I was wondering if anyone can shed light on the subject of fear in trading. I'veworked in the business for 15 years the last 87 as a marketmaker, I've done well, but like the rest of the trading world I was a victim of downsizing.I've been day/swing trading for the last 5 months and hav'nt made much. I beleive it is do to fear of failing or loosing too much money as I am the sole supporter of my wife and daughter and have high monthly bills about $6000. I know i can trade but cant get past that certain level and tart making money. has anyone ever been or is currently in this situation. Any feedback would be appreciated, thanks
I have some money as a back up to live on but I have'nt taken a check in months and as the saying goes even a rock will crumble if you chip at it night and day. The problem is I dont see light at the end of the tunnel yet, and the firm I trade at does not really offer training
Daytrading is just very difficult right now. Try to cut your size down significantly and start the learning process again. Consider watching for a day or two. This game is all about spirals of confidence and spirals of lack of confidence. Just focus on today not next week or this year or this month. Figure out what your references are for how much you need to make. Obviously if you are playing with scared money you'll never win..but this is u know already. Also, I think and I mean no offense by this, that the fact you are "swing Trading" is because it sounds macho and that you are above the market. You should know that you arent and then use this as a starting point to begin learning. Good trading.
We all have fear. Noone is imune. From your original post it doesn't look like fear to me. It looks like self-sabotage. I recognize it because I've been there many times over the years. I would have a great year, 40+% return and I'd say "OK, that was great now my goal for the next year is 55%". During the first month I'd screw up, lose money and get mad at my poor discipline. By the end of Jan. I'd abandon my goal and I'd start making consistent money again. It happened serveral times, so I spent some time with a shrink. What I was told is "if your mind doesn't believe a goal is achievable, it will do self-sabotage so that it can create excuses for not achieving the goal". You can tell if this is the case by asking yourself "If I didn't need to earn x dollars, would I honestly be able to make some money?" If it's yes, then you need to look at downsizing your life. You may have to take a evening or night job to make "something" to release some of the pressure. If you own a house you may need to sell it and move into a apartment and put your stuff into storage (temporarily). If you're single maybe you could impose on a relative or friend until you get back on your feet (positive cash flow). Do whatever it takes to get to the point where you "know" you can hit the goal you need to get by. If that goal is say a 5% return from trading, then that's what it is. You would need to say I know I can make 5% from trading. Here's what else I need to do to get by while I'm getting better in my new career.
Then it sounds as if you're trading with "scared money", and that's the worst possible position to be in. You might also be in the position of believing that, having been "in the business" for 15 years, you ought to be doing better than you are. Unfortunately, you're probably doing just as well as you ought to be doing given the difficulties that you've created for yourself. You don't have the luxury of developing a strategy and testing it and trading it, either on paper or for real, to see if it works as it's supposed to and taking the inevitable hits while you work the kinks out. You need income. Or maybe I should say your family needs income. The entire trading issue is extraneous to that fact. The chief issue, then, is how your family lives on what you have, and whether or not the support of your family is your responsibility and yours alone. Until you work out your support issues, trading isn't even on the radar.
Thanks, everyone of you has a great point. I guess the hard part here is that I beleive i can do well , which is why Im still doing it, but the immediate need to get a check is clouding my trading ability, so i guess until I get past that Im going to suffer.
Fear is the result of a lack of confidence. If you have been trading for 5 months and not done well, your fear is healthy, so you shouldn't ignore it. It is telling you that you need to revise your strategy or move onto more reliable way to earn a living. Probably you just need to face that fact and get on with it, and stop digging the same hole again and again.