Dinosaur Trader Selects Best Posts of 2008 from Bloggers
The Dinosaur Trader invited various financial bloggers to share their selected “Best Post of 2008” which he has compiled and released today in a blog post entitled “Best Stock Market Blog Posts of 2008.”
Some are humorous, some are serious, but all represented a carefully chosen ‘top of the top’ as determined by each blogger who submitted a link to him.
In choosing which best post to submit to him, he inspired me to compile a “Best of 2008” list of my own posts, which I have featured on the homepage as well. It was actually difficult for me to select a top post because an overwhelming majority of my posts relate to daily commentaries and price patterns/structures as they play out in real time, so I didn’t think it would be very interesting to feature a post like “DIA intraday structure for March 3rd” or “Bear Flag forming in the XYZ Index or Stock Today.”
It made me realize that I need to be writing broader, educational/information (salient) posts and not focus directly on daily summaries. What I’m intending to do is create a searchable database of classic trade set-ups, such as bull flags or momentum divergences, wherein if you want to learn more about a given topic, you would type it into the search bar and every day that I featured that particular set-up would be available for you to scan. But that’s a discussion for a later day.
Enjoy the top posts that were selected and compiled by the Dinosaur Trader and get ready for a better 2009 if you just can’t wait for 2008 to end.
Corey Rosenbloom
Afraid to Trade.com
Corey,
Thanks again for participating (and for the link-love). I’m looking forward to January. Should be some interesting times ahead.
-DT
Good stuff Corey. I only discovered your blog a few weeks ago but it’s already one of my favorites and the database of searchable trade setups sounds great. Here’s to a great 2009.
Corey,
You wrote that it “was actually difficult for me to select a top post because an overwhelming majority of my posts relate to daily commentaries”
And then went on to say it made you “realize that I need to be writing broader, educational/information (salient) posts and not focus directly on daily summaries.”
I would implore you not to change the format or content of your site. Your daily analysis of the market is the only one that dissects what occurred in the market that day and helps technical ignoramuses like me to learn patterns and
Corey,
You wrote that it “was actually difficult for me to select a top post because an overwhelming majority of my posts relate to daily commentaries”
And then went on to say it made you “realize that I need to be writing broader, educational/information (salient) posts and not focus directly on daily summaries.”
I would implore you not to change the format or content of your site. Your daily analysis of the market is the only one that dissects what occurred in the market that day and helps ignoramuses like me to learn patterns and how to apply TA.
One of the more popular blogs is nothing but a self-aggrandizing and self-promoting site. Others are much more astringent meaning that they do not go into their analysis in depth.
I hope others appreciate your efforts as much as I do. I’d hate to see you change one of my most valuable assets … your site!
Thanks,
John
DT,
You provided a great list! Thanks for putting it together.
Anon,
Let’s hope 2009 is kinder to investors than 2008 was. I mean, how much worse can it get than “S&P 500 declines 40% in one year?!”
John,
Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts.
I’m torn into which direction to take the blog into 2009 – there will be changes as the site continues to grow.
I’m split between a few directions and goals of what to emphasize. I appreciate your thoughts and will continue providing the analysis I do.
I believe that the best way to learn the concepts is to see them repeatedly. It changed my trading exponentially when I began keeping my “Idealized Trade Notebook” that I still keep (and share portions of) today. By this I mean I hand-annotated every classic set-up or opportunity and tried to internalize these objective patterns. The more I saw them, the better I was able to trade them with confidence and hone my edge. That is my goal in providing these intraday commentaries – it’s not to show how wonderful you can be or how great the market is or anything. It’s simply to say “Here were great opportunities based on classic and modern TA concepts and set-ups”
The purpose is to show that these patterns repeat and that we can take advantage of these opportunities. And that through experience (repeated exposure to these patterns), we can become better traders.
I love doing this and I always want to be responsive to my readers. If you or anyone has additional suggestions or thoughts, please let me know.
Thank you all so much for reading and for your continued support.
Corey, I would have to wholeheartedly agree with John’s comments on the high value of your intraday analysis and your current format. I discovered your blog approximately a year ago and I can say without any doubt whatsoever that I have learned the most about trading from your “idealized trade setup” examples and your blog in general, which I believe is the best one out there. You explain the nuances of trading and the setups in a very succinct and easily understandable mannor. If I recall correctly one of your primary objectives is to provide education and to help overcome the fear of “trading”. To that end it would be my humble opinion that you have certainly achieved and widly surpassed that objective. For that you have my sincere thanks and appreciation. Keep up the good work, sorry for the long windedness, have great new year.
Dominick,
Hearing comments like yours continues to inspire me to continue working at this and sharing my experiences and providing commentaries on the daily action. It was essential for me to do so for myself, then I began storing charts on my computer, then began sharing them via the blog with annotations which I enjoy sharing.
You’re right – my goal in sharing these thoughts is first to reinforce them in me (accountability and doing the daily work) and second to provide the information and perspective for readers to learn on their own and inspire them to begin classifying market action in their own terms. By repeatedly seeing these patterns and realizing “I’ve seen that before,” we help overcome the hesitation and anxiety that comes from trading seemingly random patterns. It helps to foster familiarity and thus confidence in your ability to recognize a set-up and act on it (meaning where to enter and place stops, and where to aim for a profit target).
I’m so thankful for your and everyone’s participation and it’s well worth it if I’m able to assist traders in any way I can – without giving away too many secrets 🙂
I full agree with the your “repeatedly seeing the pattern/reinforcement” reasoning. I also save and catagorize most of the charts you annote and I am sure others do it also( hope you don’t mind, thanks for doing the work for us). Since reading your blog I have had many “I’ve seen that before” moments and the confidence it provides does help overcome the anxiety and hesitation. I understand the secrets part also. Just please write a book already so we can all buy it. Have a good one.