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Don't Stare at the Monitor: Great Trend Following Traders Do Not

(December 03, 2008)

Staring at your Bloomberg all day is counterproductive. A useful anecdote from Schwager's interview with Seykota:

Jack Schwager: I notice there is no quote machine on your desk.

Ed Seykota: Having a quote machine is like having a slot machine on your desk - you end up feeding it all day long. I get my price data after the close each day.

Here is Richard Donchian's timeless view from over 30 years ago:

If you trade on a definite trend following loss limiting-method, you can [trade] without taking a great deal of time from your regular business day. Since action is taken only when certain evidence is registered, you can spend a minute or two per [market] in the evening checking up on whether action-taking evidence is apparent, and then in one telephone call in the morning place or change any orders in accord with what is indicated. [Furthermore] a definite method, which at all times includes precise criteria for closing out one's losing trades promptly, avoids...emotionally unnerving indecision.
Richard Donchian

NOTE: If you want to learn about trend following trading in general there is one definitive text: the bestselling classic "Trend Following: How Great Traders Make Millions in Up or Down Markets" by Michael Covel. If you want to learn about the most famous group of trained trend following traders, the Turtles and their teacher Richard Dennis, "The Complete TurtleTrader" by Michael Covel is the only complete biography (with all of the Turtle rules) available. If you want to learn trend following techniques and systems through advanced home study and or seminars click here.

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