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Your favourite Elite Trader & favourite Post

Discussion in 'Educational Resources' started by SProbability, Aug 27, 2002.

SProbability
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Iâve been lurking around ET for several months now, and I think it is a really good resource (as long as you know how to separate the bs from the good stuff). I have come across some genuine pearls of wisdom here, and am keen to digest even more.

So who & what has fired your imagination on ET? I guess this will be similar to the gems series (but not restricted to any one author or suggester).

Iâll start with my fav post. It has to be the post by RS7 about accountability, simply for the reason that I have not come across such insight any where else, and I have read a good number of the must-read books.

My fav ETer, I think is NihabaAshi. The name conjures images of a wise old man smoking a pipe, squinting his eyes and dishing out advice to his eager students. I must say, his posts if anything, have reinforced that image.

There are several others like ArchAngel, Rigel, Kymar, RS7, AAAinthebeltway, AllenZ and Babak that come to mind who make consistently solid posts. Thanks guys!

It seems most people either love or hate Don? I must say I donât have an opinion either way, but I am impressed by the way he keeps his unruffled composure & good humour in the face of relentless attacks. I think he is a gentleman.

Now I know this might be unpopular, but SuperEgo is unrivalled for the buzz he brought to ET. Boy, Iâm in the UK & I would wake up every morning and rush to the PC to read the latest on his thread(s). The one thing that struck me is that he always used examples from the last day of trading. That is more than you can say for 80% of âgurusâ out there who use curve fitted hypothetical examples. Iâm not saying he was for real, but it was too early for me to make a call one way or the other. I would have liked to ask him some questions, but never got the chance to. Itâs a shame he decided to leave. Iâm also disappointed that Tony Oz pulled out of the challenge, because that made it easy for SE. We all know Tony is for real, but that challenge would have been one way of determining if SE was a fake or not. Anyway, ET hasnât been the same since his departure.

Anyway here is my fav post, please post yours.

The Super Secret of Successful Trading

I said I would do this, so here goes:

I have worked with thousands of traders. I have been paid to train hundreds of traders.
I have made a lot of money for my employers and lost plenty in my own accounts.
I have been a market maker, stock broker, proprietary trader, firm trader, and private money manager.

Why did I do so poorly in my own account.....?

Reason: accountability!
Purpose of this post: To try and help individuals to successfully trade their own accounts...in other words, the typical ET trader.

The one most common thing I see newer traders doing wrong is over-trading. It is understandable to me that new traders are impatient. They are told to learn from their mistakes. Not to be afraid to lose. Encouraged to trade a lot of small positions in order to more quickly gain experience. They want to speed up the learning process to get to their goal of making money as quickly as possible.

Traders are encouraged in some cases to generate commisions, order flow, ticket charges, desk charges. They feel like they have to trade to get their moneys' worth. Maybe they get a volume discount.

Newer traders read trading books, learn a zillion chart patterns and trading systems. They talk about technical theories, fundamentals, momentum, relative strength. They drool over technology that screens out parameters. They go to chat rooms and bulletin boards. They pay to "learn to trade" at seminars.

Some of these things I did. Most I did not. But invariably, I always made money for other people, and just couldn't do it for myself.
So after too many years of this, I came up with a mental approach that seems so obvious, but nonetheless took me forever to grasp. I had to treat myself as a customer/client. I could not use my intuition, my gut, my hopes and prayers in my own account. I never did for the clients, the employers and investors I had. Just for me. And what did it get me? POOR RESULTS.

So here is my Super Secret....if you are trading your own money, think of it as anyone's but your own. Have a reason for every single trade. Every single move. How would you EXPLAIN what you were doing to your mother if it were her money (as an example..use your own....your wife, child, priest, whatever). Could you explain? Or would you say "it's my job...I'm doing my job...I know what I'm doing"...etc.). The fact of the matter is I always knew that I could be questioned by those whose money I controlled. I knew I needed to have an informed and reasonable response. And I never got into a position I couldn't comfortably justify. But my own money? I didn't need to justify anything to myself. I felt I "knew what I was doing". I had my OPINIONS. I had my long term outlook, while I never used that in regard to my professional trading.

I am going to paraphrase something someone once said to me....We were working together managing money for an asian bank whose owners were very hard to deal with. I hope I can get his point across. I wish I could remember his words.. It was something like this:
"My wife went out one morning wearing gym shorts and a tee shirt over a bathing suit. She was going to meet her friends for breakfast and a day of boating. It was very cold, but it was very early. It was July in Arizona. I said to her, "honey it's freezing...take something warm". She said "no, it will warm up, it's summer."
Well it stayed cold and got colder still during the day. Rain,, wind, everything that "shouldn't have been". Her day on the water was ruined of course. Her car broke down on the freeway. The heat didn't work in the car, and the windows were home in the garage (an old jeep). She sat and froze until she finally got a tow after hours of shivering on the side of the road."

(I guess this was pre-cellphone days).

His point to me was to never assume to know what was going to happen no matter the circumstances. I never saw him make a trade he didn't believe would work. But he never "knew" it would work. He stayed consistent, but he stayed disciplined. If he was wrong, he saw it and changed his position. He believed what could be, but he knew what was.

He, and experience, taught me that opinions are plentiful. Their value is another thing entirely.

Now it is important to have opinions...no doubt....if you don't think something should or will happen, you cannot possibly initiate a trade. But be nimble. Don't hold opinions too long if they turn out to be incorrect.

I work with traders that only fade a big up or down open. They believe this will work more often than not because they know from prior results that this works for them. I know guys that only trade Nasdaq stocks, and others that only trade listed. I know guys that never trade after 10:30 and guys that are done by then. And on, and on.

Why do they do what they do? Because it is their discipline that they stay with what works for them. Do they keep the same style forever? No....traders have to adapt. But it is a slow process in general. So when things work well, you must press. When they don't, you must slow down. Or change. Usually one preceeds the next.

I have talked here before about the 3 most critical aspects of trading:
Discipline
Timing
Stock selection.

Discipline alway is on top. Be accountable to yourself. Treat your money as if it was entrusted to you by whomever you most love, respect, fear... whatever works.

Have a reason to make every trade. Be able to verbalize that reason. As importantly, have a reason to exit a trade. You hear "cut your loses and let your winners run"....That is so true. I so often have seen traders get our of good positions because they have achieved their "target price" "target of profit"....I say this is bad thinking. If the trade REMAINS a trade you would put ON at the time you "achieve target", why in the world would you take it off? To me, it is as important to have a reason to get out of a trade as to get in. Anyone can say to themselves they have a reason to exit a losing trade..."cut your losses"..Why then is it so hard for so many to have a real reason to get our of a winner?
It should be, and is, easy. It just takes DISCIPLINE. If you give back X% of your profit; if the market changes, if the group starts to get weak, whatever. You have to have your disciplines and stick to them. Make your own rules, and stay consistant to them.

I hope that all this typing can result in just one positive thought to just one person here. I have gone to so many "brainstorming" meetings in my career. I have listened to a million opinions, statements and arguments. I go though because I KNOW that if I pick up one single constructive thought I will have spent my time wisely. and believe me, they are few and far between. But I can remember single sentences said years ago in long boring meetings. Those senteces have added up to serve me well.

Timing should be easier for new traders to learn. Just be patient and buy or short at the price you pre-determine. Don't chase.

Stock selection...this is a bit tougher. I could write a hundred pages on this issue. But not being so inclined, have standards. Volume, percent of average volume, relative strength, news, whatever you are comfortable with. Know what your quote provider can tell you other than quotes alone. Look for trades, but don't be impulsive. Sometimes not making a trade is a great trade.

Again, I truly hope someone, somewhere, finds one thing of value in what I have said.
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#1 Aug 27, 2002

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Gordon Gekko
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Originally posted by SProbability
Now I know this might be unpopular, but SuperEgo is unrivalled for the buzz he brought to ET. Boy, Iâm in the UK & I would wake up every morning and rush to the PC to read the latest on his thread(s). The one thing that struck me is that he always used examples from the last day of trading. That is more than you can say for 80% of âgurusâ out there who use curve fitted hypothetical examples. Iâm not saying he was for real, but it was too early for me to make a call one way or the other. I would have liked to ask him some questions, but never got the chance to. Itâs a shame he decided to leave. Iâm also disappointed that Tony Oz pulled out of the challenge, because that made it easy for SE. We all know Tony is for real, but that challenge would have been one way of determining if SE was a fake or not. Anyway, ET hasnât been the same since his departure.
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i have a feeling he'll return. lol this sounds kinda like batman.

lmao this pic NAILS it!

#2 Aug 27, 2002

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born2trade
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The Aliens probably have him. They are riveted by his infinite wisdom. On those days when the markets rise unexpectedly we now know who is supporting them!
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#3 Aug 27, 2002

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FasterPussycat
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SE would have killed OZ. SE would have pulled more points out the market intraday over time than the OZZY could only dream of. And what a lame excuse Ozzy gave for pulling out (how do you do a chicken squawking ..."bwak bwak buk buk buk" ..ha ha)

#4 Aug 27, 2002

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Gordon Gekko
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Originally posted by FasterPussycat
SE would have killed OZ. SE would have pulled more points out the market intraday over time than the OZZY could only dream of. And what a lame excuse Ozzy gave for pulling out (how do you do a chicken squawking ..."bwak bwak buk buk buk" ..ha ha)
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Originally posted by FasterPussycat
DO YOU WANT SUPER EGO TO RETURN?

I WILL CAST THE FIRST VOTE:

A RESOUNDING YES YES YES!!

WHAT DO YOU THINK? I URGE YOU ALL TO VOTE YES NOW IF YOU WANT HIM BACK!
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Originally posted by ddefina
Yes, can you remember the login password?
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#5 Aug 27, 2002

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FasterPussycat
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#6 Aug 27, 2002

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SProbability
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born2trade, GG, Faster,

So what is your fav post?

I guess I can guess who Faster's fav ETer is, but what about born2trade & GG?

#7 Aug 27, 2002

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Publias Guest
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A mile, second mile top trader,quote
Jack Schwagers top traders quote,the paperwork he dedicated to his kind mother........................Atlanta GA,top trader,admits he likes Jim Cramer[Cramer-Berkowitz hedge fund]-Michael Masters................................Michael Masters-''Write down what you have learned.................exit a trade within a predefined length of time ,the time stop is triggered''........................Personal, try, war or no war,try to stay in the game..............My favorite time stops;as much time as possible on the right side of moving averages. Also use top traders stop-5, 15,30,60 minutes,2,5days.........................{written stop number in notebook]

MURRAY T. TURTLE

gets my vote for the ever so coherent posts he used to make on the old Trading Maxims/Quotes thread

#8 Aug 27, 2002

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Gordon Gekko
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Originally posted by SProbability
born2trade, GG, Faster,

So what is your fav post?

I guess I can guess who Faster's fav ETer is, but what about born2trade & GG?
More...

that would be like admitting a favorite child. hehe

#9 Aug 27, 2002

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uptik2000
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my fav ET trader(or wanna be trader) is easily MarthaNYC...
where the hell did she go ?

http://www.elitetrader.com/vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=4286&perpage=6&pagenumber=2

and my fav post of her's was where she put up that pic of herself...check it

#10 Aug 27, 2002

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