I think,due to the lack of extensive knowledge or deep study/research,’intuition’ or gut feeling has got bad reputation in the world of Technical Analysis.
I see,intuitive trading is discouraged in most articles or books written on TA. I myself had ignored it or avoided it for many years like a bad thing!!
But in recent years,after going through several research based ‘how to learn’ something ‘books’ like “The Talent Code”,”Peak”, “Bounce,”Make it stick”,etc,I now know,that there is a very strong link between ‘practice’ and becoming expert.
All experts do things from their ‘intuition’ or gut. From the fastest bowler to the greatest scientists,all do things ‘unconsciously'(or what we know as intuitively). Do you remember how Newton discovered the gravity from the falling of an apple? Actually,his brain did the discovery quite intuitively…But behind this intuition lies his thousand hours of study,research and deep thinking. Same goes with Einstein.
What is happening here is: when someone practices something hour after hour,months after months,year after year,the brain makes the skill ‘unconscious’ by sending the learned skill in the limbic system. When brain stores the skill in the unconscious part of it,the skill becomes so automatic that it seems too ‘magical’ or intuitive. The skilled person at that point doesn’t really consciously know why and how or when he has become so skilled/magical…….But behind all of his abilities/skills lie hidden years of practice! His years of practice has become intuitive and he has become too automatic.
Note that many great traders actually had years of practice in trading. For example,Jesse Livemore, Tudor Jones,Warren Buffet,to name a few. Jesse Livemore started trading before his 20th,so did Tudor. They practiced trading so much consciously or unconsciously,that it became automatic or intuitive for them in the later parts of their life.
If a trader has to consciously make a choice in trading,he is not yet a ‘skilled’ trader. Period.
The trader needs to practice trading so much that his trading becomes too automatic or intutive. And when you ask him why he has taken a specific move in trading,he would respond to you: I don’t know. I just felt that it was the ‘right’ thing to do,so I did.
This ‘intuition’ or gut feeling is a very very precious thing to achieve. Years of PROPER and MINDFUL practice can beat any mechanical system out there! Human brain is so clumsy and limited. Still,we can beat the computer in many aspects. Why? One reason is our ability to think in ‘holographic’ way,which computer is unable to do(till today).
Our goal should be to:
– Trade so much that our brain get accustomed to all types of patterns and the pattern recognition becomes very automatic,and intutive.
– And we have to be very mindful of our skill development.
– It is ok to make mistakes and a lot of errors. Brain is powerful enough to correct itself. So,have faith on it.
– And these three things matter: Desire>>Faith>>Actions
mrtq13 