JM, Usually all in all out, as I fear that i would revenge trade if it was going against me. All in all out - if it doesn't work I just take a break wait for a few more hours for something else to crop up on another pair. I'm usually done with that pair for the day if i get stopped out - I have messed up big time re:revenge trading in the past and it's something I don't want to repeat. BTW you have been very helpful - again thanks for the support - I have learnt a few things from the participants so far.
NZD, I had that a lot at the beginning (18 months ago). The first three days I took less than 10% of my signals. A couple of things that helped me: 1) Agree with JM - Trading in the Zone (M.Douglas) - thinking of blackjack playing probabilities 2) Getting more confidence that my entry rules were really objective 3) Sleep & Exercise - helps me to be more positive 4) The pain of missed opportunties got more painful than hesitating to pull the trigger 5) Once you know you can follow your rules consistently - the confidence builds..... its those little steps forward Good luck J
From Van Tharp's interview in Market Wizards: Please elaborate on mental strategies - the third element you cited earlier to duplicating success. Could you provide some examples? To understand strategies, you have to understand how people think. People think in the same modalities as their five senses, that is, in terms of visual images, sounds, feelings, and for some people, tastes and smells. Those five modalities are to mental strategies as the alphabet is to a great novel, or as musical notes to a great symphony. It's not the elements, but the way in which the elements are put together. A mental strategy is really the sequence in which you think. Rather than explain a complex topic in detail, which I think is beyond the scope of this interview, let me give you two examples. First, imagine that you have a trading system that gives you specific signals. Since most signals are visual, such as a particular chart pattern or certain signals on your computer, imagine that your system gives you visual signals. Now, try on the following strategy: - See the signal. - Recognize that it is familiar. - Tell yourself what might go wrong if you take it. - Feel bad about it. Could you trade effectively using that strategy? Would you even take the signal? Probably not! What if you used the following strategy? - See the signal. - Recognize that it is familiar. - Feel good about it. Could you trade from that signal? Probably. So even though the two strategies are quite similar, they lead to very different results in terms of trading. If you are trading a system, you need a simple strategy like the last one in order to use it effectively.
whre1, Great post. I think in images for sure. I think I will start to more and more actively visualise myself in an imaginary future waiting for a settup, and confidently putting on the the trade. As you wrote - the modality of thought and it's order is to my future reality what words are to a great novel. A construction has to be be made in my head in terms of the way I best think (images for me). jessop, nice points - when the pain of not taking a signal exceeds the pain of taking it then I know I have got it licked!
If your strategy is a true strategy that makes money, then the PAIN you SHOULD be feeling is when you take your next trade. Now, if you fear, because your strategy is not one that is tested to be successful, then yes, you are not feeling pain because more than likely you were going to take more losses than wins anyways. You see where I'm going with this. IF YOU HAVE CONFIDENCE IN YOUR SYSTEM.... and YOU KNOW it is going to make money at the end of the day or week. Then YOU should feel pain when you don't take your next signal. There is no excuse not to. So, just think about that when you take your next trade. Be honest with yourself. Is your system really one that is going to make money? If your honest answer then yes. Then what you just said above.... should be taking place immediately on your next trade. Because it is hurting you because it is making you undisciplined every time you fail to take a trade, and every failed trade taken is a closer step to failure in the longer term. So like I said... DO IT NOW... don't make excuses, Take all your trades, if your system works, then just do it, there is no excuse, if you fear ... then you fear because your system is going to lose money in the long run, then yes, you now have reason to be scared. But, you said your system works. So either you are lying to us.......... or you are praciticing VERY BAD discipline that is hurting you in the long term. So CHANGE IMMEDIATELY!!! No excuse. BTW. I'm sounding mean, but trust me when I say all the above I mean all of that in the most supportive way possible, I'm trying to make you realize you need to take all your trades if your system is really a profitable one, because if not, you are hurting yourself every time you miss a trade, and like I said, you should punish yourself or take some action every time you do not take a trade. You are just being undisciplined when you don't.... and trust me when I talk to all the great traders on ET, the first thing they will tell me is they believe they are successful because they are determined, take this seriously, and most of all they all say they are disciplined. You are not being disciplined. So.... like I said, change now, or pay the price later. There is no excuse, you have the power to change yourself, you are the one running the show. So take action immediately. Don't practice the same habbits that all the previous failures at trading have. You are obviously already used to not taking trades, and that is bad.... very... very bad. I just don't think you understand the importance of it, how this could be hurting you in the long term. So as some like to say on Et.... "ADAPT OR DIE" ---- you know what I mean? JUST DO IT.
JM, Yes it's that pain of not taking the next signal that is very painful for me right now - my whole point is that why do I freeze up when I'm about to take a trade when I KNOW that I will feel more pain later on by not taking it - (as oppossed to taking it and suffering a loss). Why do I have such a blockage - because logically I should not be feeling so. Logic would dictate that I am pulling the handle of a slot machine where the odds are in my favor - yet I still freeze up when I have to pull that damn lever. Perhps 100 times is not enough lever pulls (in my trading career with present system to date) - I should scalp for a while and pull that lever 30 times A DAY instead of a month. Maybe that might fix me up?
You have to do something, because you must realize, that .... one day, your system might not work. I scalp off of price action. Although I could do that on many markets, several things could happen. Commissions, for some reason could go up for all markets, then I'd be screwed, or spreads would be increase to insane levels in all markets and I'd be screwed. So I must accept the fact that my method of trading would not work. But the question is, can I adapt, and change to a new system and test it. When I say test it, I'd NEED to take every single signal in order for there to be a good sample of if that system will work. I'm just telling you all this to try and help you out in the longer term. I can't answer WHY this is happening to you, I'm just making it clear as to why you need to find a way to solve it. If it means you have to find a different way to trade in order to solve this problem then do it. But you need to realize that this could have a dramatic affect on your trading... no matter what system you trade. If something happens and your system doesn't work, and you need to make money, but you can't test your system because you fear taking every single trade, that system might be horrible, and you might be getting lucky and taking the good trades, but sooner or later it could catch up with you. If you feel bad when you execute a trade or don't, you need to realize what happens when that hpapens, and find a way to realize it happens and tell yourself to do it anyways. Heck, if your system gives off signals from an application, make it play an audio file telling you or cursing at you to take that trade. You just need to learn how to be disicplined and take all your trades now. It doesn't matter how you feel. Some traders might be scared their whole trading career, but find a way to adapt to it and take those trades anyways. When I trade, my heartbeat goes faster, heck sometimes I could be into it so much that I start sweating, but I take the signals. I get out when I should, and I let a winner run when I know it could go farther. It doesn't matter how I feel, I did have the same problem you had. But, at some point, your going to have to tell yourself that this may just not stop, and if I want to be a good trader, I'm going to need to find a way, and just do it anyways. That is what you need to do tomorrow or next week, or whenever. Just do it. Maybe if you just do it no matter what, you'll not feel bad about taking trades because you will be used to it, but you must do something. There is nothing wrong with learning multipe markets, or multiple ways of trading, or multiple strategies, or multiple timeframes. The more you learn, the better you are in the long run. If you are going to be trading in the next year or 2, you need to try to do things today that will help you in the long term aspect of trading. Being disciplined is a top thing I hear from the great traders, and every trade you miss you are not being disciplined. Again, I don't know how you solve it, it one day clicked to me that it is stupid for me not to take these trades. I have a strange way of learning things. I don't gradually learn things.... they just click in my mind one day and I'll have figured it out, it's a big "OOOOOOH" type moment. Maybe it is the same for you? But again... I just think it is important you try to solve this problem as soon as you can, it might not be the end of the world if you don't solve this issue in the next few weeks, but you are practicing bad habbits that could harm you down the road, and I'm sure you don't want to be like the other people that fail, so you got to figure it out. It is important that you do so. *Yawn...* Now i'm going to bed. Good luck to you, I will dream about trading, unfortunately, i'm up so late that i will probably not be awake for the open. G'night!
One procedure I have found to be helpful is putting on two 'hypothetical' trades early in the trading session. If the outcome of both trades is profitable, then I know I'm 'in the groove' and this boosts my confidence for the rest of the trading day. I have found that 95% of the time, if the first two 'hypothetical' trades work out in my favor, then the day is profitable as well.
In gestault therapy those are called ahah moments. Thatâs how I operate as well. Iâm slow to learn and catch on and the bits and pieces fall into place haphazardly (seemingly), however, the ahah moment somehow is the glue to provide the cohesiveness to allow the entirety of what I have learnt to be put into practise. The mini ahas lead to correspondingly larger ahahs until the ahah is then to methodically put into practise what has been realised. Hopefully that day is not too far of for myself. JM â your an fx trader going to sleep when the European market is opening??? â perhaps you should trade the European open instead!! Good idea but I donât usually put on more than 1 or 2 trades in a day if possible. It seems that 80%+ of people on ET are intraday scalpers going for a few pips here and there â my lot in life is waiting all day for that one trade that I will hold for a bit. I am thinking to perhaps day trade again (I have not done this since last year when I was using another unprofitable method) and perhaps use the swing trading tools I use at present on lower time frames (seconds/minutes). Perhaps if I do that then I will start to desensitize myself to the markets and the associated feelings that come with being in a trade. Maybe it suits my temperament more â but I donât know how it will be like with real money on the line 20 times a day. I kind of like waiting for a while for a settup that is "just right", putting on one trade and then taking a break from the screen for a few hours or so. They are both equally challenging in their own right so as JM says â I need to try and see what is me. Intaday swing is like a sniper waiting to fire of one or two bullets a day, day trading is like going in Rambo style firing off in every direction all day. Personally I feel that the Rambo style for me gives me too much scope to shoot myself in the foot - but I don't know - never done it live.
NZD, The other thing that helped me was risking only a very small % of my trading capital. My trading plan says the maximum risk per trade is 1% of capital. At the moment I am only risking 0.25% per trade until my rule following consistency improves. Therefore why hesitate when I get a valid proven signal - the only fear is if I get 400 losers in a row