Don't take this the wrong way, but can it be having a "psych" coach is waste of time? This your 2 or 3rd combine, and you keeping doing worse? I don't know much any more when it comes to trading, I don't know what bias means, I don't know how to lose well, I don't know how to break rules intentionally any more. I work for money based on my Trading plan. In the years of losing, I went through your way of losing, I detested myself for keep doing the same emotional downs. I can't test "bias", so I don't have one, end of the day people asked me what the markets did and honestly don't have any idea, I know what trend is this second as per rules and almost all trades end in 3-5 bars on one minute charts Almost all signals risk $100 to make $100, including Crude oil, only times this expanded are some markets like Russell and coffee. If system loses, I still eat dinner and I forget trade as soon as it is over. Think about this, when are call options the most expensive? When they are screaming on up. When is best time to get out when screaming on up? When it is screaming on up. I have a time of the day in each market when I quit cause it is 90% of the time my equity high, yes I know I might lose out on some profits but I like finishing on my own equity high chart. Why is my ES Goals set at 4-6 points in 30 minutes and 6 points in 45 minutes? Cause my stats shows me what to alter because of time, if I can't make 6 points in 45 minutes, I stop. The market "cycles" and my system "cycles", usually both cycle together pretty well, but when they don't, I walk away. My best days are when I get in a hole and get ahead by $50 bucks and walk away, I celebrate these days. I rather not trade actually, I rather spend my days back testing, but if you don't use it, you will lose it. Trading has nothing to do about toughness, it is concentrating on YOUR TRADING PLAN each trade knowing what time to quit based on time or amount or size down, since you doing one lots, sizing down is stopping for the day. How about making yourself a Equity curve chart for each day based on your trading, eventually you will it is best to walk away. You are using the markets as entertainment, you not here to make money, your job is to come up ahead each day. Save some money and get rid of the coach, he not helping, get one of those DVDs on relaxing.
I find myself curious about yesterday's--or the day before's--question pertaining to max daily loss limit. Yet today, it seems you obviously had no daily loss limit. I'm just stating what I see, so do you think there is any correlation? If I read your post correctly, you were up $800, not once, but twice. Do you have a rule for keeping some of what you made out of the first 800$, or you just continue no matter what? You obviously have a method that works. I suspect your mind to be in conflict. ===================== All that aside, learn from this. No reason to scratch that day off. Look for some great lessons in those failures. Those lessons will help you immensely.
Yukoner, there's a detachment to disciplined trading. It's like pushing buttons and flipping switches in a certain order day after day because that's how the machines start running and printing money over time. You have to buy ink for the machines and pay the electric bill (losses), but the pushing of the same buttons and flipping of the same switches each day guarantees that over time money will print in sufficient quantities to generate decent earnings. There's not much to think about and that becomes a good feeling, knowing that you turn on the platform, watch for certain setups (pattern + context + signal/trigger) and then push the button or flip the switch. Clear you mind and relax. Don't worry about adding to positions, or your running P/L; just watch, recognize the setup, place the order, let it be. If you're in a TST combine, isn't it a requirement to have a stop at all times? How can you pull your stop?
Volatile PA today. Focus on your charts and your plan, Y. Careful not to get lured into the DOM casino.
Yukoner I read your post last night - many thoughts ran through my head..., many things I could have said I agree with H123..., JS..., and NOD ========================= You melted down..., turned you back on the #1 rule we live by - protect capital first -Didn't want to take a $ loss - repeatedly -Didn't want to take the combine loss -Threw caution.., discipline..., rules..., the routine..., the plan... essentially every damn thing a trader must live by - right out the window - more than once -Shredded any trust you've built within you You're not simply back to square 1 (with learning to be a trader/ conducting your self as a trader / trusting yourself) - You are now negative Undermined every thing..., up to yesterday - you've been working toward Why...., and for what - both rhetorical Fuck me RN
Update: Had a very good discussion with my psych coach (who is also a bond trader). @Handle123 raised a good point, about why I need a psych coach... when it seems like I am not changing. However, it helps me get to the bottom of why I am acting the way I did. And I am changing, I am making a lot of progress. Knowing the issues is half way to the solution. In a nutshell, here it is. Yesterday I had some obligations in the morning that involved my kids, and so I didn't have as much time as I normally would have. Yet, I built that account up prior to that time frame... then I got greedy. I wanted more. So now I am overstepping my personal integrity, and making trading at that moment more important than my kids. I became fixated - invested in it - emotionally attached. How in the world could I remain neutral, when I had other obligations? This isn't an excuse, but rather overstepping blatant realities. If I am not at least 85% present, then I should not be trading. I need to get to the bottom of why I wasn't satisfied to just stop at that dollar amount. Especially after trading back up to it a second time.
Yeah, absolutely. Appears to me , maybe I'm wrong, you're always trying for homerun days. And that target is always moving. A good day is never good enough for you so you keep swinging. To keep the baseball analogy going; I could be way off base in my opinion. What is your goal in trading ? Mine is to be consistently profitable on a weekly basis, preferably daily, so that I can then increase my number of contracts traded. I will accomplish this by trading my plan with discipline (as you know I'm still working on that) AND I will stop trading when I lose focus or become tired. I used to try for the home runs too and for me it became more impulse emotion trading than per plan. With my current goal i find it's easier to trade the plan. But besides goals, likely there some beliefs possibly unknown to you that are driving your behavior. Why the need for trading in the manner you are ? Anyway, not sure any of what I said makes sense but hope it helps. jas
I have been reading your journals with interest. It seems an emotional roller coaster ride. The above post event psych analysis and others to be honest just seems like BS. If you have a method which works, im not convinced but anyway if you think you have then i suggest you automate it. There just seems too much emotion and psych analysis in what your doing.
I agree with you, Yukoner daily equity curve is all over the place each day, often it starts out poorly and he has to work back to even and up. Yukoner, is your method 100% rule based? Or do you add what you see to it? What is the norm after testing it should make/lose in first hour of trading? Are there any segments where it has highest profit? For me I can expect 2/3rds of my profits in ES first 45 minutes, and I have a rule that if I make daily goal of so much at any time during the first 90 minutes, am done for the day. And today I didn't hit my daily goal in 90 minutes cause of the losses I had during "megaphone" time, so I traded PM session till I make daily goal and quit. Same goes with Crude Oil, Gold etc, I apply same rules to all markets. Sorry, but I am not buying of knowing what your outside problems are, they have little to do with working. I have health problems still and I can be upchucking and I won't let that stop me, I have a job to do and I do it. I mean how bad do you want this? You just finding excuses not to do your JOB. Others might pat you on the back and say things will get better, NO, THEY won't get better, you have an attitude problem, GET OFF THE POT AND DO YOUR JOB, geeeze !!! Think of it this way, you are a Neru doctor, your kid is on the table, and you only surgeon in 100 miles, are you going to freelance on his brain? This is trading, each trade is your kids' future. Get one of those subconscious tapes and play it while you are trading. I use to do this long ago, when I started thinking about buying a new car on some trade, I got out and I was done for the day, it was the greed in my coming out and my equity curve use to peak out when I had these feelings.