Tuesday, January 31, 2006
Someone from the emini's named Bob posted this and I thought it was relavant. It seems that there are a lot of trading quotes (although not this one below) that are posted from http://tradingquotes.blogspot.com/ I should check out that blog more.
In "Barbarians at the Gate" that was referred to as a 'BGO' or Blinding Glimpse of the Obvious. I know I'm in the minority on this, which is fine with me, but in my view trading psychology books and all of the emphasis placed on this aspect of trading does far more harm than good. It also extends the learning process and the cost of it by a significant amount (just like squiggly lines and other toys). Whenever you watch someone who is truly good at what they do you'll notice that they've broken things down to their simplest components, and that they have a mastery of those components. They also look for ways to win instead of excuses for why they can't. When we first get involved in trading we believe it's a complex game that's easy to play well (if I could only find the right entry technique) and adopt a strategy based on that false premise. However, in reality it's a very simple game that's extraordinarily hard to play well, and at some point we have to drastically change that strategy if we want to succeed (mastery of the simple things). Unfortunately the cost to come to this realization is usually quite high and most are unwilling or unable to make the change if they even make it that far. But if you do you'll then understand that the "HOW" of trading (methods) is unbelievably simple while the trade management side is the real challenge (Oh sh-t, now what do I do!!!). Granted this part is mostly psyche, but in the end this too boils down to a few simple things: how bad you want it, venturing outside of your comfort zones (change), and a desire to win that's greater than your need to be right because you will be frequently be trading against your opinion (if you're trading properly). You can over-analyze this if you wish but you won't be doing yourself any favors.
Trader X
In "Barbarians at the Gate" that was referred to as a 'BGO' or Blinding Glimpse of the Obvious. I know I'm in the minority on this, which is fine with me, but in my view trading psychology books and all of the emphasis placed on this aspect of trading does far more harm than good. It also extends the learning process and the cost of it by a significant amount (just like squiggly lines and other toys). Whenever you watch someone who is truly good at what they do you'll notice that they've broken things down to their simplest components, and that they have a mastery of those components. They also look for ways to win instead of excuses for why they can't. When we first get involved in trading we believe it's a complex game that's easy to play well (if I could only find the right entry technique) and adopt a strategy based on that false premise. However, in reality it's a very simple game that's extraordinarily hard to play well, and at some point we have to drastically change that strategy if we want to succeed (mastery of the simple things). Unfortunately the cost to come to this realization is usually quite high and most are unwilling or unable to make the change if they even make it that far. But if you do you'll then understand that the "HOW" of trading (methods) is unbelievably simple while the trade management side is the real challenge (Oh sh-t, now what do I do!!!). Granted this part is mostly psyche, but in the end this too boils down to a few simple things: how bad you want it, venturing outside of your comfort zones (change), and a desire to win that's greater than your need to be right because you will be frequently be trading against your opinion (if you're trading properly). You can over-analyze this if you wish but you won't be doing yourself any favors.
Trader X
