Thanks for bringing to memory those trades. I think I need to create a banner of those tickers and nail it by my home computer. Maybe, just maybe, it could stop the next attempt at overriding my system. I wonder what I was thinking when I decided to power down the computer. Is it because the memories of those trades are now so distant I wasn't put off? Or possibly because of gains the last couple of months, I was beginning to feel invincible. The process of self-discovery is baffling.
Those quotes are from Ed Seykota. I would like to bookmark him as a trader, not a philosopher or psychologist. Over the years, I have been observing things that have hindered my trading, and taken steps to diminish their influence. The last such series of steps made me introduce the man/machine partnership, where my input take place outside market hours, while the system takes over during market hours. I observe I should be significantly ahead in my overall P/L from where I currently am, would like greater financial freedom for self and family, and possibly ability to retire early from regular work. So WHAT DO I WANT that I don't know off - that is causing the mishaps? Perhaps you could advise. I don't want to comment about the DOOMED part
Lot of respect for you, you've been doing this longer than me and I have yet to achieve your results, but I can't believe you don't know why these types of moves happen. If 95% of traders are chronic losers, what caused all that movement..? hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm And you were part of it if you were liquidating a short.
profitable strategy? all I see is countertrend trading. that's the easiest problem to fix. no need to enter years of therapy to examine deepseated needs. just don't countertrend trade. just. don't. do it. no RTM trades. none. first, fix the strategy. all the discipline in the world won't fix a broken strategy.
Deep down this is what trading is all about : bringing to the surface your deepest subconscious patterns.
I have a one line recommendation and I am hopeful it can cure your problem completely. "From man-machine partnership, move to 100% automated trading, move your strategies to a VPS/dedicated computer, start your strategies every week on Monday morning and finally look at your results on Friday evening" dom993 implemented a similar system on a single underlying (CL) a year back and his system has been running without any major problems for almost a year.
Of course everyone wants money, freedom, etc from the market. That't not at all what I'm talking about. As you have already realized, trading is mostly a battle of YOU against YOURSELF. Many many traders know what to do, yet ignore their rules or rationalize bad decisions. Many chronic gamblers and alcoholics know that their behavior is bad for them. Over-eaters, spousal abusers, there are lots of examples where people KNOW the right thing to do, yet still do the opposite. You need to think about your actions from that perspective. You have to separate the act of trading from the emotional response you are getting by doing it. That's what that Seykota quote means. Your position sizing and the grave risk you put your entire account when you go on tilt says something. A good first step would be to keep a journal where you write down the reasoning for every manual trade you take. Pre, during and after the trade- what are you thinking, what is your rationale? Over time you will see a pattern of decision making. There are books on trading psychology, maybe you should read some of them.
So people aren't making money trading against the trend? Or do you just mean that you can't do it? Neke has a system that makes money, he just keeps doing things outside the system that gives it all back.