Going through personal crisis & trading

Discussion in 'Psychology' started by polpolik, Sep 11, 2008.

  1. Thanks for the advice guys, I've started to significantly cut back on my trades and taking longer breaks in between.

    Normally 50-60 trades have been cut back to about 5 trades today so far.
     
    #31     Sep 12, 2008
  2. That's really quite different, at the risk of being insensitive, your personal tragedy is resolved and done with. You are at the next phase where you can focus, where as the OP is still stuck in the middle of his issue that is NOT resolved yet.
     
    #32     Sep 12, 2008
  3. ammo

    ammo

    massaging a troubled person with sympathy just allows him to wallow in his troubles,what a person needs is a kick in the ass and a solution to focus on,admittting there is a problem is the first step in solving it,finding a solution is the second step and solving and putting it behind you is success
     
    #33     Sep 12, 2008
  4. I'll be candid. My heaviest losses (and they were Heavy with a cap "H") were caused by a break up in a relationship. I went full tilt.

    We trade for money. We hope that the money will give us something that's lacking. Social status, women, security...whatever. The removal of happiness makes profits seem futile as a measure of worth. Believe it or not you're probably self sabotaging right now because you can't come to grips with the contrast of winning at the table and losing in your personal life.

    If you can't stop trading do one of two things. Move your size down to an inconsequential amount or fade yourself.

    Are you developing market "opinions" that you normally wouldn't?
     
    #34     Sep 12, 2008
  5. Yes. I don't normally justify a bad trade but i did with the 2 largest losers i've had in months. It's almost like telling the market "do your worst" to me.

    i've become numb to losses almost. I know it hurts but it almost seemed like I didn't care.

    Cutting back on my trading today allowed me more time to think about my problem and focus on it. My trading rig is still online but i haven't looked at it much all day.
     
    #35     Sep 12, 2008
  6. If you need to talk feel free to PM me your number. I'm always glad to help in any little way I can.
     
    #36     Sep 13, 2008
  7. Cutten

    Cutten

    My advice - if you aren't feeling mentally strong, then stop trading entirely, and go have fun for as long as it takes to get your mojo back. Or, if you are genuinely mentally afflicted (depression etc), go get treated or at least speak to others who have gone through that & understand.

    Just as a drunk, angry poker player is the prefect guy you want to sit down at your casino table, because he will spew all his chips, so a emotionally unstable, feeling sorry for himself, crisis-ridden trader is just more food for the sharks that are professional market operators. If you really want to donate money to anonymous strangers, then give to charity.

    You have very little chance of trading profitably if you are emotionally not on an even keel. I'm probably as close to Spock-like as anyone I've met, but even I have stopped trading on occasion if too much shit was going on in my personal life.
     
    #37     Sep 13, 2008
  8. Pabst, Cutten, and everyone else, I appreciate all the advice and offer of help. My friend and families have been pretty good at helping me through this.

    I'm going to try and stop trading completely at least for 3 weeks. The last thing I need is to worry about what the market will do, reviewing charts, managing my money.

    I've hit my target for the year last month so no need to push myself anymore until I am mentally adjusted to my situation. I'm not facing a life-threatening situation so I suppose it's all relative.

    Like any trader, we all try to take a real break from the market once in a while - only to find ourselves trading during our break.

    But yeah, the way I have been with my trading, I'm shark bait. My last balls to the walls trade last week was buying 3k LEH @ $6.10.

    Like I said, not looking to trade anymore until sometime October.
     
    #38     Sep 13, 2008
  9. see ya when you get your mojo back!
     
    #39     Sep 13, 2008
  10. GG1972

    GG1972

    If taking time off isn't feasible then I d suggest reduce your size and continue trading reduced size until the problem becomes second nature to you and it stops affecting your trades. Then start building yours size too and its should take care of itself.

    That's what I did ( personal problems big time)

    Main thing is longer you stay in the game stronger you become.
     
    #40     Sep 13, 2008