I attended the Trader's Expo in NYC yesterday afternoon.  It was great, very informative, and very useful.  They offer free seminars on a variety of topics ranging from technical analysis of charts to discussions on fundamentals driving specific markets.

Walking around the show I was mostly interested in software that would do scans off up the the minute data.  Using Cybertrader, I have noticed that the scans are based off the daily data, which doesn't really help if I want to see breakouts on a 1 minute or 5 minute chart.  The platforms I was most impressed with were the Real Tick and Tradestation platforms, so if anyone has more information on either of these two, please let me know.

Well needless to say, I met some traders at the show.  I was discussing with one about my initial tendency to look for reversals and try to trade them, and how I have been focusing on trends since then.  He responded by telling me, "There's a reason why 80% of the profits made from trading come from trading trends, when stocks trend only 30-40% of the time."  And it makes sense.

Later on, I was waiting on the cab line to get a cab, and an older gentleman hurried past me and cut me in line.  I didn't really mind, and I found the way he walked by so amusing that I smiled.  I was reading one of the brochures that I had picked up at the show, and he asked me if I was a trader.  I explained my situation to him, and he told me that he traded on either the CBOE or CBOT since 1960, starting off the same way as me, making the transition from investing to trading.  Now, at the age of 86, he still trades part time just to keep himself occupied, but has his seat on the exchange rented out.

He offered me two pieces of advice that he said would help make me a successful trader, that are mistakes he sees all the time.  The first is to never add to a losing position.  The second is to only focus on two or three stocks at a time.  If you spread yourself too thin, you won't be able to manage your trades well.  This is completely in line with everything I have learned thus far.