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Strategies & Market Trends : The Final Frontier - Online Remote Trading -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Richard Estes who wrote (1512)	12/5/1997 5:43:00 PM
From: TFF	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 12617

Email reply. Thought it was interesting: personally I have no luck position trading. Essentially this is what you are doing. If you are going to position trade effectively I would diversify. The only problem is when you diversify you limit your potential return. May as well use a mutual fund. Vicious circle isn't it? That's why I daytrade.For serious money it gives me the opportunity to use my experience "reading the tape" for concentrated positions and greater returns. Otherwise I buy mutual funds. For fun money, position trading can be a hobby but I wouldn't rely on it for above average gains. Cheers!

To: Richard Estes who wrote (1512)	12/5/1997 5:48:00 PM
From: Robert Graham	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 12617

Now this is the kind of dialog that is very instructive. It is revealing to the rest of us the thought processes from two traders, as it is presented in an evolving discussion. This is the best kind of dialouge. And then we have a few others jumping in to highlite or in other ways enhance the dialouge by putting their 2 cents in. I agree with Richard that a system or at least a plan is essential to make money trading. And I will add it is very important to stick with that plan until the trade is closed. So, if the plan was to day trade, then it would not be wise to turn it into a position trade. This would be changing your plan in the middle of the trade. IMO this is a very dangerous approach to trading, or even investing. I suggest that changing a day trade into a position trade is not a good idea because of the plan, which was to make a day trade. This is not because of what someone would see as a disadvantage to day trades, even with respect to that particular trade. I think it is important to have a plan or system and follow the plan despite what happens. This takes discapline, particularily for trades in the day timespan. From what I can tell so far, I am suggesting this where many if not most traders fail: developing a plan or system, and then sticking with it even when it does not look to their advantage. And of course this implies the adequate testing of the system that is developed before committing significant monies to it. So the best most successful system can be given to a beginner trader, where the system can do everything for them which is tell them the stock to trade, when it exit the stock, and the exit point. And you know what? I suspect most of those traders following this system would fail. They would fail because they did not have the discapline to follow the system. Any comments? Bob Graham