|  MAY 1994

Analysis Of A Winning Trade by Gary Smith

Analysis Of A Winning Trade by Gary Smith Winning traders tend to have something in common in at least one way, and that is the ability to make rapid trading decisions based on all the factors that affect the market. Here, private trader Gary Smith recounts a trade he made in November 1993 in stock futures and explains about the monthly, weekly, daily and intraday indicators that made that day an obvious buy. The world of successful real-time trading in stock futures differs markedly from that portrayed by theorists and academicians who have little or no hands-on experience as traders. These scholars attempt to simplify trading into a single-decision process based on an esoteric formula or equation. While this one-dimensional approach to the market may occasionally perform well over short-term cycles, it has yet to work consistently in real-time trading over a period of several years. Instead, the select few winning traders in stock futures tend to share a particular trait, and that is the ability to synthesize on a daily basis all the fundamental, technical and psychological factors that affect the market, and then to make quick trading decisions based on those factors. Although this ability or skill is not innate, neither is it something that can be taught. Achieving this trait demands years of real-time trading experience. However, most would-be traders seem unwilling to put in the years of tuition required to gain the intuition required to become winners. Instead, what they do is to seek short cuts, always searching for some Holy Grail that will do all the thinking for them.

by Gary Smith