11/30/2010

Horses, donkeys, and camels

IBD says buy horses and sets out detailed rules for identifying good horses and when to to buy them . I am going through the IBD Level 1 and Level2 courses DVD currently and there are rules within rules for selecting stocks, buying them and exiting them. But between what IBD says is its method and what people actually understand it is and then actually do is two different things.
IBD says buy horses, people buy donkeys or camels using IBD method as they don't understand it completely.
That is not IBD problem.
That is true of any method. Between what a method actually says  and what people understand and what they actually do there is lot of comprehension gap. That is why most IBD traders take 5 to10 years to be successful with it.
Any method has basic concept but besides that there are hundreds of nuances and to completely comprehend and internalize those things take time. In many cases you need to experience a complete bull and bear cycle to understand and gain confidence in a method. Just trying a method for few weeks or months does not lead you to becoming competent trader.
There are many ways to profit in the market, you can use value, momentum, growth, mean reversion, statistical patterns, events, sentiments, insider trading, short ration and hundred other things to build a profitable trading method, but everything boils down to getting in to significant detail of the method and understanding nuances
To find good horses first you need to understand the difference between horses, donkeys, and camels.

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