Today, I'm out of the market at a loss of $$$ and it's not even 6 am. I decided to start this journal to help me be transparent about my trading. Because, I know that when I go golfing later, if anyone asks me how my trading is.. I'm not gonna tell them that I had a break even week. I'm more likely to say something like "Great. I'm developing some new strategies that I need to test." - Which is true.. just not entirely. I'm not gonna admit that I entered trades presumptively, outside of my risk threshold. I'm also not gonna admit that I'm cut deep inside. I'm cut by the fact that this week (even though I traded at break even), was a loss. My dear friends, time is our greatest asset. To me, the problem is that on huge days, I usually won't hesitate to respond with something like "I made so much money, I won't have to work for a while". But, the little secret it that even if I don't have to work, I still want to put on another trade. Shhh. It's a secret. My dear friends, time is the greatest commodity. It's easy to make excuses like.. "there are some losses in trading". Yes, I know there is. But, the fact is that my loss ratio was above my required specs, yet I continued to trade. I was not following my rules. I believe it was Bruce Lee that said, "Knowing is not enough." Currently, the edges that I trade successfully require me to wait. I could use some intraday strategies to keep me from getting bored. Or, perhaps I may start trading more markets. But for me to test these "new strategies" with cash is plain dumb. I have other ways to test them that don't involve going outside of my risk comfort. One of my goals is to not overtrade (as a consistent, hard, fast rule). I like to be as the crocodile. The crocodile is adaptive and ferocious. But, it lays still with stealth force (beady, cold blooded eyes peeking out of the water), until dinner is ready. Little background about myself: I'm 38 yrs old. I graduated with a degree in Psychology/Addiction Studies minor. I worked for many years in the real estate and mortgage industry. In about 2001, I was inspired to begin trading after watching a guy that would reliably predict interest rate moves by watching the Fannie Mae bond. I worked in the real estate/mortgage industry until 2007. Then, the housing market just wasn't the same anymore. At that time, I made the best trade ever... I quit my job. I'm a futures trader. Couple of other things: 1) I will most likely not respond to questions about my trading strategy. 2) I am highly likely to ignore extremely negative or cynical comments. Don't take it personal. I prefer not to reinforce negative behavior. 3) I'm very likely to turn a negative into a positive. It's just me... On a side note: Today I just told my "friend gal" that today I traded at a loss. It didn't go as bad as I imagined. LOL. Trade on!
Week two: I went from an overtrading 50% loss ratio to a conservative 0 % loss ratio, 2.7% gains. For Next week: 1) increase risk a little bit 2) get back to physical training
Why do you give a shit what other think about how you trade? If you make money, its none of their business. If you lose money, its none of their business. Unless its accretive to my trading, I never tell anyone the details of how I trade. There is no value in it. After awhile you realize that trading is a function of being disciplined. The only question that needs constant assessment is: are you right or are you wrong?
Thanks. I'm working on the discipline part. It's my desire to live it.. every single day. Right now, I'm breaking even for the most part.
click this link http://www.elitetrader.com/vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=235829&perpage=6&pagenumber=5 u should take martial art. If u made it to black belt, u achieved discipline <iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/nDd3Z_L0PwU" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> Bruce Lee's influence is felt far beyond his chosen discipline of martial arts as he remains an iconic figure to all those who value harnassing mental as well as physical capabilities, emotional discipline, and the pursuit of self knowledge. Lee turned combat into art, a show of strength into a discipline and showed the world what we are capable of when our thoughts, emotions and actions are in the power of our will. [/QUOTE]
This week: I had 3 losing trades in a row.. It would be different if I had followed the plan, but I did not.. on all three trades. This week I have given back everything I made last week. I will sit out until I have reviewed all 3 trades and implemented some fail-safes to keep me from behaving this way again. Today I looked into NinjaTrader and C#. I may move toward automating some parts of my system. Oh and my golf swing stinks lately. Does anyone else ever notice their golf swing gets worse when their trading does?
I gave up golf when all I thought about on the course was trading. No point in hitting that ball 135 times each damn game, I would swear so much more playing that game than behind a screen, figured trading was easier. It certainly wasn't, was a long agonizing road but at least now I hardly ever swear, make a living at it and only can get better with no handicap. Actually, telling anyone how you trade is harmful to your inner and outer self, people outside think you are either rolling in it or conceited and your inner self, you are reinforcing negative responses. I learn so little from my loses, it is a cost of doing business. If you lost cause it was some dumb thing you did, chances are you will do it your entire life, hey, you are only human, after 34 years I still make dumb dumb trades, but at least now I do them with a one lot and never risk more than 3 ticks. So a good rule to have, if there is some trade that won't let you go, make sure you don't risk more than 3 ticks, so you know the entry has to be PERFECT.
http://www.mercenarytrader.com/2011/03/interview-with-a-trading-legend-part-i/ Live in a bubble and stick with meaningful time frames. Be attentive but not obsessive. Good luck