Freebie: Without a Strategy, No Profit

I'll give you a quick freebie. It's something you typically won't find on trading sites across the net--something you likely won't hear but small echoes of here to there. It's because it's something that works.

Sites will tell you that the reason you are losing money is because you're either:

1) Not disciplined.

2) Trading a strategy that doesn't fit your personality.

3) Have a poor strategy.

Many, actually don't seem to mention number three much. The first two don't matter nearly as much as number three. If you have a strategy that has proven to be effective time and time again, you don't have to be terribly disciplined and it doesn't matter exactly what type of personality you have. I mean, if it works, it works.

The problem is finding that strategy. And, unfortunately I'm not going to be of much help in that area within this post. I think this is where number one and number two come in. Put them in subcategories under number three.

Let's look at them as subcategories:

If you are not disciplined in finding a strategy, you will not find one. In this market, there's so much competition that high alpha-positive strategies aren't just going to fall out of the sky. And, if you think you can purchase one at the book store for $20, you're being mislead. Yes, those books can provide ideas, but you still have to put in a tremendous amount of work to determine whether the ideas will ultimately prove profitable (especially after commissions and slippage) and which strategies you can use. You'll need a disciplined approach to strategy creation and execution.

Next, number two as a subcategory sorta mixes with number three and number one. However you're going about your strategy must mix with your personality. If you absolutely hate doing complex calculations, you're going to probably hate going the quant route. If you dislike programming, algorithmic trading is going to be a struggle. If you dislike reading and/or talking to people, you'll probably hate following press conferences and calling up investor relations.

In fact, check up on Jack Schwager's Market Wizards. The interview he does shows a wide range of different strategies and shows the personalities and talents that are best suited to each. Furthermore, he shows what it took for each of the traders to achieve their strategies. At least that's what I noticed when reading it.

Really, it all comes down to strategy. You have a solid one and you're much, much less likely to falter. If you have a poor strategy, well, that's why you're losing money. It's not because you're not following your strategy hard enough. It's because you have a bad strategy.