wuz happening et ? i was a lurker for a while but now i have to ask something. i am having a problem when trading, and its that i look at my p/l more than i should. (i think) i often get outta trades too much because of the dollar amount i am down. like somethimes when im down $400 dollars i'll say , shit on this one, and get out. but the thing is i have 4000 shares and the stock is only down 10cents. this is dumb, cause as soon as i get out, there it goes my way. anyone else have this problem ? i should just watch where the stock is but i dont. i hate to see my capital in the red ! so do you watch the dollars or the cents?
Ever consider dropping that to maybe 1,000 shares? I have experienced the same issue, and know exactly what you're talking about. The only way I could work around this was reduce size. Regards.
like Fast Trader said, reduce size untill you feel comfortable enough to be able to accept the loss. You felt bad seeing a red -400$... would you feel the same seeing a red -40$ ? and it's the same 0.10$ of the same stock. Don't let the greed (trading big size to win BIG!) and the fear (bad feeling to see -400$ in red) control your trading. Cheers !!
Please refer to previous post and apply as necessary. I am sure this will aid in your progress Good luck!! http://www.elitetrader.com/vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=14191&perpage=6&pagenumber=10
I read the book "Trading in the Zone" a few months ago - by Mark Douglas. One of his main premises is that a trader has to accept the risk associated with any trade he takes on. If he doesn't, fear creeps in and causes a trader to make any of a number of errors. Basically, if a trader is generally experiencing anything but peace, he is not accepting the risk. My experience is, a trader has to have confidence in the probabilities of his strategy (including profit taking and stop setting points) to weather intraday or multi-day drawdowns. I personally have turned off the P/L window of open positions - it just doesn't matter - I'm going to follow my trading strategy. Like those above, share size may solve some of your problems. Thinking through this issue a bit or reading the book I mentioned may help you as well.
Stop looking at your p/l. That was easy. Then, if the stock's down 10 cents and causes you to bail, but then whipsaws back up, that means you've got the wrong stop strategy. Actually, it sounds like your stop strategy is that exits are when you get scared of the loss. A better exit is something that makes sense for that stock's type of price activity and your goals for that trade.
IMO a relatively new trader should not be trading for dimes and quarters, this game is for the experienced with nimble fingers and skill. Try cutting your size down (but not so small thats its economically un-feasible) and going for a larger piece of the move. Edit = I do OK and all I trade is 500 share lots. Its not size that matters, but girth