Hopefully this is where my thread belongs. I did not see an appropriate forum other than 'Psychology'. I have not posted recently to this forum, but after much homework I think I may be ready to go live. I have been in sim mode for a 14 months after position trading for 3 months. For those 3 months I did well despite not really knowing what I was doing. I just happened to catch a PM breakout in the fall of 2010. I tripled my account in 2.5 months. Then I proceeded to lose most of my profits, on which I had to pay taxes! I committed myself to no more trading until I could get consistent in sim mode on an intra-day basis. I remember constantly resetting the sim account button because I lost, lost, lost. Now I do not reset the simulator except to erase my 'profits' and start over thereby placing more pressure on myself. I am consistently profitable in sim mode, which makes me think I am ready for live trade. I have back tested my plan and sought to expose it to as many market personalities as possible-- range days, weak trends, strong trends, young trends, established trends, reversals thereof. I know raw emotion will be there of which sim mode is lacking at times--though I pressed myself to make it as real as possible, to me. I am nervous. I feel a year's worth of arduous work is on the line. My plan is to start with a single contract until I get used to the emotion of live trading. This is my goal: To execute according to my written plan, both entries and exits. Any suggestions from experienced players with respect to handling your sensibilities in live trade? Thanks.
Keep the discipline, check the ego, check the emotions, make sure all loose ends are tied up for every situation and trade the plan.
Trading is an art. Most don't know how to become an investor when a trade goes bad. So my only advice is have some sideline money available at all time. A good trade with bad timing can be really bad. Most traders have good ideas but bad timing. Best of luck.
Your advice doesn't make any sense. Trading and investing are two different things.. OP be very careful with the BS touted around here as advice.
hee hee, I remember all those amateur traders[engineers] I knew in the '90's: "if my short term trade doesnt' work I'll hang onto the[internet company with no earnings] stock and become an investor"
On statistical basis alone who makes more money- The hedge funds or the ETFs- Its always the the losers who can't recognize good advice. When you have a staff of over 30 traders to manage and bring a newbie on board then you can talk from experience. If you are a trader that doesn't understand the investment strategies you will never make money. Most unsuccessful traders think that day trading is what trading is about. The bigger the book of business (if you have a business) the better the caution and the lack of fear. Just check my record since 2001 and maybe you will see why the others seem to drop off and Im still here in good spirits. Unlike the bozoz who see a post of the market and take it as research follow the advice and listen to no one. Thats the best thing ever said here. Welcome aboard. Now go trade and live your life and make sure you spend your first profits in an enjoyable way so you appreciate winning.
I rode Infoseek [seek] from 6-3 bought 10 times more and rode it to 90. I bought Citi at .50 watched it go to 4. I bought X at Y and watched it go to M and then to Y. If you trade penny stocks then out for good. Nflx was 70 went to 60 and is now 120. I am the engineer from the 90s and the reason I still have hair is I know when to hold em and when to foldem. [ where is my guitar] . AIG looks great right here you can trade it and make a killing over the next 4 years. Know your position and if it works don't fix it. Its always the losers who point to one year of the market. The internet bubble had two kinds of players. The traders traded it and the unsuccessful traders didn't. When it went south did they think to short it no. Did they buy puts? NO. LOL- Im an old dog with new teeth. Bottle of pepto bismo on the table
Any plan you have is not important after you start trading. In sim trading, you have no psychological problems. In real trading, you develop psychological problems. After you develop those problems, you will find it hard to pinpoint where they come from. Most traders have no clue of what those problems are and where they come from. You will spend a lot of time (years) on examining those problems. After many years, you will realize your one year of sim trading is nothing. Your pain has not started yet. Brace yourself. But, if you quit trading after 6 months for various reasons (lack of funds, for example), you save yourself a lot of time. It's better than spending 5 years on it.