ive deteriorated so much that im making a post in the psychology section. the problem is no matter what i try i cant seem to make money in ES. to do something mechanical, i dont have the patience to sit for months coding some system. to do something discretionary, i dont have the "feel" for market action. im starting to believe there is a conspiracy against traderkay becoming profitable in ES. just kidding.
traderkay, Are you keeping a diary of *every one* of your trades? It should include your reasons for taking the trade and how you felt at the time. If you force yourself to do this you'll be able to isolate the recurring problem. --opm8
TraderKay: Couple of things occur to me to mention here. I was told by a successful trader that when you don't "have a feel" for the market, you need to do more fundamental research, until you can develop a point of view that you have confidence in. This has worked pretty well for me. That is, I feel better about the trades I make when I have done enough fundamental homework. I suggest you start to accumulate data from sources you believe in. In your place, I would try to find out who has a record of accurate prediction regarding direction of the dollar. As far as trading through the down times, I try to have several type of trades on at any one time. Earnings plays, options (buying and selling premium), maybe a gold position and I place periodic trades that I call "event" trades in bonds. uncorrellated trades seem to help me to even out my returns on a yearly basis. Hope this helps. Good luck. Steve46
Everyone I've talked to recommends Brandon's chat room for beginning traders or traders who are going thru a slump and need moral and educational support. Maybe just take a break for a few weeks/months. You lose touch with the market, but it doesn't hurt if you have no feel for it currently. And you come back refreshed with new perspectives.
hmm. well lundy.. i could take a break... but from what? im not trading real $ anyway. i know ill come back to the same state of confusion and not knowing where to get off. it's happened before
o ya since im whining i might as well get this off my chest. ive seen people claim success with all kinds of methods from murrey math to classical chart patterns to moon cycles to oscillators. and i dont believe they are lying because the people im talking about had nothing to sell to me. they just told me what they use. so there you have it, people use all kinds of stuff with success but nothing works for me! there.
traderkay...what about you working for you? I don't mean to give you too much grief, but you are always a bit much on people who use esoteric methods. But it's clear that these things work well for some people (ie marketsurfer)...he.ll even seykota and his trading tribe stuff is a bit off. So, maybe you need to find your specific way too, no matter how stupid it looks to other people. But, have some faith in others in order to foster faith in yourself...you are correct in believing that everyone may have ulterior motives in posting their "success" with various methods, and I know alot of people here appreciate your "pit bull" nature. But why give them grief...just grab something useful if you see it, you know?