Mapping Your Voyage of Discovery - CQG.com

Technical Analysis I must have hundreds of systems or methods. Well I used to, but now Ionly have one, and it’s a grey box. Part of what I do is automatic and has fixed rules, but Iretain an element of discretion. This revolves primarily around volume and the correcttimeframe to reference, whilst covering a broad spectrum of markets, so that I am aware forwhat is the easiest trade. With so many years of experience it is impossible for me to throwthat all away in favour of mathematics.My own voyage of discovery reached an impasse in 2004. I had become the ultimateCandlestick pattern. I knew so much I had the answer to everything and a solution tonothing. I wasn’t losing, but I wasn’t making either. The frustration became unbearable. Myown solution was to do the Van Tharp home study course. It took a month, but therevelations it revealed were invaluable. My problem was that money and power were notan important motivation. This was hardly surprising as my wife had a serious road accident 5years previously. Everyone knows that health is far more important than money. From 1999to 2002 she had no fewer than 5 major operations on her neck and spine, was foreverhaving scans and seeing consultants, living in constant pain. Even now whenever I have tosay “Hospital” I come out with”Hotel”. Rest assured, the Burj al Arab is cheaper per nightthan a hospital bed. I had to find the money to pay effectively for months at the Burj. I havenever traded so spectacularly in all my life. To be fair, I was fortunate that 2000 to 2001 sawsome major trends, but the truth is, I was so focused I would have made money whateverthe conditions. That focus had been there when trading was my job. Trade badly and I’d beout of one and that was all the motivation I needed. Once that need had gone so did mytrading ability.One of the established golden rules of trading is that you shouldn’t trade if you aredesperate to make money. My problem was the opposite. I only made money when Idesperately needed it. The rest of the time it was simply an Intellectual game. The secondproblem was also the opposite of what most caused traders to lose. Whereas a trader’schange of perspective in life and getting older and wiser creates responsibilities to othersand a burden, I regarded being responsible for others as an inspiration.Never being a person who does things by half’s I threw myself into Van Tharp’spsychological voyage of discovery through meditation and chanting. My wife wouldcomment to my daughters (who found it hilarious) “yes, your father is a lunatic”, after I’djust bellowed “I’m a great trader” and made them all jump out of their skin.Out of this, my initial solution was to throw away at least 90% of what I knew about tradingand Technical Analysis (having concluded what was the important 10% for me). The secondconclusion was to write my first book that crystallised that 10%, and to supplement that bywriting daily and weekly technical commentaries. If someone were paying me to write, itdidn’t matter where I was in the world, or how busy I was, I was obligated to do it. I hadcreated a disciplined structure. Throughout the 6 years I did this, it soon became apparentthat actually, I was writing the commentaries for my own benefit. One subscriber would