The purpose of this article is to make the strongest case possible for back-testing as a crucially important way of understanding your system. In other articles I will suggest that too much back-testing is bad and that you can learn too many wrong lessons if you’re not careful. That said however, back-testing is an essential part of a complete trading plan. 

In any profession that features a strong human performance factor, there will surely be a mix of both art and science that contributes to the final product and performance level. Since the trading profession incorporates such a large amount of human psychology at both the individual and organizational level, it’s worth considering how both art and science are reflected in your own trading practice. It’s also good to know how strong you are in both dimensions so that you can insure you leverage your strengths while protecting your weaknesses.

The truth is that no one has the perfect solution to this dilemma; no one can be “right” all the time. The good news is that you don’t have to be “right” to have an effective exit strategy. 

To my way of understanding, technical analysis is the application of various forms of mathematical and statistical analysis to the study and description of the price movement of an asset

A friend of mine, frustrated at the pace of his progress, asked how he could gain and maintain momentum on his personal journey towards trading mastery. Here are my thoughts: I would start with the daily tasks of trading and get the procedural parts down.

Experienced traders with different styles and different favorite markets and techniques identified what they thought were their best pieces of advice for novice traders.

If you approach trading as a business, and develop the plans and support structures necessary for any business to survive, you will have taken a big step forward in preparing yourself for the challenges of trading.