Gordon, you hit the nail right on the head. That is, try to minimize the probability to make a dumb mistake. We will save a lot. Thanks.
Hi bobcathy, Are you saying this in hindsight or did you actually have a Short signal that you ignored? If you had a Short signal that was ignored...why do you think you ignored it? Why did you think it would Short squeeze? NihabaAshi
Waking up today was a mistake for me. Seriously, I had 3 mistakes today that cost me about $14,000. Needless to say I am very angry with myself. Mistake 1: Miss-entered my target price, missed exit. Mistake 2: Angered about my missed target, I broke a trading rule. I added when I should not have (What is another 40 or so es's? No big deal right?), I never send market orders, but it is ok today; got the worst fill I have ever seen. Mistake 3: Knowing everything is fked, I would usually exit, and move on, but nooo, NOT TODAY! I AM ON A ROLE! LETS WAIT FOR THAT BOUNCE TO GET OUT! What a great idea! Instead of losing ~$8,000, from mistakes one and two, I figured I would give some more cash to my fellow traders. :eek: I haven't made these errors in a very long time. Even though it does bother me, I must admit I am enjoying one aspect of this. I feel deservedly humbled, and what better entity in the world to do it? ahhh, don't you just love the markets? I know I do.
RAY, you just reminded me another dumb mistake. That is being angry at yourself. IMO, all other things you did today were not your dumbest mistakes. remember, it is not your fault. We are human. Sometime we make dumb mistake. But it is not okay to get brain washed and think all other manipulators did to you was your own mistakes. Perhaps you will argue about this. But don't argue with me that being angry at yourself is not a dumb mistake. Have a good weekend. At least you know you will come back on the next Monday.
My biggest trading mistake in my 3 years of Day Trading has been turning on my computer during market hours
And here I was ticked off because I made three breakeven trades. Sorry to hear about your day, Ray, but you've made mine quite a bit better. --Db
I would think since ES was down for so long, that today the shorts would cover. Thinking was a mistake. Because of thinking......I saw a really good signal and got cold feet. Thought reversal. My biggest enemy trading has always been myself. I have the signals down cold at this point.
On being your own worst enemy.... Ever analyze what state of mind your in when these episodes happen? Often I think who was the idiot at my desk? I know much better than this. I'm in a similar situation as you in the fact that my trading plan is fine and it works. But for some reason this idiot sometimes sits at my desk and breaks the plans rules.... Sometimes it is the result of a personal issue in life(cranky spouse) , being very tired from the weekend or having somewhere to go,rushing and not fully concentrating. Sometimes if I've had many consecutive winning days and I'm too infallible for the rules and I need the market to let me know who the boss is again. Its a slow process but as I become aware of the situations which cause me to act irrationally I'm on my guard when these conditions are present. A true key is(as hard as it may seem) is to not equate trading with money ,and this way you will not feel upset if a move happens without you. You are trading to execute your well thought out plan and that will serve you well in the end.As I read in a golf book by Tom Kite "No matter how far you hit the ball if you are playing out of the rough you are going to have problems".