Ingot54

My Reply Hi John Thanks for catching up Good to hear that you are balancing things a little better - you're doing fine - and yes, no need to be hard on yourself. Sometimes we are harder on ourselves than we would be on an employer. Yet we should regard ourselves as employees, with us as the boss, and be a bit kinder. As any good employee would, we then perform much better, knowing that our best effort is good enough. Nothing more is needed. To show I am human too (true!) I made a trade of the AUDUSD last night that was 100% set to go, with every possible thing lined up. Yet this morning I logged in to discover that the trade had reversed on me, and I was stopped out. I didn't moan or groan about it - I accepted it, because this is what happens in trading. I looked over the setup, and no - I didn't make any foolish mistakes, or any technical errors. It was simply one of those things that happen. Currency trading is driven mainly by economic news, and there was nothing that could/would influence my trade. Yet it reversed ... go figure! Now I am tempted to "revenge" trade - to re-enter the trade as it finally is going in the direction I chose. But the problem now is that my indicators do not line up. If I enter now, against the indicators, what will I say to myself if it turns again, and runs again against me? No - I have to take a deep breath, and simply say: "Next please" and look for the setup amongst the other pairs I trade. That is the nature of trading, and the only way to approach it - free of emotions, and free of desires to treat failed trades as evidence of personal failure. In trading I do not have to be right every time. I just have to take every setup, knowing I will not get a 100% win result. Last night's effort was just one of the losses that happen. If I did something foolish, I would accept the responsibility, learn the lesson, and look for the next trade. And even if I can not find the reason, the action is the same ... move on to the next. As long as I remain consistent and ply my method exactly as per rules, then the outcome is assured. Keep in touch mate - I am certain we will be able to move you to the next level. Meanwhile, you could write down a copy of your selection rules, and method, and perhaps details of how you manage your trades. And email it off to me to look over, if you feel it would help. Also, do you trade by Fundamentals, Technicals, a mixture of both, or by something like CANSLIM? (Google it if unsure) And do you look at whether the general market (S&P500) is rising/falling? Do you do sector analysis to isolate the best and most consistent sector? And then, do you select the best few stocks within that sector, to locate the outstanding moves? If you haven't got these things on paper, then perhaps that would be something to do while feeling the need to look at the markets. One good way to isolate errors is to have the plan written down, and then look back and see if you deviated anywhere from that plan. Also, there are several stocks that are perfectly suited to Day Trading, such as Google, Microsoft, and so on ... and some volatile ones I don't have the names of now. Years ago, before Rupert Murdoch moved from Australia, the stock of his company (called NEWSCORP then) used to fluctuate in a broad band up and down over the course of 2or 3 weeks, by $5 or $6 ... probably more. At the time I was a novice, and often wondered how to exploit this. Of course I know today how to do that, but by the time I had it worked out, the stock was delisted. It was a dream stock to Day Trade - perfect liquidity, and 'almost' predictable. Whatever the NYSE listing name of Murdoch's company is today, I'll wager that the same pattern still exists, and is ripe to be exploited by someone who is interested in specializing in one stock. It is a stock you could get to know the characteristics of quite easily, and it could easily become your bread-and-butter. Such stocks have occasions when you stand aside and do not trade them, but then they set themselves up for a killing, and that is the time you trade them. Very simple ... but not easy. I have never been a day trader, but I have dabbled in CFD's, and understand a few of the issues. Hope this has been of some help John Kind regards Ivan

I understand why you might use the word "pretenders" But the fact is that many of us who have yet to tread the "pathway to riches" DO know something about trading. Many of us HAVE turned our trading around. So why would we not wish to share those things that have been shown to help us already? Is this not another step along that pathway? It takes time to learn the art of trading. Reading, discussing, rebuking and receiving rebuke, contributing and practising, winning and losing, attempting and failing, hannging in, tweaking, focusing, reviewing, testing and so on ... and on ... I do think the word "pretend" IS a little harsh. Because these "pretenders" will one day break through, many of them. And without the forums and the posts, the teachers and the guru's, the strategies and the strategists, the charts, blogs, journals, mentors, coaches and yes even the psychologists, the whole industry would be in a sorry state. Under such conditions even you would be struggling, as you would be forced to compete with traders who have deeper pockets, better software, more experience, better inside information and on and on. You wouldn't have the fodder you now have - those pretenders who are currently your easy pickings, your bread and butter, simply because you see them as pretenders. These little traders who are losing their money are the other side of your trades, and you see them as pretenders. I understand that. Most of what is written on forums is simply stuff that people have read in various trading books, and it is being discussed and regurgitated. If that is pretending, then it means the authors of those books are probably charlatans and misleading their readers. Posting things is a means to crystallise the understanding each writer has, and as such they leave themselves open to the critique of their peers. This is something lurkers on forums miss out on - they fail to expose their thoughts to others, and so fail to receive the rebuke or the confirmation that might be the next step for them. Much of what I have ever written on forums could be regarded as taken from my own experiences in trading. As to whether there is any authority about it - only a reader can confer that kind of status. I have never claimed to be an authority on anything. But being labelled a pretender will not deter me from "faking it until I'm making it." I don't see anything fake in writing about something I believe enough to share with others whom I regard as fellow travelers. You may not have aimed the word directly at me - I don't think you did - but it stands that without the pretenders, forums would never be the venue where people like yourself find an audience.

Norman I don't think it's such a bad thing to "gut it up" as you say. Your label "Macho Syndrome" is a little too presumptuous for me. It is not necessarily a Macho activity to not quit, to not give up, to strive until the day of success. Might it not be possible for traders to experience the breakthrough AFTER "gutting it up" for long enough that they begin to take a serious look at the other things they are doing too, and making corrections there? Traders need not necessarily be "out of control" (define "out of control" for me) if they are having a problem reaching goals. You mentioned that "most traders will admit that the mental part of trading is key to winning in the long-term" ... they might - but I don't. It may play a part, but I think the use of the word "key" might be a fair way beneath the three points I make below. I understand how, from your perspective, it would be nice to have that aspect reach the zenith. Facts speak for themselves - there are not a great number of traders who are putting up their hands in support of these kinds of notions - Mark Douglas had a go, but the consensus these days is that his ideas, while nice, don't actually help many traders make a true difference over time. His stuff sold well for a time, because he was the first kid on the block to get it into print, and led the herd. Most serious traders may have passed that simple point in their pilgrimage a long time back. In fact I don't know any struggling traders who still believe that hooking up to a guru/strategy/system ... etc ... is in any way "the pathway to riches."I class myself as a struggling trader, even though I no longer have the persisting losses of the past. I no longer have the big drawdown either. These days I simply accept that the markets should be played by those who have: a) The capital to trade through market activity (trend/range) b) A strategy that delivers a positive expectation (edge/opportunity) c) No need of the money (other means of subsistence independent of trading) Trading financial markets should not be attempted by those with less than $20,000 and the above attributes. To do so is ok, but the mindset should include words like "hobby," "gamble" and so on. Further, I am not aware of any single trader who is walking "the pathway to riches" (your words, not mine) following some decent head work either by yourself or some other well-known psychologist who frequents this forum. It may well be that there are such creatures on the pathway to riches, but it is doubtful that you will find a psychologist amongst them. Psychologists are business people. Traders trade. I don't know any psychologists who trade successfully, though FXGirl says she does. Given that I know you are a trader who walks the talk, I find your comments more acceptable. Your posts and trading examples are all over this forum, but for me, I am still unable to understand where you are coming from. That is not meant to be a criticism of you or your methodology. But without also enrolling in your course, or becoming one of your students, I am destined to never being able to understand your strategy clearly enough to make even one trade successfully. In that respect, you are in the same boat as Norman - a man with a mission ... an agenda? I happen to respect you and Norman for what you do, but thanks for the insight. In hindsight I might be glad I declined. It might explain why I don't win (enough) at trading ... but I don't lose either. Still open, still looking, still trying, still waiting for Norman's "key." "Gutting it up" has placed me closer to where I want to be than the intervention of any single person. Why would I change that now? There isn't an answer that defines it (ie why I would want to change anything), and still be classed as a civil response to the question!

Thank you for your submission - it may yet prove invaluable. As I said, I am only able to release certain information. Although I mentioned "a sudden-but-clean end" I was unable to specify the actual situation, because this is a family forum. Let me simply say that with the small amount of organic material recovered, the statement I released was a "best case" scenario. The deceased appeared to have come to the end of his resources, despite developing a significant ability to trade. To disguise certain facts, as is the custom during the careful release of information to the public by my department, I deliberately understated the IQ of the hapless victim. Certain "other facts" will remain with-held at this time, including whether the "deceased" is in fact the John Doe we are holding. What I am at liberty to disclose is that this particular John Doe is not the first, and will not be the last. Specific forums have been set up on the Internet in an attempt to prevent further of these unfortunate events. However, at this time, it appears that apart from the incredible material presented on Traders Laboratory, most of these Internet forums rate a "fail" in that regard. Traders Laboratory seems to be improving, and it is hoped that fewer JD's will pass into our hands as a result of the efforts of that forum. For now, however, the actual rating of a Trader IQ seems not to be making any difference in the numbers of traders following in the footsteps of your friend. In fact, the more intelligent ones are beginning to question whether they really gain any long term benefit from the activity known as "Trading" at all. Please be aware that any information, statistical or otherwise emanating from my department, may or may not be accurate, as certain situations are perpetuated for the profit of certain individuals and departments. This will already be clear to more experienced "traders" who are knowledgeable enough to avoid promotions of systems and strategies as a means to grow wealth. We release only enough information to prevent panic in the general trading population, and I am not authorised to add anything other than that. Long term, the goal is to prevent the sad situations we are confronted with daily. Unfortunately, this information may have been made available too late to assist your friend.

It is probably the high AUD that is making whitegoods cheaper in this country (Australia.) There may be a jump in inflation once China stops buying Australian resources (soon?) as the AUD goes into free-fall, and imports rise in cost relative to an increasingly unfavourable exchange rate. But that hasn't happened yet, and remains conjecture. Australia has very little manufacturing, despite having all the right ingredients to do so - rare earths, energy (coal, oil, uranium, gas) iron, aluminium, gold, copper, zinc, silver, lead. It has always baffled me as to why Australia does not have the worlds largest ship-building industry for starters. And why we are not the most industrialised and wealthy nation on the planet. It does not wash with me that we don't have the capital to develop these industries, or the skills. We soon find the capital to fund our defense forces - warplanes (F-35 AUD$16billion), warships (AUD$1.5 billion each), useless Collins-class Submarines that are not seaworthy, yet cost AUD$5billion (plus undisclosed "fixing" costs), 24 MH-60R Seahawk "Romeo" Helicopters AUD$3billion, wars in Viet Nam, Iraq, Afghanistan that were not our fights, and these peoples were not/are not our enemies. Somehow we are being sold, and the nation is buying it - that the National Broadband Network (NBN) which is going to deliver "Fibre-to-the-Home" (FTH) at a cost in 2011 dollars of $43billion. That's $43,000,000,000. It will take "10 years (ha ha ha) to build" with "no cost blowout" (insert maniacal sarcastic laughter.) And will somehow deliver incredible economic benefit merely by its existence!!! And the public are buying the story. Sheeeesh! That is a public who see nothing wrong with $22million people - 11,444,000 employed as at May 2011 - to pay for the above $billions of wanton and stupid expenditure. That 11 million "employed" counts people who are in employment for one hour per week in the week of the ABS survey! Ha ha ha ha! It is moot, but even if I am over-stating the situation, there is no real reason Australia could not still rise to be a greater industrialised nation than the mighty Germany. It deeply bothers me that Australia is the dirt-pit of the world - used to supply minerals and energy to people who will turn their backs on us in the blink of an eye when it suits them. To me, it is just proof that: 1) Australian Politicians lack Vision 2) Australian businessmen lack Vision 3) Australian Politicians and Businessmen lack guts and determination to make it happen 4) Australia "owes" something to other countries that is not publicly known 5) Australia is simply a prostitute, with no hope of ever getting off her back! Simple question ... why is Australia not the most powerful nation on the planet? Here we are, in the very midst of the greatest commodity and resources boom in the history of the planet, with unprecedented prices, and massive tonnages of minerals leaving our shores every day, and the government STILL NEEDS TO BORROW $130 MILLION EVERY DAY to run the country! Is it something to do with globalisation ... Club of Rome stuff? Or is it more to do with the failure of our dear leaders? Sorry for the rant, and the off-topic stuff ... but I guess this situation has a lot to do with fiat money ... and the reasons we went off the gold standard to begin with. Australian currency has not been backed by gold since 1933, when our banknotes began to show the term "Legal Tender" instead. Museum of Australian Currency Notes: Currency Notes of the 1930s If you are still with me after this tome, you might like to click on the above link, and note that Australia used to pride itself on Manufacturing, Commerce, Pastoral and Agricultural pursuits to provide subsistence for its people. Today we have a sand-pit for an industry, and printing presses for our currency provisions, while we spend $130 million more each day than we produce. Source: KEN O Siuya - I would advise you not to respond ... I am in a "mood" today, and you know you will get 1000 word responses which drift in-and-out of the rational, and largely off topic. I'll be back to normal tomorrow!

Merde!Mierda et Scheisse! Ce n'est pas pour moi. Incroyable! Definitely a spectator sport! Just a routine run for those guys!

I have just been in touch with my handlers and superiors. I am now in a position to confirm certain facts. It was indeed your friend's remains which were recovered from the Cahulawassee River. That's all I'm saying at this juncture. Investigations are ongoing of course, and we are aware of certain facts surrounding this case. I feel obliged at this point - under some duress - to ask the public to desist from asking too many questions about the topic under investigation. Move along people - nothing to see here. Your friend looked like he met a sudden, but clean end. Others were not so fortunate - (yes there were others ... some of this is ugly.) By the way - the deceased had a Traders IQ of 115. It was not enough!

My response and his reply ... I will post the tomorrow! Encouragement and other stuff Hi John Just reading your note now - it's 9 pm here - nearly 9 hours since you sent the message. Since we moved to Hervey Bay, we have had Internet problems, and yesterday our email failed to receive emails from the ISP. This has been fixed (from their end) just now, and I had a stack of emails flood my in-box!! Another thing I thought might motivate you to keep away from checking your favorite stocks ... this is the "silly season" where markets are concerned, and volatility and light volume means the prices can do what they like and no one is the wiser for the explanation. So best to take a break while the "heavies" are taking theirs! I have been unable to contact the moderator of Traders laboratory re getting out of the moderating queue, and will have a third attempt tonight. I have contributed 4 posts, and all of them have been delayed. In 3 of the posts, the conversation moved on past my contribution, and when the posts did appear it was as if I didn't post at all - the moment and the content was lost. So if I can not get permission to leave moderated status, I will simply assist you via email instead. No problems there ... it will just take more time, because I like to have what I have previously written to be visible, so as to maintain some continuity of thought, and to avoid repetition. Just do your best John - I am not going to hold you to account over what you can do. I can only say that the making of a decent break from the daily pressure certainly does refresh the brain enough to see things very differently and far more objectively. Cheers mate Ivan ************************* ****************** John's Reply ... Hello Ivan,, Just wanted to drop a line and say hello. I spent Friday and today with my daughter and haven't turned on my charts at all. I did do a little trading related reading over the weekend and looked for your TL posts and read those. Did the moderators contact you yet? Just wondering. I know you mentioned that you won't hold me to account over what I do, now I just need to be a bit easier on myself. I think I have put a lot of pressure on myself and this break hopefully can ease some of that. We are having very cold weather and are supposed to get some snow this week. I have a couple inside projects planned that I hope can keep my mind off trading and also will make me feel good to get them accomplished. Again I want to thank you so much for your time and hope you are well. Thanks John

Initial Response from John Hello Ivan, I just got home from the store and sat down here to see you have replied to my e-mail. I read what you said 2 times already and will read it again as clearly you not only put a great deal of thought in what you are saying but also the way and timing is spot on for me. I have been very ... well ... overly focused on my trading and many things in my life have taken a back seat including family and my health. They are very supportive but also must not be forgotten ... and well ... I too am missing out. I have always been very active and in good shape / health but sitting here day after day ... well ... I can tell I need to get up and away EVERY day as you say. I will take what you say very seriously. I need better balance and just didn't realize this. Well ... maybe in the back of my mind I knew but sometimes we need it to be pointed out ... so thank you. I think my mind needs to be a little less cluttered and I need to relax so I can maybe begin to see things clear once again. Your letter has been a very welcomed inspiration for me and I look forward to any further ideas and comments you have and completely understand that it can take up a lot of your time. I am most greatful ...Thank you. One last thing, if its ok I will send you another e-mail in a day or so and try to give you a better idea of my trading history and what I believe are my strengths and weaknesses and I will try and do so in a manner that will make some sense and I will need to give this some thought. Thank you John

In a perfect world this would no longer occur, Pony, because it would be written in the history books what did happen long ago. That would be the best deterrent of all - someone actually DOING what they say will be done, instead of the bluffing and wrist tapping that the courts are best-known for today

No Siuya ... it is inflationary policies that enslave us. We are like slow-boiled frogs - we don't see the danger until it has passed the tipping point. When you are a self-funded retiree, and you can not get a return on your investments because interest rates are held down artificially by a Central Banker who has never had a blister on his little pink hands; and when you are a self-funded retiree who takes his limited income to the grocery store and finds that this week he has to drop eggs from the shopping list because the money is already committed through higher prices in everything else, then you are a slave. In other words our savings are being eroded on two fronts, by people who are the "servants of the system" whether knowingly or not - I don't really care either way.. Fortunately for myself, I am a slave to the salary and wages system ... I have not morphed over to the SFR system yet, so I still feel I have a degree of control. I have no mortgage, and no debt. Only moral obligations to those (outside immediate family too) who have come to depend on me. But I do notice the insidious rising of prices at the supermarket. And I notice the price -gouging at the fuel pump. Consider this: 2009 - 2011 AUD ......... crude oil price ............ pump price for gasoline 0.85 ......... $USD147 / bbl ................. $1.45 / litre 1.06 ......... $USD93 / bbl ................... $1.40 / litre One would expect Gasoline to be lowered by both a higher AUD and a lower Crude price. But no - it is as high or occasionally higher. So who is ripping off whom? And who is watching this occur, and why aren't "they" putting the thumb screws on the companies? Is it because BP needs to recoup some Gulf of Mexico costs and their mates in the right places are allowing it to occur? Thank goodness for Golf Clubs - where most of these deals are worked out amongst drinking mates out in the open air, away from the prying ears of the wire-tappers! But if I believed that I would be a conspiracist, wouldn't I? ... :rofl::rofl: No one who has half a brain believes for even one micro-second that true inflation is anywhere near 3%. Shadow Government Statistics : Home Page

Hi Tradezilla - thanks for your contribution. Let me state from the outset that I am not the kind of trader you would wish to follow. I wouldn't class myself as a loser any more, but neither am I wildly successful ... no Ferrari's in this garage for awhile ... :rofl: But if I aim for small trades, I can pretty much win 100% ... and that is not a boast - just a boring fact. The side that is not attractive is that I am only trading for small stakes, and I rarely make more than 40 pips. I need a manager I think ... I have been involved briefly in the scalping zone, and I simply don't do well in the short time frames. When I get up into the Daily and 4H time frames, I can make a few pips with no trouble. For example, on Monday night I had two trades and made pips - no loss. Tuesday night - one trade, short USDCHF ... +40 pips. I can do this stuff any day ... every day of the week, provided I remain focused, but I work night shifts, and I attempt to force trades through at times, or I attempt to trade when fatigued. This week I am taking a few days off, and apart from the three winning trades (and another I don't count where I gained $AUD0.57), there have been no others available under my setups. And I am determined to not trade until I have a reason that can not be ignored. Then I take the shot. I look at the Monthly and Weekly trends, to get a feel for where the market "wants" to go. Then I look at the Daily, and then the 4H to see if my setup is developing or ready to trigger. I also look (briefly) at the 1H TF. All of this stuff only takes me about 40 seconds. I usually look for the RSI / Stochastic and MACD to either cross or be trending-to-cross in the TF I am targeting. The lower TF helps me to nail a better entry, but I don't care much if it is not perfect. Too much time can be spent on that, and often the price is already slipping away. If everything is ok I simply jump in - it works often enough for me to be comfortable with that style of entry - and it is no worse than a highly calculated and technical entry. I am either right or wrong. If I am wrong, I am out in about 20 - 30 pips. I think it is a fallacy that trading the higher TF requires 100 - 200 pip Stop Loss positions. While I have set those in the past, I find it is better to simply choose the smaller ones, and wait until my original concept of direction becomes "right" again, or I pass on the trade. I have 5 pairs I like to watch - EURUSD - GBPUSD - USDCHF - AUDUSD - GNPCHF. I don't entertain the JPY pairs - they are killers for my style of trading, and too volatile for my nerves a this point of my development. And I simply do not need them - I can make pips without the added risk, and I can get to know the 5 pairs more intimately. I should add that I use a pair of MA's to confirm other stuff I need to see. One is an SMA and the other is an EMA. There are others ... But I am wondering why you have become interested in FX - do you perceive that there is a better opportunity there for you? I stick with it because I have been doing it for years now, but I often wonder if I would have been better trading futures over the time I have been educating myself. I tend to think that traders should try a couple of markets, then choose one or two, and stick with them - specialise. I think it takes a good trader to manage more than one or two instruments.

Ha ha ... this is the 8th Wonder of the World ... and the most closely guarded secret on Traders Laboratory. So secretive is this IQ assignment process, that even the administrators of the forum are not privy to how it works: http://www.traderslaboratory.com/forums/support-center/9309-trader-iq-bar.html Once you have it though, you are bonded to the forum for life, and there is no escape!

No ... you could actually make MORE money if the system was perfect, by adding value to whatever you are doing. A perfect system would simply ensure that you received what you have earned, not as we now have, a deceitful and manipulated situation, where only those with inside information, or deeper pockets have the advantage. Under a perfect system, those who are lazy and shiftless, would receive the rewards of their attitude - poverty. In fact, under a perfect system, those who don't produce efficiently would be the last hired, and dependent on the welfare of the good grace of those who work diligently. If you worked harder, more efficiently for your employer, both he and you would prosper and win. If you improved the product you made, and/or made it more efficiently you would be paid more. In a perfect system we would not need Labour Unions because workers would not need to become collective bargainers. By the same token, they would deliver a fair day's work for their pay, and get a fair day's pay for their work. In small groups, small enterprises and businesses, this principle is far more efficient than it is in larger conglomerations. The reason is that a level of personal knowledge and care exists in the relationship between employer and employee, and trust and integrity are valued more than the 10 minutes pay for the unavoidable overtime on the day. There is no need for litigation between small business owners and their employees, because the business owner has personal knowledge of his employees, and vice versa, and problems can be more quickly worked out at the discussion tables, and not the courts, as in big business. Of course, this is in the "perfect" model, not the realistic one we are actually living. Regarding currency, which is getting back to topic ... workers exchange their time and their labour for money, conditions and perks. Something is given and something of value is gained. When someone can create money that has not been produced through the effort of labour (ie printing press, or electronic decimal place manipulation) where no value has been added, then it cheapens the value of the labour that DOES work for the money. Taken to the extreme, this would end up as slavery. Sound familiar? What is inflation, if not enslavement of people? This video is 6 min 46 long ... and I include it to show that there are indeed intelligent forces remaining that would like to see the return of slavery. The Civil Rights movement battled long and hard and had assassinations within its own ranks, before victory was assured. If these forces that are interested in a return to slavery for some (or indeed all) "common" people, are still harboring those values, might it be feasible that they would use other means to effect those ends? ANY other means? [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TmMOvLCCO0c]YouTube - ‪Slavery: Presidents and the Constitution‬‏[/ame] The current Fractional-Reserve banking system Fractional-reserve banking - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia coupled with the current fiat money system Fiat money - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia and the market economy Market economy - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia are what we have. What we really need to know and understand, in order to make sense of the Fiat Money vs the Gold Standard debate, is who is benefiting from the current demise of the dollar? Answer that question and you might uncover truth. The current fiat money system ushered in by the eradication of the Gold Standard by President Nixon in 1971, (ostensibly to inflate away the costs of the war in Viet Nam) is now manipulated by those who are hell-bent on devaluing the $USD to pay for consuming excesses and ongoing wars, space programmes, welfare, social security, pension and retirement prgrammes and social medicine bills, all run up in the last 25 years, and doubled in the past 5 years, conservatively speaking. Given that vested interests are in control of the treasury benches, how then are they making themselves prosperous through the trashing of the world's reserve currency? More importantly, since the break-down of the $USD is not in the best interests of the American (and indeed all) working people, what foreign interests are benefiting from the impoverishment of this nation, and others like it in the west? Unfortunately we do not have a perfect system, but that does not mean we should stop striving to build it. But it will not happen until men value their personal character, reputation and integrity more than they do the dollar. And these men must lead their families and teach these same principles to their sons and daughters. Where might we find such men today ... even ONE man? Under a perfect system ... :) It might not be such a bad idea to wrest back the "executive power" enjoyed and abused by the USA's top power echelons, who are now "governing by executive order" and get back to the founding fathers principles enshrined in the United States Constitution - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia I have tried to avoid the inclusion of conspiratorial attitudes, but it is hard to avoid, given that the rich-and-powerful have used, and will continue to use, all means political and financial to achieve their ends.

This might be important now ... but it WILL be important later ... Remember this was made in 2007 - the man has insight and foresight. [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cziN3gt-hic&feature=related]YouTube - ‪The Truth About The Economy: Total Collapse‬‏[/ame]

For those who like to short the markets ... [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sK50So-yYRU&feature=related]YouTube - ‪Explosive Demolition- 2002 Best Building Implosions‬‏[/ame]

This one is for real ... if you dare ... only at Kitzbuhel! 5 mins ... action starts at 1m 40 seconds ... if you want to skip the preamble! [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vmZ2XI9poME]YouTube - ‪Just Ski It Webisode 2: Kitzbuhel‬‏[/ame]

Initial contact with John Here is the original message I received from John, together with my first response: Hi my name is John and I live near (in) USA. Your recent post was just about the best thing I have read in a long time. http://www.traderslaboratory.com/for...cess-9057.html I am 52 years old and have been day trading for almost 1 1/2 years. I am laid off work for nearly 2 years and am devoting my time to learn to become a successful trader. I am at my desk 2 hours before market opens and usually am here before bedtime. I trade equities and am very risk adverse. I have yet to learn how to take profits when they are there and usually exit too soon. I study Daily support levels and look for higher highs and higher lows and lower lows and lower highs. My point is that I look for support and resistance levels that are at strong levels (daily spots) and look to enter on shorter time frame charts. I am lost. I don't feel as if I have a tradeable methodology or a system that I can call my own. I just cant get my head around this. I struggle with direction of a stock when it approaches my level and I usually hesitate. I pick really good levels but am so indecisive when price gets there. Your post was just great and I am not asking for you to make me a great trader but rather does this sound similar to what you went through? I don't know how to come up with my methodology and rules for me to follow. I like breakout trades ... of daily highs and lows,and support longs and resistance shorts of daily highs. Many times they work and many times they don't ... am I asking for perfection? I think so and I know that's impossible. Maybe I really do have a methodology and don't even know it? I am really stuck. Any words of wisdom would be greatly appreciated from someone that has been there. I take criticism well and would learn from an outside view if you have a few moments time to write back. Thanks for taking the time to read this. John ************************* ****************** Hi John 7am here in Queensland Australia, and I just received your message. Thank you for the kind words. I would like to help where I can - even if it is just ONE thing that takes you a little further along the road to trading success. There is so much to learn and yet so little once you understand what to do. I tend to use a lot of words, but will try to keep that under control without losing any of the impact if I can. I do not know really what your history has been as a trader, or the mistakes you have made in the past, so at this point all I can do is run through some items hat I regard as serious considerations for traders. * Do your utmost to preserve your capital There are many reasons for this - the very least of them is the actual financial loss. Having the capital is, of course essential - you can not trade without it. But consider what happens when you have a loss ... the very first thing you experience is anger, or at the least, frustration. This should not be. You should not be emotionally moved by either a win or a loss to the extent that it causes you to visibly react - either physically, verbally or even with a sigh with a loss, or a chuckle if you win. Of course we are human, and not Mr. Spock, so it is only natural that we do have some satisfaction or disappointment at the results. After all we trade to win, and with winning comes the realization of our financial goals. But the real reason I mention "preserve your capital" as the very first item, is PSYCHOLOGICAL, or in simple terms, CONFIDENCE. It is very easy to take the next trade if you have been winning your last 5 trades in a row. Your confidence soars. But consider the opposite - how damaging is it when the last 5 trades have ALL lost. You must at the least, suffer some serious loss of confidence in your ability to select good trading situations. This is the very worst aspect of losing capital - you lose the ability to pull the trigger at the correct moment, and even watch helplessly while trades go by that you should have taken, and thus miss the potential profit of them. It is all very well to observe that this happens - I have felt it, and so have you, clearly. But what can be done about it? How can we stop the bleeding of finances, and even more importantly, how can we turn around the situation so that the account begins to grow instead? * Break your greater financial target down into smaller ones How many points, or dollars do you need every month just to stay afloat? How much would you need then, to be actually climbing ahead? Ok ... having worked this out, conservatively I hope - we don't want to be unrealistic here, because down the road we can always step up to improved targets. Once we have the monthly figure, the next step is to break that down to weekly values, and of course daily values. Now I never set arbitrary targets, though there is nothing wrong with that - it is still a plan. But targets can be like markets - full of "noise". One day you exceed the target, the next you miss it by a few points, but the idea is to establish a guideline that will bring you to your weekly or monthly goal. Do not be too ambitious from the beginning though - if you have not been winning, then there is no use setting high or optimum goals just yet. Be realistic, and set achievable goals. The hidden goal or process here is really NOT financial, but psychological. You are not only building your confidence ... and finances ... you are building a pattern ... a successful habit. And this is the true meaning of the word "discipline" ... maintaining control of yourself and your trading with consistency. Once you start hitting those small targets, your confidence will soar, and you can then begin to focus on broader issues that really do deserve more of your attention. * Look after your physical and mental health, and strengthen your relationships with others I can not stress how important this is. How many traders ultimately discover success in their field, only to succumb to some illness with its base in their sedentary lifestyle? How many traders lose the support of their spouse, their children and even their dog, because they failed to keep in touch emotionally and physically with them? The spouse feels neglected and soon love and romance takes second place to the computer. After all, we kid ourselves, we are doing this for them. Now that is simply not true. We are of course doing trading to improve our financial security, but it should not be at the expense of our families. They want US ... not our money. If they wanted money, they would have married into money. Meanwhile, the kids are also getting older, growing up, and what time have you really spent with any of them? Soon they will have left home, and you may wonder why they don't come around to see you. Or you get a knock on the door, and with surprise you see the sheriff with your 14 year old in trouble. Trading can not deliver good relationships - one day you might be successful ... but you might also be alone, with even greater financial consequences. Make sure you have "trade-free" times that are sacred - even if you miss 100 points - your family is worth more than 100 points. It is only paper money ... and there will one day be a lot more of it for you. Let your family know you care, by being emotionally present and engaged in their lives too. Get yourself an exercise regime - walking is good, but whatever you do, get out of that chair and away from that computer several times a day. Take a break - go out for coffee with your spouse, or at least focus on something else for regular intervals. This is not optional - it is mandatory to preserve mental alertness and to prevent physical stagnation and decline over time. If you can pay your dues to your family ... and yes even the dog ... they will be happy to let you spend your time pursuing your trading goals. Set priorities and then respect them. * More to come ... John ... I know I have not touched on the topics you requested help with ... I am getting to them ... but this has taken me an hour now, and I realize what an important topic it is. I need more time to think about the best way to help you. I am going to reply to you on the forum, under the heading: "Advice to John". I have only made 3 posts on Traders Laboratory, and my posts are still being moderated. So the topic may not appear for awhile. But I will fully respond to answer what you are asking, and I am hopeful that we will be able to turn your trading around. Be patient mate - we will get there. Just relax, and stop what you are doing until you KNOW what you are doing. Kind regards Ivan

This thread became interesting because of the great responses fired in by members. The thread is still active and poignant because it goes to the heart of the frustration felt by traders looking for that one single thing that could truly be called a "BREAKTHROUGH." I was surprised though when a private email arrived with a request for assistance, from an equities trader. It has been many years since I traded equities, and even at that time my experience with them was fleeting, as I moved quickly to CFD's and then to Spot (Retail) Forex. So my experience day-trading is practically unhelpful in this instance. However, I had done enough with CFD's to understand the attraction of taking 3,000 shares and trading for a few cents movement, so decided I might be able to do something here. I repeat all the correspondence between us "as is" (original wording) except where I need to preserve the identity of this trader. And I have paraphrased occasionally to reduce the bulkiness of my writing style, but have retained the original meaning and intent. Finally, in keeping with my desire to maintain my own integrity, and to remain teachable myself, I have not removed any advice that I gave at the time, but which I have since found may not have been the best thing to say to any trader. I hope those instances are few - but we are all human. I invite any/all members to comment, but please wait until all parts of this correspondence is blogged. I have changed the trader's name to "John" for privacy. John is not a beginner, by the way - he is a responsible and generally successful trader, who, as will become clearer as we go, knows full well how to trade. He was in a state of limbo with his trading, due to factors that I hope we have been able to identify and fix.

WHAT’S WRONG WITH MY SYSTEM? My last post gave you the bones of a trading system. It was not a particularly brilliant setup – it was not meant to be. After all, what I really wanted you to get from the exercise, was this: You can build your own system, if you know what is needed. That’s all. We had a look at some oscillators, some momentum indicators, some moving averages, and we came up with a chart that should look like the one below. OK … so you take the hint, and get to work, creating a simple-but-meaningful template on your MT4 chart. You tweak it a bit, and even discard an indicator or two, and add an indicator or two. Soon the chart is looking good, and you can see where good trades could have been entered and closed, for a nice bundle of pips. It looks good, so you decide to road test it on demo. Suddenly it doesn’t seem to produce the pips it seemed to promise, in the development stage. Does it need further tweaking? Maybe. Is there something wrong with the time frame? Not usually the problem. Am I missing something here? Could be! Then, please tell me what it is … I thought this was easy once I had my own system! Ok. Let’s look at what can go amiss here. To begin the process, we need to set down some RULES so that we begin to follow a STRUCTURED approach to our trade. RULES of TRADING 1. Identify ONE to FOUR currency pairs for this session, that you will assess. Do not flip through a dozen pairs looking for “something to trade”. This is the very worst approach to take when you are learning to apply any system – particularly a new system. 2. Examine the trend over at least three time-frames during your initial assessment. Remember, we are trading the 4H TF, so we need to be aware of what is going on in the DAILY TF. Remember: THE HIGHER TF SETS THE TREND. You would also do well to check the WEEKLY TF, and if it lines up, then you have even more going for your trade. 3. Once you have identified the trend, trade only in this direction. Trying to trade “counter-trend” is a specialised skill, and a bit beyond most traders in the early stages of learning. 4. Wait for your indicators to actually complete the signal – that is – allow the candle to fully close before deciding whether this is a true setup or not. 5. Here’s some useful help – check the 1H TF after you have your trigger signal on the 4H. This might be the most important piece of information you will ever learn when trading the 4H TF. In a previous post I mentioned that 4H candles frequently have “wicks” on them – also called “tails” or “shadows.” When checking on the lower TF – the 1H – you sometimes see the price activity pull back in the counter direction to the trend for a short while. This is natural activity, and is responsible for creating the wicks on the next higher TF. I use the word “breathing” to describe it. Price is dynamic, – it does not move in a straight line, and it rarely stays still for long. Once you become familiar with the swinging action of price, you begin to feel at ease with a price that seems to be a trend reversal, when it is not. So … on the lower TF wait until this “pull-back” activity peaks, and your indicators ON THIS TF begin to show movement IN THE DIRECTION of your 4H trend. When this occurs (it might be the cross-over of your moving averages, or the crossing of the zero line of the MACD histogram, for example – your system will tell you) then you are ready to place your practice trade into your platform. This kind of exercise needs to be practiced over and over and over again before attempting to place live trades. NEVER trade with real money on a live account based on a system that someone else has given you, before testing it and mastering it yourself on a practice account. I’ll be frank here – many people want to trade currencies for a variety of reasons – the motivator behind all of them is the money that can be made. Yet the best statistics we have point to only about 5% to 10% of traders actually making any money from this instrument. The reasons for this are complex, but the chief reason is that the skills and energies that go into making other life choices and activities successful, simply do NOT work in trading. It is not a matter of intelligence, or natural aptitude either. Those who possess these actually fare no better as a group than anyone else overall. Here are the qualities you need to possess or develop, if you are to truly master this form of investment: * Commitment to the plan * Focus on the plan * Discipline to remain committed and focused * Patience to wait for the right setups * Courage not to trade, if no setup appears * Contentment with reaching your target * Discipline to follow sound money management and trade management principles * Willingness to close a trade where indicated, that might yield more pips – this is absence of greed * Willingness to close a trade very quickly that is not going according to expectations … the earlier the better! This is absence of fear. Never be afraid to take a loss. This last point is called the “ability to take a loss” and is one of the strongest qualities a trader can foster within their own psyche. There is always another setup. Finally, you need to know how YOU behave under pressure – do you stay relaxed … do you panic … do you regret leaving pips “on the table” … do you disregard your indicators, and remain with a losing trade in the hope that it will turn around and become a winner … do you take trades that have not been confirmed on all TF because you “like the action” … and so on. There are many emotions to be controlled in trading of which you may be unaware. You just don’t get exposed to these in everyday life and trading brings them to the surface. Exposing the person in the mirror to many emotions … and worse … exposing your TRADING to the effects your emotions have on your decision-making, reveals the inner person. I call it your “Trading IQ” and will have more to say about it in another post. Finally, consider this advice: Stay with your system until you MASTER it – don’t jump from one indicator to the next or from one charting platform to the next or from one system to the next. Write down each trade you take, and the reasons WHY your decision was made to take the trade. Write down WHY you closed the trade too – no profits are ever taken until a trade is closed. Writing your reasons for closing can teach you important things about your method, your indicators and yourself. If you can do that, then it becomes clear when and why a change needs to be made to your strategy – and any changes become evidence-based, and can take a legitimate place in your forex trading strategy. Posted in my Blog: http://forexapplepie.com/

Ha ha ha ha ha (insert more maniacal laughter) I wonder if you still think the same, Nick1984?

You may think that you have to be a tough, macho man to hold the position of the World's Most Dangerous Job, but would it surprise you to know that 31 of the last 35 people to hold this position were frail women? And it killed them all - some within days. Others lasted weeks, and fortunate others for just over a year. Anne Eugénie Blanchard passed the position to Maria Gomes Valentin (Brazil) in November 2010, but now she too has not survived her occupation - it was inevitable of course, given the track record of doing this kind of work. On 21st June 2011, Bessie Cooper of the USA took over the job, when Maria Valentin was killed in the line of duty. What is it that so attracts women particularly, to this extremely dangerous work? Why would a fragile woman do this job, knowing that it will, inevitably, be fatal to them? The facts are that they actually have no choice - the role is thrust upon them whether they like it or not. Personally I do not think it is fair that this should occur - placing fragile women into a role that is so dangerous, that only 4 men have taken on the role over the past 56 years. The last man to take on this occupation did so in December 2006. Emiliano Mercado del Toro, of Isabela, Puerto Rico, lasted in the job for just six weeks - dying in January 2007. And no man has been eligible for the job since then - the selection process is still a secret, but whoever gets the job is assured of instant fame - celebrity status - and their name is recorded forever in an exclusive list. Never has a rich person held the position - in fact it is most unlikely that the rich would qualify, given the lifestyle to which they are accustomed. So ... what exactly is this dangerous occupation, that kills within weeks any person who is drafted into the role, and which selects women 89% of the time? The position is the world's oldest living person. It is guaranteed to be fatal, and statistically speaking, most incumbents don't survive their first year. This story was only made possible through the death of the previous person doing the job, and with the assistance of: Oldest people - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia The World's Oldest Person Dies in Brazil - ABC News Who else could take a simple death notice and make a story out of it?

No introduction needed .. [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VNIEtwZ1OYQ&feature=fvwrel]YouTube - ‪Paul Simon & Willie Nelson - Graceland‬‏[/ame]

[quote name=optiontimer;1212211) The wording in the poll said nothing about MA crosses. The choice winning choice is "Dual Moving Averages (Short MA relative to Long MA)." This will be used simply to determine the long-term trend. It is not in any way' date=' shape, or form a signal to act upon. The choices I gave in the poll were deliberately "unadventurous," as one of my goals is to keep it simple. 2) The particular indicators do not matter at all. That is why I set up the polls. I did not want to be responsible for picking the indicators. I want to put together something that "works" based upon the result of a democratic vote. 3) What does matter with respect to the system we will develop here at traderslaboratory.com is the long-term trend and the short term-trend. This is why I had to reserve the for myself the decision as to the specific parameters of the indicators chosen by the forum-at-large. Nothing wrong with the common, the popular, the "old," as in at least one respect, this project is meant to make what is old new again. Thank You, -OT[/quote] Thank you for clarifying those things OptionTimer. I am keen to follow what you are putting together here. Ingot

CONSTRUCTING A FOREX TRADING SYSTEM - PART 2 View Part 1 here ... To make money trading forex, we need to sell at a higher price than we bought, in a rising market. And the opposite applies in a downtrend. We could use pure price action to do this, and we could introduce more advanced concepts such as support and resistance (or as some put it – supply and demand) – levels. And we could introduce such things as Pivot Points, and Fibonacci levels. But right now I am going to take the route of indicator-based trading for the purposes of this example, (and leave the extra tools for another day) because this is an easy and uncomplicated approach. We are not discussing the best or the worst way. This article discusses the basic construction of a system. Don’t expect any new or startling revelations here – this information is common knowledge. But I lay these foundations now, in order to build later. What we need to be understanding, is the principle of mechanical system construction and operation. No work is ever going to be complete, and it is quite possible – even likely that - I will either update this post, or expand on it in another article. OUR STARTING LINE-UP OF INDICATORS We can not trade without trend or momentum in play. There are several indicators available to measure these – MACD, ADX, RSI, CCI, PSAR, and even the simplest of all – the EMA cross. You can research these yourself, and make some choices based on personal feel and results of testing. There are good oscillators available too – Stochastic and CCI are usually classed as Oscillators, but when used on the lower TF with higher period settings, such as 21-period, or even30-period, they begin to act as momentum or trend indicators. My preference is for MACD and RSI. Some prefer ADX, CCI, or other indicator. There are countless indicators available for the Forex Trading industry, on hundreds of proprietary trading platforms. Simple is best. If you don’t accept that now, the market will surely reveal the truth of that to you in the future. MOVING AVERAGES Indicators are placed automatically in their own “window” below the main price. Some indicators are right at home alongside the price bars or candles. Moving Averages are one kind. This is not the place to be describing a moving average, or their types. But here we will use the Exponential Moving Average – available on all charting packages. We intend to use three EMA’s of different lengths. The idea is to allow them to indicate when to enter and exit trades, without giving too much profit back. Without going into detail, we will be using the 5EMA (Green); 13EMA (Yellow); 34EMA (RED). These are Fibonacci numbers, and actually mean nothing – it’s a quant choice. But hold on – there is more to this. What Fibonacci actually gives us here, is a slow, medium and fast EMA, and this is ideal for our system. There are inherent problems with using this simplest of approaches – in a word: whipsaws! On their own, we would have a method that would give us profit, but over time ranging or consolidating price, would take back that profit. And it is for this reason that we rely on indicators that provide a filter, to screen our setups and confirm higher probability opportunities. MACD … developed by Gerald Appel in the late 1970’s. We’ll be looking at the version that employs a histogram to enhance visual interpretation. The default is 12-26-9. You may change to a personal setting that improves the indication of momentum. RSI We shall use the 9-period settings - long enough to filter out “noise” and short enough to remain responsive. For faster signals, shorten the period, but beware an increase in false signals and whipsaws. On the 4H Tf, the 9-period RSI is adequate. PUTTING IT TOGETHER The default settings of indicators are effective on the 4H TF – but optimum period settings can be added. There is very little that is new, under the “forex sun”, but don’t let that stop you from experimenting. “Tweaks” can be very meaningful if you do them to “own your system.” I have developed my own indicator-based personal system. It is not difficult, and you can’t damage anything through trying. Believe it or not, having a good system does not guarantee successful trading- that is only one part of the process. We want to capture the change of trend, or at least find an appropriate entry. Fast-moving indicators are not necessary – we are not attempting to scalp. In many of the trades signalled, there may be a significant drawdown before the trade actually begins to move in the direction of the signal. This is the dichotomy of trading – trading the pull-back to the main trend - and it is the single most difficult mechanism for traders to negotiate. 4H candles show a wick or shadow – frequently on both ends of many of the candles – that form, as evidence of the ebb-and-flow nature of trading price movement. There is always time to take an entry, so no haste is required. A good way to fine-tune an entry at the 4H level, is to drop down to the next level – the 1H on MT4 charts – and find the best entry there. And similarly, one of the best things a trader can do to boost success, is to find out what the higher TF trend is. We are trading the 4H TF, so we need to know what the Daily trend is. Remember, the higher TF is the dominant one. To construct your trading chart, you will need a trading platform that offers decent charting. I have found that the MT4 platforms are free, functional, and offer a very large range of “in-house” indicators. In fact you will find these basic indicators we are discussing, in every MT4 platform. Look for a platform that has only 5 trading days – based on the NY close. Currently I can not upload charts to the Blog. But when I get this function, I will update. The next Blog entry will be about locating good trends and trades, and analysing the indicators to help us nail the entry. _________________________ _________________ Posted in my Blog: http://forexapplepie.com/