Tuesday Notes – 2011 Virtual Office Tour
ByWednesday 6:10AM ET: The video access issue has been fixed! Sorry about that.
A while back (June 2010), you may recall we did a virtual office tour video.
Here’s an update with some recent changes, including the 65″ plasma that provides I suppose what could be described as the “ultimate market perspective”.
As I note in the brief video, you can rest assured that I still believe all one needs is an 11″ Sony Vaio screen, two charts, and an order entry platform!
As mentioned in recent posts, it’s the second toy I’ve bought in six years and a semi-reward for more than a decade of trading, 50 years of life (OK, call it an early birthday present), and getting daughter #1 through college.
So for those who have been screaming at me to do something for myself, this will hopefully suffice for another decade!
Hi Don, video is set to “Private”???
Hi Don,
For some reason, I am unable to watch your video, it is showing it is a private video, and I need to accept a sender’s friend request.
I also want to thank you for continuous effort to make this blog alive, it is very helpful and inspiring to every trader out there.
Your efforts are highly appreciated
Keep up the good work
Regards
Guss
Don, the video is marked as private. Thanks for your work. Bart
Video says it is private and I have to accept your friend request???
Hi Don,
I want to watch the video but it wont play. When I click on the Youtube logo to watch it on YouTube it says “Private video”. How do I view it?
Hi Don I’ve waiting for this post since you mention it on the weekend post but It is ashamed that I cannot get to watch it say, its for members only. Hope to get to watch it.
Hi Don,
It says the video is private, so I can’t watch it.
Will you change the settings so everybody can watch it?
Take care,
Maarten from the Netherlands
Don,
Thanks for sharing your inner sanctum with us. I was just wondering if you listen to any music, television or anything while you are trading or do you prefer complete silence?
Best regards,
Harry
I usually prefer complete silence, although I have a brief iTunes playlist that for a while (2007-early 2009) I played every morning before market open … which I’ve resurrected once again. The key initial wake-up song is “100 Years” by Five for Fighting which simply reminds me to make the most of every day, that every day is a new day and blank slate, and that life goes by way too fast to have any regrets.
Amen! Every morning I remind myself to “Treasure the Day” — corny, I know, but it works for me.
Thank you for sharing,
Andy
Don.. Very nice office environment to spend time trading. I am a new trader (3 years now) and have been watching your videos for a couple of months. Just found you. But I have read and or heard you mention “transparency in trading” a few times. I am retired and have dove into trading as i like it and find it fascinating. But as you can imagine, I have found so many vendors who must have difficulty trading and find that getting others to believe they can. But they appear to make their money selling so called winning strategies. I have heard you mention that you are also a “person of faith” and I would like for you to comment on people like Linda (who I attended her webinar during your presentation) when she replies to a question about trade win % that they do not track trade effectiveness but states that it is somewhere around 70 to 75%. Is that the kind of transparency you refer to? I have difficulty believing anyone who estimates win%. Is trade documentation unnecessary after all? Jan
Hi. Interesting question and I could probably ramble for hours on the topic.
First, my reference to “faith” merely reflects my Christian beliefs (the only “Truth” on this planet as I’ve said recently) and convictions and not whether I believe various aspects of this industry.
As with anything in life, there’s good and bad in this industry … ranging from the very, very good, to the incredibly awful.
Having said that, win/loss %s to me mean very little and will vary by style. i.e. variations of both a trend following swing strategy and short-term scalp/scratch/reenter strategy will have a lower win/loss but can be very profitable if the winners are either let “run” (swing) or a combination of running and being sized heavier (scalp). So win/loss … whether documented or not and like any technical indicator on a chart … by itself means nothing. i.e. one can be 90% positive and have one loser that ends up with a negative P&L.
Given all of this, it makes perfect sense that many don’t track it, including the Barclay Hedge’s of the world and other CTA comparative sites which don’t include it in their list of benchmarks.
I suppose looking at all stats in combination is most relevant. At my end, I’ve always been a bottom line/P&L guy based on whatever my own personal target is at any point in time. I do use short-term win/loss on occasion to give me a read as to how well I’m seeing the market, and use R0R to benchmark against the publicly available data (the only way I can really tell myself how I’m doing against the “field”), but my most important personal statistic is net income and win/loss from a DOLLAR perspective … i.e. total $ gained on + days divided by vs. total $ lost on negative days over time. To me, this stat combines win/loss %, sizing, and trade management and ties directly to the bottom line figure.
Perhaps the bottom line of all this is, well … the bottom line.
Are there traders/funds performing well without tracking win/loss or other selected stats? Definitely. (Ask a Pit trader what his/her win/loss ratio is and he’ll likely laugh us out of the room.)
Are there good educators out there? Yes & they’re sorely needed. (My 9/18/10 post provides related views including a public thank you to the Raschke’s, Steenbarger’s, Douglas’, Connors’, Dayne’s, Nison’s, and Cashin’s of the world: http://tinyurl.com/6l5tsw7)
Are there people selling services who don’t trade or that have no clue? Absolutely.
As with anything, caveat emptor rules apply. At my end, I’ve found (1) personal references from people intimately familiar with them via real and extended experience, (2) repeated & extended live performance of REAL trading in varied markets before others, and/or (3) published fund benchmarking (if a public fund) as tools that can help separate the wheat from the chaff.
A very long-winded answer
.
Perspectives from this end for what it’s worth.
I appreciate the time.
A very high level response from someone who serious traders want to emulate. But we have to start somewhere and unless we want to trade with your size and your style then we must still attempt to find our way.
The strategy of attempting to get 2, 3 and 4 points a day seem to be a losing strategy.
It is nice to get a response from a leader in this industry. But it still appears to me to be none or very little ownership with it.
I have so much more to learn.
Jan
Thanks for the follow-up. I agree that striving for “points per day” is difficult at best as it really depends on the market environment … which is why I believe in focusing on adapting to the rhythm in play vs forcing a expected “need” or rhythm on the market. Contract sizes are less relevant as it’s simply a matter of scale. i.e. a local hardware store and Wal-Mart both do the same thing, and I also trade very modest sizes from time to time. (One of the first Trading After Dark videos will likely be with small sizes to emphasize that point!) Thanks for the discussion, and best wishes in your pursuits.