I have seemed to notice a very bad pattern. About 90%+ (yes i calculated this statistically) of the time I see that whatever the outcome of my first trade dictates how I do the rest of the day. I enter in a position, and take a 20 cent loss, I'm going to finish the day negative and vice versa. How can I overcome this, at least to where I can avoid the losing days after a first trade loss. It is really scary, and in the past few months I have had more losing days than winning days. never more than 2 days in a row positive.. etc
Food for Thought Sir Does your broker offer a demo account? If so can you get it... then use it to warm up on before the open I call it clearing out the cobb webs and getting my mind and fingers in sync.... Good Luck
yes they offer a demo. But the thing is I feel good trades when using a demo are wasted opportunities. Plus its just not the same psychologically when using a demo as opposed to being live. I always was up on the demo and was not as tight with taking profits or cutting losses because I did not care, I would let stuff run a lot.
More food for thought Does a professional (major league) picther go into a game cold, or does he warm up first And does this pitcher just throw balls to warm up, or is he continuosly refining his technique Why would a professional trader approach trading (using a demo account to warm up with) any differently Other option is to maybe modify your trading rules regarding your first trade Because I don't believe anyone will be able to give you any advice that'll guarntee a first trade win Redneck
I understand. Sitting out would be my preferred method and to clear my head. Im not trying to say I expect to always make money on my first trade, just on what is the best way to overcome a initial losing trade. It seems like I can get angry because I had a losing trade and it becomes a downward spiral the rest of the day.
Do you have planned trades before the market opens? If so, are these pre-planned trades usually winners or losers? Or do you wait for an intraday trend to be established before putting on your first trade? If you followed your plan for each trade, you shouldn't be angry with a loss, because you knew in advance the maximum loss and accepted it. If you don't have a plan prior to entering a trade, that is a major problem which will breed losing trades, and definitely will piss you off.
I noticed this about myself as well. If my first trade went well, my day went well and vice versa. What I learned was that I had a bias to how I felt the market should behave that day. What I did was force myself to trade demo/sim the 1st hour or so. After that you can get a feel for how the market is behaving with your live trading.