Hello Folks,
I've been lurking on these forums for over a year now and I've read some interesting stuff and there are a few really bright people in here.
However a lot of the stuff I've read is just so far off base from reality that I felt it was time to contribute some solid facts about the reality of trading to the forums.
A short bio about me I'm 47 and have made my living as a professional prop trader (stocks) for many years but after a really messy divorce I took a year off to refresh my mind. I started a small hedge fund and I also taught a few of my poker buddies how to trade.
I enjoyed the process of teaching people and found it to be very cathartic.
This time around I thought I would trade the fx markets because I want to travel and have a more balanced life and not burn myself out again and the fx markets allow me the flexibility to trade the NY or London open times.
Lets get down to some FACTS.
My trading rules are simple and these are words to live by and should be memorized.
1. The market (any financial market) is a LIVE AUCTION anything can and will happen at any time.
- This is where most people make the biggest mistake when it comes to this business.
- Almost all systems try and put the markets into some type of structure or box. When ABC happens I do ABC.
- IF the markets can change at any moment then how can anything that doesn't adapt to the CONTEXT of the moment and situation ever possibly be accurate or correct.
2. When the market is going UP I want to be a BUYER. When the market is going DOWN I want to be a SELLER.
- This is an interesting statement because it can mean so many things to so many different people.
- I keep this simple. If I'm trading off a 5m chart I follow the flow of the last 1 hr price action.
- I take the CONTEXT of the last hour into consideration when I'm planning out my trades.
For Example:
The last hour this am the GBP was ranging in a downtrend with a spread between the high and lows of the range of about 12 pips.
In this context I shorted the range high and covered at the range low.
I will provide lots of chart examples of this later.
3. When I get the price reaction I was expecting, I hold my trades till they are completed. When I do not see the reaction I was expecting then I cover my trades fast.
- This rule is all about CONTEXT as well. If I'm trading a range then hold till range lows if I'm trading a break out then hold till buyers or sellers show up.
I know this might sound very ambiguous to a lot of you because you are all looking for RULES and I understand that BUT the truth is the only RULES that work in trading are the big picture context rules and the rules you place upon yourself.
I do have rules but they govern WHAT IS happening in this CONTEXT not what happened before.
History does repeat itself but it never repeats itself exactly the same way it is always slightly different.
I will be posting some charts and making some live videos on you tube for your review.
I hope you enjoy the thread and I hope it helps you dispel a lot of the myths of this business.
I've been lurking on these forums for over a year now and I've read some interesting stuff and there are a few really bright people in here.
However a lot of the stuff I've read is just so far off base from reality that I felt it was time to contribute some solid facts about the reality of trading to the forums.
A short bio about me I'm 47 and have made my living as a professional prop trader (stocks) for many years but after a really messy divorce I took a year off to refresh my mind. I started a small hedge fund and I also taught a few of my poker buddies how to trade.
I enjoyed the process of teaching people and found it to be very cathartic.
This time around I thought I would trade the fx markets because I want to travel and have a more balanced life and not burn myself out again and the fx markets allow me the flexibility to trade the NY or London open times.
Lets get down to some FACTS.
My trading rules are simple and these are words to live by and should be memorized.
1. The market (any financial market) is a LIVE AUCTION anything can and will happen at any time.
- This is where most people make the biggest mistake when it comes to this business.
- Almost all systems try and put the markets into some type of structure or box. When ABC happens I do ABC.
- IF the markets can change at any moment then how can anything that doesn't adapt to the CONTEXT of the moment and situation ever possibly be accurate or correct.
2. When the market is going UP I want to be a BUYER. When the market is going DOWN I want to be a SELLER.
- This is an interesting statement because it can mean so many things to so many different people.
- I keep this simple. If I'm trading off a 5m chart I follow the flow of the last 1 hr price action.
- I take the CONTEXT of the last hour into consideration when I'm planning out my trades.
For Example:
The last hour this am the GBP was ranging in a downtrend with a spread between the high and lows of the range of about 12 pips.
In this context I shorted the range high and covered at the range low.
I will provide lots of chart examples of this later.
3. When I get the price reaction I was expecting, I hold my trades till they are completed. When I do not see the reaction I was expecting then I cover my trades fast.
- This rule is all about CONTEXT as well. If I'm trading a range then hold till range lows if I'm trading a break out then hold till buyers or sellers show up.
I know this might sound very ambiguous to a lot of you because you are all looking for RULES and I understand that BUT the truth is the only RULES that work in trading are the big picture context rules and the rules you place upon yourself.
I do have rules but they govern WHAT IS happening in this CONTEXT not what happened before.
History does repeat itself but it never repeats itself exactly the same way it is always slightly different.
I will be posting some charts and making some live videos on you tube for your review.
I hope you enjoy the thread and I hope it helps you dispel a lot of the myths of this business.