trading metaphor

• 12/05/2025 at 4:01 PM #254292
  justisan

  hi guys,

  possibly it is quite useless to think about trading like about something else, to compare it to some other things we do. but I like “useless” things which are at the same time in some way beautful and inspiring. and one day few years ago when standing at the river it came like a lightning in front of my eyes a comparison between trading and fishing – which I do a lot, almost every week, since few decades. so I would like to share my metaphor, and hope you will possibly share yours…

  so what’s “comparable” for me between fishing and trading (the way I do it):

  I fish “in the dark” – I don’t see the fish which I want to catch, it’s deep in the water, and even if the water is sometimes not deep I usually don’t see so much below the surface of the water. and yet I know where to look for that fish, there are hot spots in all the waters, I have some clue where I have to look. like in  trading: I have absolutely no clue what next trade will bring, but I know (arrogant enough to say it) “where” to look for potentially profitable trades.

  I catch lot of small and medium size fishes, plenty of them escape as well. like in trading: I am collecting many small and medium winners and losers. but in the end I am going for those rare but strong and big beautiful trouts and pikes. like in trading – usually my month/quarter/year is “done” by relatively few extraordinary profitable trades. I can’t really tell I will go only for the biggest fish – on the way to the big I “have” to catch all those smaller ones as well, can’t skip them, they simply bite.

  and with the really big fish there is always that huge challange – after they bite it’s only the beginning of the adventure, one has still hardcore task to bring it to the shore, big fish never makes it easy, it runs away like crazy, it jumps and does everything to make me look stupid in the end. it’s absolutely same for me with big/extraordinary profitable trades. one needs to be ultra-cool, don’t lose nerves, don’t exit too early (let the system exit, if one runs algos, not intervene manually).

  and here is the big difference: when fishing – especially because I am mainly flyfishing for trouts and greylings – I am big fan of “catch & release”, rarely bring a fish home. when trading one has to bring to the bank everything one “catches” 😀

  ***

  one more metaphor – which I think I was posting already somewhere in this forum. it’s about comparison to the poetry. what is really good system/trading concept for me: it is much more like a japanese haiku – and not like ballad. it’s very short and simple. it relates also to the amount of coding. if one needs more than 50 lines of code for defining a system – fugeddaboutit…

  ***

  wish everybody a nice weekend!

  justisan

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  Snålänningen, phoentzs, GraHal

  

  justisan

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