Handling Early Success

[JTurner77 10]

Hello Everyone:

 

First post and I am a newbie to trading. I seeded my account with $25,000 and started trading in the middle of November a few weeks ago. After my first trade, a loser of $720, I have managed to run my account up to $28,500 at this moment.

 

So far, I am pleased with my success but also recognize that I have not been as disciplined as I would prefer nor have I honored my desired trading style that I planned to when I initiated trading. What I mean by that is that I had anticipated more swing/trend trading and I have been far more scalping/in and out of positions in the same day and generally been far more active in my trading than initially anticipated. However, I have held positions overnight and for several days on occasion.

 

I think the first trade loser really annoyed the crap out of me and scared me and that set me off my gameplan. I had watched several markets go my way big time, but was on the sidelines and then bam...my first trade is a loser. As a result, my very next trades were the right setups for swing/trend trading, but I took quick profits of a hundred bucks here and there. I know it was to rebuild my shaken confidence and eek back to break even.

 

Since that time, I have gradually ran it up to the positive territory with minimal drawdown since my first loser. My first losing trade was my biggest loser to date. My biggest winner was $1,750 on two e-mini contracts that I held overnight. All in all, the vast majority of my trades have been winners, but I have cut them short quite often.

 

I have now made some profits and am curious as to how I should handle this money. I have heard some say that you shouldnt withdraw winnings...let it compound and grow your size. However, I am also fearful that I will get overconfident and trade a little more loosely with the winnings. I am not sure I will...but I am fearful and I am trying to put myself in the best frame of mind psychologically to succeed.

 

With the MF Global and some stories I have read on blogs about platforms not filling stops in a timely manner and the flash crash, I also wonder if it is more prudent to keep my trading account smaller in case of fraud or some other crazy circumstance.

 

I feel rather confident that I will honor stops and not let my losers run too much. I am concerned that I might hold a position overnight of two or more contracts and that something crazy happens to cause a gap move against me.

 

Does anyone have any thoughts on this?

 

FWIW, I realize $3,500 aint that big of a deal in the grand scheme of things...but it is a big deal to me at this time.

[JohnTaylorHK 10]

Hello Everyone:

 

First post and I am a newbie to trading. I seeded my account with $25,000 and started trading in the middle of November a few weeks ago. After my first trade, a loser of $720, I have managed to run my account up to $28,500 at this moment.

 

So far, I am pleased with my success but also recognize that I have not been as disciplined as I would prefer nor have I honored my desired trading style that I planned to when I initiated trading. What I mean by that is that I had anticipated more swing/trend trading and I have been far more scalping/in and out of positions in the same day and generally been far more active in my trading than initially anticipated. However, I have held positions overnight and for several days on occasion.

 

I think the first trade loser really annoyed the crap out of me and scared me and that set me off my gameplan. I had watched several markets go my way big time, but was on the sidelines and then bam...my first trade is a loser. As a result, my very next trades were the right setups for swing/trend trading, but I took quick profits of a hundred bucks here and there. I know it was to rebuild my shaken confidence and eek back to break even.

 

Since that time, I have gradually ran it up to the positive territory with minimal drawdown since my first loser. My first losing trade was my biggest loser to date. My biggest winner was $1,750 on two e-mini contracts that I held overnight. All in all, the vast majority of my trades have been winners, but I have cut them short quite often.

 

I have now made some profits and am curious as to how I should handle this money. I have heard some say that you shouldnt withdraw winnings...let it compound and grow your size. However, I am also fearful that I will get overconfident and trade a little more loosely with the winnings. I am not sure I will...but I am fearful and I am trying to put myself in the best frame of mind psychologically to succeed.

 

With the MF Global and some stories I have read on blogs about platforms not filling stops in a timely manner and the flash crash, I also wonder if it is more prudent to keep my trading account smaller in case of fraud or some other crazy circumstance.

 

I feel rather confident that I will honor stops and not let my losers run too much. I am concerned that I might hold a position overnight of two or more contracts and that something crazy happens to cause a gap move against me.

 

Does anyone have any thoughts on this?

 

FWIW, I realize $3,500 aint that big of a deal in the grand scheme of things...but it is a big deal to me at this time.

 

Hi JT,

 

You may consider some poker-based rules that a lot of folks use:

 

1. When your account reaches 50% profit, withdraw half of that profit.

2. GOTO 1

 

You will see that your balance increases, but that, within a few iterations (4) you safeguard and return your capital. If you maintain 2 accounts with the same broker, and are confident they won't automatically fund margin calls from this account, then simply transfer this money to the "holding" account. If not then you will pay transfer charges.

 

e.g. start with $1000

BF Profit Bank CF Holding

1,000.00 500.00 250.00 1,250.00 250.00

1,250.00 625.00 312.50 1,562.50 562.50

1,562.50 781.25 390.63 1,953.13 953.13

1,953.13 976.56 488.28 2,441.41 1,441.41

2,441.41 1,220.70 610.35 3,051.76 2,051.76

 

Best

 

John

[SIUYA 11]

if you are only trading a few contracts, keep the absolute minimum in your broker account. There is no reason to keep more than the minimum plus some margin for error for what you are trading. (peace of mind)

 

When it comes to withdrawing.....only you can answer that. Some people like to compound and reset monthly, quartlerly, yearly. Others keep a balance and withdraw any profits...some just compound. (strategy)

When it comes to strategies and styles, you have the problem most do....not sticking to the rules you set.....a deep, deep well of frustration, that if you can get your head around early will really help you in the long run. (strategy)

 

Plus a profit is a profit. You have made money. Congratulations....if I saw $3500 on the street I would still run to get it....even if I had a billion dollars. Don't discount this and become worried about it being potentially a small amount. (dollars) Look at it as percentages of equity....better and easier in the long run.

 

focus on the strategy that you can live with and the dollars and returns will look after themselves.

[MightyMouse 12]

I hate to use the term, but it does sound like you had a bit of beginners luck. If you did get a way from your plan, you may have fortunately stumbled on some strategy that is better than your plan would have produced and you may want to explore if there was a rhyme or reason to what you did do for the month. Under normal circumstances, getting away from your planned trades is the kiss of death. Or, at least one of the kisses of death.

 

There is a very good chance that you may have developed a habit that will destroy your account. The market does have a way of wiggling its ass in front of you for you to go for it only to find yourself bent over receiving something that you intended on giving instead of getting. A lot of "seasoned" traders fall for it over and over and over. On the other hand, you may be a newbie trading prodigy.

 

There is a lot to learn and for your sake I hope you have a whole lot more than 25K.

[JTurner77 10]

Thank you to everyone that has taken the time to reply.

 

Mightymouse:

 

You may very well be right in that I have enjoyed some beginner's luck. I know there is a lot I don't know.

 

This may leave me open to some ridicule/criticism, but I am primarily a discretionary trader. I do not have a mechanical system. I do look for patterns and things like that, but I have a fairly rudimentary gameplan. I basically try to sell rallies into resistance and buy downward moves into support. Nothing sexy about it at all.

 

My goal is to enter the trade near the support/resistance level so that I have a tight stop location. Say I am risking 1-2% of my capital or roughly $275-550. I entered the emini contract on Dec 6th at 1264.25 with a 1268 stop. I shorted another at 12.66 and then 1267.25.

 

I didn't really feel comfortable holding three contracts. My goal was to scalp the third against the resistance and hopefully make a few bucks. Ideally, I like to try to scalp a few trades near resistance to offset any loss should my stop loss get triggered.

 

I managed to get off three scalps and closed 13 ticks (or $162.50 before commissions). Seeing positive action on the price chart with some successive lows I resold the third contract and gave the trade a bit more room. It traded down from 1267 to 1264.75 and I booked that trade and left the two remaining contracts on. Being I was trading the overnight and up late on the west coast, I kept my 1268 stop and went to bad feeling good about the trade and the price action. When I awoke, the market was trading down and bouncing off the 1250 level. I covered my short at 1252.

 

This is a little insight into my style or philosophy. I guess I feel that if I keep my stops tight that my winners are going to smoke my losers and that I will make some decent trades.

 

However, my desire is to be able to take a more long-term focus and capture bigger moves. I enjoy managing the trade entry, but feel like I get caught up closing out the profitable trade way too early and I really would like to fix that. The Cocoa trade is killing me right now as I covered my two short contracts at 25.09 and the market is below 21. If I simply kept those two contracts, I would be up over 8k right now. Frustrating.

 

Anyway...I hope this wasnt too long. Just wanted to give you some insight as to how I do things so that you could offer up any constructive criticism you or others might have.

 

I think one of my better qualities is my ability to look at criticism/critiques fairly objectively. In my personal life, if I am doing something stupid, I dont want my friends to agree with me...I want them to slap me upside the head and tell me to pull my head out of my ass.

 

 

 

 

 

That put me at about 12.66 on the avg or about $300 in risk.

[JTurner77 10]

John...interesting idea. Thanks for sharing.

 

Siuya...thank you for your feedback. One reason why I am reluctant to keep just the minimum in my account is that if you take a look at my post above and my trading style, I like to enter a trade and scalp against resistance or with support until the trade starts to go my way. Thus, I like the flexibility of being able to put on positions larger than I normally would feel comfortable with because I am leaning against my tight stop above resistance.

 

My feeling on the matter is that it is a low risk entry and that I can take on greater size than normal since I am managing my risk exposure aggressively.

 

If you have any feedback on this aspect of my trading, I would love to hear it.

[SIUYA 11]

John...interesting idea. Thanks for sharing.

 

Siuya...thank you for your feedback. One reason why I am reluctant to keep just the minimum in my account is that if you take a look at my post above and my trading style, I like to enter a trade and scalp against resistance or with support until the trade starts to go my way. Thus, I like the flexibility of being able to put on positions larger than I normally would feel comfortable with because I am leaning against my tight stop above resistance.

 

My feeling on the matter is that it is a low risk entry and that I can take on greater size than normal since I am managing my risk exposure aggressively.

 

If you have any feedback on this aspect of my trading, I would love to hear it.

 

the minimum plus a margin for error....is the minimum for your style....not just the minimum margin required.

[Gooner70 10]

Hi

 

You have posted many questions in there, which to me suggest that you have really thought about this from a Psychological and Strategic angle. - Which is one thing many starters fail to consider.

 

You first month of trading has been very successful, you have increased your account by over 10%, which is no mean feat, Obviously this is not a linear process, but continued performance like that would more than triple your account in a year if you were to compound your gains. On the other hand if you do not compound your gains you restrict this to approximately this level of performance to roughly doubling your account. If you can trade without disruption, whilst using your money added to your account, then do it. - I assume if you lost money and reduced your account, then you would also reduce your trade size accordingly, it cuts both ways..... . - I do on the other hand understand that from a mental perspective, putting money aside is a form of discipline, and if you feel that would benefit you more than optimizing your trading, then you should follow that course of action. - Ultimately it is up to you, you want to remain comfortable, perhaps if your success continues and appears consistent, you coudl start optimising and compounding.

 

Yes it may be beginner's luck, but maybe you've actually got a knack for this. Right now you are doing something right, try and build upon that, try and note what you are doing right and wrong and continue to build upon that.

 

Over-confidence is one of the risks of trading, and can scupper many a potentially good trading, your awareness of that is a very good starting point

 

Regards

 

Gooner70

[JTurner77 10]

the minimum plus a margin for error....is the minimum for your style....not just the minimum margin required.

 

Siuya:

 

Lightbulb. :-)

 

Thank you.

 

Gooner and anyone else wishing to reply:

 

When does confidence become overconfidence? I have read that when you are trading poorly you should cut back your size repeatedly until you turn it around and even some say you should stop trading a for a while to rebalance yourself mentally. I have also read that when you are trading well you should perhaps become more aggressive while you are in a groove.

 

Is it acceptable for a person aspiring to be a successful trader to feel confident or proud of themselves when they have taken down some wins and show a solid uptick in their P/L? I get the concept that the market is right and that we can't predict price action, but what is the appropriate mindset for one to have when they are trading well?

[Tams 20]

Siuya:

 

Lightbulb. :-)

 

Thank you.

 

Gooner and anyone else wishing to reply:

 

When does confidence become overconfidence?....

 

you will know... the market will tell you in an unmistakable way.

[JTurner77 10]

I am going to use this thread to some degree to puke out some thoughts, so please forgive me in advance. I wanted to mention some trades that I have really thought had the potential to be solid scores, but failed to capitalize on.

 

For example, I sold Cocoa short on the breakdown below 25.60 and covered at 25.09 only to watch it drop and drop and drop with no retracement. Arggh.

 

Orange Juice:

 

11/28 - Sold two contracts at 179.20 and 179.95 against a 181.10 stop. Covered them for a modest profit after it wouldnt break thru the 175 area and then broke back up above 178 at 178.10

 

I had just read a trading book and it said never let a winner turn into losers. I figured if it broke above 178 it would trade to resistance and then was afraid it would break out of what appeared to be the bullish flag/penant from 175-178.

 

12/5 - Sold another two lots at 179.35 and 179.50. Covered at 178.30 for a quick gain. Now it is trading at 170 which is what I had figured and am kicking myself because that would have been $1500 per contract gain and I only netted $700 total.

 

Lean Hogs:

 

11/30 - Shorted 2 contracts at 92.325 which was damn near the high tick of the day. Covered for a modest gain same day.

 

 

If I show just a bit more patience, I am banking some very solid wins for myself and my stops were never even threatened.

 

This sort of forced me to be more disciplined in my trading the last couple of days. I already alluded to my emini trade which was the impetus for starting this thread. Then on thursday, sugar rallied and closed near the high of the day after being down heavy the day before and closing on its low. I sold 3 sugar contracts in the 94.12 area at the close with a 94.27 stop.

 

I was a little fearful of being short 3 contracts overnight and a gap up move, but I felt that price action got weak on the rally into the close and felt it was a calculated risk. The next day, gapped down and traded all the way down to 93.16 or so. At one point in the low 70 cent range I got flat and then kicked myself for getting out early. So, I reented short in the same area a few minutes later. I then thought about covering my position at 93.20 but told myself I was going to stick it out and be committed to the trade. Sugar then rallied strongly into the close. I was sitting on a $3,100+ profit and saw it evaporating. I pulled the plug at 93.55 with about 10 minutes to go in the session when my daily P/L dwindled to $2,000. I then said..."stick with the trade Turner" and shorted 3 contracts at .55. The last trade was at .57 but then settled at .40.

 

I am a little scared to be short 3 contracts over the weekend but I believe the trend is down and that I have to have the guts to stick it out and stop getting mad at myself for cutting my winners short.

 

You can see that I am still fighting conflicting emotions and trading axioms. I am really enjoying this self-discovery, but it is frustrating. Of course, when you are profitable it is far easier to enjoy the self-discovery. I get that.

 

So, now my P/L is +$5,900 and I am doing the best I can to have the right mental approach.

[Tams 20]

I am going to use this thread to some degree to puke out some thoughts, so please forgive me in advance. I wanted to mention some trades that I have really thought had the potential to be solid scores, but failed to capitalize on.

 

For example, I sold Cocoa short on the breakdown below 25.60 and covered at 25.09 only to watch it drop and drop and drop with no retracement. Arggh.

 

Orange Juice:

 

11/28 - Sold two contracts at 179.20 and 179.95 against a 181.10 stop. Covered them for a modest profit after it wouldnt break thru the 175 area and then broke back up above 178 at 178.10

 

I had just read a trading book and it said never let a winner turn into losers. I figured if it broke above 178 it would trade to resistance and then was afraid it would break out of what appeared to be the bullish flag/penant from 175-178.

 

12/5 - Sold another two lots at 179.35 and 179.50. Covered at 178.30 for a quick gain. Now it is trading at 170 which is what I had figured and am kicking myself because that would have been $1500 per contract gain and I only netted $700 total.

 

Lean Hogs:

 

11/30 - Shorted 2 contracts at 92.325 which was damn near the high tick of the day. Covered for a modest gain same day.

 

 

If I show just a bit more patience, I am banking some very solid wins for myself and my stops were never even threatened.

 

This sort of forced me to be more disciplined in my trading the last couple of days. I already alluded to my emini trade which was the impetus for starting this thread. Then on thursday, sugar rallied and closed near the high of the day after being down heavy the day before and closing on its low. I sold 3 sugar contracts in the 94.12 area at the close with a 94.27 stop.

 

I was a little fearful of being short 3 contracts overnight and a gap up move, but I felt that price action got weak on the rally into the close and felt it was a calculated risk. The next day, gapped down and traded all the way down to 93.16 or so. At one point in the low 70 cent range I got flat and then kicked myself for getting out early. So, I reented short in the same area a few minutes later. I then thought about covering my position at 93.20 but told myself I was going to stick it out and be committed to the trade. Sugar then rallied strongly into the close. I was sitting on a $3,100+ profit and saw it evaporating. I pulled the plug at 93.55 with about 10 minutes to go in the session when my daily P/L dwindled to $2,000. I then said..."stick with the trade Turner" and shorted 3 contracts at .55. The last trade was at .57 but then settled at .40.

 

I am a little scared to be short 3 contracts over the weekend but I believe the trend is down and that I have to have the guts to stick it out and stop getting mad at myself for cutting my winners short.

 

You can see that I am still fighting conflicting emotions and trading axioms. I am really enjoying this self-discovery, but it is frustrating. Of course, when you are profitable it is far easier to enjoy the self-discovery. I get that.

 

So, now my P/L is +$5,900 and I am doing the best I can to have the right mental approach.

 

JTurner77:

 

Thanks for sharing your experience.

 

I don't know how to tell you this,

and I for sure don't know how to say it in a nice way, or at least in a non-offensive way...

 

Please... stop trading immediately.

 

I can go on with 2000 pages of explanations on why...

I can go through all the theories and the principles and the best practices...

but the conclusion is the same -- please please please -- stop trading now.

You sound like a very intelligent man, I don't want to see you ruin your life.

Before you go, please make a copy of your post. When you read it again in 10 year's time, you will see it in better light.

 

Best of luck.

[JTurner77 10]

Tams:

 

No offense taken in any way nor do I feel your comments are malicious. While of course it is disheartening to read your take, I appreciate the feedback.

 

I do not expect you to write a thousand pages stating your position, but I would like to see you articulate your reasoning with a bit more specificity and detail. The most gnawing aspect of your comment is that you seem to be essentially suggesting that I abandon any hope of trading success and you intimate that there is seemingly nothing I can do to become successful.

 

That is vastly different from saying, "Hey, congrats on being profitable to date. However, I am a little concerned about your approach based on your comments and think that you should stop trading until you work on issue x, y and z."

 

If you are seriously of the former opinion and not the latter, I do not really think your comments as put forth in their current form are fair to me...not that I am entitled to anything from you.

[Strongtrader 10]

Hello Everyone:

 

First post and I am a newbie to trading. I seeded my account with $25,000 and started trading in the middle of November a few weeks ago. After my first trade, a loser of $720, I have managed to run my account up to $28,500 at this moment.

 

So far, I am pleased with my success but also recognize that I have not been as disciplined as I would prefer nor have I honored my desired trading style that I planned to when I initiated trading. What I mean by that is that I had anticipated more swing/trend trading and I have been far more scalping/in and out of positions in the same day and generally been far more active in my trading than initially anticipated. However, I have held positions overnight and for several days on occasion.

 

I think the first trade loser really annoyed the crap out of me and scared me and that set me off my gameplan. I had watched several markets go my way big time, but was on the sidelines and then bam...my first trade is a loser. As a result, my very next trades were the right setups for swing/trend trading, but I took quick profits of a hundred bucks here and there. I know it was to rebuild my shaken confidence and eek back to break even.

 

Since that time, I have gradually ran it up to the positive territory with minimal drawdown since my first loser. My first losing trade was my biggest loser to date. My biggest winner was $1,750 on two e-mini contracts that I held overnight. All in all, the vast majority of my trades have been winners, but I have cut them short quite often.

 

I have now made some profits and am curious as to how I should handle this money. I have heard some say that you shouldnt withdraw winnings...let it compound and grow your size. However, I am also fearful that I will get overconfident and trade a little more loosely with the winnings. I am not sure I will...but I am fearful and I am trying to put myself in the best frame of mind psychologically to succeed.

 

With the MF Global and some stories I have read on blogs about platforms not filling stops in a timely manner and the flash crash, I also wonder if it is more prudent to keep my trading account smaller in case of fraud or some other crazy circumstance.

 

I feel rather confident that I will honor stops and not let my losers run too much. I am concerned that I might hold a position overnight of two or more contracts and that something crazy happens to cause a gap move against me.

 

Does anyone have any thoughts on this?

 

FWIW, I realize $3,500 aint that big of a deal in the grand scheme of things...but it is a big deal to me at this time.

 

Hi there, i would like to give you some basic suggests as three years ago i was in your same situation.

I worked so hard, after just some winning trades i always had a row of losers that kept me back again, that was frustrating but i was determined to win and so i did, now i have an average of +5% a day.

What i mean is that the only way to be a winner is learning to trade like a professionist, everyone can do it but a lot of work and fatigue are requested and you will find a lot of traps too in your walk, so be prudent and have a method, do not exault when you win and do not feel bad when you lose, losses are part of the game, just manage them.

 

1 - if you are working with minilots you don't absolutely need to have $25.000,00 balance in you account, further if that amount of money is all you have you should start with a 10% of it, so $2.500,00, not more and never never never risk more than the 2% of it on any trade......the secret is to work risking your gains and no more your initial capital as soon as possible....use a compounding strategy to build a new capital, otherwise you will never grow

2 - swing trading is the more powerful strategy to make money, but you have to build your own system and test it on demo acct. till you are confident with it

3 - you have to build your money management system too, and this is much more important than your trading system....prof traders are right often only 40% of the times but they gain a lot in spite of it....think of it...cut your losses and let profits run

4 - never trade without stops if you are not as discipline at least as a german sergeant, and i guess you are not

5 - be aware of everything that is not price action based, only price action works....so you have to observe your charts day after day and see how prices move on, markets are not random, find the structure of them and follow the sequence they follow....so to do that don't listen to all the "gurus" tell you, you have to think different

6 - find a good broker, no dealing desk, NFA regulated, with segregated accounts and with an insurance too, normally they can ensure till $49.000,00, that's fine

7 - be aware of mt4 platforms, they are all managed by brokers, if you are using it i'm sure you've already had issues with connection and with orders execution....in a few words mt4 plat has been built for brokers, not for us traders....so use it for your charts and the many tools it has, but use a different plat to manage your orders

[kuokam 10]

What an arrogant sentence! It is you who should stop posting immediately.

 

JTurner77:

 

 

Please... stop trading immediately.

 

 

Best of luck.

Edited December 11, 2011 by kuokam

[VTK 10]

Hey J.!

 

First of all i like your way of thinking.It's great that you are aware of problems.Most newbies seems to jump on the bull and start with rodeo.

 

I don't think that Tams meant what he said in a foul way.Would say that he thought "stop trading and go back to drawing board."

At least that's what i would do if i were in your skin.Or at least i would cut down acc size drastically.

Now to give mine on some of your writings

 

When does confidence become overconfidence?

 

Think that there is conscious confidence and ego based confidence.First is when you are confident based on your experience and know how.

Second is when traders ego wanna create illusion of confidence as a encouragement boost.You said that you are bit fearful-fear and true confidence don't go together

 

..but what is the appropriate mindset for one to have when they are trading well?

 

Same one that you have when you are pissing.Or chewing a bubblegum.You just do your thing and that's it.Nothing more nothing less.That may sound bit blunt,but i believe it's like that.

 

I wanted to mention some trades that I have really thought had the potential to be solid scores, but failed to capitalize on.

 

For example, I sold Cocoa short ......

 

I am a little scared to be short 3 contracts over the weekend but I believe

 

This tells that you don't have exiting rules or that you are not respecting those rules.

If you don't have them-make them,if you are not respecting those rules-start to respect them.

Also make a rule for a overnight positions.Stay in or get out before market closing.And respect the rule.

Maybe you might consider FX.As you sad that you like swing trading,most of the time spot FX is great market for a swing trader+it closed just thru weekend.

 

You can see that I am still fighting conflicting emotions

 

Emotions could make you blow up your acc.

[MightyMouse 12]

Hi there, i would like to give you some basic suggests as three years ago i was in your same situation.

I worked so hard, after just some winning trades i always had a row of losers that kept me back again, that was frustrating but i was determined to win and so i did, now i have an average of +5% a day.

 

An average of 5% a day. Do you mean that you take the winners and losers and add them together and divide by the number of trading days and you end up with 5%? Or, do you remove the losing days and only add up the winning days and divide by the number of winning days? Please share Mr. Jones.

[Strongtrader 10]

An average of 5% a day. Do you mean that you take the winners and losers and add them together and divide by the number of trading days and you end up with 5%? Or, do you remove the losing days and only add up the winning days and divide by the number of winning days? Please share Mr. Jones.

 

The first is the correct one

[MightyMouse 12]

The first is the correct one

 

Ah, then a mere mortal like me would crawl 50 meters naked over broken glass just to have the opportunity to get a mere sniff of your flatulence.

[JTurner77 10]

VTK:

 

Thank you for sharing your thoughts. I think what I am taking away from your comments about confidence and fear is this:

 

Since I recognize that I have some fear when I am trading then I must be hypervigilant about those moments when I feel confident or have had my ego boosted by a winning trade(s). My fear is the giveaway that the confidence I am feeling is an illusion and that I must be very deliberate in my decision making. Additionally, fear can be broken down into two different forces. In one sense, I should always have a healthy dose of fear (or perhaps, a healthy respect) for the power of the market. However, clearly, I am experiencing some fear based on my trading size when I hold overnight positions. It is this fear that leads you to suggest that I should decrease my trading size to a level where a potential move against me will not bring about this unhealthy level of fear.

 

With respect to exiting rules, you are correct. I have to be honest and state that I am not sound in this part of my trading. Although I feel that I do respect and adhere to the "cut your losses" tenets, I am not proficient in exiting profitable trades in a manner that suits me mentally/psychologically. I must confess that I am a little stumped here and am vexxed by this.

 

It is in this area that I get internally confused and tossed around by the myriad of trading axioms beginners like me are exposed. Let your winners run, but don't let your winners turn into losers. Thank you providing me with some food for thought.

[JTurner77 10]

Strongtrader:

 

When you say 5% a day, I do not feel comfortable with that expectation. In fact, I don't feel comfortable assigning any expected percentage return or daily trading goal. Since I started trading, there have been about 22 trading days.

 

Even if I assumed a static return of 5% on $25,000, that would be $1,250 a day. Multiplying that by 22 days would put me at +$27,000. Surely, you don't think that is a realistic scenario for any trader, no?

 

One of the primary factors that caused me to put myself out here for the public to see with this thread was that I feel my profits to date have come far too easy. My per day avg right now is at $270 a day.

[Strongtrader 10]

Ah, then a mere mortal like me would crawl 50 meters naked over broken glass just to have the opportunity to get a mere sniff of your flatulence.

 

well, personally i don't like to smell flatulence of anybody...it's only a matter of how do you think, the success is just around the corner, it's up to everyone to find how to catch it.

The only difference between mediocre persons and winners is just how they think.

Everyone sees only what he wants to see, and just to stay in the argument, smells only what he wants to smell.

Cheers

[MightyMouse 12]

One of the primary factors that caused me to put myself out here for the public to see with this thread was that I feel my profits to date have come far too easy. My per day avg right now is at $270 a day.

 

$270 a day sucks compared to 5%. You have a long way to go.

 

I think both of you guys have figured out how to buy at the bid and sell at the ask on every trade.

[Strongtrader 10]

Strongtrader:

 

When you say 5% a day, I do not feel comfortable with that expectation. In fact, I don't feel comfortable assigning any expected percentage return or daily trading goal. Since I started trading, there have been about 22 trading days.

 

Even if I assumed a static return of 5% on $25,000, that would be $1,250 a day. Multiplying that by 22 days would put me at +$27,000. Surely, you don't think that is a realistic scenario for any trader, no?

 

One of the primary factors that caused me to put myself out here for the public to see with this thread was that I feel my profits to date have come far too easy. My per day avg right now is at $270 a day.

 

well of course this is not realistic when you are at the begining of your walk, that surely was not my average when i began to be profitable..is the result of three years of studies and hard work, i did not had neither a day of rest during that time.

Once i was thinking that my big goal would have been to be profitable, then i stated to think that 10% per month would have been great, and so on.....so it's a process that you have to figure out....everyone can take out of the market what he wants to take out, i know great traders that gain 10 times my average and my approach is to understand how they do.

Do you think that Warren Buffet is a sort of dude genius or an another world man? he is just man, a mere mortal man, but i'm sure that he has become so great and famous because instead of "smelling the flatulence" (see reply of mightymouse to my post) of the ones that had succeded before him, he learned from them and then has been able to do better than them.

Anyway think what you want, i was just trying to give you a help, thinking that if i had someone to help me when i needed my work would have been easier

[Strongtrader 10]

$270 a day sucks compared to 5%. You have a long way to go.

 

I think both of you guys have figured out how to buy at the bid and sell at the ask on every trade.

 

that's it, not always but often, the rest makes it a solid money management