3/05/2012

I Am Canadian



You can tell this because I feel bad that I have offended a fellow trader.

I tried to pretend that I didn't feel bad by bolding stating "too bad" on MBA's blog. But after another day of introspection my Canadianess feels bad for offending YM.

I offended him with this statement:

"Discretionary trading is charity work. You just give it all away."

YM must be a successful discretionary trader. Upon further review I had to admit I wasn't even really sure what a discretionary trader is. I mean how do you define it?

They trade by feel?

Tape reading?

Must be price action, yes?

Maybe another successful discretionary trader can tell me. YM won't because he no longer reads "trading bloggers".

The statement was meant to be funny, also true in my experience, but mostly fuuny. I thought it was funny. For the most part the blog is meant to be funny.

If it isn't funny don't tell me.

YM didn't think it was funny.

We work in a solitary business, the trading floors are no longer required, but maybe the camaraderie of the floor is?

Some contact with humans who share the same interests and the same struggles must be good for the soul.

I enjoy what I do, I enjoy reading about it, talking about it, writing about it, and I enjoy hearing back from those who read my thoughts.

I think laughter is required for life to exist.

It's also good for business.

“Good moods, while they last, enhance the ability to think flexibly and with more complexity, thus making it easier to find solutions to problems, whether intellectual or interpersonal. This suggests that one way to help someone think through a problem is to tell them a joke. Laughing, like elation, seems to help people think more broadly and associate more freely, noticing relationships that might have eluded them otherwise – a mental skill important not just in creativity, but in recognizing complex relationships and foreseeing the consequences of a given decision”.

Daniel Goleman, Emotional Intelligence

To sum up, we Canadians are very nice, we don't like to offend anyone, but we do have a breaking point.

20 comments:

Anonymous said...

I think what is key is that most discretionary traders, even if they don't realise it, are applying a mechanical system, or systems, with a discretionary element.

The aim is that the expectancy gained from this discretionary flexibility outweighs the inevitable sub-optimum psychological performance.

I am tempted to say that this particular discretionary trader does do plenty of charity work, but only out of my profits. That may though just offend anyone who is still yet to be offended so I won't :-)


L&W

Solfest said...

"The aim is that the expectancy gained from this discretionary flexibility outweighs the inevitable sub-optimum psychological performance."

The fact that you said this with a really smart British accent makes it true.

Even if it isn't.

Oh and you're definitely not Canadian.

YM-Trader said...

OK, OK. I will just cut down on reading blogs because I get too wrapped up in trying to comment "thoughtfully" instead of something less. Sorry if I got you feeling bad for me Solfest. I'm a big boy. And yes, a successful discretionary trader who has to think about every trade and constantly analyze the chart based on some rules and some guidelines. Yes, I have a well-written out trading plan (4 pages, and backed by about 150 screenshot examples) that has been in the works for over 6 years, though the basics have not changed since the first week. Only I decide if a trade is entered, and where its exited. This is because the market is always changing and new factors are always at work. I would never trust a computer program to make these decisions for me. There is simply too much to be analyzed. I watch only one market (guess which one) in order to develop a feel for it and learn its tendencies. A lot of this stuff just can't be programmed into a plan that can be backtested. Go Canada!

Solfest said...

Hurray he's back.

I feel a group hug coming on.

My business and trading plan is 37 pages long. lol

And that's down from 47 pages. I was a wee bit windy and did some editing. (I said "wee bit windy" with a whimsical Irish lilt)

Now don't let that rude Brit ruin your day.

Anonymous said...

I have a new trading plan.... every time I see price at a level that makes me go all wide eyed and mutter..."WTF"...I take a trade....

It works...and because it has the WTF rule,.....it is 100% mechanical too.

Before you go all doe eyed about Nucks...we should say that often we look good because sometimes our neighbours down to the south behave like this......


http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-17248737

Unknown said...

YM, glad to see your still here despite that incredibly rude Canadian and his rants : )
On a more serious note, I appreciate your comments and they do not have to be thoughtfully crafted… I can appreciate less thoughtfulness.

“Some contact with humans who share the same interests and the same struggles must be good for the soul.”

- Solfest

MBAGearhead said...

Glad this neighbor (note correct spelling) to the south, doesn't take blog comments too seriously. One might get easily offended being compared to Rush L. :)

YM can't rant thoughtlessly anytime he wants imho. Same with the rest of ya'll!

Moo.

Solfest said...

Really this was all MBA's fault.

I mean he was claiming the Dalai Lama is a discretionary day trader.

Or something like that.

Unknown said...

LOL! The Dalai Lama would be a awesome discretionary day trader.

Anonymous said...

The Dalai Lama would hopefully be a better discretionary day-trader than his last entrepreneurial effort. He opened a factory in Dharamsala making vacuum cleaners but that went bust after only a few months.

The whole product range was unpopular with buyers because, of course, Buddhist vacuum cleaners come without any attachments at all.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bcYppAs6ZdI

L&W (Not yet 6AM here, this is the best I can manage at this time of day).

Jules said...

When Solfest decides against acting on a blue bar, is Solfest not exercising discretion?

I am a discretionary trader, I think (my cats do make many of our trading decisions), but I am not offended by Solfest's opinions of discretionary trading. I think Solfest is in fact very tempted to switch to the discretionary trading camp ;-)

Does Solfest write the program that turns bars blue? I tried doing something on Sierra but the only thing that turns blue is my face so far.

Solfest said...

LW LW LW

Your humour attempt hath brought back ye olde english and Solfest's illeism rash.

Solfest said...

Jules

Solfest doth not act against thine blue bars.

Solfest hath learned his lessons.

Solfest doth program thine blue bars although the Exceptional Irish Trader did provide thine original assistance.

Sierra tech manuals are written by a mutant gnome who has not had human contact in 40 years.

Anonymous said...

So you won't want to hear about the Dalai Lama's failed hot-dog stand?

The hot-dogs cost £3 but when customers handed over a £5 note he kept it all.

"Where's my change?"
"Change comes from within".

L&Wasted as a trader.

Solfest said...

LOL

LW you need some way to express yourself on a more consistent basis.

If only there were such a medium.

Solfest said...

Jules:

Here is my Sierra formula.

http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/2/0664cd92-6277-11e1-872e-00144feabdc0.html#axzz1oCSs15TR

PS

Don't tell anyone else.

Unknown said...

@ Anonymous,

your hilarious, its good to get a laugh first thing in the morning.

Liam said...

Bit late to the party but did someone say Irish lilt? Might have been coming from my corner of the blogosphere!

Solfest said...

Oh no not another one.

Jules said...

Ahhh....the Iranian/Frankensteinian trader :-)

Perhaps I'm jealous, but they sound like a really uninteresting, unintelligent, uninspiring and EVIL bunch of folks.

I am with you that we don't have enough of LW. ;-)