There's no question that Ripley has received a pile of good advice, much of it he already knew and choose to ignore prior to posting here (see my first post in this thread). There is no reason to suspect he is following the good advice given here. Trading is not some weirdo Follow-your-gut thing. In a lot of ways, it's very much a Fade-your-gut thing. It's not a game. You enter a field filled to the brim with warriors who take enough blood every day to feed their families. I assure you that they are deadly serious about this. They will slice you up, take your money and not feel the slightest pang of guilt or sorrow - after all you entered the arena of your own free will. This isn't the place for half-hearted measures or folks just looking to get by. Trading ain't easy, you'll work harder for a buck doing this than pretty much anything else. I guess most of us are nuts, I could make a lot more money doing easier work, but I hated it - I love trading because it's so freaken hard. I'd still be a trader even if I only made minimum wage.
Actually TGreg has it right. I am a good natured person, easy going and patient. I always look out for old folks, women, and animals. On the other hand when it comes to the markets, I will close you out without giving it a second thought (whoever you are). In fact, most of my setups are "designed" to take advantage of newbie mistakes. Now that I am close to finishing my obligation to help new traders, I am going to go back out there and do what I am trained to do, take your money (if you make "newbie" mistakes that is). What are newbie mistakes? Easy. Newbies get in and exit too damn late. They trade on hope, and they don't cut losses. Newbies put their stops in obvious places, and they don't use big enough stops. Newbies are always undercapitalized and so they are "weak hands". Early in the day, I can (and the institutions can) shake out the newbies easy, by putting on size at the right time. Late in the day, I do the same thing by participating on the institutional side as the locals run the stops. Now I imagine some of you may feel insulted. I hope it motivates you (whoever you are) to get off the dime, and learn to trade. Otherwise, I (and others like me) will be taking your lunch money most days of the week. I wish you luck Lefty.
So if you close a trade with a loss do you imagine someone taking your lunch money? lol My take on what I do is that it is neither competitive nor personal. Nothing I do or don't do can affect the flow of immense abundance that is available. Everyone has complete freedom to align himself with that abundant flow for enrichment. No one prevents anyone else from doing so. The idea that by participating in the market you are doing something to someone else or someone else is doing something to you is just yo-yo stuff. Mature a little. It might help your bottom line.
When I close a trade for a loss, I take it personally. Unlike a newbie, I go back and look at what I did, then I do whatever it takes to correct it. Then I go back the next day, and the next until I get my money back. The "abundance" theory is pure crap. In my experience you either win or lose. But hey if you are a net loser, maybe thinking about "abundance" while you meditate will get you the skills you need to make money? OK so lets do an experiment. For those of you reading this, instead of wasting all that valuable time learning to trade, just try "aligning yourself" with "abundance". Then go out and trade. Lets see how that works for everyone Oh and thanks for the help with my "maturity". Where would I be without your assistance. Lefty.
Wow.. I am up at 4:30 AM. This is surreal. Anyway, seeing this thread up here reminded me again that I had to journalize a very stupid thing that I did today. Something that I haven't done in a while. Actually something I NEVER DID since starting this thread. This thread has helped me substantially, and all of you that contributed to this thread are heroes in my book. It is also kind of ironic that this thread is here on top today on a day when I had the first Huge Lose in a while. Actually this, today.. is the first time that I moved my stop. I did it for a good reason as well. I moved it because I thought I was right. I had one very bad trade today. This is one very bad trade because all the other stops I had were all -$50, (-$70 once with a bit slippage). This is HUGE... This shows that even the best and the most disciplined can stumble. Remember: Your worst loss is still ahead of you...
The "abundance" I speak of is the market, of course...hardly a theory. It's understandable you didn't get; you were focused on a different part of the post. Take every nick and cut personally? Kind of difficult to click your mouse with a permanently clenched fist. Your experience must really suck for you. If you ever get past being an ignoramus, maybe you won't take everything personal and things might improve for you.
Haha Ripley, watchout below! I hope you're scared shitless that you allowed yourself to move your stop for "a good reason". 'cause that's exactly the same as not having a stop loss at all. I wouldn't mind if my stop gets hit and I lose 2% of my equity. Even if they get hit ten times in a row I know I can recover if I do my homework and exercise discipline. Now if I ever find myself moving my stop loss I'd be in serious doubt of whether I have the discipline to succeed in this business at all. Now that is really scary. It's not a matter of the more stops you execute, the more disciplined you are. Rather, if you move or ignore a single stop, it shows you have no discipline.