Trading: Art or Science

[mea]

Dogpile,

Thank you for your example and all your help throughout this discussion. I hope someday, I can do the same in return.

Mark

[Reaver]

	Quote:	feb2865
	"the secret to trading by science is the ability to recognize the changing market conditions and apply the correct strategy for it" It sounds discretionary to me Listen folks, this topic is very much like the never-ending story about scaling out, stop-loss, indicators, etc. It becomes a soap opera after a while. Lucky for us, this forum is a well-organized one and traders do respect each to the max. First you need to have a clear definition of what is science - and what is art trading wise. When I started I was sure I had this defined real good. As I mentioned in my earliest post, market proved me wrong. If you have a system/strategy that works and adapts to this ever-changing environment, congratulations. If is an art or is a science - who cares?? does it makes you money consistently? I learned that trading becomes very much like a fingerprint for every trader. I have a friend who utilizes MACD and price and it works pretty good for him. I tried once and got screwed up. Everything lies in the eyes of the beholder. I have an open mind about everything. You have a bot that spits dollar bills everytime the market opens, I am willing to try (paper trade of course) I have never make any indicator work in live trading. But that's me, doesn't mean traders outhere are not making money off indicators. Whatever system you use, mechanical, science, art, etc. Please bear in mind that all of them has it's limitations. Learn when your system is telling the truth and when is giving you a wrong signal. In all markets, at all time frames, there will be periods of accumulation and distribution. On whatever your use art/science/astrology/tea leaves etc. would be nice to train your system to spot these periods so you can act accordingly when the market distributes. At least this is how I trade. Systems/strategies...art or science...are just road maps. You still need to drive the car.

Very well put. At the end of the day, all that matters is if it makes you money...money in your pocket is not an opinion based situation...it is either a) there or b) not there.

Whether or not what you do is an art or science is really just your opinion one way or another.

I like Auction Market Theory because it is a powerful integration of both, it uses a theory based on scientific evidence, but you must still use your brain to derive your opinion and decide whether or not to back that opinion up with money.

[mister ed]

Some great ideas in this thread - great question to ask if trading is an art or a science. These sorts of "philosophical" questions (as opposed to practical questions- "what value of MA should I use...") can add real value to trading, it forces me to take a step back and think about what I am doing. Of course on many forums such questions quickly degenerate into a war of flames, thankfully not on TL.

My $0.02 is that trading is a craft, or a "trade": sure there are elements of science, many elements of art, but combining the two on a day-to-day basis is practising a craft.