My Friend go out right now and buy Mark Douglas's book "The Trading Zone" . The best money you will ever spend. Good Luck Wavetrader
Perhaps my problem is that I HATE to lose, so taking a loss, however small, is hard for me to deal with. I know that without a doubt I have to get over this. Heck, reviewing my after-hours charts I realized that had I taken all the trades my set-ups gave me, I would have taken about 3 losses and had 9 winners, and the losers would have been much smaller than the winners, too. Just nuts. Whoever said the markets reveal all your fears and insecurities was right on the mark! Good comments from all. Thanks for the suggestions. Illiquid's idea of removing the P/L screen sounds like an especially good idea! p.s. Mark Douglas' book. I heard it's very difficult to read. True?
I couldn't agree more. If you're having trouble pulling it together, this will be the most important book you'll ever read. I suggest you stop trading until you get it, from the library if you like.
Huh? If you know English, it shouldn't be a problem. Seriously, it is well-written and easy to read. He repeats himself quite a bit which helps to get the message across. "Trading in the Zone" is definitely one of the most-important books for a trader. Cheer, kp
if you just start book will make no sense, after reading all 'how to trade' books and be disappointment of what market has to offer a few times then read book again, now it make lots & lots of sense.
Since nobody decided to answer you on this.. I will. No, it is not that you are too competitive. It is not even as you suggest that you *hate to lose*. Although there is a little bit of that there. Hell, who likes to lose. No. Moreso, you're problem is that you Hate being WRONG. That is what is hard for you to deal with, probably in other aspects of your life as well, not just trading. I digress, perhaps I'm just projecting. Let me know if that feels like it came close to the mark. I went through that earlier in my trading. It is something that you CAN overcome. You just have to accept each trade as a loser, have that perspective and expectation going into it. Then when you realize it is a winner, manage your exit accordingly. best- momo
The book is definitely a eye-opener. You will not put it down for quite a few days. my advice, carry it around with you, because you can relate to it. He has captured the essence of trading. To be successful at trading you must be confident and have a edge. 90 percent do not or are not consistently following their rules. The key is, it is all psychological and Mark Douglass understands this. The book requires the desire to be a profitable trader. If this is your goal you will not have a problem. Good Luck Wavetrader It is a uncommon man that can be right and sit tight. Jesse Livermore
No Agenda- Here are some of my thoughts that I wrote down on my trading fears while doing time at Longfellow up in Northern CAL. I'm afraid of; ...lack of focus and discipline ...trying this at the wrong time in my life ...delluding myself(my life energy not in order/not my destiny) ...always trading alone ...not having a mentor(this has changed since then) ...feeling inadequate ...running out of money ...running out of time ...progressing too slow on my own ...never being successful at it .. ... .... #1 Reason - - being WRONG -momo
Good food for thought. I'm going away for the weekend - will take the opportunity to clear my head and think things over. Thanks for all the input. p.s. Momo, when did it all turn around for you? What was the catalyst?
hummmm.. yeah.. the catalyst. Not one specific thing did it. There is a rather lengthy process that took place to get over this medium sized hurdle for me. To some degree I still find myself running around it from time to time. A few times a month it rears its ugly head. This is only ONE aspect of the afraid of being wrong ailment; Basically, one common occurence that was happening to me consistently was I would identify a trade setup early on. I'd say to myself damn I really really feel this baby is going up from here. I should get in now. I'd have my finger on the button. I would hesistate and then.. a few minutes later... yeah, I knew it would go up. Should've got it. a little later.. Still strong from here. Probably has up to xxxx.xx to go 'til resistance. If it breaks that its going much higher. Oh well, I'll get off a short once it gets well overextended... time passes.. Market is just inching up and up, meanwhile I'm playing spectator trader games in my head and on paper. <- -Which btw, is completely useless. Why didn't I just take the trade. Everything looked good. All signals were go. All charts, indicators, etc... were screaming at me. Hell even my dog was barking insanely to take the *uckin trade! Then I realized, I'm just simply afraid. Not of losing money. Heck at 1000 shares on the QQQ where .01 is $10 move. If it moved .10 against me, I'm only out $100 and at least I took the trade and placed a reasonable stop and moved on. Nope, I failed to act. I couldn't execute the trade. It was painfully obvious to me at that point. Just didn't want to be wrong. There was too much uncertainty. I actually felt better being out of the stinkn trade and watching the market go up as if it vindicated me by acting as I thought it would. Somehow, making up for all the times I was WRONG, when it stopped me out. This is useless behavior. It does nothing for your trading psychology and more importantly it does nothing for your trading account. In fact, at the point of optimal entry it is the point of Maximum Uncertainty that you SHOULD be taking the trade. EVERY TIME and on EVERY Trade. Once I introduced a healthy dose of reality to my psyche, things started to turn for me. I found myself saying ok, so things are all lined up, if I don't take this trade, I'll NEVER.... say it to yourself, NEVER, be a really successful trader. Gotta take the trade. Gotta accept it if you are wrong. You know what. I find that I'm more often right now, than wrong, when it counts. Confidence is a funny thing when it comes to trading. It breeds amongst itself. It makes you more confident. The more times you allow yourself to take the trade when it counts the more eager you are to take those Maximum Uncertainty trades. The more you'll find yourself in those big moves. More importantly even than that, you'll find yourself in them Consistently. In my humble opinion, this is the life's blood of a trader. If you are consistent, no matter how many points you pull each day, if you are consistent you WILL not only survive you will prosper. Once you find someone that is truely an elitetrader. Someone who has the ability to show you that it is possible to rape the market on a DAILY basis, and that being profitable at the end of each and everyday is possible, you WILL be forever changed. keep seeking, first in yourself and then once you feel you've made every positive change you can make within, then reach out. -momo