Outliers

I read as much as I can (which isn't as much as I'd like), and one breezy read I had a couple of weeks ago was the hot-selling Outliers book by Malcolm Gladwell.

One of the chapters in the book is devoted to what he calls "The 10,000 Hour Rule", which, simply stated, postulates that for any person to achieve mastery in anything (be it music, ballet, writing.........or trading!) requires about 10,000 hours of practice.

That actually sort of jibes with my own experience. I only got really profitable as a trader a couple of years ago, and - surprise, surprise - I had by that time about 10,000 hours of experience charting. That's a very long time (I've been at this since 1987). Some might point out that plenty of people with no experience made plenty of money during the 80s and 90s. I think that's where the phrase "don't confuse brains with a bull market" comes from, becaise I imagine most of those folks have been net losers recently.

The goal, of course, is to achieve profitability in any market, irrespective of conditions. Not every day is easy, of course - - last week was a rough ride! - - but I hope I can continue to prove myself out through these hills and valleys.

Anyway, the book's a good read; you might want to pick it up. Only after you finish mine, though.