Confessions of a loser who need to quit

I think I am unwilling to change because I don't know what is it that I need to change and what is it that I need to change to.

 

Can you post recent sample trades of yours with annotated charts (especially entry reason, stoploss and target exit)? Let us dig into your thinking.

 

Take a chart showing only price – maybe in a couple of different time frames – and maybe with 1, 2 or 3 horizontal lines


Know how much you will risk on each trade

Trade

Price hits your risked amount – exit for a loss

Price gives you profit – take it


What else do you “need” Sir – if (and that's a big if) there is something else – add it – otherwise – don’t Sir

KISS always

Regards

RN

 

I haven't made that many trades, since I couldn't scalp with forex. My last attempt was using a random entry method. Win % was only 38%. The error I have made was using the same fixed pip stop and exit for all currency pairs I trade. I did not take the volatility and the spread of each currency pair into consideration. So, I don't believe I will have the same 38% again, unless the forex market is really rigged.


3. What attracted you to forex? It is the most rigged game in town. Unless you can fund an account at Currenex or Dukascopy ( i.e. ECN/STP passthrough ) forget the bucket shop. Now if you want to swing trade in forex with almost no leverage, sure, my buddy does pretty well at it that way. But trade and go forbid scalp forget it. [/QUOTE]

I don't have a lot of money to trade with. So, forex seems to be the only option for me to test out my strategy.

I will avoid scalping at all cost in the forex market. I know that the retailers are the counter-party to my trades and they would not hesitate to move the price a few pips to take my stop-loss.

 

Here is a chart of the EUR/USD I traded with a really small amount.

I got lucky in the first trade, but I wasn't that lucky on my second trade. I should have been more patient on my second trade.

The first trade was made based on the gyration of price. The second trade was based on the anticipation of a trend.

 

Thank you for the advices and for confirming my beliefs. I now have more confident in my system.

Now I will need to work on being patient and on identifying and entering all set-ups.

 

If your problem is psychological in nature you are wasting your time looking for an answer in the markets.

As Douglas points out in one of his books, "it will feel like you can't trust the markets: but the reality is, that you can't trust yourself".

Believe or not, to succeed you will have to create a new version of yourself. Definitely not an easy task, but it is doable and of course you are the only one that can do it.

Good luck.

 

Thanks for the advice. It is easier to change myself than to change my environment.

I will keep track of every trades I made and review them religiously.

 

Lack of confidence in your system and thinking that your trades will be losers are the same point. It is the nub of your problem.

ET in reality is almost wholly about failure - failure to find or devise a sufficiently profitable system and even if possessing a viable system then failure psychologically to ever be a successful trader with it.

The lack or failure of confidence is a widespread and natural order of things; it belongs to the many who are followers; they cannot either lead robustly or stand alone successfully. This state can be exacerbated the older you get especially if you have not moved much beyond the follower capacity.

There is a common pretence that we are all strong but in trading the reality is unending defeat for most amateurs who try to succeed, whether trying fleetingly or trying for years on end.

In this particular case you have to move your mindset from the negative to the positive. Its a big task for most who have trained themselves day in and day out to follow escapist routes only in their life and outlook. Answer: look at the ways to train in a positive and confident mindset instead - as your top priority.

 

I don't know how I could be more positive on trading, since I have been losing for the past 7 years. But I will try. I will begin by first viewing my past 7 years as just typical drawdown period (7 years of dd! grrr!)

I will also focus on the process rather than the PnL.

I remembered a trader in ET mentioned that "A successful trader is smart enough to develop a system and dumb enough to follow it."

I will just follow my system then.