I'm not sure I can help. For sure no one can until you let us know what it is you are doing? If you are not making money doing what you're doing then you have to change what you're doing. Does that make sense? You are reluctant to divulge what you are doing because it has the possibility of making you a lot of money and I'm good with that. When you get to the point that you are banging your head against something specific then by all means post a question. If what you are doing isn't making you a lot of money then you have to figure out why. It should be pretty simple. If it's not simple. break it down until it is. Then address that problem. It's all process. I'd hazard a guess that staring at a chart until you see something you like and guessing at an exit isn't a process that you could sell to too many people.
It is possible you fear success, have known few men who accepted losses fine, but felt unworthy of profiting. Am guessing that came from a religion where it is stressed "Better to give than receive". We are all worthy of making as much funds as we can, we give up years to get profitable at what I believe toughest industry in world. And if one wants to give to charities, left up to the individual.
The key to your success and every retail trader out there is there before your eyes. And yes, it is simple. Just follow the trend. Whatever you trade, there is a trend somewhere. The turtles who were taught by Dennis Eckardt and during that time, they earned hundreds of millions of dollars. What did they do? Follow the trend. Successful hedge fund managers follow the trend and make monies most years. They do not try to reinvent the wheel. Good trading is boring. No, you do not need to backtest anything because these hedge funds by their records already prove that is a profitable trading strategy. Now, a warning, win rate could be 40-50% most times and drawdowns could be deep as you ride trends up or down. In the longterm, trading by following trends is the easiest way to trade and make monies out of the stockmarket. The added bonus is those big hedge funds will be at your back, supporting that trend.
Hello smallfil, If trading with the trend is the key to success, then why every trader is not making money? Please very very specific in your response. Thank you,
When you say every trader, it is not true because the hedge funds make monies on a consistent basis. "Retail traders" though, are their worst enemies. Very few retail traders have: 1) a trading log, 2) proper risk management, 3) align their trade with the trend, 4) trading without an edge. A trading log of all your trades allow you to improve as a trader. You see a pattern of mistakes repeated over and over. If you do not have a trading log, how do you expect to analyze your mistakes? On risk management, multiples studies already have determined that traders should not risk more than 2% per trade yet, how many retail traders violate that rule and even put all their monies in one trade hoping to hit the jackpot? Three, if XYZ stock is going up and you place a trade, shorting XYZ stock is dumb as hell yet, how many retail traders do that? Oh, the stock is so high, it has to drop? A stock trending up, you need to go long and a short going down, you need to short. Last one, trading without an edge. This one is a question of probability. If you win 30% of the time, that implies 70% of your trades lose. However, your average gain when you win is $500 and your average loss when you lose is $100. So, in 10 trades, you lose 7 trades @ $100 = $700 loss. You win 3 times, 3 trades @ $500 = $1,500. So, overall, you won $800 net after accounting for the losses. Do you have a trading edge, yes you do. A lot of retail traders do not even figure out if their trading systems has a positive expectation (has an edge) or has a negative expectation (no edge at all) like anyone playing in a casino. Trading when your expectation is negative guarantees you only lose your monies. Another dumb move.
It's a good video which has But the presenter's website touts his "miracle software." https://fxphysics.com/The_Algorithm.html It also hides performance info maintained by a third party. https://fxphysics.com/About.html https://collective2.com/system98995198 So it sounds like a case of
You fear not being able to sustain your wins. Not really different from fearing a negative day P/L. You focus and fear is on the right metric but wrong time frame. Watch the P/L by contract. See what you do in the DEC 21 contract, then compare it March 22 contract. Stop the daily or multi-day short term P/L obsession. PS: It is easy to do Sim and then go Live and get keep the discipline for a few weeks. Got to do it for an entire contract before you have "proof" of viability.
To some extent it’s okay if you are afraid of losing money, it shifts your focus to money management but the problem arises when you can’t take any action because of your fear. Whenever it comes to psychology I think following your trading plan is the best you can do. If, according to your trading plan, you’ve made enough profit or more you can stop trading for that day, and then take another day as a new day. Accept that you’ll lose money. Not all days will be good but only focus on minimising the losses.