Ed Goldstein

I've found that % risk per time period has made a difference for me and as the account grows I add to the contracts traded and the % of equity I risk. because... Early on I sat through many losing trades waiting for the % stop to get hit as I ostensibly "let the trade work." It didn't help that in 2002, I didn't have a real methodology and only a vague understanding of supply and demand in the micro time frame, but I bought hook line and sinker into Van Tharp's psychology coaching and position sizing concept and ended up "paper-cut" bleeding my account 1% at a time. Having a market view and understanding how to gauge supply and demand allowed me to then gauge my risk dynamically per day so I wasn't married to the hard stop on each trade...I would find that I was often correct in my understanding of turns in the market but needed flexibility in entering the trade so I scaled into with a max of three levels with a %per day risk. 'Scaling in' is also known as "working the trade" and it's not a magic bullet for bad trading. It can also be known as losing your a$$ or blowing out an account by adding to a loser. However this approach reined in by a % per day forced me to watch my criteria as opposed to hyper-focusing on nailing the perfect setup and slapping on a two point stop or % per trade stop and then feeling a false sense of security as though I were following good practices. When I had a useful marketview (like worldview) based on data driven supply and demand (i.e. a positive expectancy) that led next to tweaking on how to best risk in the market and then those together greatly reduced my anxiety and discomfort around trading thus buoying my psychology. Psychology and position sizing without a real methodology is akin hyping yourself up at an Amway rally. All the NLP, hypnosis, law of attraction rah rah psychology leads to grief with no payout for time and money spent. BTW It's not a slam of Van Tharp. I own his course and position sizing videos and it's not that position sizing and Pyschology aren't important. It's that they're useful in supporting a solid methodology.

Thanks for the feedback everyone! When I do hit the road I'll let you guys know for sure what I find! I really like the idea of "currency arbitrage" in the realm of living expenses. Tim Ferriss talks about living in Argentina at a substantial discount in 2003-4 even when the dollar was 'weak.' His gig is a little different: internet marketing and lifestyle design..but paying staff in rupees, living on pesos, and getting paid in dollars is the coolest. I guess I'm coming to this after some malaise with focusing on trading to the detriment of what I had originally asked from this profession...freedom to live and pursue that which truly means life to me. I don't want to end up a divorced lonely trader-recluse:) Trading to live, not living to trade, Ed

I'm curious if anyone has any tips on trading remotely while globetrotting? I've begun to be consistently profitable and I want to take the show on the road and wondered if anyone has suggestions on places to go or places to avoid other than warzones... Some books talk about working remotely like 4 Hour Work Week, but as a trader I'm spending, by my own choice, much longer than four hours and would simply like a change of scenery..can anyone relate??? Thanks, Ed In the USA..for now

Is Greece the tip of the iceberg? Chicken little may be ahead of us hunkering down in a cabin in the woods! http://www.fulcrumtrader.com/market-perspective/global-debt-is-a-holocaust-waiting-to-happen fast eddy

I'd like to see a body of research on the subject too.

Steenbarger's a sharp guy! I track the NYSE tick and use them to watch for equity "buy programs" as well a track the cumulative delta in the e-minis via fulcrumtrader, but he used marketdelta for cd and other volume analysis last i heard.