Certainly willing to respond.., but out of respect to the OP - he needs to agree This would be way O/T..., and imo..., I've already disrupted his thread way too much Otherwise we can can take it to another thread / PM / carrier pigeon - or whatever works OP - what say you RN
RN you have a good reputation on the board, but I can't take you serious at all if you say that drawdowns are not neccessary, should be avoided and the goal is to only make money. sure that's the ideal scenario. but it's far from reality, really. So, you make constant winnings and never have a drawdown? Great! I'll give you all my chips, just tell me your bank adress and I'll wire the funds to you. Thanks.
I suspect he's a fraud and that's exactly what he is after sadly, why else slow a fake P&L like that.
Thanks FL I respond later this evening As for my response providing any value - who knows..., and only each reader can determine RN
I am keenly interested not only on my own psychology; Keeping my head on straight / ego in check / opinion in check / unbiased / centered / flexible/ detached / focused / respectful of risk (not scared of it - rather respectful)/ clear on my goals..., intentions..., actions / completely accepting of the uncertainty / remaining relaxed But also in the psychology contained within the mkt (which I willingly and unabashedly exploit) imo -> behavior and psychology are synonymous Also imo -> trading is 3 to 5% technical..., 95 to 97% psychological These day I spend exponentially more time / energy..., and money on me..., than I do my trading tools We're human - not robots Traders, by nature, are ubber competitive - no real competitor likes losing But losing is a necessary..., and normal - part of trading Just something to ponder - it doesn't pay to shield our self from any aspect of this business mkt (rather inner our self) will pick up on these hidden jewels and proceed to beat us over the head with it / them mkt by its nature - exposes and lays bare all or our deficiencies / weaknesses / insecurities - then affords us the perfect environment for us to abuse our self mercilessly and unceasingly with them These are all necessary skills - good Feelings are not necessarily factual based - need the facts to back up the feelings You also need to understand why you feel this way News flash - you will lose money..., I lose money..., all traders lose money Fact of trading ============== Another - yet separate - fact; One can have a methodology that produces way less winners that losers - yet still be profitable overall ================= Last fact on this (for now) There are more ways to make money trading than I can count - each of us must find / create our own..., and for it to be successful - it must match our own unique personality Pick an approach that interests you - master it One (of the many) pitfalls in this business - way too many options available and people have a hard time focusing Oh this didn't work..., so let me try that one..., damn that didn't work - now I'll try the one over there Same occurs (all too often) with indicators Learned the language yet - or at least beginning to Also - picked up on any repeatable behavior that could be exploited (notice I specifically did not say repeatable patterns..., rather repeatable behavior) There will be much more chart watching - get used to it Hope is a piss poor technique Coin flip is a 50 / 50 proposition (assuming everything involved in each flip is the exact same... and equal..., and the coin weighted equally) Mkt / Trading's #1 rule..., overriding all else - uncertainty reigns supreme Every trade I place is an even money bet - that is my mindset None of the above is likely helpful - rather it simply a view into the reality of things..., and my mindset The way over simplistic answer is - yes The more involved answer I trade price..., volume..., and time - more specifically I trade behavior A chart is graphical representation of the T&S (not the dome) - the charts I use are broken into time segments (typically..., but incorrectly..., called Time Frame Charts) I use multiple of these - one for trading..., couple higher for overall orientation .., one lower for microscopic view So yes - I trade off charts ------ Trend lines (all be they diagonal or horizontal) Price behavior creates historical data I use trend lines to objectively contextualize this historical data Side note = context is not a forecaster - rather context is used as a means to measure / gauge current behavior..., as a means to orient us..., and as a means to frame up each trade (stop loss / profit target / trade direction) Anyway Yes, I use trend lines The etc - I have no clue on (ambiguity and trading simply and absolutely - do not mix) I trade FB; 1.) Because I am a stock trader (I am not an options / bond/ futures / forex / commodities - or any other kind of trader) 2.) FB's PA / volume / liquidity - marries up well with my personality - at some point I'm certain this will change - at that time I'll move on to a different stock (I keep a basket of potentials in the waiting for very thing) I absolutely know that PA is PA..., and behavior is behavior - no matter the instrument I also absolutely know that there are many instrument / markets I cannot trade - their behavior..., and my personality would be like trying to mix oil and water - it ain't happening NQ - I could trade - simply because I've been exposed to it enough while working with J..., Slugar..., and JS FX - no clue if I could CL - I could trade ES - no clue Options - not near smart enough Bonds - no clue The list of no clues..., or can'ts is quite lengthy Fortunately the list of stocks I can..., is also quite lengthy hth Sir RN
"It was over a 30 or so trades losing 20 trades at 2 percent each and winning 10 at 1-2 percent each. Usually my win rate is much higher" If that's the case, then the flaw in your system is trade size. You have to expect certain periods of underperformance where your losers far out number your winners and it seems you didn't account for that. You probably have had some success previously and that's lulled you into a false sense of confidence. It's all good when you have 20 winners and 10 losers and both wins and losses are around 2%, but when that ratio flips you have to be able to survive that. Especially because it's possible that downturns where losers out number winners can last quite a long time. If you still believe in your system and everything that made it work in the past still holds true today, the best solution is to reduce trade size and increase your number of occurrences. In time you'll recover what you've lost and go on to a new high water mark.
Obviously always better to be trading smaller amounts while losing, but larger while winning but........... As you don't now when you will get a string of losers or winners and your generally playing for winners, this makes above totally stupid. And if you reduce size after a few losers, it just takes longer to make it back. I trade near the limit of my 50:1 margin, which i reduced that way my lot size follows my account size closely.