The purpose of this thread is two-fold.
1. To share what I have learned from trading FX in precisely the same spirit as people who have taught me about markets and life. If you are willing to listen, this is for you.
2. To gather feedback, especially constructive and critical opinions, on my thoughts, theories, ideas, hypotheses, whatever I post . I enjoy disagreement and I think I want to listen to more of it to get my trading growing in various directions.
For a side objective I'm also hoping to improve my writing and eventually become clearer with the way I communicate thoughts. So if you think I'm unsure, please allow me to know and I will try to rephrase so that you could understand.
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The posts here will be of no particular order. I will pop in thoughts in my mind or new insights I encounter from trading. Finally I could compile everything into a neat Table of Contents for simple reference.
FF might not be the ideal platform for this but I do expect for debate and I do hope the wide audience signifies that more can utilize this as inspiration or simply food for thought in their own journeys in the world of FX trading.
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The self dilemma and the nature of impermanence.
I must first admit that I'm still a developing trader and still failing on many fronts. But I have experienced success to a degree and although I do feature a significant percentage of it to chance, I think there is a skill involved and it's a sport that someone may get better at over time. Of course we have to trust this don't we? But believing it in an intellectual level is not enough. One has to actually experience it. For years I've felt helpless and stuck as no matter what I tried, nothing seemed to work. However, at times over the years I'd feel that I have made it or have finally cracked the code of the market only to have the market show me wrong. The market has a way of teaching us items.
So I am very reluctant to come back here and type these items. Afraid because history has shown that it is simple for ego to get in the way. Whenever we put our own reputation and ego on the line, we suddenly have more to lose and it will become a lot harder to make changes or to acknowledge that our rankings or methodology isn't right. Being conscious of this will not make it easier to steer clear of the ego trap. It is plogical. Our plogy does not follow logic.
The very nature of markets make matters worse for the egoistic trader. Impermanence. That's the way of the world and that's the way the markets are. Price is always shifting; market constructions are always developing and changing; systems are always evolving. Nothing stays the same for long. The urge to admit one is wrong and that one can never beat the market is required to stay on top of this game. We can not beat the market; we could simply beat different traders playing the same game.
So why am I still here and doing this? Sounds incredibly cheesy but I followed my heart and instinct. I think there's a lot of good in all of us and that there's a lot we could share about our adventures and through nurturing a win-win circumstance and surroundings everybody can benefit. Sure, only a handful can win at this game in the financial/monetary dimension, but that just means that I want to keep improving and becoming better, and not by clinging on to what I know. On the personal development and religious dimensions, I think trading has the potential to gain over just a handful of people. If you give your best and don't make it as one of the top of the area, I don't think the journey was a waste. The lessons that you glow from this may be implemented in so many different things. But do not use that as an excuse not to succeed. Try as hard as possible to succeed, while fully understanding that the journey and the change it brings you is exactly what truly matters in the long term.
So I want to end of this brief post with a careful reminder to myself and all: we are all learning and the only thing we could do is to try to be better today than yesterday. My views and thoughts are only as valid as my experience and experience is something that I have that some of you reading do not. Hopefully you'll find some of my experiences and lessons I've drawn out of them valuable to your journey.