Staying in longer

You might try this...trade in increments of 3...for stocks 300 shares, 600 shares, 3000 or whatever. For the e-mini 3, 6, 9 etc...


Let's take an example: Lets say you get a signal to go long on the ES. You go long 3 contracts and your stop loss is 5 ticks($62.50) . 3 =$187.50.

Okay, if the market goes up 5 ticks (your initial risk) sell 1 contract.( a third of your position...2 if you started with 6 ...3 if you started with 9...etc.)

You'll begin to feel better right away, because you now have $62.50 in your pocket and only $125.00 at risk

Okay, if the market moves up 10 ticks,sell the 2nd contract(another third of your original position) for
for $125.00. Now,you'll really feel relaxed. You've got $187.50 in
your pocket,and a third contract showing a profit.

Now raise your stop to just slightly above entry and let that third contract ride!


Of course this, example doesn't take into consideration commissions and slippage. But, if you get good, fast fills I think you can get close to your objective. Hope this helps

 

darkhorse!

I'm back! And this time, we agree again. haha. How funnie is that?

Anyhow, discipline is only half of the story. Of course, if you don't even have discipline then you got even less to ride on to trading success. If you don't have discipline to follow your own trading rules, then you don't have anyone to blame but yourself.
But discipline itself can't make u money if you have a "negative expected value" trading strategy/system/methodology.

But I don't think you should just put on a trade and walk away for 5minutes because anything can happen depending on the stock, the day(Fed's announcement, terrorist attack,etc.).

I know it's easier said that done. Another way to look at this is this: it depends on yoru time frame. If you are scalping then you should get out as soon as you have some net profitis. But if your trading style if over 10-20-30mins then you should hold longer.

There's no wrong way to trade. Just follow your rules according to your time frame.

That's why institutional quant funds/trading operations use computers to trade. That way they don't have to deal with their emotional issues. They just trade depending on their systems.

But you can do the same on the individual level. Go get yourself Tradestation or WealthLan and start coding up some ideas and follow it.


good luck!

trader99

 

Kiev's book's junk. Read, "Trading in the Zone", Mark Douglas.

 

Dearest Brethren,

"Staying in longer" is indeed a pivotal element of the game we play. It is intimately and inextricably linked to the dual psychological demons of fear and greed. Without the ability to stay in longer, the longer-term risk:reward ratio is adversely skewed and will undoubtedly be a contributory factor towards failure as a trader.

One must devise a series of rules to negate the undesirable effects of emotional decision-making... it is often said that if the fictitious character known as Doctor Spock (of Star Trek fame) were a trader, he would be highly profitable... and much of this would be due to his innate ability to circumvent the often destructive impact of emotional decision-making, particularly when it comes to not running profits.

Candle

 

Read any book about Buffett. As he says, his holding period is "forever".

I know, I know, traders hate Buffett. Whatever.

 

Yeah, that's gonna help

 

"I trade therefore I am" LOL. I like that.


What I am doing now is, after entering my trade and setting my stop, I set my timer for 15 minutes and minimize my screens and do something else until the timer goes off. I then check my position, adjust my stop if neccessary and set the timer again. This is working well for me so far. Once I get more confidence in my ability to ride out the wiggles I hope I can eliminate the timer.

 

Maybe you want to reduce your trade size so you do not really worry about the outcome at all.

To ride a trade is hard if it is not mechanical.

It is even harder if it is mechanical but you do not know why the system is taking the trade.

 

Let me know when Buffet lets any of his investments actually reach his holding period.

 

Maybe I'm an exception, but I find myself subject to the same emotional and psychological pressures regardless of position size. I will make the same mistakes like getting out too early whether I'm holding 100 or 1,000 shares. In fact when I think about it now, on occasions when I'm left with an odd lot, like 23 shares, from an initial 2,000 share position, I can picture myself banging away furiously at the closeout keys with the same intensity as earlier.