Have a System That fits You

Every successful trader, investor,money manager,etc.. has a system
that fits them. Some are long term, some mechanical, some intuitive,
day traders, scalpers, arbitrage, value, momentum.The system its self is
not the important factor. What is? Is that the system fits their unique personality.



Too many traders try to copy the latest hot fad in trading. Right
now that would be day trading. But that style of trading will not suite
every-one. To be a successful day trader you have to love the short term
up and downs of the market during the day. Being in contact with quotes
for hours at a time. Yes, there are a number of traders making very good
incomes from day trading, but there’s many more who lose their shirts
within a couple of months and don't even find out whether day trading
is suited to their temperament


It's a little like choosing a career. I remember reading a book some
time ago about the world's best managers. And one characteristic the author
emphasized with all these top achievers was their LOVE for their chosen
careers. Most of them said they couldn't believe they were getting paid
to do something they loved so much. It's no different in trading.
You will only be a top trader if you trade a system which you simply
love to trade. You wouldn't swap that way of trading for anything. And
the profits you make, well that's just icing on the cake.

How do you find a system you are happy with?

For many traders the basic secret is having a trading system in the first place. You already knew that? Then just think about how well your trading worked, how often you changed or tweaked your system, not to mention those times when confusion or even despair set in!

Many novices are not aware of the necessity of a trading system, but many seasoned traders won’t believe that they have either:

• A trading system that has contradicting elements in it, which inevitably means it can’t work really, or
• a trading system that works but tries to exploit something where not much is to gain, or
• a trading system that doesn’t fit their trading mentality, which means they can’t execute it.

If you have a trading system that works, trust for this system is building and it gets easier to execute it. That is the first step.

All system trading is eventually discrete, simply because a trader has to choose a system, then configure it, adapt it, choose the right markets, watch for extreme situations where to change the rules and so on.

If the trading system works with trends and sometimes yields superior gains, strong optimism follows and finally a trader’s sync with the markets sets in.

Be at the right place at the right time, enter the market and exit it with the right stop loss system. If you don’t choose the outright wrong place, say a dull stock that clearly has no real upside potential, this system works even with a random entry.

This is the real secret: Be in sync with the market and foresee where the killer waves may show up. Having the right system that gets you on the forming trend is of course the other part of the equation.