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.

captjoe

Talk the Talk but Not Walk the Walk

Recommended Posts

My biggest obstacle is being able to follow my trading plan from start to finish. I've obtained quite a bit of knowledge over the years and still profitable but nothing great. I still see much room for improvement. Is there a turning point that my fellow traders go through for example a large draw down? Complete loss of equity in a trading account or maybe a positive change in the way one prepares for their day of trading that has made a difference substantially in their ability to control their emotions and execute their plan.

Thank You in advance for your comments.

:crap:

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
My biggest obstacle is being able to follow my trading plan from start to finish. I've obtained quite a bit of knowledge over the years and still profitable but nothing great. I still see much room for improvement. Is there a turning point that my fellow traders go through for example a large draw down? Complete loss of equity in a trading account or maybe a positive change in the way one prepares for their day of trading that has made a difference substantially in their ability to control their emotions and execute their plan.

Thank You in advance for your comments.

:crap:

 

 

The trick is in coming to a turning point without having to go through the pain of a huge drawdown or loss of capital entirely. The fact that you are aware and know there are problems is a good start. Don't ignore it- figure out a way to do something about it instead. Drawdowns will happen, sometimes big ones, even if you are following a winning strategy perfectly- so you certainly don't want to increase the odds of this happening even more than they already are.

 

The points you mention really do all boil down to discipline. You have to work really really hard at keeping your finger away from the mouse when it shouldn't be there! If you want to try out other strategies or ways of trading why not open a demo account and have a play around there instead? Stick notes all over your computer "I will only take trades following my exact strategy"- or other messages- do whatever it takes to ensure you stick to your rules.

 

The above is especially important if you are going through a bit of a rough phase with your system. If you can't stick with it in good times, it's going to get even harder in times when it might not be performing quite so well. (incidentally, if the system stops performing so well scale down your trades until the market conditions adapt to suit the system better).

 

"Come into my trading room" by Dr Alexander Elder is a good book which discusses trading psychology in some detail and may help you.

 

Do you document all of your trades? Keep a spreadsheet as well as a diary. Perhaps print out charts of every trade you take, marking on the charts your entries and why you took that trade. "i took the trade because the moving average lines crossed and my system says to enter", or "i took this trade because the chart looked good". Doing this you can see exactly how much of a problem you have on your hands, become acutely aware of it and have a little bit of accountability to yourself for your actions. The problem with trading is that no one sees what we do-- we can have a sneaky trade here and there and no one will notice. Don't do it! Take every trade as though you need to explain yourself to everyone here.

 

Umm.. i'm going on a bit now, i'll stop. Hope this has helped anyway.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Great post UKTraderGirl, I agree with where she is going.

 

For me it was keeping excelent detailed records of every trade. I test all of my systems on paper first before ever putting 1 penny of my hard earned money into the trade. I do some testing as backtesting to make sure the strategy has merrit but for the most part I like to do forward testing with either a demo account or a small actual account.

 

I also used camtasia to video my trades and went back and listened to them at the end of the day. Talk about a wake up call, I would be looking over a trade and say "Why did I take this trade, it went against every rule I have". This was a great learning aid.

 

The one thing that was a big one for me was every time I was getting ready to take a trade I would pretend that my mentor was standing behind me watching my every move. He was watching closely every thing I did. So I made sure to ask myself "Would he do this trade". If not I would ask "why" and if so "why". I forced myself to review each detail of rthe trade I wanted to take.

 

The most important thing is to never give up.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

re "The trick is in coming to a turning point without having to go through the pain of a huge drawdown or loss of capital entirely."

An alternative attitude is "The trick is in coming to a turning point no matter how many times you have to blow up entirely."

Make your mistakes faster and faster. If you are truly embodying total commitment, you can not possibly make them fast enough.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
re "The trick is in coming to a turning point without having to go through the pain of a huge drawdown or loss of capital entirely."

An alternative attitude is "The trick is in coming to a turning point no matter how many times you have to blow up entirely."

Make your mistakes faster and faster. If you are truly embodying total commitment, you can not possibly make them fast enough.

Couldn't paper trading serve this purpose to a large extent?

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Couldn't paper trading serve this purpose to a large extent?

 

 

Not really.

 

Nothing is quite like the real thing with trading. :) No matter how much you imagine it is like real money, when you actually trade with real money the psychology is quite different- and psychology is at least 50% if not more of what trading is about.

 

Paper trading has its place for sure- and i would never recommend jumping in without trying it out first and using it to hone a strategy. You can vastly underestimate the effect that even a small drawdown can have on you. A 10% drawdown most of us feel is not much and we can easily deal with it- experience it for the first time in your live account after having 5 losing trades in a row (very possible with nearly every system) and it certainly effects you differently.

 

Note i'm not saying, go throw thousands into the markets at random! Rather, placing a small amount into a trading account and considering it your 'training' fee is what i'm trying to get at. :)

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I just re-read some of the previous posts.

 

I want to make it clear i'm not suggesting someone go out and blow up lots of accounts until they make it- and do it fast. My post wasn't in agreement with that.

 

The best things come to those with patience and perseverance. This is not the same as getting through a lot of accounts. It means learning to apply very strict money management so you don't have to blow up lots of times! Risking 2% of an account would take 50 losses in a row to blowup- if you manage to do that i suggest stopping trading and taking a serious look at your strategy- and doing the opposite of the signals it generates!

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I've come near blowing up, it was a great experience.

 

Drawdowns-Try taking 20 to the chin, one after the other.

 

My turning point was a boom and bust period for 6 straight months. I made and lost a lot of money and my blood pressure was soaring. Eventually it led me to my "ah-ha" moment and now after all the struggle, I've found a swing trading method that works.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
I've come near blowing up, it was a great experience.

 

Drawdowns-Try taking 20 to the chin, one after the other.

 

My turning point was a boom and bust period for 6 straight months. I made and lost a lot of money and my blood pressure was soaring. Eventually it led me to my "ah-ha" moment and now after all the struggle, I've found a swing trading method that works.[/QUOT

 

 

Good for you , have been through that myself, guess most traders have to go through a rough period before the light at the end of the tunnel.:)

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

    • AMZN Amazon stock, nice buying at the 187.26 triple+ support area at https://stockconsultant.com/?AMZN
    • DELL Dell Technologies stock, good day moving higher off the 90.99 double support area, from Stocks to Watch at https://stockconsultant.com/?DELL
    • MCK Mckesson stock, nice trend and continuation breakout at https://stockconsultant.com/?MCK
    • lmfx just officially launched their own LMGX token, Im planning to grab a couple of hundred and maybe have the option to stake them. 
    • Date: 2nd April 2025.   Market on Edge: Tariff Announcement and Volatility Ahead!   The US economic and employment data continues to deteriorate with the job vacancies figures dropping to a 5-month low. In addition to this, the IMS Manufacturing PMI also fell below expectations. However, both the US Dollar and Gold declined simultaneously following the release of the two figures, an uncommon occurrence in the market. Traders expect a key factor to be today’s ‘liberation day’ where the US will impose tariffs on imports. USDJPY - Traders Await Tariff Confirmation! Traders looking to determine how the USDJPY will look today will find it difficult to determine until the US confirms its tariff plan. Today is the day when Trump previously stated he would finalize and announce his tariff plan. The administration has not yet released the policy, but investors expect it to be the most expansionary in a century. President Trump is due to speak at 20:00 GMT. On HFM's Calendar the speech is stated as "US Liberation Day Tariff Announcement". Currently, analysts are expecting Trump’s Tariff Plan to impose tariffs on the EU, chips and pharmaceuticals later today as well as reciprocal tariffs. Economists have a good idea of how these tariffs may take effect, but reciprocal tariffs are still unspecified. In addition to this, 25% tariffs on the car industry will start tomorrow. The tariffs on the foreign cars industry are a factor which will particularly impact Japan. Although, traders should note that this is what is expected and is not yet finalised. Last week, President Trump stated that he would implement retaliatory tariffs but allow exemptions for certain US trade partners. Treasury Secretary Mr Bessent and National Economic Council Director Mr Hassett suggested that the restrictions would primarily target 15 countries responsible for the bulk of the US trade deficit. However, yesterday, Trump contradicted these statements, asserting that additional duties would be imposed on any country that has implemented similar measures against US products. The day’s volatility will depend on which route the US administration takes. The harshness of the policy will influence both the Japanese Yen as well as the US Dollar.   USDJPY 5-Minute Chart   US Economic and Employment Data The JOLT Job Vacancies figure fell below expectations and is lower than the previous month’s figure. The JOLT Job Vacancies read 7.57 million whereas the average of the past 6 months is 7.78 million. The ISM Manufacturing Index also fell below the key level of 50.00 and was 5 points lower than what analysts were expecting. The data is negative for the US Dollar, particularly as the latest release applies more pressure on the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates. However, this is unlikely to happen if the trade policy ignites higher and stickier inflation. In the Bank of Japan’s Governor's latest speech, Mr Ueda said that the tariffs are likely to trigger higher inflation. USDJPY Technical Analysis Currently, the Japanese Yen Index is the worst performing of the day while the US Dollar Index is more or less unchanged. However, this is something traders will continue to monitor as the EU session starts. In the 2-hour timeframe, the USDJPY is trading at the neutral level below the 75-bar EMA and 100-bar SMA. The RSI and MACD is also at the neutral level meaning traders should be open to price movements in either direction. On the smaller timeframes, such as the 5-minute timeframe, there is a slight bias towards a bullish outcome. However, this is only likely if the latest bearish swing does not drop below the 200-Bar SMA.     The key resistant level can be seen at 150.262 and the support level at 149.115. Breakout levels are at 149.988 and 149.674. Key Takeaway Points: Job vacancies hit a five-month low, and the ISM Manufacturing PMI missed expectations, adding pressure on the Federal Reserve regarding interest rate decisions. Traders await confirmation on Trump’s tariff policy, which is expected to impact the EU, chips, pharmaceuticals, and foreign car industries. The severity of the tariffs will influence both the JPY and the USD, with traders waiting for final policy details. The Japanese Yen Index is the worst index of the day while the US Dollar Index is unchanged. Always trade with strict risk management. Your capital is the single most important aspect of your trading business.   Please note that times displayed based on local time zone and are from time of writing this report.   Click HERE to access the full HFM Economic calendar.   Want to learn to trade and analyse the markets? Join our webinars and get analysis and trading ideas combined with better understanding of how markets work. Click HERE to register for FREE!   Click HERE to READ more Market news.   Michalis Efthymiou HFMarkets   Disclaimer: This material is provided as a general marketing communication for information purposes only and does not constitute an independent investment research. Nothing in this communication contains, or should be considered as containing, an investment advice or an investment recommendation or a solicitation for the purpose of buying or selling of any financial instrument. All information provided is gathered from reputable sources and any information containing an indication of past performance is not a guarantee or reliable indicator of future performance. Users acknowledge that any investment in Leveraged Products is characterized by a certain degree of uncertainty and that any investment of this nature involves a high level of risk for which the users are solely responsible and liable. We assume no liability for any loss arising from any investment made based on the information provided in this communication. This communication must not be reproduced or further distributed without our prior written permission.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

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