ouch, it's only 1/2 a day session and it's my biggest lose in 2 weeks. pls give your experience on how to handle lose? i thought i have the discipline to move along well, make baby steps and then boom, it hits me and really shakes up my confident. ouch.
How long have you been trading? Are you profitable overall? What style? What Broker/Software/Equipment? Losing is part of the game, and getting blown out is part of the game too, accept it, have a good holiday tommorrow, and come back to play on Thursday. There is no magic bullet, if you hate the feeling you are experiencing right now, just ask yourself what happened, how did it happen, and try not to make the same mistakes again. It is just that simple, big traders must accept big down days, every now and then, it is just part of the game. No psychology nor trading books can help, it is you against yourself . . . Think of the money you lost today as tuition, or better yet, a loan to the specialist/market maker, and vow that you will get it all back later, plus interest . . . Revenge will be sweet . . . It is just too easy to dig yourself a hole off the open today and then compound your losses with churning. The market was a dead town after 11AM and any attempt to trade would have probably resulted in losses . . .
nov =) what happened? was the loss due to normal stops according to your system? or was it due to overtrading, revenge trading or some other form of self sabotage? i recommend reading "Trading in the Zone" by Mark Douglas.. it will help you understand what you are going through.. -qwik
novembr: It is important not to focus on the outcome of individual trades - unless you you made a mistake, did something "stupid" or equiv and want to document it so not do make the mistake again. For me, I've learned to focus on daily/weekly profitability. I don't look at individual trades, I'm only intersted in my average number of profitable days/weeks.
Illiquid days are hard. What were you trading. Did you follow your system? Does that system have a proven history of results. Did you think you saw something that the low volume made occur? On low volume days, you need the discipline to trade smaller and just sit and watch. I made 2 large nice trades on the open that was 80% of my gain. I LOST money the rest of the day. But I knew to play half positions (I never took anything larger than 3k shares), and I used wider stops b/c of the whipsaw nature of slow days. I still lost about a k from 10 et. onwards on a half dozen trades. It happens. Loosing money is fine. Sometimes it can be amusing. As for getting blown to pieces, it happens to all of us. I have a strategy of picking bottoms. I use size. I continue to pyramid in as long as I'm confident. I use an automatic 15k stop no matter what cause I don't wanna loose more than a week's worth, but at least once every other month, I have a down 10-20k day. It happens. It takes a week+ to make it back, but its part of the game. My system leads to large occasional drawdowns, but otherwise, it does a few k a day consistantly, and I have learned to accept the drawdowns and move on. I don't even really get upset by them anymore (even when I dump 20k shares at the low.) Take a few days off if you are bummed. You can't get it all back in one day. Come back monday fresh and go get em.
thanks for your replies. my mistake today was ignoring my stop loss, i didn't want to get taken out in a thin market, well, i got taken out anyway. the second and last trade was a revenge trade. fatal mistake, i know, why did i do it? that's what i need to work on. hitman, i know loss is part of the game. i do'nt mind much the money lost, i hated the way i played today though, a blow to my psyche and confidence. but i will recover and hopefully learn my lesson this time. qwiktrade, i read trading in the zone last w/e, guess i need to reread it then . reading is one thing, truly understanding and applying it is another deal and i seem to have trouble w/ that, doing well for some time, then relapsing like an addict of some kind. vikana, that's true, i try not to concentrate on the day to day up/down, but bad plays hurt. ouch have a great holiday/ novembr -every winner has scars-
I'll add to what november was saying,though only paper losses so far. But WOW,even paper trading makes one realize that all the books,seminars,good and bad, will only prepare you just so much and no more. The next level requires other attributes which you pick up or else. A year engrossed on this site and I can not recall any substancial info on execution and the wealth of experiences the members must surely have. One doesn't ask the money made by different members and that info is seldom seen on the site. I suppose your execution methods might be classified as similar sensitive material. Let me give it a shot anyway. All hypothetical,of course,and being aware of so many variables, am I way off base by saying we'd all like to buy on the bid and sell on the ask? Also,would it not be to all our liking to be able to buy and sell in between the bid & ask,at least,if we are unable to do the former? With a week under my belt I wish I was able to get in trades a nickel over the inside ask,or exit with the same nickel below the inside bid. I know in time the speed and intuition and familiarity,and a host of other tangibles, will come into play and executions will come with better frequency. But sheesh,it sure would speed up things if some of you scalpers,for example,give us your first hand methods on IB with CIEN,JNPR,or newsy stocks like ISSX from today. DAT brokers,fast stocks,time-frames of 15,30 minutes or so. Just a peek into your minds as you trade and I'll be grateful. I'm positive a slew of others would too. Thanks for anything you might like to share.
novembr. how did you lose? did one or two trades do you in, or did you have a series of losses? what happened? can you be more specific? Confidence can be a killer, imho. Confidence that is time tested through experience is OK. A newbie with confidence...well... it's my opinion you should have no confidence in your confidence. Of what could you base your confidence at this stage of your learning? You have little or no experience, and more than likely as a newbie you are focused on the "trees" and have no comprehension of the big picture. IOW, how each piece fits together to make up the whole. And this is a deadly game with very clever, knowledgeable, seasoned opponents who are out to get your money. (Oh... did I forget ruthless?) I risk getting some flack on this, but should have NO confidence to lose ...YET. Feel fortunate when you win one or two. EXPECT to LOSE until you gain the experience and wisdom to know something with confidence. To me, self-confidence = self-assurance regarding the truth of something. How could you have this self-assurance yet? I think you got a good dose of reality. Welcome back....
after you are done all the analysis etc. that others recommend (all valid).... spend some time with those you love and remind yourself that there are much more important things in life than money wish you the best