The floor taught me everything I needed to know about trading. You learned fast or you lost fast. There was no in-between.
Most traders fail because they are inconsistent. They follow their rules when they're winning and abandon them when they're losing. That is exactly backwards.
I have one edge: I have been watching these patterns for forty years. The market keeps making the same moves. I just have to be patient enough to wait for them.
Short-term trading is about probability, not certainty. If you are looking for certainty, go buy index funds. If you want to trade, learn to be comfortable being wrong often and right more.
Know your risk before you enter the trade. Not after. After is too late.
Markets have personality. They have tendencies. Momentum tends to continue. Overextension tends to revert. These patterns exist because people exist.