Nodoji, thank you for the thread. I am just starting day trading. I have all above said problems. I think there are something you can do. 1)for #6, you can automatically place stop and profit target limit order once entry is filled. this will help you a lot. 2)Write down rules and read aloud everyday before you start trading 3)after several losing trades, start to read the rules aloud.
Here's how I do my bar-by-bar analysis now, to avoid any cheating. I have a set of criteria that determine a valid setup and a signal bar. I can only choose to trade when a 5-min bar has completely closed and my entry price is the open of the new bar, with stop and target entered at the same time. I can't move the stop or the target. One or the other will be hit or if it's end of day, the position will be closed then. I've yet to have a losing day when doing this. Even with my picking and choosing issue, and my frequent piss-poor trade management, I've had very few losing days. But I've had so many days when I should be earning 2-3 times what I end up with. It amazes me the amount of over-thinking and rationalizations I can come up with for not taking certain trades. I know that if I take all trades off valid signal bars, x% of them hit target and my targets are always 2x my stop or better. This is my edge. But I still pick and choose.
I have #6 fully under control now, but posted it as one of my common past mistakes. I have my rules written down, but I think you're right, reading them out loud every morning would be a very good idea.
Maybe I should post my daily blotter again. The thought of you guys analyzing my trades might keep me from micromanaging them I already feel really guilty now when I announce to my Skype group "Moving my stop to break even..."
Tiger Shark... Thanks for posting this thread. Should be a breath of fresh air compared to the other threads here. "Beddy bye" time for me.