Are you winning?

This post was prompted by something I read today. elite trader asked myptofvu if he was a profitable trader. myptofvu apparently gave an honest answer. No details, but quite frank. Well, this is something I would dearly like to know about all residents and visitors here. Are you winning or losing?

Many posts here have alluded to successes. Several contributors are revealing their basic strategies. PT is posting daily logs of his trades, both wins and losses. I think that's awesome and want to thank you all for sharing. But let's take it further.

We all keep pretty tight about our overall profits/losses. I've visited several trading rooms and it's the same. Not many traders will reveal their real performance. Over and over, we put these vendors under pressure to supply broker-verified statements. Well, without going to that extent, how about a general summation of your successes/failures? We'll take it on the honor system.

Now I realize that it may be considered extremely rude to ask a guy how much money he makes. It's kind of like asking a couple how often they have sex. Not only is it personal, but you will probably get a different answer from each participant! And of course, no one wants to appear a braggart, nor a loser.

But I'm curious. If 90% of traders lose money, does that statistic transfer into this forum? Or could it be that we are actually blessed with a high percentage of substantially profitable traders? I see a lot of intelligence here (beyond my level) but how about a dollar value? In the words of elite trader: "Are you a profitable trader?" That's what I want to know.

I propose a thread whereby anyone willing can brag about individual victories, cry about heavy losses, or simply reveal their long term performance. Bare your soul for the benefit of those who follow.

I will personally kick off the discussion with my own experience to date. If anyone else would care to contribute, here's to ya!

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Let me know if you need help in posting charts MYPTOFVU ! I'm no expert but I simply either save a file or do a screen capture ( using the one suggested on this forum) to my desktop and then upload from there. If you need asssistance let me know. I thought you may have been more involved in this thread but perhaps you are busy. No trades for me today.

Bruce

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Originally posted by myptofvu

Short 1458.50 due to what I call a Plateau trade. Because Uncle Ben is speaking I wouldn't recommend this trade.

I'll try. This is a trade where I rely on only the pattern of the candles(1min chart). I call it a plateau because of the well defined swooping pattern that it makes. When it makes a double top or higher high that is your entry.

Did that help? If not I'll try to do better.

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If you are lazy and not willing to put in your own time and do your own research then you don't deserve trading profits. So to expect those of us who have paid our dues and put in our time to hand you the "keys" to the kingdom would be a bit much. I encourage anyone to follow two or three basic setups and watch them over time.

I say this because there are many out there who I feel just aren't cut out for trading, they expect to be handed everything on a silver platter and get disgruntled if they can't make it as a trader. I have provided here, along with the Pitbull setups a few fairly simple ideas that can start someone on their way if they are willing to put in some effort. I don't say this to brag because I am constantly evolving as a trader too and have bad days, trades and periods of time. It's important to find setups that you are comfortable with when you LOSE money so your brain can take it. You need to be able to stay in the game financially and mentally, otherwise you may end up needing to find another source of income.

Expecting or asking anyone to post their hard work or research I feel is rude and just plain lazy….If they voluntarily do this then that is a different story. Do your own research so when you make it as a trader you can feel proud of your accomplishments. You need to be responsible and have no one else to blame for your success or failure. Unfortunately there are no short cuts as some vendors may have you believe. Ok, enough of my “soapbox” chatter. I’ve made my point.

Bruce

I agree with you Bruce. I appreciate you sharing some of your techniques here. I've seen areas where some of your ideas fit nicely with my own methods, so thanks for sharing. (On a sour note, I've had a dismal week, but at least I own it).

All of my investing strategies have been shaped by the ideas or advice of others, gathered over a number of years. I'm sure that's true of anyone who makes their own investing decisions. We can learn from everyone who offers a suggestion. Depending on our intelligence/$ ratio, we all have a system we use to evaluate each suggestion and then decide how or if we will use it.

On the other hand, when someone spouts out nothing but unsubstantiated criticism ("that's a bunch of garbage", "that won't work"), it really is useless information. Absolutely useless. Like my father-in-law telling me many years ago, "stocks are crap". Thanks pops, but I'll be the judge of that for myself.

If I avoid a method/strategy/service just because someone says it's no good, then that makes me just as stupid and gullible as the fool who forks out cash to a vendor without first investigating. I am out of diapers now, and if I'm going to get myself through this life, I will have to learn to make my own decisions (at least until it's time to put on the diapers again).

There. That's my opinion.

One question, Bruce, if I may. When this thread was started, I was curious as to which contributors here were day-trading successfully. I have seen you put on some good trades. Of course you acknowledge that you have bad days too. But I'm curious if you are long-term successful.

Naturally, you have the right to remain silent, and I don't want to pry or put you on the spot publicly. But you have been at this a lot longer than I, and you have a lot more knowledge and experience with the markets. I'm wondering if your efforts have paid off for you. Care to comment?

To everyone: Have a great long weekend!

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Originally posted by BruceM

Let me know if you need help in posting charts MYPTOFVU ! I'm no expert but I simply either save a file or do a screen capture ( using the one suggested on this forum) to my desktop and then upload from there. If you need asssistance let me know. I thought you may have been more involved in this thread but perhaps you are busy. No trades for me today.

Bruce

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Originally posted by myptofvu

Short 1458.50 due to what I call a Plateau trade. Because Uncle Ben is speaking I wouldn't recommend this trade.

I'll try. This is a trade where I rely on only the pattern of the candles(1min chart). I call it a plateau because of the well defined swooping pattern that it makes. When it makes a double top or higher high that is your entry.

Did that help? If not I'll try to do better.

Bruce,

I used to be able to post charts but I'm using a different charting service now and I don't think it alowws me the ability to capture or take snapshots. I will look into it further.

During this time of year I only have two days a week to trade so I may appear missing, but I'll be back.

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myptofvu: Take a look at some of the sticky's in the chart section. They describe and link to software and techniques that you can use to capture and post charts. It's not dependent on your charting service.

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Sure, I have no problem commenting. Sorry to hear you had a bad week and thanks for the kind words. I hope you are getting some value from these posts and glad to see you take responsibility for your trades and it sure sounds like you learn from others after investigating a methods effectiveness which is fantastic. That's what it's all about...

Anyway I have been "successful" since about the year 2000 but I define success as being able to follow a discipline, adapt to market conditions and make money while keeping my sanity. I started day trading in late 1997 and took a beating the firs 1.5 years or so...then I got better...for a while...lol. In late 2001 I had my worst period as I had a new born at home and just didn't have my head in the game...my own fault. Since then I keep evolving and have done well. I have a long way to go as the market is forever changing it's colors so I realize the need to be flexible and keep the market in it's proper context. What turned my trading around was having multiple contracts on and averaging into trades, this solved the fear and greed factor for me. I like daytrading a lot but lately ( last two years)I seem to be trying to hold positions longer as volitilty is lower and I can stomach that. I'm a fairly simple guy and I am conservative. I beleive slow and steady wins the race so I strive for consistency and make sure I follow rules that are comfortable for me. I don't beleive you have to make a certain amount of money to be considered a success as a trader. That's ridiculous as we all have different circumstances. Just because you think I have more knowledge or experience doesn't mean I am a better trader. This is why I try to encourage anyone to "make the setups your own" and do research.

As a side note I beleive it would be a greater value for me to post the ideas instead of my specific trades. I wouldn't want this to turn into a "posting and bosting " thing. I also beleve based on your comments that this isn't the thread for it. So I apologize for getting side tracked myself and taking this off of your original topic. I hope that helps and if you have specific questions I will be more than happy to answer them.

Bruce

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Originally posted by felix

[quote]One question, Bruce, if I may. When this thread was started, I was curious as to which contributors here were day-trading successfully. I have seen you put on some good trades. Of course you acknowledge that you have bad days too. But I'm curious if you are long-term successful.

Naturally, you have the right to remain silent, and I don't want to pry or put you on the spot publicly. But you have been at this a lot longer than I, and you have a lot more knowledge and experience with the markets. I'm wondering if your efforts have paid off for you. Care to comment?

To everyone: Have a great long weekend!

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