tampa's "short skirt" trades...

I think I read some where that often the trades you are to scared to take are the ones that have the best chance of winning because chances are everyone else is probably scared of it as well. Don't know if it is true, but something to think about if you tend to find the ones you don't take to be winners.

 

-5.5 points/2RT (-$284.60 on the day)

After looking at the charts again, I am left wondering if I just out-smarted myself by not taking every flag set up today.

But hey, today was not like any other day (as if any of them are)ļ

 

have you notice one when you start to take 1 trade, there is an urge to take another trade even if there is no trade. For a drinker it is 'what the hey, might as well have 1 more ' syndrome.

 

There is a lot of truth in what you are saying.

 

Really agree with your last post.
It has to do with having the evil thought of wanting to get the lost money back.

On a related subject....
When breaking discipline its easy to get on a roll.
It's like any other bad thing.


After you go off a diet the 1st time it's easy to slide in a bad habit .
Also an alcoholic taking that 1 drink is usually a disaster.
Many people who commit a crime the 1st time and don't get caught usually go further into it.
And the list goes on and on..

 

After giving it some thought...

This journal thing is a whole new experience – it adds a completely different element to trading. Namely humility and embarrassment.

God knows that I have lost far more than I did today – far, far more. And God knows that I have traded far worse.

The initial thought of posting a “journal”, admittedly, was a hair-brained, spur of the moment idea. I really had no plan for the form it might take, or anything else for that matter.

I am not a “newbie”, nor do I suffer many of the more common problems that afflict a lot of traders – fear of pulling the trigger, etc.. And while I have lost monumental amounts of money in the past, that part is indeed in the past. As I have already stated, my problem is the inability to let a trade run it’s full course. But after today, now I am wondering if I am too smart for my own good. (if it’s not one “problem”, it’s another)

Anyway, what I really want to do now is to thank those who chipped in with comments and the like. From my perspective it was way cool, and I appreciate the time and effort.

So with your permission, I’ll give it another shot tomorrow, but will have to miss the first part of the day due to an appointment.

Thanx again to everyone – except that pervert who thinks that this is a thread about cross-dressing – and you know who you are!

 

Yep, I've read that one as well.

It sure seems to be good advice - the kind I cannot argue with.

But as with a lot of good advice, how the hell do you put it into practice?

 

Do you know what bothers me most about Monday? It’s not the fact that I dropped $285 – it’s that I feel foolish.

Normally, if I pass on a trade I just let it go – it’s a split second decision – over and done with, no regrets. But on Monday I felt an “obligation” to explain the thought process. That’s stupid. It’s stupid because no one really cares what I think (nor should they), and it makes it look like I am justifying the decision.

Normally, if I pass on a trade it ain’t no big deal – if another one comes along, fine – if it doesn’t, there’s always tomorrow. I took a trade Monday that I should not have taken. I took it because I was pushing. I was pushing because I had passed on several trades earlier. I took another trade without regard to the time of the day – for the same reason.

I am embarrassed. And I ought to be. I traded not because I thought that the odds favored me, but because of what others might think. It’s hard to be more stupid than that.

I am not hawking anything. I am not trying to prove anything. I am not trying to convince anyone of the superiority of any method or style. This is not an educational endeavor. It’s just about some poor slob sitting down in Florida who thinks that he ought to give his trades a little more time to work, and who came up with a hair-brained idea of trading in “public” to force the issue.

So I took two relatively small hits – no big deal – but have spent hours second-guessing the whole day. And that spells S-T-U-P-I-D .

I’ll try to be a little bit smarter tomorrow.

 

the "problem" with the short skirts is that one has to (or should) enter BEFORE the trend eventually picks up again. so there is a clear predicting-element in this concept.

on the other hand there is the old saying that a trader should not predict but only react to the market. two totally different philosophies.

i couldn't trade in the predicting mode - although you should get more out of every winning trade - while the one who reacts (enters on the breakout) always leaves some pts. on the table.

so obviously there has to be at least one failing short skirt setup in every trend - the last one - so if one takes always only the last one - he will only get losers.

 

Good point...

But all you have to do is take all but the last one...what could be easier