before you develop your strategy, before you even begin to grow or anything GET GOOD AT TAKING LOSSES. thats it, dont worry about profit just focus on how quickly you can identify that you made a mistake or a trade went bad and GET OUT. so for all those starting out, as i am... practice getting really good at taking your losses, the better you lose the better you'll gain =]
============================================ i placed a bet yesterday that their would be an agreement made sometime last night. for those of you who were watching you seen the ES rally 20pts in seconds on the rumor that the deal was done. i was already positioned heavy expecting an explosive upside move simular to the one that happened Sunday night when the Fed announced it had taken over FRE & FNM. Well it was a lie. the news media had been announcing "Done Deal". on the headlines and when the guy came out he said "no deal". well the ES collapsed and i got stopped out...."HARD"!!!! I should have known better with all of my years of experience. I was hopping to hit a home run. I know better than to trade outside the parameters of my system. instead of going long the trade on the expectation of a gov't led rally i should have paid attention to my system and shorted the resistance @ 1222.50. well it cost me dearly. I WILL NEVER DO THAT AGAIN!!!! from now on i only trade my signals and not the news. may this be an example to newbies on this board that even the most experienced trader can get carried away on emotions. don't try to guess what will happen. instead trade the market, read the tape and do what the market tells you to do. if the PPT comes in and tramples you on the trade - so what at least you traded your system and stuck to your trading plan. .......and that's one to grow on.