Integrating the Site's Range of Info into Your Trading

Members who are new to the community may notice that there is a lot of different input and contributions in the trading room on a day to day basis, some of which is conflicting regarding direction, timing, etc concerning specific stocks or indices. For some, this may initially prove to be a distracting and confusing. It may even cause you to second guess yourself on a trade and lead you to either miss out on profits or even lose money because you took a trade you may normally not take. Afterwards, this will often leave you bitter, maybe even wishing that the person who caused you to second guess yourself hadn't posted at all in the first place. This is of course understandable, and a number of people have requested that members only post when they have a very strong conviction for the call or are putting money behind the call they are making.

Let me first respond by saying nobody here is posting random conflicting calls without any basis just for the sake of playing devils advocate. All of us are here to make money and learn about EW and other TA. The second part of which is the most important and one you must always keep in mind. No member should ever feel discouraged from posting a chart offering a different EW count or other TA. This is the best way for them to learn the theory and the techniques that Avi uses.

Second, not every comment or chart posted is an invitation to trade based on that information! I cannot stress this one enough. I am guilty of posting a lot of charts here daily, and I often get responses asking where I would advise an entry based on what I just posted. Please understand that sometimes I am posting counts that others requested or for the sake of someone already in a trade. That does not mean that I have a strong conviction for the accuracy of the count nor any trade setup that you might see on the chart. If I do not feel strongly about a particular count that I post, I will always add some sort of cautionary note. Same goes for when I actually DO see a trade setup in a chart, I will always make that clear.

The most important part of trading is having a proper trading plan and strategy. You can have amazing accuracy in your calls and still lose money because you are not managing your trades properly. Before even considering a trade, you must know your entry point, target, and stop, as well as your predicted timing for the trade and other variables. You must have a plan for if the trade goes against you or isn't not behaving according to your expectations. You must also know the best way to execute your trade, when to use options and when not to, and when to use leverage and when to stay away. You will quickly notice that options are used by this community very frequently, and it may lead you to believe they are the best vehicle for trading. There are numerous advantages to options, but also numerous disadvantages. They arguably the most difficult trading vehicle, and require a lot of practice and knowledge to be successful with. For example, the cheapest option is not always the best choice, nor is buying OTM expecting a 5x trade. I really believe this is what is hurting members the most. They may be correct in their trade, but end up losing money because of their choice in options.

All of the different input and contributions here from various members, regardless of their sometimes conflicting outlooks, is what makes this community so great. There is a vast amount of knowledge and experience here that you will be hard pressed to find anywhere else. Even with this in mind however, PLEASE do not blindly follow someone on a trade! It must agree with your own outlook and plan and not violate any rules in your trading strategy. You must first make sure that you have a complete understanding of every aspect of the trade before you pull the trigger, like where you should enter, what target you are looking for, where your stop should be, and how long the trade is expected to take. Have a plan if the trade turns on you and always practice proper money management. Never risk more than 3% of your account on any trade, even if you think it is a "sure thing".

There are a number of different personalities on this board and an equal number of different trading strategies. You may take the same trade as someone else and come out with a loss when they were successful simply because you both had different strategies. It takes time to learn the different personalities and strategies of the various members here, but once you do, you will find which members to pay attention to the most because they agree with your own trading style and outlook. That is why I love the idea of the Profile page for each member, as I think it will help with this immensely. Always feel free to ask questions whenever you are unsure about someone's post or when you would like more details. Again, we are all here to learn and make money, and you will find that camaraderie and generosity here are first class!