(Forex) Trading Ebook - Trade Your Way To Financial Freedom - With Comments - Van K Tharp(1).pdf

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TO FINANCIAL FREEDOM
VAN K. THARP
Foreword by David Mob& Sr. xiii
Acknowledgements xvii
Preface xxi
PART ONE
THE MOST IMPORTANT FACTOR
IN YOUR SUCCESS: YOU!
The Legend of the Holy Grail 3
The Holy Grail Metaphor 6
What’s Really Important to Trading
9
Modeling Market Geniuses 11
Summary 14
chapter 2
Judgmental Biases: Why Mastering the Markets Is So Difficult
for Most People 17
Biases That Affect Trading System Development 20
Biases That Affect How You Test Trading Systems 35
Biases That Affect How You Trade Your System 38
Summary 41
Chapter 3
__-
Setting Your Objectives 45
Designing Objectives Is a Major Part of Your System Work 47
TRADE YOUR WAY
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Tom Basso on Objectives 48
Setting Your Own Objectives 57
Chapter 6
Understanding Expectancy and Other Keys
to Trading Success 130
The Six Keys to Investment Success 130
The Snow Fight Metaphor 133
Looking at Expectancy under a Magnifying Glass 137
Expectancy and R Multiples 143
Expectancy Applied to the Market 148
Using Expectancy to Evaluate Different Systems 152
A Review of How to Use Expectancy 158
PART TWO:
CONCEPTUALIZATION OF YOUR SYSTEM
Chapter 4
Steps to Developing a System 61
1. Take an Inventory 61
2. Develop an Open Mind and Gather Market Information 63
3. Determine Your Objectives 66
4. Determine Your Time Frame for Trading 66
5. Determine the Best Historical Moves in That Time Frame and
Notice What Those Moves Have in Common 69
6. What’s the Concept behind Those Moves and How Can You
Objectively Measure Your Concept? 70
7. Add Your Stops and Transaction Costs 72
8. Add Your Profit-Exits and Determine Your Expectancy 73
9. Look for Huge Reward Trades 74
10. Optimize with Position Sizing 76
11. Determine How You Can Improve Your System 77
12. Worst-Case Scenari-Mental Planning 78
PART THREE:
UNDERSTANDING THE KEY PARTS
OF YOUR SYSTEM
Chapter 7
__-
Using Setups 165
The Four Phases of Entry 167
Setups for Stalking the Market 172
Filters versus Setups 179
Setups Used by Well-Known Systems 184
hnmary of Setups 196
Chapter 5
Selecting a Concept That Works 81
Trend Following 82
Fundamental Analysis 86
Seasonal Tendencies 91
Spreading 99
Arbitrage 103
Neural Networks 110
There’s am Order to the Universe 120
Summary of Key Points 126
Chapter 8
Entry or Market Timing 198
Trying to Beat Random Entry 200
Common Entry Techniques 202
Designing Your Own Entry Signal 220
An Evaluation of Entry Used in Some Common Systems
224
Sunmary 229
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Chapter 9
chapter 13
Know When to Fold ‘Em: How to Protect Your Capital 233
What Your Stop Does 235
Using a Stop That Makes Sense 243
Summary: Preserving Capital 248
Stops Used by Common Systems 249
Conclusion! 314
APPENDICES
Appendix I: Recommended Readings 325
Appendix II: Key Words Defined 328
Chapter 10
How to Take Profits 254
Purpose behind Profit-Taking Exits 255
Just Using Your Stop and a Profit Objective 263
Simplicity and Multiple Exits 264
What to Avoid 265
Summary 266
Exits Used by Common Systems 266
Index 337
Chauter 11
The Opportunity and Cost Factors 270
Several Approaches to Take 270
Factoring in Opportunity 273
The Cost of Trading Opportunity 275
Summary 278
Chapter 12
What Do You Mean Position Sizing? I Only Have $10,000
in My Account! 280
Position-Sizing Strategies 284
Model 1: One Unit per Fixed Amount of Money 286
Model 2: Equal Value Units for Stock Traders 290
Model 3: The Percent Risk Model 292
Model 4: The Percent Volatility Model 296
The Models Summarized 298
Examples of the Impact of Position Sizing 300
Summary 306
Position Sizing Used by Other Systems 307
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FOREWORD
The title of Chapter 1 of this book is: “The Legend of the Holy
Grail.” “The Holy Grail” is a phrase you often hear in some trading
and investment circles. Most people believe that it refers to some
mysterious trading system out there that is going to make them
millions with little or no risk. It’s not that at all.
But before I tell you about the Holy Grail, let me tell you a lit-
tle about who I am and why Dr. Tharp asked me to write the
Foreword to his book. I started managing other peoples’ money in
1992 and in just 5 years those assets have grown from about $3 mil-
lion to about $50 million. That has happened partially because my
hedge fund has compounded by better than 40 percent per year, net
to investors, over the last 5 years. We were up 61 percent net to
investors in 1996 and 53 percent net to investors in 1997. Since I met
Dr. Tharp, my net worth has grown many times over, and I do
believe that it comes from adopting many of the Holy Grail secrets
contained in this book. I think that Dr. Tharp understands and
teaches those,secrets better than anyone else I have ever met. Let
me tell you why:
When I was a young boy, I remember dreaming that I would
become a millionaire by the time I reached 25 years of age. I reached
that goal through real estate development in 1981, but only briefly
and then it all came tumbling down around me. I was devastated,
but I picked myself up and started again. My next attempt at real
success was in the investment field.
Yet I almost had a similar type of crash in my fortunes. I
remember the day clearly. I was sitting in my office in Naples,
Florida, in late 1992. It was a typical south Florida autumn day. I
was watching the palm trees sway in the breeze outside my win-
dow, wondering why my trading had become more difficult since
I began managing money for others. I wasn’t about to crash at the
xiii
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time, but I had the same sort of feeling in my gut that I had had
before my first crash.
My interests in investing began in 1967, when I would make
regular trips to the local public library to devour every book I could
find on investing. I’d also study biographies of successful busi-
nesspeople. I certainly wish I had been aware of Dr. Tharp’s mod-
eling work back then, because it would have saved me so much
time and so many heartaches.
In 1969, at the age of 13, I talked my reluctant parents into
opening a brokerage account for me at the local Merrill Lynch office
in Toledo, Ohio. The conditions of the account: I had to fund the
account myself from lawn mowing and odd jobs, and every trade
had to be confirmed by my mother since it was a Unified Gift to
Minors Act account. Once open, my father would occasionally give
me a little money to put into the account, as long as I didn’t tell my
mom.
As I looked out the window, I realized how fortunate I was. I
now lived in a tropical climate. I had probably again achieved my
childhood dream of success doing something I loved to do.
Twenty-two years had gone by since I made my first trade; only
now I was doing it successfully. Yet, somehow, I was now begin-
ning to find trading difficult.
That nervous feeling helped me open up to whole new levels
of success-way beyond those of my first childhood dreams. That
feeling was the key to what was going on, and the key to my suc-
cess, but I didn’t know what that key was- not yet at least.
A few days later, I notice a magazine ad about Dr. Van Tharp.
I had read about him in Jack Schwager’s book Market Wizards, so I
decided to give him a call. That call was the start of a close profes-
sional and personal relationship that would end up affecting my
life, my family, and even my business interests and associates. I
already understood many of the secrets contained in this book.
However, through my association with Dr. Tharp, I now under-
stood the ultimate aspect of the Holy Grail secret-the part that Dr.
Tharp so eloquently describes in Chapter 1.
The Holy Grail is not what you would expect it to be. It is
something that is different for each person. It’s a hidden secret that
you have to discover for ydurself, but it is obvious ~once it is real-
ized.
I must admit that when I first learned what Dr. Tharp was
going to write about in this book, I was concerned. He was giving
away too many of our secrets! However, I’m not concerned any
more because I now realize that those secrets are so personal. My
Holy Grail is not the same as your Holy Grail. In addition, many of
you will just let those secrets pass by you, so I urge you to be care-
ful. Read this book carefully. Indeed, pay particular attention to:
. Understanding the psychological biases against good
system development (Chapter 2)
. Setting objectives for what you are trying to accomplish
(Chapter 3)
. Understanding expectancy and R multiples
(Chapters 6 through 10)
. Realizing that the golden rule of trading is created by how
you get out of the markets, not by picking some magic
stock (Chapters 9 and 10)
. Understanding the importance of position sizing
(Chapter 12)
And pay special attention to the meaning of the Holy Grail as
described in Chapter 1. Until you’ve mastered yourself, you’ll
always struggle with the market. I wish all of you could integrate
that meaning into your being and then truly apply it to your trading.
The material that Dr. Tharp presents in this book, in his Market
Mastery newsletter, in his home-study courses, and in his seminars
will change your life if you are open to them. I urge you to take the
first step today and open yourself up to the material found in this
book. Enjoy the journey It’s a great one!
David Mobley, Sr.
Naples, Florida
February 2998
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