I'd like to become a better trader

Music to my ears

You are Welcome Sir

RN

 

1/2. Impatient long. didn't wait for a proper long signal. stopped out.

3. took another long at a proper set up and exited before my target was reached because I read too much into one bar,

4. next trade long was just a test of software.

then I stepped away from the screen and missed my short signal.
then the market went crazy and I was just watching it.

This is just another reminder why having a stop loss in place could be useful

5. long at DB.

In retrospect may be I've missed the short signal because I wasn't looking for a short, for some reason I was looking for longs the whole day. I still think I have this mentality left that it's too late to sell after a big sell off or it's too late to buy in the middle of the trend up. I need to get over this countertrend mentality and trade with the trend.


I know in my mind that I need to trade with the trend and use my set up with the trend, but I continue to fight the tape. It's almost like my brain doesn't believe my eyes and sees what it wants to see not what's there.

I need to look at more charts and practice more to train my brain.

I also need to pay more attention to my emotional state during trading.

The good news is that I know that I'm doing something wrong and working on fixing it. Only I can do it. Nobody can do it for me.

 

PO

Stops are not useful… they are absolutely necessary


I’ve lost more money than I can count…

AND

I’ve blown out two accounts because of not using a stop…, or canceling it because I didn’t want to take a small loss


After entering, a stop is the only control we have over limiting our losses


Stops are not useful…. Stops are absolutely necessary

Any trader tells you they don’t have losing trades – is a bold faced liar


=============================================================================================


As for trusting your eyes – I had the same issue (it’s a matter of believing your eyes, and following them…. While setting aside your opinions, thoughts, beliefs)



I’ll revert back to that tool I suggested – a pencil and a piece of paper

Write “Why I don’t trust my eyes” at the top…, then start listing the reasons

Drill down each reason to see where it leads, and what needs resolved



Trading pretty much boils down to believing what we see, then acting accordingly

To heck with what we’re thinking…

RN

 

1. sell @r1 DT. Had multiple urges to cover the trade at b/e because it took a while to move. then wanted to cover it prematurely, but was fighting it to keep the trade until a reversal bar showed up. Even though I was aware of what's going on with my emotions, I still closed the trade too early because I didn't wait till the reversal bar closed and read it before it was closed. After it closed it wasn't what I was waiting for. Need more patience.

2. didn't wait for the bar close again and entered the short prematurely. closed it when I realized that my set up wasn't triggered.

3. reentered short on another R1 DT signal. close when dma acted as support again.

4. reentered short again on TL break, close at b/e, the selling didn't come and 68 is support again.

5. short again. we are below DMA again and 68. stopped out. Lunch hour chop not a good time for trading breakouts.

6. short again ORH rejected.

7. Long at DB

8. short at TL, but again didn't let the bar finish painting.


Much better day for me today. +8.5 points
Still made many mistakes though.


Lessons from today:

1. I need to work on my patience and let the trades work.

2. Avoid lunch hour chop. It's ok to miss a trade.

3. Wait for the bar to finish before placing a trade because it often reverses right at the last minute.

4. It's an ocean of trades out there, I don't have to get every one, only the signal trades, not preemptive trades.

 

It's just one day and nothing to get excited about at all. Quite the opposite, I need to be extra careful tomorrow not to get cocky. It's amazing how human mind works. I had one good day and I feel like I know how to trade now. It's absurd. My conscious mind realizes that I don't know yet, but emotions don't listen.

 

Can I assume you made this statement based on not following your process 100%

Any other judgment/ gauge is simply arm chair quarterbacking – and serves no purpose

Rhetorical question – simply something to think about


RN

 

Yes, mistakes based on my process. I was too impatient.

The main issue today was that a few times I didn't wait for a proper set up to finish (for a 5-min candle to close), but was anticipating it (assuming that it will close a certain way in the middle of the time interval). And what even worse is that I was repeating this mistake over and over again, probably thinking, what if this time is different, may be this time I can be smarter then the market and get a better fill price.

it's similar to doubling down, many times you come ahead, but one time you lose huge. Same with anticipating candle's close, the price improvement that I get is usually very small, but if I'm wrong, I get into a bad trade and get stopped out and lose much more. But what's even worse then losing more money, I lose confidence in my set ups because of taking the wrong ones.

On the subject of making mistakes, there is a great quote from Soros:

 

I was kidding about stops being useful, they are of course a necessity.

To clarify, I always have a stop in a trade, as a matter of fact, I fire the trade right away with a stop order 2.5 points away. I may adjust my stop closer if needs be, or rarely .75 point wider, but never more then that. I'm pretty disciplined with my stops. I never make them wider after I place the trade. And most of the time it's less then 2.5 points.

 

I'm trying to do that and write reasons for my trades as I make a trade to make sure that I'm following my rules and not my emotions, It's a learning process... it's a bit difficult with timing though...

 

change your handle.

patient observer?

Patience is not necessary to trading.

Observer is the opposite of participant, you should actively participate instead of passively observing.

Let me give you a suggestion about solving a problem:

Whenever you have a problem, in trading or elsewhere, you find the reason first, and then you will find the solution. If you don't find the reason, it's very difficult to find the solution.

For example, if you have a running nose a slight fever at this time, you need to find the reason (cold, flu, herpes, pollen, cat hair, your wife, radiation from Japanese nuclear reactors, etc), and then you will know what cure to use (drink fluid, take anti-virus pills, allegra, give your cat to your neighbor, divorce your wife, iodine pills, etc).

For the opposite example, in the book Trading in the Zone, the author describes every conceivable problem a trade encounters, but the author never understands the reason(s) for those problem(s). As a result, the solution the author offers at the end of the book sounds illogical or disconnected, and even looks ridiculous. A brief look at the author's background indicates that the author specialized in sports "psychology," not in trading. That's why he gives many sports-related examples in the book.

But let me tell you this: in this same thread, a poster has offered you the solution, though the reason was not given.