| Try to find a trading method that will reflect your | | | | how much money you have lost once your account |
| psychological bias towards trading. Not all traders | | | | is wiped out. Allowing anyone other than yourself to |
| have the patience to trade a computer system and | | | | trade your account is the same as making an |
| watch the trades give back large amounts of open | | | | investment. If your broker was a good trader, he |
| equity. Quite frankly, the heyday of $3,000 magical | | | | wouldn't have become a broker. This is also true for |
| black box systems seems to have run its course. | | | | using a mechanical trading system - you are making |
| Very few mechanical trading systems are around and | | | | an investment. The investment is made in the ability |
| they are sold for the most part only to suckers who | | | | of the person trading your account, or in the |
| don't know any better. The problem is that there are | | | | soundness of the logic behind the mechanical system. |
| still plenty of those poor saps around. | | | | Investing in a mechanical system or allowing your |
| Other traders want methods with as little | | | | broker to trade your account at his/her own |
| involvement as possible due to job related | | | | discretion is not different from investing in a |
| responsibilities. Not all traders have the psychological | | | | commodity pool operator, a CTA, or a hedge fund. |
| traits suited to trade certain types of methods. Your | | | | You are no longer in control of the trading. You have |
| broker cannot perform brain surgery on your behalf, | | | | become an investor with whomever or whatever is |
| when thoughts of a trailing stop are performing brain | | | | in control of the trading. In that case, you had better |
| surgery on you. | | | | be darn sure you know the real trading results of |
| Giving your broker discretion to trade your account | | | | what it is you are investing in. Real trading results are |
| as he/she sees fit, is like paying for someone else's | | | | a far cry from simulated results. |
| education. You will learn nothing from it other than | | | | |