The market has the jitters. Will they or won’t they do something about the “fiscal cliff” before the stroke of midnight on the 31st? I suggest to you that now is the time to buy …
I have two questions from two readers this morning and I lump them together because they have a similar theme and my answer fits them both.
- What do you think of Cool Trader Pro as both an investment tool, but separately as a business opportunity?
- I have been involved with trading forex for about 5 or 6 years and I am still looking for a better trading method than I am currently using. I have seen many “gurus” and “EA’S and bought some of these systems. Please advise me because I want to make this my last career.
I don’t have a recommendation on “Cool Trader Pro,” as I am not familiar with it as an investment tool or a business opportunity, nor do I recommend buying trading “systems.” I am old-fashioned when it comes to trading and investing. I believe to be successful, one has to take the time (years) to learn both the craft and art of trading. I do recommend using quality software as a tool. It can help immensely, but it cannot do it all. For the record, I use VantagePoint software and I chose it after “trying out” many other packages. It works for me.
Anyway, here is my answer to the readers’ questions.
Becoming a master at anything requires years of training, which can be formal or not. Regardless, what has to occur is a two-fold process. First, one has to learn the mechanics (technique) of what he or she is doing. In painting, the technique is all about strokes, color, light, perspective, and effect. In trading, technique is all about the trade, how to find it and execute it. Many people can learn technique of a “thing,” but less learn how to move from technique to mastering the art of whatever that thing is. The second step in becoming a master is more subtle and almost indescribable, as it takes us to a place beyond the practicality of process; it takes us to a place in the mind.
To become a master painter, one has to, over time, incorporate the subtleties of technique into his or her unconscious mind. One has to flow and meld with the painting. This means when painting, an artist “knows” just how long to make a stroke, just how much color to add to a scene, just how much light or darkness will create a mood, and just how deep or wide to make the perspective for the intended effect. This ability only comes with time, knowledge, and experience.
The same is true for a trader. One can readily learn the technique (mechanics) of trading, but to become consistently successful, time, experience, and knowledge have to come into play. One has to learn the subtleties of overall market movement, the reality of economic global flow, the effect of news and analysis on markets, and relationships between markets that can and do effect movement (intermarket analysis). Once learned, second nature takes hold, and many of the decisions made are made without conscious knowledge. This, then, becomes intuition, a sense of what will or should happen producing an “unvoiced” decision based on “feel’. This sense is the same one that produces master painters. This implies that one important aspect of successful trading is artful.
Folks, get out and test the offerings out there in the trading world. It is important to understand this world on all levels. In the end, though, it will come back to you and the work you put into being successful. This is true for investing and trading, as it is true for Life. So get to work, if you want to master the world and become a successful trader/investor while doing so.
Trade in the day; Invest in your life …
