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Strategies & Market Trends : Systems, Strategies and Resources for Trading Futures -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: SE who wrote (2799)	8/30/1998 9:51:00 PM
From: Tom Trader	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 44573

>>Sorry to use you as an example Tom, but it came to mind simply because I don't believe I could trade like you do at this point in my development. That does not negate any of the respect I have for your calls or your methods. I wish I had 1/10 of the ability that you have garnered over the years and maybe some day I will. The difference is that many on these lists would put it down, whereas I hope that I am above that as I refuse to do that and instead would wish to learn more from you.<< Your post raises several interesting issues--and I first want you to understand that nothing that I state should be construed as defensive. First, ones trading approach is a function of temperament. experience, and success. Pat is an accomplished day-trader and he dislikes holding positions over-night. I have no hesitation about holding positions over-night--does not make one right and the other wrong. Some people day trade stocks, others like to hold them for a few days and some for years--to each his own and as long as it works for them that is what matters. Some are intuitive traders who use technicals to endorse their point of view and others are mechanical traders--again it does not matter what the approach is--the question is whether one is comfortable doing so and whether it makes money. I used to subscribe to omega list and stopped doing so some time ago because it was of limited use. Besides, I am not receptive to anyone who advocates a particular point of view or approach as being the only way to go. Many people don't like mechanical systems because it takes away the judgmental aspect of trading--frankly, it can make trading rather boring given that all one does is to buy or sell if certain conditions are met. For me the challenge was in developing the system and then improving it. I am now doing so with day trading systems--very challenging, frustrating, creative, humbling, etc -- but if I am able to develop a good system then it will have been worthwhile and if thereafter all signals are automated, so what?? I trade because I enjoy doing so and because I make good money doing so. One of the things one gradually learns to do as one becomes an experienced trader is to know how to distinguish the "wheat" from the "chaff" when it comes to views about the market, systems, trading approaches, etc. I read--or at least skim thru -- probably over a thousand posts each week on SI and there are probably a handful that say something that really hits home. The rest is, at best, of limited relevance and at worst, just noise--and I filter them out of my thinking as best as I can. I am not putting down the posters whose postings I read when I say this -- it is just that to do otherwise would adversely affect my trading. In fact, if I was not able to filter these view-points that are expressed I would not participate in SI. I think the greatest danger in participating in a forum such as SI or omegalist is that it can unduly influence ones thinking and at worst, one tends to follow blindly the prognostications of some one or the other who seems to speak with authority--until it turns out that they are wrong. No matter who one follows, whether on SI or elsewhere, there needs to be a clear strategy outlined for entry and exit--when it comes to stocks or index trades. So my advice to you as someone who is starting out in the arena of futures trading is to find what works for you and then filter out the "noise". I would not be the least bit offended if you determined that my method of trading was not for you--I am sure that Patrick would not care either. Take care