JohnBly

Yes exactly. So true. Reminds me of the Zen story about the time somebody asked a caterpillar how he managed to walk with 100 legs to co-ordinate. The caterpiller sat down to figure it out and became unable to move. The logical one-at-a time part of the mind could not handle the task of co-ordinating 100 legs. So it gets down to the challenge of basically learning how to use the various functions of the mind, using the right faculties in the right places (right tool for the job). I had a martial arts coach in college who talked about this. He said the instant the bout starts leave the thinker behind. Once a point is scored and you are walking back to the line to begin another bout, use that time (10 seconds or so) to think about and evaluate what just happened. Once analysis is done, then drop mental activity and and leave it to the wholistic mind to act. Don't analyze when it is time for action (ei enter or exit a trade) or we may end up like that caterpiller. All very much a work in progress for me.

DZO, how do you apply the "flow" practice specifically in the trading context?

Thanks great info FXGirl. Les Fehmi's work is excellent. He points out the key is to let awareness become spacious, rather than fixated and confined. Once simple awareness becomes more open-ended rather than penned-in, then the deeper functions of the mind (intutition) can emerge.

Agreed. If there is much internal dialogue going on, I find it's better to just stick with the rules. Intuition may be at work, but pretty tough (for me) to sift it out from the self-talk or emotions. As Clint Eastwood said in Dirty Harry...."A man has got to know his limitations". If the chatter/emotions have subsided, I find that makes room for genuine intuition to get through and correctly identify.

Yes good way to think about it. I use a "general setup", a "strict entry" and a "general exit" I like the strict formality for actual entry, as I don't have to think about it when it's time to pull the trigger. My entry area and stop are defined once I have the green light of the setup in place, so easy to execute. The exit is "general" as a strong market will lead me to keep position on longer than a weaker market would, so I need the flexibilty to adjust to actual market conditions

Siuya, yes I agree with you, that's a great distinction you make. It's like being a crowded party with talking everywhere, yet one can hear the wife's voice clearly in the mix. Covering one's ears to block out some of the noise would not help. So it's more a matter of just trusting the subconcious mind to sift through the input and present to the concious mind what is needed, rather than blocking out some the input to "keep things simple." Screen traders have only the visual sensory market cues, and I think this tends to make us more "mental" in our approach, and also makes us want to fill up the visual arena with more visual stuff, ei indicators etc. Your idea of music is excellent and I am going to experiment with that. The auditory input is not market related, but it does tend to bring the right brain more into the trading arena. Thanks for your "input" ;-)

Siuya, Sounds like an example of where too much information can choke the pattern recognition function. "Signal to noise" ratio gets weak with to much data. That's a very interesting example. I always thought floor traders must really rely on their senses, especially sound as you say. The senses have direct pathways to the subconcious. I think this puts screen traders at a disadvantage, where it's easy to just get locked into the logical/thinking mind.

Tom, I am going to rely on my subconcious on this one and say that the priority of importance is in the order I listed them ;-)

Laurus, It's interesting that you started out trading without trying to use indicators etc, just observing the market until opportunities began to become obvious. I am guessing that has turned out to be a real advantage, having trusted yourself from the beginning. What I have found works for me at this point is to have a particular "setup" that I wait for that is rule-based and this keeps the logic-structured part of me occupied and content. The setup is statistically sound and fits my character in terms of where I like to enter the fray. Since I have my setup that I wait for, I can relax and just observe the rest of the time, which leaves the mind more open and spacious and able to register intuition. If I get an intuitive flash between setups I take it. Also, when my setup appears, I try and rely on intuition even at those points as a filter to enter now or not, and so this becomes a way to try and use intuition in a more controlled manner. To me this is where trading gets really interesting.

I found these 3 books helpful. "Open Focus Brain" by Les Fehmi "Zen in the Markets" by Toppel "The Intuitive Trader " I would also be interested to hear how others experience genuine intuition. I know it happens differently for people depending on their sensory prediliction etc.

Thanks for all the replies and I am glad to find other traders who are so interested in this topic. One of my core beliefs about trading is that intuition is the ultimate edge, but only once everything else is in place (ei logical trading plan, discipline, money management etc). As you touch upon, one the key skills that must be developed is discerning genuine gnosis from emotional noise, ei greed, fear, revenge. I have found that real intuition is not colored by any of these emotions. Rather there is the quality of clarity and a kind of spaciousness to them. And as I mentioned before, they usually occur "out of the blue". I am unable to force them. It's more a matter of making room in the mind for intuition to "get through". But honestly I find they arise unexpectedly, for me anyway. Others may have different experience. As far as tracking them, when an intuitive flash gets thru with the above mentioned qualities they are almost always correct. I may not trade them as well as I should, but that is another matter. It's just a matter a of keeping a log of these kinds of trades and seeing over time how you are doing. First step is acknowledging that intuitions can occur in the trading context and creating space in the mind for them appear. If there is no openess to possibility of intuition entering into one's trading then it probably won't as the faculty is in effect shut out.

Very interesting thread. In my own experience, I have noticed 3 dimensions that have to be taken into account: 1) The logical planner 2) Emotions 3) Intuition Generally, the Logical Planner is in charge, executing the trade plan. Emotions of all kinds come and go and I try to just leave them be without going with them or pushing them away. And every now and then Intuition appears, always unexpectedly. There is always a suddeness to it and a clarity. Surprise even. I simply know what is going to happen next and there is a sense of certainty about it. When that happens whilst working the indraday timeframe the best approach I have found is to simply grab the mouse and take the trade immeadiately, without deliberating on it for a moment. Acknowledge the gnosis and just take the trade. It's like you are boxing and suddenly your right hand rises to cover your head, and it's only in the next moment you realize there was a punch on it's way. Any delay would have killed the intuitive brilliance. So I suggest giving yourself self permission to do this kind of thing in one's overall trade plan. Track the results and assess. The challenge is to sift out hope and fear from genuine intuition and that is a work very much in process.

That's interesting JT. If I read you right, you are saying that if there is a large trader who wants to short, they will nudge price down a bit to give the appearance of a "bargain" and at at the same time lighten up on the ask, as way to lure in retail into that "vacuum", thus raising price for their imminant short entry?

Maybe someone can explain why cum delta is so important. In any trade, one side will always be a market order. No market order, no trade. Basically every trade consists of a market order and a limit order. (It may be possible for 2 market orders to hit at the same microsecond and offset each other, but that is probably rare). If there is more aggression on the ask, price will go up. If I have a long 1 minute bar that closes near the high and it's not in an area where lots of stops are resting, and the volume is 2x average volume, I have a pretty good sense of the supply/demand dynamic expressed in that bar. I can see it by looking at the range of the price bar, where it closed and the volume. What else does CD tell me then that I do not already know?

Yes this is the only way to tell I can think of. It's not hard to see places where stops are getting hit, but then at some point market orders to open new positions may appear to capitolize on the move. I think in the end one has to know the market well enough to know when that transition has occurred. To try and join in on a stop sweep before significant new market orders appear in that direction is to perhaps step right into a trap,