Is Your Edge Sharp?

There was a question yesterday about my charts, indicators and settings. I have quite strong views about this.

To trade successfully, you MUST believe. We all have belief systems from things we learned as children. When we were told not to touch something hot, we touched it and quickly learned not to. A WET PAINT sign is an invitation for the young to touch it. And so to is trading. I believe that you have to prove that your methodology has the edge to give you consistent profitability in the time frame and "style" that you evolve.

Well, how do you do that. There are two ways that I know of (unless you are one of the lucky "naturals"). The first is what I did: trial and error - lots of error plus a few years. The second is to find a teacher who mentors you to find a methodology that fits you and your aspirations. This is what Kiki and I did and it saves a few years and untold thousands of dollars. Before anyone makes a comment about this, Kiki is the first one to acknowledge how thankful she is to be mentored.  Learning to trade is like going to a top university with only a 10% pass rate. You wouldn't be fair to yourself, if you didn't acknowledge the difficulty of the task ahead and the degree of dedication and perspiration it will require to "graduate" and become consistently profitable.

Looking at the trades on my chart and believing that all you need is the charts, and profitable trades will materialise like magic is delusional at best.  Without the knowledge of how to use the charts by invoking the high level of dedication and perspiration I spoke about, you are only fooling yourself. If you think trading is money for nothing, think again. I know that this rant is a bit harsh, but I don't want anyone to think ALL they need to make money is my charts.

I'm glad we trade from Europe and don't have to get up in the middle of the night to catch the local morning time trades.

 

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