I have heard of many having a trading plan, just like a business plan, and others that have done very well without any written trading plan. How many here have one? If so, care to share a portion of it?
I have two plans, one is a scalping plan utilizing the NYSE open book for a daytrading firm. This hasn't worked out very well. Although I'm flat, the commissions generated is becoming too much. The second plan is a swing trading style, this has been amazing and have come close to 50% in the past 4 months. This style entails carrying overnight positions anywhere from 1 day to 2 weeks or until the trend is broken. Not sure why I am employing the scalping method, other than getting all of the trades out of my system for a very low commission. Even if I make some money with intraday, the first ticks down, my firm wants me to exit the position.
Well I've been daytrading for about 4 months now so I keep a trading guideline,rules,etc that coincide with my particular trading strategy,edge that I review before every trading session and revise and update it after each session. Its basically a one full page of rules that I follow that I learned from past trades good and bad it helps me to maintain discipline and be patient and wait for just the right trade
Well I'm a discretionary scalper so It's basically personalized guidelines/rules that help me keep a disciplined positive mental attitude by looking at "the big picture" this keeps me relaxed and gives me the strength to have the patientance to remain focused until I see "money laying in the corner" and then all I do is go and pick it up and then repeat the same process again
In my case the response to your question is yes, kinda. I really don't have a written in stone plan (maybe I should), but I do have a constructed set of rules that I follow that I have developed over the years. My trading style has definitely been refined over the years and fits me well, and is successful for me so far (over 10 years). I am an active trader, but by no means a daytrader, and definitely not an overactive trader. One thing I have found is that there are many ways to extract resources from the markets, but the more active one is, the more on needs to rely upon set rules and personally defined parameters. It makes perfect sense to me to assume that the more times a trader enters the market through initiation of positions, the more discipline and developed sense of judgement that trader will need in order to maintain a suitable level of success. I have found it's sort of like poker. You can be in on every hand, constantly in the action, just don't be in every hand until the end of all the action.
i have found that it is not an exact plan that is important, rather a routine. i definitely have developed a routine i go thru every night and morning, as well as during trading hours. this has evolved and will probably continue to evolve. u can't be too rigid in the mkts, flexibility is 1of ur greatest tools i feel.
i have a written plan very similar to a bueinss plan that i try to update ever week. It has entry rules exit rules strategy, to do, and not to do. Still needs work.....i am breakeven at best.
attempting to trade without a trading plan is much like attempting to start a business without a business plan. Unless you have some notion of what you'd like to achieve and how you intend to go about it, it's unlikely you'll succeed.