Trading as a Business Introduction III

April 25, 2006

example, in the early ‘80s it was very easy to make a lot of money day-trading the
S&P. I used a simple dual moving average crossover strategy on 5-minute bar
charts. There were proportionately very few intra-day traders with computers that
were competing for profits. But since then, with the increase in the number of
traders using intra-day charts, these very rudimentary indicators have stopped
working. When everyone started using them, the profits dried up. It is much more
difficult in today’s markets to make the money that was there in the early years.
The standard indicators just aren’t that effective anymore.
I believe that the only rational way to be a successful trader is by using the best
software available—TradeStation—and learning to be an effective strategy
developer and strategy trader. The professional traders are all using sophisticated
computers, and most of them are now using TradeStation. The technology
resource differential of the past is now gone. An individual trader can afford the
same technology as the successful professional. The playing field is now not
resource driven but intellectually driven. Knowledge is more important than
capital.
Don’t Believe What I Say
The final thing I want to tell you before you delve into this book is not to believe
anything I say. Check it out for yourself. It would be a mistake for you to accept
anything I say without a complete personal investigation, testing it for yourself and
either proving or disproving the principles and techniques that I discuss.
Just because I say it doesn’t mean that it’s true. It’s what I believe to be true and
has stood the test of time for me. But I urge you to be a skeptic, to think
everything through and make sure it makes sense to you. Accept the things that
work for you and reject those that don’t.
The idea behind this book is to give you enough information so you can be selfsufficient.
You shouldn’t have to depend on anyone for your trading profits. You
can do this yourself.
So we begin with three principles. First, the market must facilitate trade to survive;
it must eventually make the big move. Second, you must be state of the art to
compete, which means using the latest PC technology and TradeStation. Third,
you can do this yourself, and you should not take what anyone says for granted.
You have the tools to be independent—to do this yourself.

Do not believe in anything simply because you have heard it.
Do not believe in traditions because they have been handed down for many generations.
Do not believe in anything because it is spoken and rumored by many.
Do not believe in anything simply because it is found written in your books.
Do not believe in anything merely on the authority of your teachers and elders.
But after observation and analysis, when you find that anything agrees with
reason…then accept it and live up to it.
-The Buddha

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