A few thoughts on SIM trading I have..., on a few occasions - stopped trading live..., in the middle of a session - and started SIM trading Why Because..., I am not in the business of pissing my money away I am not in the business of giving my money away I am not in the business of financing someone else's lifestyle I am not in the business of helping HFs / institutions / MM make their profit..., receive their bonuses I am not in the business of ingraining bad habits..., nor stupid shit I am in the business of making money - for me Either I am doing that..., or I will get my shit right so I am doing that Sim is a tool..., like any other tool we have at our disposal - use the damn thing to work out the kinks ================ Ohhhh..., but it ain't real money Well fuck you..., and the horse you rode in on Real trading - do we concerned about the PNL..., or the process Process can't distinguish between live or SIM - and neither should we Process / discipline / routine (consistency) - remain the exact same - no matter it applied live.., or on a SIM And I can guarantee: if you can't trade consistently profitable on SIM - going live will only fuck you..., and fuck you up Got a friend going through this now (Not J) Its cost him dearly..., and financially ain't the half of it RN
We all have a huge ego, but guess when I hit 50yo, I discovered how truly hard life is for so many people, they have no concept of what I do or that what I risk on one trade is more than what most make in a year's time. Most people work hard for near minimum wage which is a joke and they have a smile on there face even though they most likely one missed check away from being in the street. I know most people on this forum lose tons of money chasing the dream, or those who do well feel compelled to attack others to make themselves feel good? Really sad in my ideals of what being civil to each other. Yeah the old saying "If you have nothing good to say, say nothing" rings true for me. And you never know in today's world who is carrying a weapon, it is far easier to be nice to others than to become them. And maybe I am on the other side of life where I am closer to the end than the beginning, you just see life differently. But to the trading buddies I have, we go at it pretty hard sometimes, let the steam off. Yeah, it is Friday. And I have a ton of them too, you guys laugh, but when staff was learning, I had the best weedless lawn around. After so many years, they better than I am, and no, am not picking weeds either. Jas, it comes down to this, if you have to ask members for help, which is good, you don't have a good enough Trading Plan which I know IS the case. I know you have not done stats on best times to trade cause you start out well most times and fade awayyyyyyyyyyyy. I usually trade crude oil from 4am to 7:30am MDT, you want to learn how to trade chop, check out these times to trade and yet I come out ahead most days. Check out 18ma is going through ma, you have chop and if all price bars are above 18ma shows uptrend, bounces off 18ma show possible continuation of trend. Crude oil has a Swing ave now of 92 ticks, so you can gauge how much left in existing trend. During chop you want to look for Triple tops/bottoms and H&S which both are price Patterns, S/R.
“Crazy” being doing the same thing over and over while expecting different results… consider your analysis last weekend and how many times you have done similar analysis. And consider your results this week. I know it may sound strange to many readers, but there is an inverse relationship between analysis and trading results. More analysis or being able to make distinctions in the market’s behavior will not produce better trading results. There are many traders who find themselves caught in this exasperating loop, thinking that more or better analysis is going to give them the confidence they need to do what needs to be done to achieve success. It’s what I call a trading paradox that most traders find difficult, if not impossible to reconcile, until they realize you can’t use analysis to overcome fear of being wrong or losing money. It just doesn’t work! -Mark Douglas Analysis is not the key to any trader’s success. Being objective is the key. – Mark Douglas Jas, when you gave your above quote this last weekend, is your analysis making you more or less objective as a trader? I suggest that analysis can make you less objective as a trader and more in a rut. When Handle says that you have not done statistics, it may be because his back testing frees him (instead of putting him in a rut). Do you see the difference? When he says: …you don't have a good enough Trading Plan which I know IS the case. I know you have not done stats on… And Tuesday Handle said: Changing your Trading Plan will be a forever part of your life, we always test before changing, otherwise you can be making it worse. …there is something here about analysis tightening each of us as a trader and putting us in a rut, as opposed to freeing us and causing us to be objective and present… and able to follow our plan; or perhaps actually having a plan that is simple and clear enough to be followed (such as Handle just gave in describing how he trades CL). I’ve never thought of it this way myself before, so you are making us all work! But thank you… I think!… LOL. Seriously, your honesty is truly helpful. ................... edit: It may be that having had a taste of success, as you recently did... a different kind of analysis is required? You were sick and missed a week. Getting back into it may require... I'm not sure what, but not the same kind of analysis as was the habit prior to your success.
Great post again Hooti. Back at you tomorrow. ===== Simmed today. Got up +48 ticks on nice easy set ups then finished -1. Still frustrating even though sim but it's clearing up some things for me. Only a little bit more analysis and I got it ! Used my digital recorder to play back coaching for me after entering trades. ALso when I saw chop I played it and it worked to get me to take a break. I may revise my scripts and add some but I think it may prove to be a useful tool. Too early to tell. The important thing will be if I can listen to it and do what I'm saying. Got work to do and some more trade review I want to get done. Back later.
In an effort to drive this point Monday - on SIM please No amount of analysis - which understandably leads one to false confidence - will ever replace actual consistently..., repeatedly..., and objectively - doing Trades were managed poorly today..., meaning - process / routine was not strictly followed Till it is - I assume you're not in the business of pissing away your money RN
oh, yeah. Sim on Monday. Probably all week. Reviewing my plan/notes this weekend. I'm overthinking things that used to be easy. Specifically, context and when not to take the trade. It (context) was more intuitive before. But I want it clearer so there's no guess work on what I'm supposed to do. I have to examine all that with my beliefs about uncertainty. Do I want to only trade strong trends which I see easily but it only may happen a couple days a week or do I want to accept more uncertainty on other set ups. Don't know if that makes complete sense. I need to review my set ups and me. It's taking a lot of effort to try to simplify the process.
To get through the hardest journey we need take only one step at a time, but we must keep on stepping
Yup..., basically setting aside most..., certainly not all..., but most - of what we've learned since then beginning of our journey ==================== Newbies trade correctly..., but for all the wrong reasons Then go on a journey - learn all the crap - then must revert back to a newbie mind set to apply it correctly Free / unencumbered / intently focusing on.., and following price Newbies follow a routine because they don't know any better - we follow a routine because we know it the only way to trade successfully ====================== What a mighty strange business we've chosen to pursue By in large part..., the more we learn - the farther we progress from where need to be The things that make me think - what the hell RN
Hang in there Jas I'm going through a horrible stretch myself. Tried twice to go live and I wasn't any where close to being ready so it's back to working on myself because the greatest plan in the world will not make a difference if I'm not smart enough follow it.