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karoshiman

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Posts posted by karoshiman


  1.  

    yes Karoshiman - ....we are agreeing.

     

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    Good :)

     

     

     

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    Your point --- The moment you say "they don't recognize value" or "overshoot", you are imposing your view on the markets, I would disagree on......I can still clearly put an idea or measure of value on something and use that as a filter to attach probabilities to.

     

     

     

    You mean, like ranking the companies by discrepancy between your calculated value and the current stock price (like Warren Buffett says, he tries to buy companies that are worth 1$ for 50 cent) as you assume, the bigger the discrepancy, the higher the probability for the market price to move to your calculated value?

     

    If you are very confident in your analysis and have very deep pockets and lots of time one can do that.

     

     

     

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    How to act on it then is a different measure.

     

     

     

    So true...

     

     

     

     

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    The markets it could be argued never recognize value.....and they most certainly will not recognise your own personal measures, but they are still valid to be aware of what at some stage will become unsustainable, or eventually will be recognised.

     

     

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    Yes, for instance, the stock price of the company I've worked for was very volatile. It fluctuated in a one year period between about 20 and 55 Euro, without any changes in fundamentals or projections by us or by analysts. It had more to do with general market sentiment and associated risk appetite of investors/traders. When I saw this, I just thought to myself "this is all so crazy... the stock market has nothing to do with what happens in the real world... it's all investor psychology"... okay, that was also a very volatile period in the markets, but still...

     

     

     

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    If you are not using leverage, not requiring to answer to investors, or to live off the proceeds of trading, then you probably would have made money from shorting the internet bubble.

     

     

     

     

    The problem was that I've bought put warrants (similar to options), as at that time in Germany, shorting of stocks was not possible for retail traders (now is). The time value of the warrants were the problem... otherwise I would have made a killing... woulda coulda shoulda... :doh:


  2. karoshiman - you almost seem to be arguing against your own point. ;)

    Often the markets dont recognise value or overshoot on value....hence a value investor is likely to always be getting into a stock when its in a downtrend, or out when in an uptrend.

     

    you then have the issues of even if a good company is well run it may be in a declining industry, or the company is making good money now but has road blocks ahead, or the management have a poor history of reinvesting that cash flow and profits.....etc;etc

     

    The best approach surely is to combine the two - work out what is good value and then let the market price guide you as to how best to extract that value......so how then do you value gold, oil, currencies ??? :)

     

     

    Hi Siuya,

     

    I don't see me arguing against my own point... Maybe I don't understand your point fully but your examples do not oppose what I have written earlier from my point of view.

     

    As a value investor, I've shorted the internet bubble. Unlucky for me, the bubble lasted longer than I thought. Problem was that I did not take into account what the market's view was.

     

    Markets have their own view on value. The moment you say "they don't recognize value" or "overshoot", you are imposing your view on the markets. And that's fatal from my point of view, if you plan to make money in the markets with an envisaged holding period of 2 years or less. I mean, you can make money if you assess value correctly (and you can make a lots of it), but you have to be able to wait for years until markets change their perception of value... like Keynes said: "Markets can remain irrational longer than you can remain solvent."

     

    And the other company examples fit to what I have written regarding future expectations. Whether it's expectations on the industry or management or other road blocks, it does not matter.

     

    Regards,

    k


  3.  

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    The returns to investors ultimately derive from the value created by the companies that receive their capital.

     

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    I assume, by "value created by the companies" you mean profits or cash flow.

     

    If so, I disagree... the value of an asset and hence the return to investors is derived from what others are willing or not willing to pay for it. Even, if one takes a long-term view (3 years and more) a company that has increasing cash flows has still to do a great job in investor relations in order to explain their story and convince the markets about its value and by thus driving their stock price up. And that's the key, you have to convince people... cash flow alone will not help.

     

    And by the way, the markets reflect the future expectations. That's why it is more important what others think about the future of a company than what the company actually produces in cash flow. The latter is only relevant for the valuation when there are major deviations from expectations, hence, changing the view of people on the future of that company. But, my point is, it's the aggregate view of people about an asset that is the driving force.

     

    I've started this game as a fundamental trader. Was right about the internet bubble and lost a lot of money as my timing was crap (I think I was the only one at that time who lost money... lol).

     

    I've worked for years in M&A and evaluated private companies in these transactions. Although, you have a fundamental basis for your negotiations at the end of the day it's the buyer and seller agreeing or not agreeing on the price. Often you get to see in these private transactions "irrational" prices.

     

    Later, when I've switched to a corporate career I've worked intensely with the board of directors and evaluated also our own company. I saw, that the valuations by the stock market just did not make sense most of the time (not talking cents here, but major deviations).

     

    These experiences led me finally to technical analysis... and it works as I am not trying to impose some views on the markets but try to understand the markets intentions. It's irrelevant whether I think the markets are over- or undervalued.

     

    Now, if you've meant with "value created by the companies" good investor relations work, then I agree with your statement.


  4.  

    ... now why would they be foolish enough to continue with a 'cashed out' monthly return of a few thousand for the rest of their lives?

     

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    Because of what I've stated in the first sentence. The cases I know of trade quite often per day and at various times of the day. Given the available leverage they have already reached their limits in terms of trade size. They cannot scale their methodology any further.


  5. Shennanigans. If you can earn 3% per month after taxes and fees, then all you'd need is $32,000 and 40 years to have more money than Warren Buffett. Plenty of people have $32,000 and 40 years, so how come there's only four people who have $40bn?

     

     

    ... strategies which generate such high returns will not be possible after a certain trading volume is reached.

     

    There are traders out there who generate 20-25% consistently per month with low to mid-sized six figure USD accounts but cash out their profits at the end of each month.


  6. LOL - that was probably one of the more way off topics (in all tangents by all persons), however IMHO it was reasonably tame, polite and cordial.

    Doesn't that tell you that the topic was a non event?

     

    If moderation is going to involve trying to take off topic discussions into the area of deleting off topic posts - as clearly the topic held little interest - then I hope that TL still remains a place for free and open discussion.....to me off topic is not necessarily a deviation from the thread title - its more about the nature of the posts being personal.....so for my :2c:,

    (as clearly this is ok :) as its on topic)

     

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    Agree with Siuya 100% on the above.


  7. Agreed ... but once someone is challenged and he doesn't respond sufficiently, that is evidence enough for everyone else reading to make the right conclusions. We don't need to beat a dead horse.

     

    Further, if we don't agree with what someone says, personal attacks is not healthy. Why can't we just ignore what they are talking about and let them talk amongst themselves? By trying to prevent them from talking about whatever BS they are talking about isn't that just another form of censorship? If they want to talk about making a million dollars by trading penny stocks let them!! We may think its stupid and we may disagree but its not our place to stop the discussion.

     

    With that said, we will get better at moderating vendors so they don't use the forums to advertise. That is something we need to get better at.

     

    MMS

     

     

    That's my view, too.

     

    I think also that most coaches and educators are providing BS in this industry. If I see a statement by them on a topic where I have another opinion I will respond as I think that newbies should see the different view on the topic. But I see no point in arguing endlessly with them about any claims they make or even insulting them.

     

    After I've read the first one or two posts by Roger I've decided to ignore his posts and the posts by the users who reply to his posts (not by using the ignore button, but by just not reading them). It's just a waste of my life time. I do not understand the energy with which some users try to fight against him. Maybe there is a history on this... I don't know. But let him post whatever he wants to post on his method, unless he spams other threads than his too often. If he does the latter any user can remind him to stay on topic without repeatedly advertising his method.


  8. Given the censoring of off-topic posts will you please explain the logic where this post passes the test? Following it back .. it doesn't make sense why this sub-thread is still going while Substantial Unresolved Issues haven't been addressed.

     

     

    That's the thing with moderation or censoring... it's in large part subjective... another argument against it.

     

    Let it be a free market...


  9. Hello,

     

    While there has been endless publicity about hundred million dollar and billion dollar hedge fund managers, to anyone's knowledge:

     

    1. In terms of account growth, what has the biggest percent growth ever been for a solo trader?

     

    2. To anyone's knowledge, how much do top solo futures traders make?

     

    Thanks

     

     

    To my knowledge the biggest percentage return published so far is Larry Williams' > 11,000% return in a one year period, turning $10k into $1.1m in that futures competition.

     

    Although this is all very interesting, it's of no value to any other individual trader, nor what any hedge fund make per year.

     

    The only thing that is relevant is how much YOU and YOUR METHOD are able to make per year.

     

    It's like asking what the performance metrics of Tiger Woods are in Golf... how will this help you if you start golfing? Even if you have much more talent than Tiger Woods and are prepared to train smarter and harder than he did in all aspects of the game (incl. mental), then such comparison would only limit you to be as good as he was and not better...


  10. Hi,

     

    I assure you that will never happen again. I am the only moderator and these are the guidelines I've been following:

    1. no personal attacks

    2. off topic posts *only* where others have complained directly to me

     

    thx

    MMS

     

     

    Hi MMS,

     

    does 2. mean that you delete off-topic posts, if only one member complains about it?

     

    Regards,

    k


  11. For me, it's fine if threads get off-topic for a while. Just like in a normal conversation.

     

    If someone does not like the off-topic posts he or she can ignore them and does not have to respond. This person can just continue to post about the original topic and people will reply to that and get on-topic again. If the topic is of enough interest to others of course...

     

    And this is the other side of the medal... maybe some topics are not really that interesting at that moment for most people on the forum so that they tend to deviate from it.

     

    I'd say, keep it like it is. We are all big boys or girls and should be able to cope with it.


  12. Completely understandable that its hard to grasp the concept in FX sometimes.

    (Just as some people cannot grasp the idea of shorting - how do you sell something you dont own? :))

     

    Karoshiman - to help you get over the FX issue as a suggestion - think about it this way.

     

    When ever you trade you are always trading the relationship between two assets.

    When you buy/sell a stock index you are actually saying that you think there is better value in the trade of the index than just sitting in cash.

     

    Think about it in those terms - its all a substitution, as no one is making you trade.:2c:

     

     

    Hm... good example... made me think...

     

    If I buy or sell an index or a stock I am assessing/forecasting the value of it. Yes, I inherently I compare it with my cash. But my analysis is based on the past behavior of the price of the asset and not the relation of the price of the asset to my cash position. I'm just saying that it's possible that prices of assets behave differently than their relationship to prices of other assets. My mathematical example fuels my doubts (that it's more unlikely that fx pair relations approach zero). Plus, I've once heard from a forex trader that he liked to apply his technical analysis to the dollar index, as it provides a "clearer picture" as compared to an analysis of an fx pair relation alone. This is also a hint that relations might behave differently than prices. But the differences might be minor only.

     

    Anyway, I just wanted to provide a different point of view to the discussion :)

     

    And... if a trader trades fx successfully... don't fix something that isn't broke...


  13.  

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    Would like to identify viable support (23.5 ?) level to start accumulating (average into) this stock ? ?

     

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    Sounds like you have bought the stock already. Have you ever heard that averaging is usually not a good proposition in trading? This is no exception. Sell all of your holdings in FB and wait for a bottom forming...

     

    Not only that you increase your losses if you keep holding the stock, but you have also opportunity costs. Instead of holding the stock and analyzing it and/or hoping for it to return you could make money elsewhere in the meantime. FB is not the only tradable instrument out there...

     

    Accept and take the losses and move on.


  14. I thought the first rule of FX Club is: You do not talk about FX Club.

     

     

    Yeah!

     

    And...

     

    2nd RULE: You DO NOT talk about FX CLUB.

     

    3rd RULE: If your method says "stop", the trade is over (= stop loss).

     

    4th RULE: Only two guys to a trade (= Buyer and Seller, i.e. no educators, coaches, etc.).

     

    5th RULE: One trade at a time (= focus on one instrument, strategy, etc.).

     

    6th RULE: No shirts, no shoes (...er?).

     

    7th RULE: Trades will go on as long as they have to (= until profit target or stop loss hit, no premature exits due to namby-pamby emotional behavior).

     

    8th RULE: If this is your first session at FX CLUB, you HAVE to trade (= real money, no sim account trading).


  15. most of the points made are relevant to any market, not just fx.

     

    the difficulty with fx is that there is:

    1. no centralised order book, but an array of execution venues

    2. the same counter party on every trade - i.e. your broker

    3. little regulation

     

    this all amounts to larger spreads and of course a quote which will be determined by your position if trading against a broker.

     

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    Yes, although brokers hedge their position mostly, hence, being only the middlemen.

     

    The above means also that no fully reliable volume info is available. Hence, a valuable source of trading info is missing as compared to other instruments (I know, some methodologies do not require volume information).

     

    What I would add as a negative also, is the fact that fx is more a "conceptual idea" of prices. You just trade a relation between two currencies. This is different to stocks or index futures (even a currency index, like the dollar index), for instance, as these reflect a value of one asset (or in case of an index a defined basket of assets) and not a relation between two assets. I have to admit that I haven't done any analysis on this but it could be possible that technical patterns are not as clear with relations between two assets as with the price of one asset, as relations behave differently (e.g. it seems very unlikely that a relation between two currencies approaches zero... however, it's not as unlikely with stock values).

     

    However, I had my difficulties with fx and stopped my endeavors in that area. Instead, I've focused on index futures as the concept appealed to me much more, due to the above. But this might also be just a personal preference. I've read also about one guy, who was supposed to be successful in fx trading, and he stated that he actually preferred this conceptual idea of fx.


  16.  

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    No periodic tweaking allowed either when market dynamics trash the auto trader system. It must be able to automatically adjust to whatever is going on in the market at any given time. It should be able to trade any market that moves and be profitable in volatile, choppy and trending markets.

     

     

     

    To compare apples with apples, it would make the most sense if it would be a "forward performance" competition (don't have a better word for it), i.e. the autotrader can tweak the system with any period he or she likes but then the system and you would have to trade the same period live (e.g. starting January 1st 2013)... with whatever the market conditions are during the agreed period.

     

    Without knowing anything about your discretionary methodology or your consistency it might be possible that you cannot repeat the performance you mentioned, just as the autotrader system might not be able to repeat its performance from the optimization and testing period.

     

    However, I believe also that no mechanical system can beat a good + consistent discretionary trader. Markets/humans are just not mechanical...


  17. Only a spontaneous discussion of who's likely to win the NBA championship would take this thread more off topic. Unsubscribing.

     

     

    Might be the reason that OP hasn't replied to any of the comments... :)


  18.  

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    as yes Karoshiman I am Aussie living in London....and just for a few stereotypes - I am generally relaxed until pushed or have a passion, I dont really care for sport but i like to watch it and participate in idividual pursuits, I dont think I am a "bogan", ;), I dont own a kangaroo but have shot and eaten a few, have craked a nicky nake, never wrestled a croc or nark, I can hold a 30 min conversation without really saying much, and I know you can shorten Wagga Wagga to just Wagga whereas you cannot do the same for Woy Woy. (IMHO when it comes to driving Aussies are the most aggressive and bad tempered (not crazy tho) in the world compared to their normal state of being.)....

     

     

    "not a bogan"... lol ... had to look up the word :)

     

    What does "craked a nicky nake" mean? And what is a "nark"??

     

    Couldn't find both in the dictionary... I am not a native english speaker... yes, I am not from the US, nor UK or AU... ;)

     

    This thread is going off-topic, by the way... :)


  19.  

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    I would just add that I don't consider what I do to be in direct competition with the larger participants. It is true that at the point of execution all participants access the same bid and ask, and since I am mostly a liquidity taker there is less liquidity available for others. However, the size that I run is relatively so small that it is like a flea bite on an elephant. Someone stated that individual traders are pikers in the market. Another term I've seen used is "parasitic." I think both are apt.

     

     

     

    I don't try to compete with the larger participants either. In fact, I try to identify where they move the market and try to get on board... just like a flea on an elephant :) ... but I do try also to get on the temporary counter moves which happen intraday. These can also be good for a few to several points.

     

    Thanks for the hint to the congressional testimony and reports on the May 2010 flash crash. Will check it out.


  20.  

    My point was that you took the normal US world view that the rest of the world does not exist.

    (believe it or not its one of those funny but too often true stereotypes that occur for many US citizens, and I was more or less teasing you :)...I am sure me as an Australian hit other peoples buttons as well)

     

     

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    I was thinking the same, when I saw gosu's comment :)

     

    And you are an Aussie? Maybe that's why you seem to be a relaxed fella...? :)

     

    What other buttons do you hit?


  21. Three that immediately come to mind:

     

    Spoofing with large orders on the bid, sitting on the offer (and vice versa)

     

    Buying a breakout with large size to excite retail, who continues the buying, while you sit on the offer up higher to get a better price (and vice versa)

     

    Actually holding the bid or offer, with size

     

     

    Fair enough. But you can still make money as an individual if you understand such behavior of funds.

     

    All I'm saying is that an individual trader can make money by gathering a few ticks here and there, whereas most funds need big(ger) moves to make money. This is an advantage we have over them. It's only one aspect, of course, but this is IMO always missing in performance comparisons of individual traders vs. funds.

     

    The examples of some of the Market Wizards showed that their performance got worse the more money they managed. Now, you can attribute that to other aspects as well (or just good and bad luck). However, they themselves attributed it to the increased size they had to manage.

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