I'm creating this journal to track my progress. I traded my first stock in Jan 2009 and made $10k in the first month months then lost $25k in Feb 2009. I had no idea what I was doing at that time and was just buying on hunches. I stopped trading from March to Sept and decided to learn TA and get a better footing on how the market works. I've just started trading again in mid September. I have a great system, but now my problem is myself and my lack of discipline. My biggest problems so far are: <font color='red'><b>Trying to pick bottoms and tops</b></font>: Instead of waiting for a clear signal from my system, I constantly get greedy and try to capture the entire trend. I never realized I was a perfectionist until I started trading. Good lord, it feels like a horrible trait to have <font color='red'><b>Lack of patience</b></font>: I jump into a trade when I start to see a signal forming (before getting confirmation from another signal like my system calls for) Sometimes I also hesitate to pull the trigger when my system says I should, and then when the price goes up, I start chasing. I shall be posting my daily profit/loss and problems/solutions encountered
Btw, what market(s) will you be trading? Post some more details on your style of trading, risk parameters, trade management etc.
Thanks Fast Trader. I trade stocks only now (about to start trading options). I mostly do either swing trades or 5-15min day trades. I risk at most 1% on each trade. I mainly use S/R , pivots, volume and price channels to trade
Bought FAZ this morning (before creating this journal). Tried to pick the bottom twice to early instead of waiting for a clear signal. The funny part is, had I waited like system told me to, I would have bought at 19.51 and made up to $2k. I'm about to start trading smaller sizes ($10k at a time) until I can be more disciplined, then move back up to $70K per trades -$800 Account value: $99,817
Do you know only the very best of the best can trade futures consistently profitable and with good size? It is a fact.
Quote from zanek: I stopped trading from March to Sept and decided to learn TA and get a better footing on how the market works. This will only make things worse. There is little evidence that the TA traders try to use (especially a newbie) has any value. Think about this: a) It is estimated that 90-95% of traders lose their money b) Probably 90% of traders use TA, Gann, Fib, Elliott Wave, etc. etc. It is not hard to realize the relationship. Look up the book "Evidence-Based Technical Analysis: Applying the Scientific Method and Statistical Inference to Trading Signals" on Amazon.com or elsewhere. That and a number of institutional studies find little hope for TA methods. I have a great system, but now my problem is myself and my lack of discipline. You do not have a great system, this is a complete delusion. Paper trading, sim trading, good backtests, etc. are useless for having a "great system." Until you find a real edge or two, we will not be hearing from you within a few weeks to months. Be very wary of people on here patting you on the back or urging you on. They are mostly newbies or paper traders themselves.