That's not exactly true...he had prior blowups "before" the brief success to only later (as documented here at ET) continue down that path of failure. Here's my guess based upon the things he's said himself...he has a lot of personal baggage (e.g. the reasons that caused him to not get proper rest, unemployed on workman compensation et cetera) and the brief success caused him to underestimate again the fact that things in our personal lives do have impact on our trading if you're a discretionary trader (someone not using a mechanical trading system). That baggage doesn't go away and eventually (it did) returns to sabotage the trading. Think about it carefully, he stated at least once he used his workman compensation to refund his account... That's a TON of financial stress to bury yourself with and fear that convinces him to make the choice to trade undercapitalized instead of saving money to be properly capitalized. (he doesn't want to work a job that doesn't interfere with his trading and he doesn't want to accumulate funds to properly capitalized his trading account) Simple solution...fix the personal life and upon completion of that...he'll be properly ready to get back to trading considering he has stated many times...there's nothing wrong with the method itself. The problem is the discipline in executing the method. P.S. Discretionary traders that don't have proper discipline...should always use a hard stop as in don't use mental stops (counter productive) because that discipline problem will show it's ugly face many times at the wrong time. Mark
Good day. Starting this account at $800 even. Up $145 on two trades. First trade loss $60 but the entry/exit was based on rules. Second trade was the big winner that made it all back and then some. I will post a chart of the last trade in a little bit. You're right. I have been under a lot of stress lately. I have those that you mentioned and from trading. Stress from trading can come from missing a clear move, being in a losing position, or just watching a screen all day can be enough. This kind of stress can build up slowly that you wouldn't notice it until it's too late. I believe this is what was sabotaging my trading. Until yesterday there was no way that I could relieve it. In the past I had tried watching movies, but it wasn't effective. Couldn't go clubbing or to bars or out with friends either as I needed to sleep early everyday. I needed some kind of activity that is both enjoyable and could distract me from the financial markets. Yesterday, I was able to start playing video games again to acheive that and seems to be working. I was unable to use vg before then due to difficulty in concentration from poor sleep. This is why I need to upgrade from a PS2 to a PS3. I was able to wake up early and play vg for a few hours before trading. 1) Doesn't matter. System was designed to be adaptable to any market environment. 2) I only made minor changes. The core of the system is still being used. 3) I had been under a lot of stress for many days. In addition to stress there is also anxiety when you about to make a trade. It's an anxiety that similar to the ones that builds up just before starting some kind of big competition. I'm stopping for the day so I can play more video games and finish the one I started yesterday.
The number 27 is starting to appear more frequently. I started noticing it since June of this year. But back then it was appearing occasionally in a strange places. The significance of the number to me is that I was born on July 27. I have been documenting them for the past few weeks. Here are just a few examples of where it pop up: Jun 23, 2010 After wiring $650 to trading account, $27.22 was left in bank. Aug 24, 2010 Existing home sales dive 27.2 percent to 15-year low. Aug 27, 2010 Lost exactly $270 for the day on an Aug 27th. Sep 01, 2010 YM U0 (Mini Dow) made an intraday high of 10270. Sep 03, 2010 The real Dow Jones is up 127.83 for the day. Sep 09, 2010 Jobless claims decline by 27,000 to 451,000. (today) What's more interesting is that the day they appear coincides with big days in my trading and in financial/economic areas. The number also appears in my trading account number. I do not know what it means. Good? Bad? Or nothing at all. I am trying to ignore it and just focus on trading. There are many other places that it is popping up, but these are the only ones that I am able to document. I have attached a collage of the ones above for your convenience:
You are on the right track. Most successful people I know started working half a day then knocking off to play video games with a few hundred bucks in the bank. Good work! Keep it up!
Sep 09, 2010 Dow Jones up 0.27 percent end of day. What does it all mean? :eek: Yep, mornings are the worst for me. I don't have a PS3. I had to give that up so I could save money to trade.
Numbers sometimes reflect synchronicity; but I don't know anyone who has figured out how to take that to the bank. You did a great job capturing the full move on your last trade. Can you tell us more about how your methods / trade approach works? Is it purely mechanical or are there discretionary elements as well? Best of Luck/ FMR
It's nice to be on the winning side again, but today could've been better. I'm up $45 on one trade. Had an initial limit order to buy that didn't get filled. Made the entry a little bit later and had a quick $100+ in profits but missed the exit and had to settle. I will post a chart of the trade in a little bit. Thanks, that's an interesting concept. The titanic story is hard to believe. Right now, I don't want to give any details on my method. Maybe in a later date, I will give a few out. I can tell you it is discretionary, but in theory can be mechanized.