Hi guys, Do you have a clear structure during the trading day? Will you take breaks during the day or are you full-time infront of the screens? Thanks a lot for your answers. Mike
tradermike99, Yes, I have a daily written process I follow every morning 30 minutes before I start trading. I also have written routine what to do while waiting for a trade. Note: I am not a consistent profitable day trader yet. Whatever I state is my own personal experience for now.
Hi I trade from 9.00am - 11.30am (except Oil Inv day where I only trade for about 1 hour after the figure until 11.30am) so don't usually need to take a break during this window. Most of the time I'm doing nothing & I can see my potential entry requirements setting up well in advance so aren't fixated watching it tick by tick (done that when I was a spot FX trader!) so like to watch music videos whilst waiting. Prior to the start of trading I usually read my "trading mindset" sheet which is some basic rules, statements of action etc but as these have become more ingrained its less of a compulsory ritual now. Post trading I update my trading spreadsheet, note trades on chart etc & then turn platform off until next day. I don't do any homework, mark support/resistance levels, read news etc ahead of each day so I start each day as a blank canvas which helps me be prepared to take both long/shorts if they arise rather than starting the day with a "bias or hypothesis".
I start my day at 8:00 AM by watching the pre-market activities and doing some research about the instrument that I am looking to trade as well as some breaking news and econ. numbers that might come out during the day 9:30 AM is when I start trading. 12:00 is when I usually take my lunch break. The market is pretty quiet during this time anyway, not much happening. I might stay in front of the screen if the market happens to be quite busy but usually I like to eat away from the screen. 1:00 PM is usually when I come back and resume my afternoon trading until 4:00 PM 4:00 PM is when I finish trading and then do some lookback analysis about what happened during the day, what I have done well and what I have not done well and why. I would also look at what's happening tomorrow and do some research about them. And then I am pretty much done for the day. Lunch is pretty much the only break that I take during the entire day if I can afford to. I find if I take too many breaks during the day, I might miss too much from the market and it doesn't work out well for me.
An 8 to 4 day is not too bad. The bottom line is you get to control your own time and how you want to spend your day. That's what I love the most about trading. You are in control of your own life and you live with your own success or failure and you answer to no one.
I don't do the schedule thing. Sometimes I will stay up til 0300 local time (CST) and see if something is gapping. Or set the alarm and get up really early for same thing. Mostly I get up when I get up and trade when I trade, quit when I quit. Wife brings me my morning cappuccino and if there is a lot of action I don't bother with lunch. I can afford to skip a meal or two, truth be known. I only get up from my trading desk to fill orders and stuff for my business. The rest of the time, no breaks. If I need a break then I take one til the next day or the day after. Trading doesn't dominate or monopolize my life, any more than poker or casino gambling does/did/would. I tried keeping a schedule when I started trading but it was too much like a job that way. If I wanted a job I would have never retired in the first place. You young guys, maybe don't follow my example. Or maybe do. I don't care.
I can confidently say that it isn't the trading style or trading system of a trader that often causes trading failures. But the wrong organization of his working hours. This is due to the fact that the effectiveness of a trader's work directly depends on his psychological state, and the psychological state in its turn strongly depends on the accuracy and organization of the working process. A trader's working day begins from the moment of market opening. First of all, it is necessary to check your open positions. The fact is that under the influence of various factors (for example, news about the events that happened last night), prices can dramatically change their directions literally in the first minutes after the start of trading. If necessary, you can adjust positions (for example, to move stop loss and take profit orders), or close them altogether (if the current price development contradicts the original prerequisites for opening a given position). After that 1-2 hours should be allocated for viewing and analyzing potentially interesting financial instruments for trading. Of course, all positions are opened in strict accordance with my capital management strategy. This simple organization of the working day allows a trader to work quite efficiently avoiding unnecessary emotional overloads and, as a result, unnecessary financial losses. A trader's working day can last from three to five hours, and in many cases even less. In this case, all major issues are solved and there is still plenty of time to enjoy life.