Saturday, January 10, 2009

Original Turtle Trading Rules: Foreword

Free Rules? Are you kidding?

Why are some of the Original Turtles giving away Rules for which
others have charged thousands of dollars? Are these the actual Original Turtle Trading System rules?


You probably asked yourself the same questions: “Why would anyone give away the rules to the original Turtle Trading System? How can I be sure that these are the original Turtle Trading System rules as taught by Richard Dennis and William Eckhardt?” The answer to these questions lies in the origin of this project.


The Origin of the Free Rules Project

This project had its seed in various discussions among a few of the original Turtles, Richard Dennis, and others regarding the sale of the Turtle Trading System rules by a former turtle, and subsequently, on a website by a non-trader. It culminated in this document, which discloses the Original Turtle Trading Rules in their entirety, free of charge.

Why? Because many of us believed that we owed an obligationto Richard Dennis not to reveal the rules, even after our contractual 10 year secrecy pact ended in late 1993. For this reason, we did not look kindly upon the sale of those rules by a former turtle.

Further, we saw the sale on the web site as crass and opportunistic intellectual property theft, an act that, while technically not illegal, was certainly not honorable.

At the same time, having seen others try to follow these rules first-hand, I realized it was unlikely that their publication would result in very many people actually learning to trade like the Turtles. In fact, I knew that most of those who spent thousands to learn these heretofore secret rules would end up disappointed, for three reasons:

• The rules wouldn’t be clear, since the people selling them didn’t know how to trade.

• Even if they were clearly presented, the buyers probably wouldn’t be able to follow the rules.

• Most of the Turtles are now trading even better rules.


The Ugly Truth about the System Sellers

I’ve been trading and hanging around trading circles since high school. One of the sad realities of the trading industry, and the futures trading industry in particular, is that there are far more people making money selling others’ systems and “ways to make money trading,” than there are people actually making money trading.

I won’t go into specifics here, but those of us who actually trade for a living know the names of many “famous traders” who are famous as “traders,” but that don’t make money as traders. They make money selling new trading systems, seminars, home study courses, etc. Most of these so called “experts” can’t trade and don’t trade the systems that they sell.

Yes, this is also true of those selling the Turtle Trading Rules.

Since we offer the rules here for free we don't see why anyone would pay for these rules anymore but that doesn't stop people from trying to sell them.

Before taking any advice, buying any courses offering to teach you how to trade, or purchasing a system, investigate the sellers very thoroughly. There are many unscrupulous vendors who are not what they appear. Before placing an order, search the internet and find out what previous purchasers thought of the course, seminar, or trading system.


Rules You Won’t Follow Don’t Matter

What TurtleTrader.com and the Former Turtle don't tell you is that trading rules are only a small part of successful trading. The most important aspects of successful trading are confidence, consistency, and discipline.

As famous trader and father of the Turtles, Richard Dennis said: “I always say that you could publish my rules in the newspaper and no one would follow them. The key is consistency and discipline. Almost anybody can make up a list of rules that are 80% as good as what we taught our people. What they couldn’t do is give them the confidence to stick to those rules even when things are going bad.” – from Market Wizards, by Jack D. Schwager.

Rules that you can’t or won’t follow will not do you any good.

The Turtles had a lot of reasons to be confident in the rules they were given. For the most part, we had the confidence to follow them even during losing periods. Those who didn’t consistently
follow the rules didn’t make money and were dropped from the program.

Traders who want to be successful will figure out a way to gain enough confidence in their own rules of trading to be able to apply them consistently.

As original Turtles, we had it easy. We were given rules by some of the world’s most successful and famous traders, Richard Dennis and his trading partner Bill Eckhardt. They taught us the rules and the reasons why we could trust those rules. Then we were placed into an open office with ten other traders who had been taught those same rules. In some respects it was easier to follow the rules than to not follow the rules.

On the whole, we had the confidence and the discipline to consistently apply the rules we were given. This was the secret of our success as traders.

Those who failed to follow the rules invariably failed as Turtles. Some of them decided they could make more money selling the Turtle rules than they did as Turtles.


The Genesis of the Project

Like many of the other Turtles, it always bothered me that some were making money off the work of Richard Dennis and Bill Eckhardt without their consent; that these secret-sellers had used the success of the Turtles to dupe others into spending thousands of dollars on products that were not what they appeared.

I had often thought that a great way to deal with this problem would be to give the Turtle Trading Rules away for free. Since others had already let the cat out of the bag, and since anyone who really wanted the rules could already get them by paying, it wouldn’t violate my sense of fair play to reveal them.

So that is what we have done....with a slight twist.

While the rules are free, we respectfully ask that those who gain benefit from the rules and find them valuable send a donation supporting a charity in honor of Richard Dennis, Bill Eckhardt and the original Turtles. You can find a copy of the charities favored by the Turtles on the new web site: originalturtles.org.

-Curtis Faith, an Original Turtle - OriginalTurtles.org

Original Turtle Trading Rules: Foreword
Original Turtle Trading Rules: Introduction
Original Turtle Trading Rules: Chapter 1: A Complete Trading System
Original Turtle Trading Rules: Chapter 2: Markets: What the Turtles Traded
Original Turtle Trading Rules: Chapter 3: Position Sizing
Original Turtle Trading Rules: Chapter 4: Entries
Original Turtle Trading Rules: Chapter 5: Stops
Original Turtle Trading Rules: Chapter 6: Exits
Original Turtle Trading Rules: Chapter 7: Tactics
Original Turtle Trading Rules: Chapter 8: Further Study

1 comment:

  1. Sounds interesting, I have an interest in mechanical trading systems at least academically, however, I ask what would be the effect of someone automating such a system. I mean a turtle like system might work for a few people, but what happens to it once the whole herd can get involved, would that alter the outcome.

    ReplyDelete