Jump to content

Welcome to the new Traders Laboratory! Please bear with us as we finish the migration over the next few days. If you find any issues, want to leave feedback, get in touch with us, or offer suggestions please post to the Support forum here.

  • Welcome Guests

    Welcome. You are currently viewing the forum as a guest which does not give you access to all the great features at Traders Laboratory such as interacting with members, access to all forums, downloading attachments, and eligibility to win free giveaways. Registration is fast, simple and absolutely free. Create a FREE Traders Laboratory account here.

calamitychris

Sticking to your rules

Recommended Posts

I had a pretty tumultuous trading month. At first I made 32% on my trading account and then lost ALL of the profits. After that, I was up 25% and lost all of the profits AGAIN and then some (-10%). Fortunately I closed the month at a +25% profit.

 

After consulting my log, I realized that the two major losses that I took were a result of my not following my trading rules. I hate to think what my account would look like if I had not deviated from my original plan. It seems with me that I'll have a string of profitable trades and then will become careless and cocky and then shoot from the hip on a trade that destroys all of my previous profits. And that trade setup is NEVER part of my trading strategy.

 

Does anyone have any tips on how to remain disciplined and stick to your trading plan? I'm coming to the realization that the only way to learn in trading is to lose money or watch someone else lose money. Unfortunately I cannot do the latter because I don't know anyone else who trades...

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

It's kind of like trying to counsel someone how how important it is to have good credit...either they are going to see the logic and do whatever it takes to keep their credit good...or they are gonna get hammered and learn the hard way.....

 

at that point, some rebuild their credit with a new respect for money- and others live in a state of financial turmoil and ruin indefinitely.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Does anyone have any tips on how to remain disciplined and stick to your trading plan? I'm coming to the realization that the only way to learn in trading is to lose money or watch someone else lose money. Unfortunately I cannot do the latter because I don't know anyone else who trades...

 

Hey Chris,

 

You answered your own question. The only way to really learn is to make the mistake yourself. Seeing someone else make the mistake you're wanting to avoid isn't going to help you at all. You've learned this month what will happen if you deviate, and all successful traders have had to learn that lesson. It sucks, yea, but its a very important lesson to be successful.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

you need to forget about the results and focus on the set-ups. keep a trading plan with X # of set-ups written-down. if you come up with a new idea during the trading day -- it can go into the plan for the next day but should not be traded that trading day. make it a competition among your set-ups to see which is best. keep one 'set-up' listed in the trading plan entitled 'impulse trade'. any trade you do that doesn't fall into the other set-ups goes into this grouping. see how impulse trades do over time. it took me a good 9 months of taking impulse trades before I 'got it' -- that you cannot syphon off your dollars earned on good trades with all those impulse trades and expect to come out on top.

 

The key to this business is simply having the patience to wait for the high-probability set-ups to occur. personally, I believe that high probability set-ups require 2 things; 1) a good pattern and 2) good trade location. If one or the other, it isn't high probability.

 

You only need 1 good trade per day to make a ton of money. Sometimes this one trade will take 2 entries. Sometimes, the market will present you with 8 good trades. Take the good ones and avoid the others.

 

Nearly all of this advice can be read on pages 20-21 of Mastering The Trade by John Carter (a decent but not great book).

 

"whenever I focused on the set-ups and not the results, I did fine. But whenever I focues on the results and not the set-ups, I got killed"

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Thanks for the replies. Dogpile - that last quote is pretty poignant. It can relate that to myself. When I focus on results, I end up over trading and chasing the market which is bad news. I just need to learn to let the market prove itself to me.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

You should also look at position sizing... Wild swings like that are sure indication that you are probably risking too much of your account on each trade. Try reducing size to 1/2 or 1/3 of what u currently use if the wild swings bother you.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.


  • Topics

  • Posts

    • Why not to simply connect you account to myfxbook which will collect all this data automatically for you? The process you described looks tedious and a bit obsolete but may work for you though.
    • The big breakthrough with AI right now is “natural language computing.”   Meaning, you can speak in natural language to a computer and it can go through huge data sets, make sense out of them, and speak back to you in natural language.   That alone is a huge breakthrough.   The next leg? AI agents. Where they don’t just speak back to you.   They take action. Here’s the definition I like best: an AI agent is an autonomous system that uses tools, memory, and context to accomplish goals that require multiple steps.   Everything from simple tasks (analyzing web traffic) to more complex goals (building executive briefings or optimizing websites).   They can:   > Reason across multiple steps.   >Use tools like a real assistant (Excel spreadsheets, budgeting apps, search engines, etc.)   > Remember things.   And AI agents are not islands. They talk to other agents.   They can collaborate. Specialized agents that excel at narrow tasks can communicate and amplify one another’s strengths—whether it’s reasoning, data processing, or real-time monitoring.   What it Looks Like You wake up one morning, drink your coffee, and tell your AI agent, “I need to save $500 a month.”   It gets to work.   First, it finds all your recurring subscriptions. Turns out you’re paying $8.99 for a streaming service you forgot you had.   It cancels it. Then it calls your internet provider, negotiates a lower bill, and saves you another $40. Finally, it finds you car insurance that’s $200 cheaper per year.   What used to take you hours—digging through statements, talking to customer service reps on hold for an hour, comparing plans—is done while you’re scrolling Twitter.   Another example: one agent tracks your home maintenance needs and gets information from a local weather-monitoring agent. Result: "Rain forecast next week - should we schedule gutter cleaning now?"   Another: an AI agent will plan your vacations (“Book me a week in Italy for under $2,000”), find the cheapest flights, and sort out hotels with a view.   It’ll remind you to pay bills, schedule doctor’s appointments, and track expenses so you’re not wondering where your paycheck went every month.   The old world gave you tools—Excel spreadsheets, search engines, budgeting apps. The new world gives you agents who do the work for you.   Don’t Get Too Scared (or Excited) Yet William Gibson famously said: "The future is already here – it's just not evenly distributed."   AI agents will distribute it. For decades, the tools that billionaires and corporations used to get ahead—personal assistants, financial advisors, lawyers—were out of reach for regular people.   AI agents could change that.   BUT, remember…   We’re in inning one.   AI agents have a ways to go.   They’re imperfect. They mess up. They need more defenses to get ready for prime time.   To be sure, AI is powerful, but it’s not a miracle worker. It’s great at helping humans solve problems, but it’s not going to replace all jobs overnight.   Instead of fearing AI, think of it as a tool to A.] save you time on boring stuff and B.] amplify what you’re already good at. Right now is the BEST time to start experimenting. It’s also the best time to find investments that will “make AI work for you”. Author: Chris Campbell (AltucherConfidential)   Profits from free accurate cryptos signals: https://www.predictmag.com/     
    • What a wild year.   AI seems to be appearing everywhere you look, Paris hosted a weird Olympics, unrest continues in the Middle East, the US endured a crazy-heated election, and the largest rocket ever to fly successfully landed in a giant pair of robot arms.   Okay, but what about the $money stuff?   Well, this year we've seen a load of uncertainty - inflation is still biting and many businesses have gone down.   Property has been very fractured, with developments becoming prohibitively expensive, while other markets have boomed.   It hasn't been an easy ride, that's for sure.   However, the stock market has had some outstanding results, and for those who know how to trade, some have done VERY well for themselves.   Some have replaced their incomes. Some have set themselves up for the rest of their days on this planet.   How about you? How did you go? Author: Louise Bedford    Profits from free accurate cryptos signals: https://www.predictmag.com/  
    • U Unity Software stock watch, attempting to move higher off the 22.4 triple+ support area at https://stockconsultant.com/?U  
    • TSSI TSS stock, watch for an ascending triangle breakout above 11.49, target 15 area at https://stockconsultant.com/?TSSI
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use.