Great thread topic rs7. Re losing streaks, the phrase I like to keep in mind is 'creep back rather than leap back.' Inspired by one of my favorite westerns, The Good The Bad & The Ugly. Remember how Clint got stranded in the desert? Burnt to a crisp, dying of thirst, hours or even minutes away from death...but he hung on and got out of it, and then the jesuits nursed him back to health slowly over a course of weeks- no rush, just one sip of water at a time and plenty of rest as he got his strength back little by little, day by day. Then he went back to work and whupped some a__
So the boss is now asleep. OK, back to the art of losing. Tell me you never had a bad losing streak and I will tell you you're a liar (to paraphrase the late great Jim Morrison). We all have them. It is just endemic to what we do. The very best traders seem to actually have the very worst losing streaks. But only dollar wise. This is a function of size alone. Not duration. It is the duration that will kill you. So it is so critical to cut the streak short. We talk about goals. We talk about them as positives as they should always be. But cutting a losing streak is also a goal. One that seldom gets acknowledged. Two great traders I know are on sabbatical (three if you count Darkhorse). One I have talked about before. He's the guy that trades from his yacht with a satellite dish. He's also the guy I talked about that shorted 40k shares of AOL on the close when he saw a huge buy imbalance and made 8 pts. or so on the trade. The other guy I have not mentioned. This guy is the king of all short traders. I mean he made so much money when we were all losing when the bubble burst. We all thought for too long it was just another short term correction. He, on the other hand cleaned up. He knew what we didn't. He knew what % of holdings were on margin in what stocks and when the calls would go out. And when the stocks would be liquidated. This was an instance of what 30 years of trading and making connections can be about. But after Sept. 11, he stayed short as the market rebounded. He lost a bundle and is still on vacation. He can afford it. But as usual, I digress. My whole point of this thread is to get across that when we talk about cutting losses and letting winners run, it means more than just in a particular trade. It should apply to trading itself. If you cut yourself back or even out it is just as important (if not more so) than cutting a specific loss. After all, the trading game never ceases. So when you are not going well, consider yourself....your entire plan....everything, to be a "bad trade" and exercise your "stop". For that is the BIG picture definition of "stop loss". Another very crucial issue.....MrSubliminal's parents seem to exude a bit of animosity. Let me say here and now that this is not the proper venue for this kind of domestic discord. Please, MrS., see what you can do to restrain the old folks from treading on our very serious business. I implore you!!! Peace and Small Losses, rs7
gotta correct you there dad- not on sabbatical, just laying low a little more than usual...and i can't justify the 'great' quite yet....maybe in ten years or so....
Hey Dark, this is MY CALL! I just call 'em the way I see 'em! If I say you are Great, well who the hell are you to argue? Have a little humility! And don't call me "Dad", cause I happen to know that your momma don't dance and your daddy don't rock and roll. But I do!! Rs7
my favorite line was from Josey Wales bounty hunter: man's gotta make a livin'. Josey: dyin' ain't much of a livin'... and the runner up kid: shouldn't we bury them fellas? Josey: to hell with them fellas. buzzards gotta eat same as worms
Tell me a Clint Eastwood action flick without great lines.... You know in Colorado they have a statute called the "Make My Day" law.
More about cutting short losing streaks. I truly believe that we all actually know that when we press when we are losing that it is an act of self destruction. Obviously we don't see it as such as it is happening in real time. It always seems then that if we do not try and fight back, then we are weak. But then after the damage is done, we beat ourselves up for being so obviously stupid. I talked in one post a while back very extensively about accountability. And being accountable to ourselves. We are always not only our own worst enemy, we are really our only enemy (other than those miserable lying cheating dirty lowdown specialists). So bearing this in mind, I think Rigel found a quote worth re-quoting. A truly great one, and an appropriate one for this topic; particularly in these times: It all boils down to ..... whatever we do wrong, we do it to ourselves. (The political topicality just adds to it). Good one Rigel. Rs7
I love that movie also, but have you guys ever watched the "Trinity" movies? I really enjoyed those. Favorite line after Trinity's brother is threatened with being shot: Trinity: "I wouldn't do that if I were you" Gunfighter: "Why not?" Trinity:"'cause it'll just piss him off!" nitro
Actually yes. My therapist told me it would make me feel better and help me get off the drugs. OK? Also, it lets me practice my spelling and punctuation. Give it a try. Maybe it will work for you too. Thanks for the post. Rs7