Why teach if you can trade?

Bruce brought up a question that i think a lot of traders wonder about and/or have asked:

quote:

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obviously this would bring up the age old question of "why teach if you can trade so well"

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so i wanted to start this topic just for that discussion.

obviously, everyone is welcome and encouraged to throw in their $0.02 and i think it would be especially insightful if we get some input from any trading educators/vendors out there.

to me it makes sense the same way asking that question makes sense. aren't traders a bit untrusting, often even paranoid, just by our professional nature? we don't trust stuff, whether it is someone teaching about trading or that a tradeable edge will exist for us indefinitely. Traders write books, teach, develop indicators, do speaking engagements, and all sorts of stuff that is tangential to their actual trading. even trading itself can go beyond what a person 'needs'. Soros, Buffet, Jones, and so on, no one has retired yet. no matter how you come by it, too much is never enough.

and, i've completely ignored the notion of an altruistic agenda. it isn't that i don't think it exists, it is more the opposite. i assume it is present in those genuinely interested in teaching any kind of market understanding and trading skillset. paying it forward. if i don't get the feeling that the material and instructors are thick with a sincere effort to impart useful, applicable knowledge, i'm not interested. because i don't trust it. this personal filter is what led me to DLC. i emailed and talked with Terry and DLC for several months before i enrolled in the CL/CES. it would have been very easy at any point for them to tell me to enroll and pay up or leave them alone. and they had that right, imo. but they never even insinuated that mentality.

i often read that teaching a methodology/strategy/etc dilutes an edge, but i think that gets overdone. there are too many markets, too much incoming money, and too low a winning ratio for any edge to really get diluted. etrade tells us they get 1,000 new accounts every day. if only 10% of those end up trading, 80-95 of those will lose. it's the revolving door of new losing traders that helps keep an edge profitable.

anyway, thanks Bruce, for you contributions in general and specifically for bringing up this topic. I hope you'll share some of your thoughts on it as well.

Most can't and are cons artists as I have met many. I actually have recently met a trader that also a great teacher. I asked him that same question in class "why teach if you can trade?" and for him is because he recently overcame the battle with cancer and want to help other struggling traders.

That is a very good question and I will answer it to the best of my knowledge, but let's clarify a few things.

First, I don't sell anything.

Second, I already posted in the Taylor trading technique section about EW and how to pin point possible tops and bottoms.

From my experience no system is perfect but you will always have some area where market will react (6 to 10 points) and more important ones (10 to 25 points)minimum.

I haven't seen anyone that had a trading method like mine as it is a bit too complex to put on writings, everything I know I have found it on the net and I have just developped something to simplify EW theory and apply it with a few other things.

I have never been interested to sell my method as it's working well so why should I do so.

In plain text a very accurate method is usually never for sale, you can learn a few things from books but I would never pay for courses or webinars on the net, as for me it's just a waist of your money.

Trust me on this all you need to become a successful trader is here on this blog as everything has already been posted, look around.

Only thing that I use and that was worth the money I have spent was a software to help me filter waves that's all.

Laurent

Hi there,

I dont think its selling or marketing Ideas. Its just the contribution and sharing of our knowledge so that others can also make a attempt to discuss their strategies. This will also refine our strategies and we could learn from each other experiences.

Cheers

in my other life as a roofer, at key moments as a young man, i was helped many times where there was no reason for the person to help me except for the sheer joy of teaching.very clear fond memories of those times. now when i vacation on the roof, there is no greater pleasure than to teach a young man a new skill.same with trading.. at each step i was helped beyond any rational time frame for free by traders who enjoyed teaching. very clear fond memories of those times.now i try to pass it on.

Is this profession any different than all the rest of them? There is a saying "those that can do, and those that can't teach." Perhaps in some cases thats correct. I'm convinced that in many others its incorrect. In those cases where its true does it somehow diminish the knowledge that is being passed on? Last time I checked the best golfer in the world had a teacher. The only football coach to win Coach of the Year and Assistant Coach of the Year never played a down of college ball. I could go on and on with people that couldnt and so they taught. I could also go on and on about those that could and for their own reasons decided to share. We should be thankful for both.

Talk to someone who has never traded or been in the market. Tell them what you do and how. About
the fibos, s/r, cycles, chart patterns, going long vs. short you know; how you do what you do.
As you talk listen to yourself. What you will find is, we learn about ourself and even think
of something we may not have thought of before. The other person may ask a question that will
cause us to realize something we had not until then.
Sometimes when we teach we learn.

Red6.

When I teach competitive driving, it is like a narration. Like "after this turn, you will feel the car drifting to the left. Feel the car, trust the tires, hold the steering corrected. The car will return to the right"

You are right, when I teach, it enforces my confidence. Like somebody is driving for me and I am watching myself. I can't teach trading. I am not up to it, but I'll share my experiences and learn.

A mentor is different from a teacher.

A mentor assumes the person mentoring you had "DONE" it, that is trading and is very successful in it in terms of $$$ and %. I would like Simon or Paulson as my trading mentors.

A teacher may write a book teach a course and have never "DONE" it...just look at all the books writers and journalists...talk about making money when they are broke.

So, the first question to ask anyone before you get a mentor or course is show me where are your trades and how have you done??

Otherwise you are learning a lot of BS which will loose you money.

All newbies me included were looking for a guru or course that would make us a great trader. If there was a person or course...they would never sell it...no such thing.

So as Barry Burns sent me an email about swing Trading and a new course he has.

I emailed Barry and I asked give me some Swing trades you have done...like show me your trades (Profit and loss) and tell me some upcoming ones. After all since you selling a Swing Trading course, I PRESUME YOU SWING TRADE THE SAME WAY AS YOUR COURSE??

I have still to get his reply, but he did send me a H&S pattern!!!

My fellow traders, all techniques work and fail. Good Traders are just presistent and repetitive in their approach and have atleast 2 ways at looking at the market and trading it, in order to avoid tunnel vision.

what if ?

what if, i told you about a pay for service trading service where the guys that are running it told you exactly what trading software they were using and what exactly was the one and only support and resistance indicator they were using - and what if these guys were profitable on their calls, continously

their orders are buy stop and sell stop and with stop and targets before the fact and plenty of time to enter the trade

of course, the difference being they know how to use the trading software better than you could ever imagine you would

would you still pay their $149 per month for their professional service?

I cant send you GEO, can you send me the link?