I am an intermediate trader and I love your newsletter, as it has built me up in my trading. I want to know what you think of VantagePoint software as a forecasting tool. Is it a tool that every trader should possess?
The above question has two parts worthy of discussion. The first is the opening sentence. Yes, it is complimentary toward me, but underneath that is an important point worth making – fundamentals are important.
You see, this column is different from most in this genre. My goal is to educate you about you, as well as educate you about trading. Rarely will I give specific trading advice. Generally, I don’t offer specific analysis, although I may offer some, here and there, and I am not interested in giving you trades, although occasionally I will point in a direction.
What I do is hammer the fundamentals, day in and day out. I do this because there is no other way for you, or anyone, to master trading. If you practice the fundamentals I preach, you will improve. Although there is no guarantee you will make money (so many factors have to work for this to happen), you will have the foundation necessary to make money, and unless you are a lucky person, you won’t make money without mastering the fundamentals. Ask any successful self-employed person if he or she could make money without mastering the fundamentals of their craft, business, or service. So when folks write in and tell me their trading has improved because of what I write, it tells me they are paying attention to the fundamentals. It tells me folks are getting it – mastering the fundamentals works.
As to the actual question … I have stated before that I use VantagePoint for my trading, so it must work for me. So, yes, I recommend at least trying it out. But here is another fundamental you need to understand – no software will work for you if you do not master the fundamentals of trading. No software will give you guaranteed winning trades. No software is right 100% of the time. If there were such a “magic bullet … ” The best any trading software can do for you is give you a strategic edge, a “heads up” on a specific trade or potential market direction.
There is an abundance of trading software out there, and I have seen most of it (I review trading software.). Some of that software is top flight and some is worthless. It is an excellent exercise to try out as much of it as you can. If nothing else, it will teach you the difference between quality and hype. As well, it will teach you that trading software can be as personal as anything in your life – you have to like it to continue using it.
Personally, I like simplicity in my life, and along with the fact that the VantagePoint forecasts give me an edge, I like and use the software because it is simple to use, which frees up my overworked brain to do all the other things one needs to do as a trader.
Trade in the day; invest in your life …
