Mickey's Journal

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kiravon
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Re: Mickey's Journal

Unread post by kiravon »

The Holy Grail Revealed!

Well we're +200 pips up on my second trade of the Summer,
thats nice. Thats nice but it is simply the way it goes - batch
of minor rents, one or two minor wins then a big move that
makes it all worth while

But when Gordon Ramsey or any of the big name restauranteurs
make many thousands of pounds per night when customers dine
in their restaurants, do you really suppose they don't have to PAY
for the food, the raw ingredients of the meal? Do you imagine they
could stay in business without PAYING for the services of the finest
Cordon Bleu chefs in England? and yes, the highest cost of all is
the RENT on the premises.

But they love what they do! They are focussed on excellence not
on resentment of the minor expenses associated with running their
business. Indeed they would happily pay more if it would improve
the quality or the ambience. They are completely at peace
knowing that money is leaving their account continually, it is
relentless yes, but essential. They don't consider it to be a drain
on their resources. They manage their business expenses as
prudently as possible and then don't give them another thought.

so their MINDS are free to think creatively on how to enhance
their business, unemcumbered by any negative emotion.

So now we get very, very close to the Holy Grail of trading!

My next question is really the acid test, it is one that for
years has kept me on square one, never making consistent
profits - even as recently as last year - I genuinely tripled
my account with the basic AIMS setup in three months
then 'the system' stopped working!!!!

I have read some very trading savvy guys on forums say
the same thing! AIMS works for a while but then suddenly
it all goes pear shaped.

By the way, the above situation holds true for all systems.

Yes they are right, something does indeed go pear shaped!

But it isn't the system!!

So what has gone pear shaped?

The Phantom of the Opera was horribly disfigured since birth,
a 'condition' that blighted his entire life? Christine pointed
out something that his genius mind could never see, too close
to the situation -

'It's in your soul, where the true distortion lies'

Yes our mind doesn't always see reality, in life generally and
in trading specifically.

So here is my acid test question, a question I would definitely
have answered incorrectly until quite recently-

Imagine there is a russian (.ru) website which is a veritable
treasure trove of all the finest trading systems in the world,
costing tens of thousands of dollars, but you can download
them all free!!!

Imagine someone offers to share that web address with you

How excited would you be?

btw this isn't theoretical, I can share this address with you,
just to help you get more excited, if that is where you are at
this stage of your trading career.

So the question is, are you excited? Do you really want to
download and spend the rest of your life ploughing through
hundreds of excellent systems, each of them giving you
a definite edge in trading?

or do you genuinely feel you will pass on that, that you will
rather spend that time working on your mindset? so yes
David above is pretty much on the money, and Michael
definitely knows this, even if by his comment he was
anticipating I was thinking along different lines :)

98% of traders will take option 1 - download systems and
fancy indicators that just might pour money into their
account.

- including the majority of AIMS members. The vast majority of traders
who join AIMS get the AIMS indicators but never really get the point,
despite Immy and some of the world's finest traders on this site
reiterating the one basic truth that is essential to consistent
profits

We have all heard it so often now, that trading is all about psychology,
and maybe we give some lip service to it whilst in our hearts we
are still Phantoms of the Opera, looking outward all the time
at external circumstances, as though external events are responsible
for our success or failure.

The very sad truth is that I cannot convince anyone of this, only when
'the student is ready the teacher appears'

That was definitely true in my case.

One of my favourite books has always been 'As a man thinketh'
by James Allen, well over a hundred years old now.

It repeats the undeniable truth that we create our own reality
by the thoughts we hold in our mind

I never previously related that to trading but I do now!

In recent months I started to discern that ALL the top traders
I have known all seem to speak the same language - they
all use, frequently repeat, and live by certain mantras and cautions,
such as 'Always act in your own best interests', 'In the market anything
can happen', 'the addiction to random rewards' and many other expressions.

so I got to wondering why they all repeated the identical catchphrases?

The answer to that question is without a shadow of a doubt -

The Holy Grail of Trading!

They are all doing something right! and the smart option is to
model success!

They have found the Holy Grail of trading, and it is hidden in
plain view at the bottom of every one of my posts in my
signature

They have each one of them thoroughly digested and internalized
the profound truths contained in the one and only resource
that is needed to succeed in trading, a book that is worth
infinitely more than every system and indicator ever devised by man!

' a book that is worth infinitely more than every
system and indicator ever devised by man!'


Now that is a bold statement!

If you want to succeed in trading, to be able to effortlessly take
money out of the market whenever the market provides the
opportunity, with no stress whatsoever, then simply read and reread
'Trading in the Zone' by Mark Douglas. and then continue to disect
and meditate on a few pages of this book every day.

I can promise you that everything you need to succeed is contained
within those pages. This is NOT opinion - it is fact!!

yet 98% prefer candy to cabbage at great financial and emotional
cost to themselves

you can obtain all the candy you could ever wish for at the forexwinners
site but you will only rot your trading teeth, maybe get trading diabetes.
I can promise you this site is a major obstacle to your success not a boon! -
but as children how many of us gave up candy and thanked our parents and
teachers for giving us wise nutritional advice?

'When the student is ready the teacher appears'

Mark Douglas speaks about 'magical synchronicity' like flocks of
birds and schools of fish all dart and turn direction in a fraction of a second
at the same time!!

All top traders do this also, when they are in the zone they tap into
the collective unconscious of the market - it is effortless and intuitive.

Now thats what I call exciting! it may sound all 'new age' or something
but it really isn't - it is how money is made in trading, there is no other
way to make money consistently in the markets.

This is truly The Holy Grail!

Enjoy the rest of the summer, its touching +40 degrees Centigrade in this Polish
heatwave last few weeks - frizzled what few remaining brain cells I had :)
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Stop searching for the Holy Grail, you've already found it -
It's in your mind!
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kiravon
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Re: Mickey's Journal

Unread post by kiravon »

Wasn't planning on an extravagant
third trade this summer :)

but after the 200 pip win I had to go out.

when I returned the market seemed to be presenting
yet another opportunity which I took - no in depth
market analysis

I had to go out again

I came home again this time to find I'm 103 pips
up and rising

so over 300 pips in one day and no euphoria.
if I continue trading tomorrow I might have a few
rents or I might have yet another +200 pip
run

Finally I am not excited by quite big wins like this
anymore than I am fazed by a run of small rent trades
should that happen

but I am excited knowing that all the while I stay in the zone,
the numbers will always play out in my favour in the long
term

anyone can do this - a child can do this!

It is all in the mind
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Stop searching for the Holy Grail, you've already found it -
It's in your mind!
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zlabis
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Re: Mickey's Journal

Unread post by zlabis »

Thank you very much, Mickey, for your deep insights.

100% agree that 'Trading in the Zone' by Mark Douglas is the most eye-opening publication I've ever read according to trading and applied psychology beside of tons of knowledge provided by Immy and senior AIMSters.

The "Holy Grail" to me is mastering a melange of several topics:

1.
Mastering a strategy (including Trade- and Mony-Management system) and sticking to it for a certain period of time. I know that sounds a bit inconsistant out of my mouth espacially as I changed from successful Fruit-strategy to Seed/Cherry/AA/S1/S2-strategy recently after only 9 months. But let me explain: although I was rather successful with Fruits, I realized from end of May, as market situation at FO and LO stopped being simply and rather mechanically tradeable with Fruits, that it got more and more mentally demanding to trade according to Fruit rules (trades running long, add-ons increasing risk sometimes beyond my comfortability level, hitting daily SL rather soon if 2 or 3 campaigns fail, feeling tensed and nervous during undecisive Stage 2). It was not that effortless as I was used to it and because I like a rather mechanical trading approach, it was time for me to switch.

2. (most important to me)
Deeply and honestly accepting the risk of each and every trade

3.
Only trading signals if they are present. No further interpretation of market because it leads to contradictory information. Immy, Grant and others have provided the signals and rules to us so our duty is to follow them stricktly. Not only to trade successfully but to show our respect to Immy, Grant and the other involved persons for their work and efforts.

4.
Having daily, weekly and mental Stop Loss and sticking to them in any case.

5.
Believing in the edge over the longer run (i.e. T20 principle over several T20 patches). With Seed/Cherry/AA Immy and Grant have found a 60% winner rate with a high R:R ratio (2:1 or higher)

6.
Accepting that there's a random distribution of winners and losers and therefore thinking like a casino. A casino doesn't care of the outcome of single games but it knows that it will win in the longer run because there is a statistically proofed edge.

7.
Only trading if there is time and room for it dedicating all my concentration to trading if I'm trading. Not switching to the charts only to have a sneak view and to get into a quick trade. To me it means that I plan my trading sessions and I plan my daily routine around my trading sessions as far as possible.

Putting those parts together is MY "Holy Grail".

Cheers
Michael
"Want what the market wants", Bill M. Williams in "Trading Chaos - Second edition"
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azadar
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Re: Mickey's Journal

Unread post by azadar »

Great posts Mickey and Michael. A big thank you to both of you :)
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kiravon
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Re: Mickey's Journal

Unread post by kiravon »

Yes we michaels are very like minded :)

and Michael is expressing similar truths I believe in a more technical way,
of course every single point he makes is absolutely essential and is
in complete harmony with the book in question - discipline is indeed
an essential part of the successful trader's psychology, and Michael
has certainly provided ample proof of that!

Well I looked in at LO earlier and didn't really like what I saw,
it looked a bit rangy too me - thats not to say it was,
but if I didn't have a good feel about it best to walk away.

I looked in lunchtime and AO at zero and it looked
like it really might be reversing the trend. I entered break
of AIMS and So far we're 95 pips in the right direction.

Has anyone spotted my deliberate mistake yesterday? '200 pips
and rising' etc? Of course I don't know if profits will continue to
rise! I need to scrub that from my vocabulary.

Positivity is essential but that kind of bravado isn't smart
at all.
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Stop searching for the Holy Grail, you've already found it -
It's in your mind!
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kiravon
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Re: Mickey's Journal

Unread post by kiravon »

Another nice trade today. This time I try to show
my thinking before entering the trade ie break of first
AIMS level, retest of that level backed up by two pin bars,
indicating a possible move down.

Anticipating a possible move down I placed a PO under
the next AIMS level that had since formed.

It just felt right and sure enough there was a nice
break of that level.
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kiravon
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Re: Mickey's Journal

Unread post by kiravon »

We've reached possible support at a Key AIMS level
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kiravon
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Re: Mickey's Journal

Unread post by kiravon »

The basic rule is close at cross of green, its a good
a rule as any, the main thing is that we have rules

However sometimes green is a mighty long way from
price and we can literally give everything back by the time
price crosses green

Sometimes it just feels prudent to move down to a lower
time frame and close on cross of green on that time frame.
I may possibly do that here and at least lock in some profit
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Stop searching for the Holy Grail, you've already found it -
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kiravon
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Re: Mickey's Journal

Unread post by kiravon »

Happily we didn't need to close, not yet at least

The situation in fact now looks clearer on the higher TF

btw we're +60 pips up at the moment
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kiravon
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Re: Mickey's Journal

Unread post by kiravon »

The problem is during the summer I can't
keep monitoring the charts all day so
if I trade at all, and normally I won't, I might
have to set a TP order.

I know Immy doesn't like TP and nor do
I for the same reason but in this situation
I have little choice.

I am looking now at the 1H TF and see the
downside potential for +220 pips.

We are +75 pips up at the moment and
I think we are in with a shot at making
the 220p pips

I will leave my Stop at BE so its a free trade,
nothing to lose and quite a lot to gain.

So far I've had quite a good feeling about this trade,
I'm assuming the momentum spurt was due to
news ( I didn't check ) in which case I would expect
a retrace then hopefully a continuation downward.

but we'll see, anything can happen
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Stop searching for the Holy Grail, you've already found it -
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