So, I've been at this trading game for quite some time now... yet to be consistently profitable. Within the past 6 months I have come to realize (finally!), that my trading will never again rely on lagging indicators. I am in the process of studying price action, support and resistance, etc. While thinking about my daily routine, I realized that much of the time that I should be fully engulfed in watching the charts and movement of price, I'm reading message boards, chatting on Skype, watching youtube videos, and perusing the net. I think this could be a major reason why it has taken me so long to become successful (still in the process 6 years later). Although I spend hours doing "research" as I call it, I'm not focusing on the most important aspects. I would like to hear from others who have taken the journey to success and wonder what they did to get there. Did you guys stare at your charts and analyze all the movement real-time for the entire trading session? Did you have to put all your net surfing on the back-burner, because you found it to be a distraction? Basically it comes down to this. Although I've convinced myself that I'm learning and studying, I have yet to fully emerse myself in price action for a long period of time. This could be my downfall until now. How is one supposed to learn price action if they glance at the chart every couple of minutes or so? Any advice or opinions would be appreciate.
Maybe limit your trading to a few hours per day until you've increased your attention span? I don't have the same problem as you, I can stare at the screen without a problem and concentrate, I have external distractions every hour except the opening hour. I've found I'm much better off if I just trade that first hour when I'm without distraction than if I try to do more trades.
I don't know the issue is, you cleary see that you've spent a ton of time "sort of" learning and haven't become consistently profitable so......stop surfing the net and focus focus focus! And even then you are going to need to do this everyday for quite some time before you'll truly feel like you are breaking down barriers. How can one expect to compete in one of the most competitive industries out there if you aren't giving your 100%? You think you are better than me and everyone else that you can trade and also do others things at the same time? I'll tell you what pal, you got nothing on me because I watch ever tick like a hawk and will be taking those contracts before you've had a chance to pause your youtube video and switch over the your execution platform. Either step up like a man and give this endevour your all or you better start surfing the want ads online because what you are doing now won't get you in the black.
Been down this road and I agree, you need to spend 6.5 hours watching price move for a while. The good news is....once you clear this "price action" hurdle you can go back to email, chat, skype. Heck, even a little porn would be ok but not right now. Trading comes down to this....support and resistance (major and minor) and the "how" the market gets there, not the simple fact that it did. The behavior of price is tremedously important and indicators don't offer any answers to what the market is capable of doing at any given time, only what it did a while back. Study that and also study what you are doing when you lose money. If you pay super close attention to that and you can recognize it then you have a window into the markets that most traders tend to ignore. Study your defeats and no porn for a month!
i used to consume myself with all those technical indicators and they absolutely did nothing. its all about volume and support resistance and then getting out before a stock retraces.
A couple of suggestions since I have a shorter attention span too. 1. Meditation and hypnosis help. 2. Figure out the repeatable conditions that exist before you get a trade set up and consider programming an alert or a pop up window when this happens so you can focus your attention better for just that time period. Also track your stats meticulously and find out the times of day when you do best. Focus on those times and relax a bit more during the rest. 3. Trade off a higher time frame so you only have to look every so many minutes, maybe a 5 min or 10 min bar/candle or higher. Alternatively only take trades on a smaller time frame after you have seen a corresponding signals on a higher time fame, like 15 min so you only have to really focus for a few minutes 4 times an hour. Then you got lots of time to let your mind wander or get up and go do something else for 13 min or so and come back. Sure you should do your best to stay focused at all times, but you got to work with what you got to. It's unrealistic for most to have laser focus all day. No all of the above assume that you have a consistent set up you are comfortable with and tested out.
Its easy to see in the above post why most amateurs in trading are going nowhere. Here you see this culprit feeding on a diet of shallow crap from the net - a substitute for real success. This game is serious. If you are not in it to win and make your fortune there is no middle or lesser way to go - anything other than the dedication and savvy to grab and hone success is a journey, sooner or later, to the dark side - into the abyss of disappointment and defeat. Also monitoring the screen continuously while trading is going on is important in helping you learn more.
"You seem to know all about him," observed March, with a rather bewildered laugh, "and about a good many other people." Fisher's bald brow became abruptly corrugated, and a curious expression came into his eyes. "I know too much," he said. "That's what's the matter with me. That's what's the matter with all of us, and the whole show; we know too much. Too much about one another; too much about ourselves. That's why I'm really interested, just now, about one thing that I don't know." "And that is?" inquired the other. "Why that poor fellow is dead." THE MAN WHO KNEW TOO MUCH By Gilbert K. Chesterton
Only a handful of posts, but undoubtedly one of the best threads on ET in a long time! Some most valuable info. Thanks for sharing.
<i>"3. Trade off a higher time frame so you only have to look every so many minutes, maybe a 5 min or 10 min bar/candle or higher. Alternatively only take trades on a smaller time frame after you have seen a corresponding signals on a higher time fame, like 15 min so you only have to really focus for a few minutes 4 times an hour. Then you got lots of time to let your mind wander or get up and go do something else for 13 min or so and come back. Sure you should do your best to stay focused at all times, but you got to work with what you got to. It's unrealistic for most to have laser focus all day."</i> Since the dawn of organized military, vigil watch periods are never 6.5 hours of unbroken stretch standing guard while watching for the enemy. Guard duty is doled out in brief periods with frequent breaks. Why? When many lives depend on focus & concentration to spot danger, the guard on duty must remain sharp. In the animal world, no sentinal for a group or herd ever stands on watch for long periods of time. That life or death duty is split up into brief stretches amongst most or all of the animals involved. Why? To keep them fresh in all regard. Trading is no different. Staring at dull volume charts all day with no respite won't teach you anything but bad habits. Watching a higher timeframe for action points to be approached AND then focusing with laser-sharp attention on the smaller timeframe is akin to precisely how military and animal kingdom vigil has been done for eons. Why fight basic nature? That never works. Go with it instead... the results will be what you seek.