Trading Isn’t All Science

Trading isn’t all science. With science we do experiments. We prove things by doing the exact same procedure and then checking to see if we consistently get the same results. For example, when we put baking soda and vinegar together, we are most definitely going to get a chemical reaction as a result, consistently.

In contrast, if you use the same trading strategy, the same way every time, you will NOT always get the same results. This is because there is an extremely variable, inconsistent, outside force that will change your outcome. The movement of the stock market and even more importantly your mind’s interpretation of what that movement means! Take a look…

Realize that it is easy to create a trading strategy that performs well in a specific market environment. And sometimes, with our higher probability strategies, we can create a strategy that performs well across multiple environments. But realize that it is impossible to create a single set of defined rules that will do well in ALL market situations. The Holy Grail, as traders call it, doesn’t exist.

I think most traders know that the Holy Grail doesn’t exist, yet many traders continue to seek it, at least unconsciously.

We often hear traders say “I know that no strategy is capable of winning all the time, but I ‘m looking for a strategy than makes money consistently.” Which is an oxymoron, right? Because the word consistently literally means in every case or on every occasion. This implies what the trader is really saying is “I know that no strategy is capable of winning all the time, I just want the strategy to make money in every case or on every occasion.”

Of course, when we say something like that and realize what we said isn’t logical, we’ll try and rationalize the statement by thinking, well that’s not what I mean by “consistently”. But is that really true?

Realize that a human being’s first instinctual response to a question, is literally what they mean.

And if we want proof of this, all we have to do is examine the actions that  they’re taking…… because regardless of what a person says, whether it be to themselves or others, we can always tell what they truly believe through their actions.

Take a few minutes to learn more about how thoughts and internal conflicts affect our success as a trader and how we can go about winning in spite of ourselves.