there have been numerous posts regarding tradindg discipline,most notably though are the questions about when to stop trading. i know my strengths and i usually stop no matter what when i am up a certain amount. also,if i am up a small amount or down slightly and see notjing compelling.i simply shut down my computer and walk away and do not even look at the markets until the close. why get sucked back in. The purpose of my post was to give my own view of why i walk away after making some money early. i compare it to being in a casino,yes,a casino, ever notice when you are winning at a casino they comp you? why? so you stick around and give back all of your winnings as well as the rest of the money in your pocket. the comps are the carrats they gangle in fromt of you just like the markets. with the markets ,the carrot is when the futures start exploding or the dow is flying up and causing us to chase and anvariably give back our gains. how many times have you made a nice profit near the open,walked away only to turn on bloomberg or cnbc and see the markets flying? MOST traders run right back to their computers and start panic buying. i usually wind up losing and i now have a rule. ONCE i make my profit and turn off my computer i never turn on cnbc,bloomberg or even ask anyone what the market is doing. go back in time and view some of your old trades and see what happened when you jumped back in. most of the time you probably gave back some hard earned gains. the market AHTES when a trader takes his money off the table after a profitable trade and does'nt give any of it back.
I agree with your post....its when i start seaching for MORE ideas when i lose money...all i need is 1 or 2 good ideas to start the day. I trade then then thats it....I need to just take whats there and quit....The times when i make the most money is when i get on a good winning streak its then when good days seem to turn into better days...