JBWTrader

Hi Jon Great thread mate. I like the idea you only take what the market gives you. you are showing great patience , well done. I have personally noticed that when I am pushing or forcing a trade.. mistakes happen....and losses of course occur. Thanks again for sharing All the Best John

Well done BG ! Great patience.... Keep up the good work Best John

Exactly Jay... As Dr Brett says...the pro's are preoccupied with finding setups and strategies and deifining these then proving them , whereas the Amateurs are preoccupied with the Psychology of themselves and/or of the market... All the Best john

Hi Brownsfan, A couple of other things to consider IMHO mate. I noticed you are on the phone with your programmer. If possible at the start or shortly into the project meeting face to face will give you both a much stronger synch together of what you require. I personally have found the phone/distance stuff difficult to manage. Soemone else mention very importantly leave no ambiguity in what you want. A lot of users (including myself !!) have not been as clear on the idea(s) as they should be right from the start....makes it very difficult for the Programmer. Adds cost on in the end. Just my 2 cents worth. Good luck on your project I hope you get what you are looking for. All the Best John

Hi Suri That is a very helful tool for traders. Thank you for posting that. Your comments on Tick chart size vs decision making is very relevant. What you have diplayed is a tool that can certainly help people form a more robust approach to the markets and it really asks the Question for people. How well does one know their strategy/Tactics/Systems. Of course there will always be debate about wether stop losses or targets should be rigid etc however at the end of the day these tools forces one to think further on many aspects of trading including ones style and rules.. You have been around a number of years and have a lot of people who respect your knowledge. I am one also who does... Thanks again All the Best John

Some excellent points.... Have you ever heard the saying you marry your OWN worse problem....? Well substitute the Married object with trading one and there you have it... PS my apologies if anyone takes this the wrong way without thinking about it some more...In no way am I downplaying marriage or blaming the other in all of this. Quite the opposite ... minus the blame ! lol... All the Best John

Thanks Gooni and NinjaTrader. Its good to be able to get down to this level of detail between systems. It helps with the final decision. So thanks to both of you for taking the time to lay it out straight .. All the Best John

Hi Servo, A lot of people also use Forex due to smaller margin requirements than Futures. I guess there is a split on most boards/sites between futures and Forex as to what people trade first up. It also comes down to what you are looking for with your money and what risk profile you want to fall into.. A lot of people err on the side of caution hence forex first....either way its got to be a lot of practice and learning before making money...best to learn on the least risk possible at first until your numbers show a consistent edge.. Be prepared to throw away at least $5-20K(and maybe then some !) on futures to start. Not a nice thing to say first up...with Forex one can trade a lot smaller and hence less risk...However different markets have different characteristics so be aware of that if you should switch from one to the other...etc Hope that helps Best John

Thanks ammo, ochie, gooni, forsearch, Midnight and LS Chad for all the input. I will have a look at the various options suggested. Thanks for your time All the Best John

Hi There, Was just wondering fi there are people out there who can reccommend a chart/software package that provides Tick by Tick Replay at real time and of course at quicker speeds. This would be much appreciated. All the Best John ps I know Tradestation doesnt and this I feel is hampering my learning curve...

Hi UrmaBlume I would like to hear more...interesting... How do you find the TS data export...? have you experienced delays in data and hence execution of your model..? curious here... Also Its interesting you have found a way that better approximates the "Up/Dn volume" at bid/ask...very interesting...how did you do that..? The reason I ask is it looks like I may be using an inferior approximation to up/dn volume picture...could you explain this a little more please... Much appreciated and look forward to the elevation in my trading ! All the Best John

IDAX and everyone thanks for sharing.... IDAX I have a couple of questions about your honest approach/weakness to cutting winners short... Have you ever noticed when you are ahead, the head kicks in...I dont want to lose...I dont want to lose...I dont want to give it back...etc one is almost holding their breath when they are about to make the decision...will I cut or wont I etc... Now also ever noticed the feelings that are underneath this thinking or the situation ..? If you delve into it more you will find some chaotic stuff going on....stuff that not many want to acknowledge...(and belive it or not evryone has these levels.........) Instead we cut the trade short of its potential as you have stated...we do this because in the choas we need to grab onto something...anything in fact..best not to experience the choas because we judge it as bad...unfortunately this is often a misconception...real change happens when one is able to dip into this and pull out quickly...This process can have a calming affect even..ie acknowledging or even naming the feeling that is there....alternatively some people suggests methods for thinking to overcome the feelings that lead to the acting out and hence closing the trade. I prefer the former method as I am less of a thinking type... Trading can get quite manic eg having found a trade on the right side to losing it....we get tested a lot here.... Now me telling all this isnt going to make it any easier for you or anyone...its like trying to tell someone to swim to shore when they are caught in a rip tide....not easy.. However the more conscious one is around these feelings the better we get and the more we do it the more change occurs....the more we have a thinking mantra or process the better we will be.. All good stuff though and by you raising this common issue helps in the process of change..Thanks for that. All the Best John

Hi SoulTrader, Great Question. On how to improve the site; - Keep asking that Question !!! - Provide feedback to those that have the ideas to help answer this Question - Implement what you think is right for the vision of where you want to take the site and explain why.... By the way what is your vision for it (its already very good by the way !!) Perhaps that should be at the top when you get the chance to articulate it even if it is a site that evolves over time.... Just some thoughts. Best Johnps please excuse me if you have posted it or something like it in the forum..

Hi Abe, Cangrats on your progress mate. As you know there are a lot of experienced guys on this forum that are only too happy to help out when needed. I have experienced their help myself. So I know where you are coming from. Keep up the honest work Best John

All good stuff to think about......Thanks James for starting this one... In my opinion the most dangerous emotion is the one we are not aware of, ie unconscious to. Emotions are very important In my trading I feel and more importantly in Life ! the two go hand in hand in fact. The goal is to integrate them as consciously as possible....this brings forth higher functioning...its not just the "bad" stuff but also the "good" stuff. We all have shadows...the idea is to get a feedback loop to them to "see" ourselves more in the here and now...The more we are present the more we can move about and hence change. I guess if we turn to trading for a second…one thing that has been drummed into me is the fact we need to keep accurate trading records and trade the plan. Why ? well these are the feedback loops or mirrors upon which we get the opportunity to change ourselves… However there is a catch….the catch is people don’t really like or know how to change…sure one can change ones car, house or even partner (not always easy by the way ! lo..) however when it comes to real change…well…more on that later….. I believe Fear and Greed can be broken down even more...eg Fear of what exactly...? the automatic response is fear of loss eg money.. or even fear of identifying with the loser image that one has of oneself if one loses....I would say it goes even deeper...Fear further down are about feeling states that start to bring about a sort of disintegration of ones own self structure...now that is scary when one begins to experience this...usually we shut ourselves off to these lower states by getting angry or start to blame ie project onto the outer world... Sometimes the anger is good as it motivates us into further change or knowledge... Greed on the other hand can be seen to be closely linked to fulfilling a deeper need. What do I mean by that ? Its like trying to get out of a situation what one thinks he/she wants more of eg more money will reaffirm ones image of being a "success" etc ,however for a lot of people this goes deeper again like fulfilling a need that has never been met before. This can have a destructive influence as one can become stuck to the object , even dependent. What happens next most of us have experienced….a compulsive acting out and in some cases a very strong identification with those very nice feelings states. Alas we all know the result a hubris results because we are identified with these nice feeling states and bang …Icarus drops from the sky….! So to conclude both these typical states that are commonly talked about in the trading world eg fear and greed I believe are more complex than one might at first imagine . You would be surprised how much one disppears or gets distracted when one doesnt want to integrate feeling states. in fact more than you will ever know..!! It would be very interesting to hear from traders how they have developed strategies to work through/past them and what that meant for their trading plan and style..… Again these are my thoughts/opinions/experiences. I would love to hear from others on these also. James , I am not sure if this is the right place to even talk about it. My apologies if it isn’t. Please feel free to move this where you see fit. Best John

Hi Guys Many thanks POP for the free book. I personally have found Rule 1 and the mindset around it to be an excellent tool in my own trading. On Rule No 2 I feel I persoanlly need more experience in trading seeing whats ahead in the plan. And of course bigger kahunas ! Once again a great book from a grateful admirer. All the Best John ps thanks Weiwei for starting the thread

Hi James, Well done for the post. I am personally available any time. Fridays is best for me after the market. I will try for any day when a get together is planned. As I mentioned previously somewhere I got a lot out of the last Paypal session thanks to you, Hlm and smwinc fantastic stuff. I have been thinking about the original postings of how we can better hold ourselves accountable. In Buisness its about having the allignment of authority, Responsibility and accountability to get the job done "right" in line with Key strategies,objectives and tactics For my own trading I think it would be to show someone my trading plan and the corresponding outcomes and question the hell out of why I did what and when. Ie did I trade my plan, How successful are my strategies and the feedback loop of where I might improve. Visa versa for the other person who can also get out of it something for themselves. Just some thoughts.... All the Best John

Hi Guys, Yep all go for me ! See you there ! John

Friday Afternoon is fine with me. 4.30-5.00 EST ? All the Best John

I have to report that I found yesterdays session of Traders Lab on Paltalk one of the best things I have done to be further develop as a Trader. It was a humble experience and personally a very grateful one to have. Many thanks to CM, Hlm and yourself James for the knowledge and experience you guys were willing to part with in the spirit of sharing with fellow members at any level. I certainly look forward to the next meet. I will also think about some of those topics for next time. All the Best John

Hi James, Thanks. Sorry to bug but when I click it on it tells me this. "It seems you have tried to open a link in a new window. Click on the links instead. " ie The Link wont let me in. Thanks John

I am in the same Position as Sydney. Chat room says its closed. Best John

I will be there also. Thanks Guys. All the Best John

I agree with Bryan David. Hopefully you dont feel bad about it. It was honest, thats all that counts. this seems such a rare thing in learning to trade these days !! Thank goodness for the Traders Laboratory ! A true wanting to find the truth and David you have lived up to this and more. Like you guys I have seen some things on TTM that I am not happy about. The Hubert Indicator "sales Crap" was the final straw for me with TTM. eg "An indicator co-developed by Market Delta, a Mathematician and TTM !! lol...So it will be pretty expensive...." Well they cut it down from an estimated $900 to the $499 in the end. But I think they have lost some people from it (including me !) Best Regards John ps Thanks Blue-Ray also !!