%% LOL, can overtrade in time or size; even more so as a youngster. An alligator cant really move fast@ all except near the edge of water + land; and an alligator gar, cant really move on land. IN TX, 1 alligator gar per day==limit/monster size fish; they say let the monster gar eat the bait fish about 20 minutes, then rip the hook. Some use a .38 or .45 to help win the battle. No bag limits on smaller species of gar; certain archery restrictions apply............................................
Like @schizo said, if you are profitable, overtrading might not be a problem. Chances are, you're not, and overtrading just make you lose more. There is not silver bullet. 1) Have a plan. 2) Stick to it. 3) Rinse and repeat.
%% 1]LOL could do a sliver bullet, but really plastic lead, copper /brass work so much better As far as rinse + repeat, as if trading is like laundry?? 2]OK i do laundry about once a week; some commercials do many times per/day/payin'+ accumulationg change however. Soem skip the hot water\costa bit more to heat water,LOL Only happened once, i accidently super ''over loaded'' wash machine = belt squeals +a bit of smoke'' I could never fold laundry as neat as Lisa+amazing + strangely her mom also did unusual neat folding laundry. 3]EASY actually to ''overload'' laundry a bit ; but i never wash light colors separate as instructed+ that why sometimes have dirty streaks in them, but blue jeans , not so critical. [4]Its much easier to overload/overtrade in stocks, derivatives, leveraged REALTY; than cash markets ETFs or RE. 100% of Real estate foreclosures are caused by leverage,[overtrade\overinvest] unless one is dumb enough to overbuy[too big] a cash home + live in a hi tax area + not do a Dave ramsey budget.
Overtrading is a problem with winning and with losing. If you one day trade a lot and even if you are profitable - that is a short term win. It can give you a dangerous feeling that you cannot lose and can cause a huge loss the next day. Better to be in the game for the long term - build your discipline, once you reach your max daily %, step off the charts happily. At least this is what works for me. The number of trades per day or totally opened should be defined in your trading plan. Anything more than that is overtrading. You KNOW you should not open a trade and yet you still break your rules and do it. That is my definition of overtrading.
Why limit yourself to a max number of trades per day? If you have a set-up that has a positive expectancy why not take every opportunity to execute that set-up. You don't know how the next trade will work out.
Because this is what works for ME. Your case might be different. It is not my goal to sit at the charts all the time. I am happy with 0.5 or 1% profit. I open a trade (I have noticed that I wait most patiently for first setup to form), if it ends in profit I am happy, I close the platform and I go do something else. I am happy I sticked to my plan. If the first trade ends in a loss, I close the platform, tomorrow is another day. If I start digging for more setups after a loss I tend to lose even more. Therefore it is absolutely best for me to close the platform and call it a day. It was painful (read - losses) to reach this conclusion but it is absolutely what works best for me in the long term.
%% Good points+ well defined plan+ written plan. Every market maybe different somewhat. I almost never sell cash metals, 5 minutes to close,or near lunch, too close for comfort or even some dealers may want to leave on time .Did it seldom this year, may never do it again. IF all loved their work+ enjoyed working over time LOL; it could be different. Some look @ over time like overtrading. May do entry some times in a public market, near close, depending. It seems like most public market dealers enjoy their work, so every market maybe different.
I wonder if the OP is confusing over trading with revenge trading. Maybe they are the same? Trading without a signal at all could be compared to being in the forest hunting and just shooting wildly hoping you'll hit something. Trading on a poor signal could be compared to taking a shot from a poor aim instead of waiting for that prime shot where you can't miss. Both would qualify as over trading. But as long as you're taking your signals you shouldn't be overtrading. I think it would be very hard to over trade if you have a completely mechanical/rule based system. My system is discretionary, although it's subject to a few rules of course. But since there's discretion involved, I can still make poor decisions. What have helped me personally is the realization that successful (fingers crossed) trading means a ton of trading days and a ton of trades across a year. No single trade/day should break or make you. I've also accepted that there will be losing days with my current skill set and days where I won't be able to recover if I'm in drawdown. That helps me avoid stupid decisions, although I still feel I'm walking across a razors edge.