Repetition Is Key

Over half of what a good trader does is repetition, much like professional athletes. As Reggie Jackson says, "A baseball swing is a finely tuned instrument. It is repetition, and more repetition, and a little more after that". He could easily have been talking about trading instead.

Developing trading skills, as I have often repeated, is all about repetition. A trader needs to hone his skills with repetition in SIM. A trader needs to test and develop his trading plan through repetition in SIM. A trader needs to perfect his entry and exit skills with repetition in SIM.

I had a comment to yesterday's post that said: "Your blog has become a broken record."

Mate, you're missing the point.

This is my 351st blog post since October 2009. I blog almost every trading day. Yes, there is repetition. It's repetition because I say it and show it in different ways. Some people don't get a concept the first time or they don't get it the way I first showed it. Learning can be tedious unless you really love to trade. I learn every day. When I'm not trading I'm either researching or teaching.

On top of it all, there is not a lot of "new" in learning to trade. Trading is simple, but not easy. To achieve that "aha" moment can take months, but usually years. Mentoring and seeing ideas such as those in this blog helps shorten the learning curve. I know, because readers and students have told me so.

Additionally, a lot of time and effort has gone into writing blog posts that I think readers would enjoy or benefit from. And that is my criteria- Would I want to read that post?

On that note, I will be blogging on some additional topics in 2011, including exploring ways to make money using longer term trading techniques. I'm also bringing back the video trading recaps.

Today's trades show the benefits of identifying the beginning of a trend. This was the topic with one of the guys I am mentoring today during our 1 to one.