Since the market is "driven" by fear and greed, one must eliminate these two effects on the psyche to be able to withstand the market forces and adverse events. I have not thought on this since I am not selling my consulting service and whether the average trader makes it or not, until this point was inconsequential for me. How do you detach yourself from these human emotions? It can be achieved by realizing that on the long run money and trading success is not what will make you happy. In fact happiness is not one should be seeking. Joy is! Seek joy in your life, seek permanence and wisdom. All else is total and utter bullshit. Trade as if you were either very rich or as if it was your last trade. DO not worry and do not be greedy. Worry is an emotion that is against the average trader, as you tend to conjure up positive and negative events by emotions and thoughts. Worry is like an bug on a sunlit wall, squish it, it is nothing.
To be able to detach is to have confident and to have confident is to really understand how the game works. One way to understand it is to study your own trades history. What make losses and what make gains. Does thing keep repeating?
What you say is true, one must know the craft, however knowing something and following up on that knowledge is different.... The problem is that the average trader is under-funded and filled with anxiety. Is the fact that more money makes you more prone to success in trading, a coincidence? Are rich kids smarter than the poor kids, just take Bush Jr. for example....
How do you detach yourself from these human emotions? ========================== You can't detach, it is counter productive to the very passion you need to succeed. You can only control or master your emotions. To master your emotions it will take practice in all aspects of life. No road rage, temper temper, you can't kick the dog, yell at your wife or pop a blood vessel in the politics or religion forums.
ok lemme give you all an example. i'm long WM a ton. almost 60K shares worth. so every dime means a 6K move. now i am scared. a few days ago the tosco fund news caused WM to shoot up a quite a bit; i was +95K profit wise. I did not sell. as I belive, whatever that's worth, that WM will go higher in the near term. but now consider where my mind is: i see my account up 90Kish and now after that event, it is up 40Kish. so i'm seeing a net drawdown from peak of 40k. i am sitting here scared/angry/ and truthbe told, it affects my social and emotial life. the ups and downs are painful. i've done a couple of things. put in a stoploss at my entrypoint and just abve it. so worst comes to worst, i won't lose my intial capital. also, i also understand that if my account is up that really is my money and there is no such thing as 'house money.' excpect the 'money honey' that is liz clayman. so i speand time away from my screen, think reflect on my thesis. and wait.
How do you detach yourself from these human emotions? Funny question.. who would think of this funny question? Nutmeg is right on. Fear? LOL Greed??? LOL Expert traders have very different concerns. The OP trades 5 contracts in a low capacity market. His bad. Why is he controlling Fear and Greed?? Why does he have jealousy in the picture too?? Small potatoes are small potatoes. How is the OP going to make it into advanced beginner with double digit contracts running? He has to dump his present trading in a small potato market and start over. DUH. Being on an ATS comes from making the ATS...... Making ATS's comes from anything but the fear and greed ping pong the OP plays. So the path away from fear and greed comes from having knowledge and skills. What are the accompanying emotions of having knowledge and skills? It would be OT for this thread as we all see. OT means Off Topic. Do you see any fear and greed in this print?
Jack you're a prick. PLEASE STOP IT already with those completely useless charts of yours. You realize every thread you walk into becomes destined to chit chat?
On the psychology angle, there is a poem that is famous named Desiderata http://www.fleurdelis.com/desiderata.htm Whatever its pedigree, there are several lines that this trader (I am a rookie) likes. I like the line about "Do not give in to dark imaginings..." I know this is real money, MY money, but as others have specified, the logic of this endeavor suggests a calm head. Well, here is the whole thing... Desiderata -- written by Max Ehrmann in the 1920s -- Not "Found in Old St. Paul's Church"! -- see below Go placidly amid the noise and the haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence. As far as possible, without surrender, be on good terms with all persons. Speak your truth quietly and clearly; and listen to others, even to the dull and the ignorant; they too have their story. Avoid loud and aggressive persons; they are vexatious to the spirit. If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain or bitter, for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself. Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans. Keep interested in your own career, however humble; it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time. Exercise caution in your business affairs, for the world is full of trickery. But let this not blind you to what virtue there is; many persons strive for high ideals, and everywhere life is full of heroism. Be yourself. Especially do not feign affection. Neither be cynical about love, for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment, it is as perennial as the grass. Take kindly the counsel of the years, gracefully surrendering the things of youth. Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune. But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings. Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness. Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself. You are a child of the universe no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here. And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should. Therefore be at peace with God, whatever you conceive Him to be. And whatever your labors and aspirations, in the noisy confusion of life, keep peace in your soul. With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world. Be cheerful. Strive to be happy.
I get what the OP is saying..... If you don't get it now, you will never do. It is precisely this why, trading is hard, it is virtually harder than any vocation or trade. Essentially it is gambling and mastering you in the process, that fact that Hershey is posting charts into this thread shoes ignorance in these matters. He never said this was easy but he has shown you the way. How you do it, if you do it at all is no concern of mine and I suspect neither his.