I seem to have the same situation occur daily. I enter a trade if it goes against me no problem I'll hold and have no problem being in the red but when it comes back green I sell too quickly. I don't trade with stops and will swing a loss but sell too quickie... Yesterday go long qqqq at 36.75 hold overnight as they go down in the morning they gap up I cover at .95 for 20cents too watch them go to 37.07 (early (HOD) they meander I put in order to short above 1st (HOD) and short qqqq at 37.08 only too watch them go to.31 I hold position and cover at.97 for 10 cents of profit only too watch them crash and miss the downside action. This literally happens all the time. Always out with a profitr albeit small but always miss the big move in either direction. I only trade qqqq's & GLD (stock) & NAZ100 & YM & GOld emini result same with futures as well. It seems most people complain they set tight stops, I never have that problem cause I never mind the pain. Anyone else have the same problem?
You might want to re-think yr strategy, coz u r picking pennies at the edge of the cliff. Unless u hv 100% accuracy...
I think you're experiencing what I call "trader's remorse syndrome." You buy something, it goes against you right away, you're like, "oh shiiit, I got it wrong. I'm getting rid of this turd as soon as I can break it even." Then the stock comes back and you are thinking, "oh finally, the turd is back up. I can break even. Oh wait, I can make some money. Let me get rid of this before this goes back down again." I had this problem. I still experience it periodically. But one thing that has helped me minimize such trades have been the development of my own system. This gives you more confidence about your trades and less emotion is involved.
Actually I trade the qqq's 99% of the time I work on a few parameters I pesronally choose 1st I do not enter a LONG/Short unless the q's are a minimum of + or - 30 cents Never 2nd I work on the premise th the q's rarley will move over 1 pt in eithe direction. (which has been the case the whole year) Reason for no stops My problem is when the trade goes against me I should double down cause it always ends up a winner but I don't and I think much more rational when I'm red but when I go green I [pull the trigger. I also think because I'm a professional sports bettor by trade and trying to trade I'm accustomed to zero sum trading ie...when I bet a game I consider the $ gone I either win or lose ...trading has the benefit of "If you can handle the pain you will bounce back. Keep in minf I'm only talking daytrades. or swinging a position that was entered at a minimum of +30/-30 cents any imput appreciated. no fear in losing just winning big when it comes to trading ...LOL
+/-30 is relative, u wont know when the volality will change. double-down strategy is dangerous, unless yr pocket is deep n u trade less than 1% of yr capital. congratz, u hv overcome 1 fear - the fear of losing. but r u prepare to lose yr entire account?
I use a very similar strategy BUT I use QQQQ options to limit risk. While it is true QQQQ will almost always retrace itself, there have been a few days this year when my retracement trade went violently against me, leaving me very happy to have limited risk. Further more I don't think I give up much upside, especially if I get the volatility right. Lastly I have been looking at buying half the options and letting them run further to make the same amount of money with less risk. It is easier said then done though.
I still think your entry/exit strategy is not clearly defined, so your emotion get the best of you rather than your strategy. If you have done your homework and understand S/R & bullish/bearish channels well for QQQQ in this case, I don't see why you can't come up with a better strategy that takes help you milk the profit more than just a few pennies per share. Avg down could be dangerous. What if the market decides to really crash one day? It has happened before and it will happen again.
What you are doing is extremely dangerous. It is a very common theme among beginners. Most keep doing it till they get completely screwed, then (hopefully) they learn they should be doing the opposite and become better traders (if they're not already wiped out). Learn from the mistakes of others and stop doing this RIGHT NOW. You need 3 things to place a trade. If you don't have all three you have no trade and ABSOLUTELY should not have a position. You need: 1. ENTRY 2. EXIT 3. CATALYST I hope this helps. Please take it constructively
So what you're saying is that you cover your winners way too soon, whereas if you were to ride it you are to profit more? My suggestion is to go 1. sell half of it on the way up and hold the balance at cost. this gives you the option of riding half further for a greater reward. 2. secondly, your risk reward should be a 5/20 ratio. 3. stops can be used against your initial catalyst eg. once crowd momentum is gone.
Noobs 'f**k yourself up the butt' syndrome; this is well known clinically and you've made an excellent start in developing the condition. However the full blown condition involves actual losses leading on to a tremendous climax with ultimate wipe out.