If I follow my rules, win or lose, then it was a good trade. If I don't follow my rules, win or lose, it was a bad trade.
A good trade does what I expected it to, and reaches the profit potential I originally intended and I am relaxed while this happens. A good trade does the opposite of what I expected it to, but I recognize this quickly and get out with a minimal loss. A bad trade does what I expected it to, but I for whatever reason (usually get nervous about it reversing) get out before it reaches my original profit target, even though it eventually hits my original profit target. A bad trade does the opposite of what I expected it to, but instead of getting out with a very small loss (several ticks), I let it hit my stop in the hope that it will turn around. (My stop is not large < 15 YM but usually around 10 YM, so I don't take large losses, but large enough to be annoying when hit)
A good trade is one that I've anticipated and waited for the right setup to occur and only acted on when the market was doing what I expected it to do. (kind of like a surfer on his board waiting for that wave he sees coming and starts paddling getting ready to jump on it, but only acting on the right wave at the right time) How's that for an analogy. A bad trade would be executed out of impulse where I'm chasing trying to catch a shooting price bar, only to jump in when it runs out of steam and head back down. If I execute a trade that I'm not anticipating its movement and feel where its heading and I just jump into it to chase momentum., It'll pretty much go against me and punish me for not being a good surfer
A good trade is when I have all the necessary rules in place and price moves in my favor. A bad trade is when I place some rules and add some wishes, hopes, or wants in the trade and it moves in my favor... I have no way of evaluating the success, or even learning from it. There are many more types(losing type trades etc.), but this is a current issue for me.
There are some very good answers and I decided to bring the subject up especially for the good and bad assignment many newbies give to trades. A good trade is that trade that is executed acoording to the plan, parameters or rules established by the trader. A bad trade is that which is executed deviating from the plan, parameters or rules established by the trader. If you notice(as others have answered) a good or bad trade has nothing to do with profit or loss. In this business we are working against human nature in some aspects. It is a business in which you have to accept very fast that you are wrong. It is against human nature to like to be wrong. We as traders have to accept our mistake very fast and many times a day(depending on trading style). This is why it is important to assign the correct value of good and bad to a trade. When we do something bad we blame ourselves, get angry, get frustrated or just gets our spirits down. In this line of work in which the psychology of the executer has so much to do with the result obtained, being angry, frustrated or with our spirits down is detrimental to our goal. Be happy to take a stop if it is a stop if you took the trade for the right reasons(setup, etc.) and it did not work. They will never work all the time, so the right mind set regarding those that do not work is very very important. Good trading to all.
Excellent insight Piscuy. Even professional poker players lose with pocket aces...just part of the game. Excellent thread Ankedoten!
Hi Piscuy, That's a great great question. Here's what I think: a great trade for me is - I see a higher low and a higher high on the chart, and then price goes back down and makes a higher low, and the bar closes, and price reverses, and I check buffy's bline (stochastics 5,3,3 over a stochastics 25, 10 I think), stochastics is looking like half a parabola, I set a limit order, price comes down, hits my price -1 tick, then price continues it's way on up the price ladder. After 2 points or so, price starts to struggle, and comes back down a couple ticks, goes back up 4 ticks, comes back down 2 ticks, and I exit. A good trade is: if I follow all that, and price started going up, but then reversed and went down and hit my 1 point stop, or if price stalls (3 bars get printed), and it just starts going sideways, and so I exit after a minute and a half at 1 tick or -1 tick. A bad trade is: I'm bored, and the market is chopping around (4 same length bars have been printed, no discernable direction), but price is near the top of the trend channel, so I figure, ah, what the heck! I'll just see if I can scalp down to the bottom of the trend channel! Doesn't matter how it turns out, if I win, it's prolly even worse. A horrible trade is: Everything in the great trade happens, but price never comes down and hits my entry, so I panic and start moving my entry up a tick, and another tick, and then two ticks! But price is going! So I cancel the limit order and enter a market order! And as soon as I am filled, price comes back down, stops me out at -1 point (or I move my stop and it hits it for more! worse), then hits my original entry, and continues it's way up. I'm a newbie and I definitely have psychological issues over and above psychological trading issues, but I recognize pretty quickly when I get into a bad or horrible trade, and I will just try and get out with the loss. I'm a recovering bad trade addict, and will be for the rest of my life. I look forward to my 6 month free and clean chip.