Most aspiring traders spend an inordinate amount of time studying technical indiors and egies in search of trading success, while many of these fundamental questions about the markets and trading stay largely ignored.
Contrary to popular belief, the foundations of gambling success are philosophical and plogical in nature rather than technical. With the proper philosophical underpinnings that the choice/development of a trading egy becomes a relatively easy task, however without proper plogical prep the trading of that egy is fraught with danger.
My intention with this thread is to share a few thoughts about these matters in the hope that the growing trader might find something which helps him/her along the way. And I believe this could fill a gap. As trading plogist Brett Steenbarger says:
That is the fantastic weakness of the majority of efforts at'trader eduion'. Such eduion is made up of seminar presentations, magazine articles, and isolated Website posts. Even novels in the field don't build a conceptual foundation for traders to help them know what to trade and the reason why. And, of course, few eduional efforts help traders edue their'eye' to observe the patterns from their conceptual integrations. That, in gambling like in chess and ne, is a procedure which takes years of dedied effort.
How does one achieve such conceptual integrations? On this particular thread operating metaphors are occasionally utilized to that end. Operating metaphor is a term coined by Charles Faulkner of Market Wizards fame. Here is an excerpt from Jack Schwager's The New Market Wizards:
Jack Schwager:
Anything to add regarding traits which distinguish winning from losing traders?
Charles Faulkner:
A final crucial characteristic distinguishing winning traders from losing traders relates to what I have termed operating metaphors. An operating metaphor determines how we see the Earth, and it shapes our beliefs, activities, and life-styles. A few of the metaphors used by traders to describe the market are a woman, warfare, and a match, to name a few of the more common ones. As an instance of the sport or puzzle-solving metaphors, Richard Dennis says, It is like playing with a hundred baseball games at once. Pete Steidlmayer says he's solving the markets. Paul Tudor Jones sums it up with, It's a sport, and cash is a means to keep score. Each operating metaphor will direct a trader's mind to a different set of beliefs and also a different approach to the markets, with a few being more effective than others.
Contrast the metaphors I simply cited with some of those operating metaphors I have typically heard around the trading floor. I got torn up today, makes the market into a beast of prey. We chose a hit reflects believing the market is a warfare and the speaker a injured participant. Which metaphor will result in your sense more objective in the market--playing a match, even a high-stakes match, or protecting yourself from an attacking wild animal? The answer is obvious. The difference is in what is suggested by the metaphor. From the match, there are winners and losers, but your survival is not at stake, as it is with being attacked by a wild animal. You may respond brilliantly to save yourself from the monster, but that metaphor doesn't encourage you to understand and practice long term egies and tactics how a match does. Possessing an operating metaphor appropriate to your trading style is fundamental for success.
For much more information about Charles Faulkner and operating metaphors, visit http://www.metaphorsofmovement.co.uk...sfaulkner.html.
An operating metaphor for the task of being a trader is discussed in post #96 on page 7.
Operating metaphors for your connection with the market are discussed in post #59 on page 4, also in post #67 on page 5.
And contrary to popular belief, the Holy Grail isn't a system but a mental state. This can be discussed in post #26 on page two.
Next post was initially posted elsewhere in response to a question.