shyvoodoo

Sam was like this also, when you see your doewn a substancial amount of money, it does something to the brain like it did me. What I did was change my platform to display "pips" instead of currency, and it eased my mind a little bit and it allowed me to ride out the rough points of my positions and not get "spooked" into closing positions before they make their moves.

Good Point Kiwi, I know when I first started, nobody talked about "psych" aspect of trading. All I heard was what to do, how to do it, when to do it. But nothing about preparing me for that first big "drawdown", which can stop some traders dead in their tracks especially if they been getting "lucky" through the markets already. Here's a story: I introduced a friend to trading. He did some homework, then opened a 5,000 live account. Now I warned him that you have to fully understand what you are doing to truly be successful in this game. The worst thing that can happen to newbies with that kind of money happen to him. His 1st 3 trades hit for $2,500, $1,750 and $2,200. After this he thought that this was easy money and even started to question the advice I tried to give him about trading. Not even a month later, he was DONE, OUT. turns out, those 3 trades was the only 3 trades he would ever have that was successful before blowing up his account with 18 straight losing trades. He did not learn money management, he did not have a trading plan or strategy (his strategy was if everything is going up/down, it must be going that direction), he did not know why it was going that direction, and most of all, he had no discipline because he did not bother to learn any.the 18 straight losers killed his confidence beyond repair. Automated trading to some usually takes the psych element and reduces it to a minimum. but I think if a trader wants to become a master trader, they should learn to trade through education and brain power. learn what your looking at, what your looking for, ect. Integrate a EXTENSIVE psych training education because you got to learn how to handle a huge drawdown or you will start to do dumb things like impulsing to get the market back and poor money management to make up what you loss..

My name is Ben and this is my first time posting and I'm glad to be here. I think this analogy is a little too harsh but in reality it has some validity to it. This game , I believe is VERY mental and also there is so many factors to take into account BESIDES edge and mentality like other traders mentality and habits. I myself had a very bad habit of just impulse trading. But once I learned that you take what the market gives you and get rid of the notion of "market scarcity", which also contributes to the greed in us, my trading has gotten a lot better. I still have some issues to work on before I "get there", but the "light bulb" moments for me was when someone told me "Building wealth slowly is the best way" and "enjoy the fruits of your work" , meaning every trade does not have to be 150+ pippers to be successful and when possible, pay yourself. I think when traders first start out, their eyes are as big as their dreams.. I been there, we all been there, its about being realistic. Once we start being realistic, we can begin on the road to being successful... Thank you.