How to Stay Calm & Collected when trading for real?

Discussion in 'Psychology' started by GotherL, Oct 8, 2018.

  1. tiddlywinks

    tiddlywinks


    Your post is laughable.

    Comparing Trading Sim to literally life or death specialized knowledge and skills. pleeze.
    That's silly and stupid.

    The OP stated...
    >> "When I am not trading real money I almost have this ability to see into the close future of a stock."

    >> "As soon as I start trading real money my emotions take over. I am no longer calm and make the stupidest trades that always goes against me."

    The OP clearly discerned the difference of sim vs real. And specifically noted a missing component of sim... emotion. Sim trading, taken "seriously" or not does not "train" for real-time real money on the line emotions. The OPs problem is psychological. Sim trading does not fix that issue.
     
    #21     Oct 9, 2018
  2. tommcginnis

    tommcginnis

    (Totally worth the YouTube Shawshank tour...)


    Oh well. :rolleyes:
     
    #22     Oct 9, 2018
  3. tiddlywinks

    tiddlywinks

    I have $43 cash in my pocket. My wallet is on the coffee table. Take it!



    Whew. Close one, but I'm still alive!!
     
    #23     Oct 9, 2018
  4. GotherL

    GotherL

    To be precise, they weren't penny stocks but low float stocks under $10. Penny stocks are between 0.01-$.99c. I tend to stay away from those.

    I know my problem is sizing but $1000 of 1% is $10. If my commissions are $2 a trade I've to be making 20% just to break even.
     
    Last edited: Oct 9, 2018
    #24     Oct 9, 2018
  5. LS1Z28

    LS1Z28

    A lot of people refer to sub $5 stocks as penny stocks as well. I probably should've just said micro-cap stocks to avoid confusion.

    When I say risk 1% in a trade, I don't mean to invest 1% of your account in a position. For instance, you mentioned trading CLDC in your original post. That's a low float stock that can easily drop 10% instantly. My advice would be to take a position size that only allows you to lose 1% of your account value if you get caught in a 10% drop.

    The main thing you should avoid is going deep into your buying power on a volatile stock like this. ALT was trading at $10 yesterday during the premarket. They announced a secondary offering and the stock price dropped 50% within 2 minutes! If you were maxed out at 6:1 buying power on a $1K account, you would instantly owe your broker $2K.

    Your best bet is probably to add money to your account. It's going to be tough for you to control risk and overcome commissions in an account that small. Good luck to you. ;)
     
    #25     Oct 9, 2018
  6. qlai

    qlai

    You can't sim trade low float stocks. You must trade them live. Unless you write your own simulator and account for latency you will experience in live trading. I am assuming you're taking liquidity of course.
     
    #26     Oct 13, 2018
  7. Hooter

    Hooter

    trade smaller size. My initial entry is small till i see it go my way then i add size
     
    #27     Oct 13, 2018
  8. dartmus

    dartmus

    Your math sucks and internally u know this truth. This isn't a psychology problem. It's ALWAYS a math issue. If the risk reward were indeed favorable u would know this deep inside and not have a single concern.
     
    #28     Oct 19, 2018
    PistolPete likes this.
  9. Overnight

    Overnight

    Hey, you stole that clip from one of my threads earlier this year!

    *rude gesture*

    rofl.
     
    #29     Oct 19, 2018
    tommcginnis likes this.
  10. d08

    d08

    Trade smaller size until bigger size feels comfortable. If the losses/gains are not a significant percentage of your portfolio, it will stir emotions less.
     
    #30     Oct 19, 2018
    LS1Z28 and Reformed Trader like this.