Day trading difficulties

Discussion in 'Psychology' started by oilfxpro, Apr 17, 2011.

  1. The market changes from bullish to bearish bias several times a day.It is really difficult to keep changing biases from long to short , several times a day.The mind can remember the previous market bias , and often rejects the change in bias and direction, hoping it is only a ranging market.

    Small stops get triggered frequently, and changes in market direction frequently results in losses.Wide stops hurt positive expectancy , although probability of wider stops getting hit is low.


    4 out of 5 trend set ups fail on a daily basis on intra day trading , leaving the one set up to make up the losses and a profit.There is too much bad news coming out during day time, sending the prices reversing frequently , to be profitable from trading currencies intra day.Some of the large trends breakout , in the middle of the night when I am asleep.

    Should I just trade only when the trend has broken out?Often this leads to catching trends late.What is the solution?Should a day trader trade only in the direction of the longer term trend?

    The difficult market conditions with so many fake moves, create psychological problems ,leading to stress and emotional responses and a breakdown in discipline.

    I am thinking of changing to swing trading in the direction of longer time frame trend , i.e using daily time frame and wider stops.

    Any opinions would be welcome.
     
  2. there are always more losers than winners in the market, otherwise, the market would not exist. in that aspect, the market never changes. it only evolves so that more losers contribute to winners.

     
  3. bstay

    bstay

    i assume you are forex trader, have you tried harmonic patterns trading? with the right tools you have entry/exit/stop guidance while trading intraday timeframes.
    [​IMG]
     
  4. Gee thanks!
     
  5. bstay

    bstay

    there are signs like classic double-top, double-bottom, head-and-shoulders reversal signs that show up even on intraday timeframes. like this NZD/USD example which presented clear top and bottom signatures .....
    [​IMG]
     
    alphagad likes this.
  6. Shagi

    Shagi

    You seem to have answered yourself. There in your text my friend is why day trading is the most difficult way to make money and easiest way to lose money and it matters not even if its fully automated. I'm not saying it can't be done but it is my experience that day trading is generally a waste of time.
     
  7. I have not tried it , but that is not the solution.The solution you mention is like using random percentages of 30/50/70 instead of Fibonacci.Patterns work < 50 % of the time , so heads or tails might be easier.

    There is no statistical evidence to prove any patterns work consistently.
     
  8. bstay

    bstay

    not sure where you got that idea about harmonic patterns but none of what you said is accurate. anyway just a suggestion and you have right to reject it of course and move on to the next suggestion .......
     
  9. I entirely agree on this point , but the problem for day trading is the having the patience to wait for triple bottoms , quadruple bottoms, before soon even they get hit.

    It is a good idea to wait for double bottoms, tops , head and shoulders to form , then go for it.
     
  10. bstay

    bstay

    i would suggest spending time taking pictures and storing a library of what works for you. then periodically review them with your assorted fancy indicators to see how things might have worked out if you changed certain rules. as you said about patience, this example of head-and-shoulders took almost 5hrs to form even on intraday, which is a long time for impatient traders. if the problem is "patience", not sure if switching to swing or position trading would help ...... (if the root cause is not resolved)
    [​IMG]
     
    #10     Apr 17, 2011