14 replies to this topic

[phineas_gage]

Hi all,

I'm a new member and this is my first post. I recently 'discovered' this board and I'm really impressed with the depth, quality and civility of the this board, and I hope I can make some small contribution to it. I am a professional independent trader, and I have made my living as such for the the last 7 years. I am a CFA, and a former position trader for a major investment bank, and have about 20 years of professional trading experience. Although I make use of technical analysis, I am not wedded to any particular type such as e-wave, etc. I use it primarily as a money management and risk control tool, and develop my trading ideas based on fundamental and news driven sources. However I do have opinions on market direction and support and resistance that are technical in nature and will be willing to share.

I adopted the name phineas gage years ago as a message board alias, and if anyone is wondering why they can check it out here: http://en.wikipedia....ki/Phineas_Gage. Anyway, Phineas' injury is a metaphor for my trading style- do all the thinking in advance of the trade, and then let the trade play out in a purely mechanical way- as if you were completely disassociated with the proverbial "spike right through my head." Emotion and opinion have always been my trading enemies, so I have evolved money management strategies that avoid the use of non-price information. I tend to use slow parabolic stops on longer term trade ideas, and then play the daily chop with a roadmap, and tight fixed stops. I trade mostly in individual securities and ETFs.

Thanks for letting me be here,
Tim

[greenie]

Welcome to the board Tim. Please keep in mind that your style (using fundamentals for trade origination and technicals for risk/money management) will not be liked by the people here. They will not trust that anybody can trade successfully in that manner, and even if you show real-time examples, they will ignore such posts. Excluding those nuisances, this is a fine board with many good traders. Best to you !!

[rkd80]

Welcome Tim, hope we can learn much from you as you certainly look impressive on paper

[vitaminm]

Welcome to the board! "I have made my living as such for the the last 7 years" What Type of return one may need to make living by trading? What type of ETFs you are buying now?

[ogm]

Welcome

[redfoliage2]

Hi all,

I'm a new member and this is my first post. I recently 'discovered' this board and I'm really impressed with the depth, quality and civility of the this board, and I hope I can make some small contribution to it. I am a professional independent trader, and I have made my living as such for the the last 7 years. I am a CFA, and a former position trader for a major investment bank, and have about 20 years of professional trading experience. Although I make use of technical analysis, I am not wedded to any particular type such as e-wave, etc. I use it primarily as a money management and risk control tool, and develop my trading ideas based on fundamental and news driven sources. However I do have opinions on market direction and support and resistance that are technical in nature and will be willing to share.

I adopted the name phineas gage years ago as a message board alias, and if anyone is wondering why they can check it out here: http://en.wikipedia....ki/Phineas_Gage. Anyway, Phineas' injury is a metaphor for my trading style- do all the thinking in advance of the trade, and then let the trade play out in a purely mechanical way- as if you were completely disassociated with the proverbial "spike right through my head." Emotion and opinion have always been my trading enemies, so I have evolved money management strategies that avoid the use of non-price information. I tend to use slow parabolic stops on longer term trade ideas, and then play the daily chop with a roadmap, and tight fixed stops. I trade mostly in individual securities and ETFs.

Thanks for letting me be here,
Tim

Welcome! I like your trading philosophy and I tried to do the same myself and found it's hard to stick to it......

[phineas_gage]

The first thing one needs to do is not have any debt or significant ongoing expenses. Next, you have have to have a willingness to go extended periods without trading very much- in order to maximize the periods of clarity in which the market follows your roadmap and you have the potential to really knock the cover off the ball. Personally, I never try to get in front of the tape, even if it means making less money on my idea- I get bigger when the tape goes my way, and smaller or out when it doesn't. It took me a long time and alot of money to be able to square this style emotionally. Finally, you have to be able to make at least a little money just trading the tape, picking off dimes and quarters and just booking it. For example, I'm bearish right now, but with yeasterday's TRIN, I had to step in and make some chop, so I bought a basket of some relative strength and I've spent the day selling it off, making halves and dollars. I start each year with a fixed amount, less than most would think was necessary- less than 6 figs. I have two kinds of months- ones in which I do poorly and I'm not seeing the tape well or the market is irrational or whatever, in which I pay the vig, but preserve capital. As I said, my money management is purely mechanical, so unless you have a 911 type deal where stops don't really help, my down months are small. When I do well for whatever reason, I can comfortably do 10-15% in a month, and I've had exceptional months when I've caught a turn or something, and my positions get way out in front of my stops allowing me to lever up a bit. In Nov. '03 and Dec '03 I doubled my capital each month but that was truly exceptional.

ETF wise I use the levered ETFs such as QID/QLD as market proxies. Sometimes I'll use a sector ETF to hedge out market risk on a fundamental longer term trade idea. Finally I use the Bond Etfs like TLT when I want to play a rate idea. Currently, I'm out of ETF's, play chops on the long side, waiting for an opportunity to set up short in Sep. I've already had a very good month, and I booked alot yesterday so I'm laying a little low. This tape needs a little "up", and I don't doubt Ben and the gang's abilities in the short term.

Welcome to the board!

"I have made my living as such for the the last 7 years"

What Type of return one may need to make living by trading?
What type of ETFs you are buying now?

[sam]

Tim, welcome. Please ignore what greenie said. We are ALL interested in what intelligent traders have to say. While this is mainly a TA Board, sharing perspectives and experiences is what this place is all about. The little guy doesn't speak for anyone but himself. glad to have you on board.

[IndexTrader]

Welcome to the board. I look forward to your ideas. Interesting story by the way about P. Gage. IT

[vitaminm]

The first thing one needs to do is not have any debt or significant ongoing expenses. Next, you have have to have a willingness to go extended periods without trading very much- in order to maximize the periods of clarity in which the market follows your roadmap and you have the potential to really knock the cover off the ball. Personally, I never try to get in front of the tape, even if it means making less money on my idea- I get bigger when the tape goes my way, and smaller or out when it doesn't. It took me a long time and alot of money to be able to square this style emotionally. Finally, you have to be able to make at least a little money just trading the tape, picking off dimes and quarters and just booking it. For example, I'm bearish right now, but with yeasterday's TRIN, I had to step in and make some chop, so I bought a basket of some relative strength and I've spent the day selling it off, making halves and dollars. I start each year with a fixed amount, less than most would think was necessary- less than 6 figs. I have two kinds of months- ones in which I do poorly and I'm not seeing the tape well or the market is irrational or whatever, in which I pay the vig, but preserve capital. As I said, my money management is purely mechanical, so unless you have a 911 type deal where stops don't really help, my down months are small. When I do well for whatever reason, I can comfortably do 10-15% in a month, and I've had exceptional months when I've caught a turn or something, and my positions get way out in front of my stops allowing me to lever up a bit. In Nov. '03 and Dec '03 I doubled my capital each month but that was truly exceptional.

ETF wise I use the levered ETFs such as QID/QLD as market proxies. Sometimes I'll use a sector ETF to hedge out market risk on a fundamental longer term trade idea. Finally I use the Bond Etfs like TLT when I want to play a rate idea. Currently, I'm out of ETF's, play chops on the long side, waiting for an opportunity to set up short in Sep. I've already had a very good month, and I booked alot yesterday so I'm laying a little low. This tape needs a little "up", and I don't doubt Ben and the gang's abilities in the short term.

Welcome to the board!

"I have made my living as such for the the last 7 years"

What Type of return one may need to make living by trading?
What type of ETFs you are buying now?

"When I do well for whatever reason, I can comfortably do 10-15% in a month"

That's an excellent return.