The fact is, that the dynamics of stocks dropping in price is different that when rise. Nothing wrong with short only, unless you could be making more money playing both sides. Personally, I prefer shorting, since I'm a pessimist at heart.
shorty, by going only one way, does that mean that you have a modest profit target each day or do you work that way?
My profit goal is 2% of equity, probably not much different from most traders. I made a bit more than that on Friday. My goal is 2% net but my results vary. An average week would be four 2% days and one day when I draw down 3% for a net 5%. If I was good at going long I could double it. My other option is to get better at going short. By the way I understand your handle, but I doubt you are the original daliddleguy.
Shorty, There is nothing wrong with trading from the short side always. There are no rules that say you will fail doing so. In crazy bull markets like 1998-2000, there are still stocks that are tanking. There are just less of them. But that portion of the bull was an aberration anyway. Whatever setup you use for shorts should be just as effective for longs unless it is fundamentally based. If it is a psyche question, forget about it. For every one person who can only go short, there are a thousand who can only go long. I didn't read many posts after the first couple of pages, so I didn't see how long you have been trading. However, there are two points that I think are important for you to remember. 1) If you started trading in the last three years, then your trading acumen was right on the money because the bulk of the trades have been ripe for shorts. 2) If you started longer than three years ago, then you were shorting in a ridiculously speculative bull market, and you are still here trading. So what's the problem?
Thanks Jordan, yeah I was a short specialist even in the bull market, and of course now its a lot easier, but everyday I think about all the longing opportunities I am missing. Every stock I look at looks overpriced to me. So then I study it, and even become more convinced.