The Real Secrets for Successful Trading

By: Nadeem_Walayat

This is the second article in my Learn to Trade series on how to successfully interpret and trade the financial markets, most of which is exclusive to Patrons.

1. Why 90% of Traders Lose

For the past 10 years I have wanted to write a book on the real secrets for successful trading but never found the time to get around to doing so. However, I have alluded to where the primary secret lies many times over the years. The most notable of which is suggesting those wanting to learn the real secret for successful trading should watch the early 1980's film Excalibur, for the seed for their own light bulb moment.

The Excalibur movie is the 1980's replay of the King Arthur myth focused on the hunt for the holy grail. That should have perked your interest as most traders very early on in their trading careers are easily seduced into joining the search for the holy grail of trading, even more so today where the internet is full of an infinite number of competing holy grails out to hook traders into handing over huge sums of money for the privilege of learning so called trading 'secrets'.

However, I had several advantages over today's traders as early on in my trading life there was no internet and the local library shelves were bare of trading books so there was nothing to pollute my understanding of markets and trading unlike the case today where traders of all abilities can easily find themselves drowning in an ocean of holy churches of Technical Analysis of tools, methodologies and theories that funnel thought processes towards becoming perma consumers of exponentially expanding trading materials.

Neither was I immersed in any type of reinforcing trading culture as many today easily find themselves courtesy of the internet within self reinforcing forums and social media groups. Instead, I found myself trading by my lonesome far removed from the centres of the financial world, a blank canvas with no access to any of the consensus views of how one should interpret and trade markets.

In 1983 the movie Excalibur planted the seed that germinated into an important element involved in the development of my trading thought process that ultimately allowed me to go on and even beat the Great Crash of 1987 , which claimed many traders in its midst's. Not because I was some kind of pocket genius, rather because I literally existed in a self contained trading bubble where instead of using Technical Analysis, I was filled with the likes of Excalibur and Chaos Theory - the mandelbrot & Julia sets and strange attractors. And as long as I remained in my isolated bubble I was immune to the effects of the holy Churches of TA whose missionaries are always eager to seek conversion of new disciples for a fee on promises of secrets towards untold riches, that in my opinion amounts to little more than a sales industry geared towards selling that which does not actually work in practice as I illustrated in my previous article on why 90% of Traders Lose.

The EXCALIBUR Light Bulb Moment - The Real Secret of Successful Trading

What is the message from the arthurian myth, what is the message of Excalibur?

Grail Figure: What is the secret of the Grail? Who does it serve?

Perceval: You, my lord.

Grail Figure: Who am I?

Perceval: You are my lord and king. You are Arthur.

Grail Figure: Have you found the secret that I have lost?

Perceval: Yes. You and the land are one.

Do you understand what the secret is?

Maybe you need to watch at the following clip from movie....

....to understand that YOU are the Grail!

I am tempted to diverge here and extend the scope of this light bulb moment far beyond the realms of trading, but you are probably not ready for that so I will stick to trading. So now you understand what 90% of traders fail to understand during a lifetime of trading as they religiously remain on a constant quest for the holy grail of trading where it seems to be a search for ever more complexity as being the answer, when instead the exact opposite is true, as Perceval discovered during his quest, the answer exists within you and not anywhere else!

What this means is that if you want to succeed in trading then pick the simplest tools such as basic trend analysis, use hand drawn charts and practice it's application in a real-time trading environment and not only will it cost you nothing in terms of materials but it will literally become easier over time as you become expert in the application of the simple tools as you reinforce your brain with the successful patterns of behaviour in interpreting market price action and how you react to them. All with the added bonus that you need not worry yourself about latest great theory or technical tool that's just been published that the internet is raving about.

To start with pick one market and monitor / trade that market only.

Use hand drawn charts to get close to the price action. Draw open, high, low, close graphs for the daily, weekly and monthly charts and you will learn more about the market you are trading then from any book, website or trading course.

The Real Secrets for Successful Trading

The rest of this analysis has been made available to Patrons who support my work. So for immediate first First Access to ALL of my analysis and trend forecasts then do consider becoming a Patron by supporting my work for just $3 per month. https://www.patreon.com/Nadeem_Walayat.

Your Analyst

Nadeem Walayat

http://www.marketoracle.co.uk

Copyright © 2005-2019 Marketoracle.co.uk (Market Oracle Ltd). All rights reserved.

Nadeem Walayat has over 30 years experience of trading derivatives, portfolio management and analysing the financial markets, including one of few who both anticipated and Beat the 1987 Crash. Nadeem's forward looking analysis focuses on UK inflation, economy, interest rates and housing market. He is the author of five ebook's in the The Inflation Mega-Trend and Stocks Stealth Bull Market series that can be downloaded for Free.

Nadeem is the Editor of The Market Oracle, a FREE Daily Financial Markets Analysis & Forecasting online publication that presents in-depth analysis from over 1000 experienced analysts on a range of views of the probable direction of the financial markets, thus enabling our readers to arrive at an informed opinion on future market direction. http://www.marketoracle.co.uk

Disclaimer: The above is a matter of opinion provided for general information purposes only and is not intended as investment advice. Information and analysis above are derived from sources and utilising methods believed to be reliable, but we cannot accept responsibility for any trading losses you may incur as a result of this analysis. Individuals should consult with their personal financial advisors before engaging in any trading activities.

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