20 PM
From: AllansAlias	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 209892

I'd guess LeBeau and Lucas don't trade very much. Their subject is more computer trading systems I believe. Anyway, they are confusing things by stressing holding versus entries. They are two completely different matters. While it is very true that most don't hold or add to winners ("sitting on my hands" as Livermore is quoted), one won't get a chance to do either if the entry is bad. I have been known to say "Entry is everything." This is a cute way of overstressing the point, but it is a valid point: Without a good entry, you simply don't give yourself a chance at having a winning trade. On a related point, most of the conventional wisdom and literature pertains to trading bull markets. In bear markets, the only way to win is to not hold too long. Also, entries are more difficult in a bear because you won't likely be saved by the big trend. Lots of folks get saved by this big trend in a bull market, leading many to think they are good traders -- you know what they say, "In a bull market, everyone is a genius." Cheers