In a few years, I would hope to have the energy to write a rather long essay on what making Money in trading starts to do to the psyche, since the actual physical expenditure of "direct action" energy in computer-based trading is less than writing a Facebook status update. Yet the consequences of being a successful trader is life altering. The disconnect, and its effect, are fascinating.
It's sort of like moving to some place with really cold winters. You end up having to either: like it, tolerate it, hate it & move away or have a psychotic episode.
I say all that because I know enough about most of the participants on this forum to understand how sad some of the arguments end up being. You really have guys making good money in spats with guys making great money, in further spats with a guy that makes millions. I'd say it's really sad, but some years ago I made the mistake of reading a Ferrari owners forum. Now, that was utterly sad. (But, trust me, there are sadder places on the Internet no sane person should go.) And we're going around in these circles again because ICT's boredom and ADD got the better of him.
I'm not going to sit here and defend ICT tanking the account. Rather than the CAD trade, it was the EUR-AUD trade that tipped me off he wasn't going to be too serious about actually running this account through to completion right now. I really wish he would just do it, as it makes all of this generated discussion a firestorm for no real reason. (It also doesn't help that he took down the YouTube video where he showed he recovered the 2013 account. It was up there for a rather long time, though regularly ignored when the topic came up.) Not that anything anyone could say would change everyone flaming him for it.
As to the topic of ICT's understanding of the market, you either can see the experience and see something of value to learn from it or you don't. It's the same with shopster's work: either you know how to sort through someone's personality & presentation or you don't. Everyone accepts that the market is highly manipulated, so the way you make a career is finding a way to get on the train because you ain't doing jack to move a market yourself. (And if you do figure out a way to force the market to move your way, you'll end up arrested for it, more than likely.) But ICT's method relies very heavily upon strong Visual-Spatial recognition, so if that isn't one of your strong points, it probably does look like gibberish. Frankly, even trading it, it takes a long while for it to not seem like you're performing some black magic.
But ICT's methodology doesn't take away from the way others process the market. If you think ICT's full of it, look through the stuff shopster has posted here and other places. He understands the "game" and plays it very well. Though his most brilliant bit is probably the discussion of his exit system. Learn from those with decades of experience when you get the chance, there's normally deep insight to be gleaned. Especially in something as hard as trading.
Now, this being a trading forum, it always comes back to "well, how are you trading it?". Personally, I did the work with ICT's teaching and I figured out what I needed to know. It was the end of February when it "clicked". I was promptly rewarded for all of the work with a severe physical ailment, so I ended the year flat because I haven't been able to trade for most of the past 9 months. Trading is very difficult when you can't process what's on the screen. This is also why I've been much quieter on the forums for a while. But this was a temporary ailment, so I should be back to full time trading by February at the latest.
And since I'm on my self-imposed 2 week Holiday Vacation (which is actually written in my trading plan), I wish you all a Merry Christmas. Enjoy your gains for the year and bless someone else this holiday season.
