I probably make bad decisions on a two weekly basis... for me it's a part of the trade. I'd rather not, but it happens... like I said, analyze, learn from it and move on.
Yesterday, while doing some research at the end of the day, I stumbled across what I saw as a great buy. I thought, "Jump on it! It's going to shoot up overnight!" However, the experience recounted in this thread stayed my hand. Holding overnight is NOT part of my plan. The algorithms needed to run my strategy are not yet complete. I thought to myself, "NO! This is an emotional decision. Stick to your plan," recalling the quote impressed upon me from Lefèvre's Reminiscences of a Stock Operator, from user southall above, and the following: I stayed out. This time, however, I was spot-on in my assessment. It shot up about 10% overnight. *sigh* At least I stuck to my plan.
Sure, you need to do the trade to make money... but I'd rather wait longer for the trade that feels comfortable than take a gamble and sit on eggs. For a while I did exactly what you/mr Livermore describes... did too many trades trying to make that quick buck on 2 or 3 ticks... goes fine for a few days and then have a miss which wipes the week. Now I just wait... and if I do a trade and it doesn't work too bad... at least I've really thought it through. Same goes for autotrades... Never lean too long on missed opportunities if they didn't fit your parameters.
%% Or put another way.Mr KMI, you want the truth or a polite answer?? ''A '' meaning one, should not make much difference @ all-unless you are trading -investing way to biGGGGG!!!!!. If you are like me -youre sensitive- so there is NO such thing as a business without exspenses[losses] Thats wisdom; good question.
You have to just admit your mistakes and learn from them, which is exactly what you are doing. You are facing the problem, in contrast to the many on this board bitching about the rigged system, etc. and blaming someone else for their situation. You have not given enough information for me to know if this advice is useful for you, but I'll try: is this perhaps a money management issue? Did you bet too much on one trade? What was the amount you would have been comfortable losing? What would you have had to bet for that to happen? If you are confident in your system, figure out how to resize your risk and start over again.
If you need to reassure yourself without risking anything, I would recommend applying your strategy on a demo account for a while. That way you both see that it works and you don't risk any real money.
Yeah, I know... but one can only learn so much from a flight simulator. As they say in the Air Force, "There's no substitute for hours of air under your @$$."
If your strategy is already done and you're only testing it, there shouldn't be any difference between the demo and the live accounts though.