I think Steve is a consistently profitable trader. What he wants to accomplish is to trade at a higher level and make more money. I know how he feels because I am in the same situation. It's been 2 years and I am still making around the same amount per month. I am consistent, probably around 3 losing days a month average. I find it hard to increase my size. Maybe it's a fear of that losing trade while I am doing size which would wipe out my profits for the month. It is something I am still trying to figure out.
what impact does trading a slightly larger size have on the market you trade? i assume its a relatively liquid market, and an increase in size wont affect the balance too much. yes you are right though - a few losing trades may wipe out your profits to date, but then when you get a few winners, you will get it back. these things are easy to say i know - but harder to do sometimes. recently i started trading double my normal size. my first 2 trades were losers and i wiped 6% of my account out within 10 min of the open one day. my fears (similar to yours?) became reality (dont they always). i didnt worry too much though. i knew worry was pointless as i would make the money back soon. you see, it wasnt my trading decisions that had changed - i knew i would have made those trades even if i was trading my old size. it was just my edge playing it thing out. i know there is random distribution between wins & losses, each moment is a unique event etc, loads of other market quips & common wisdom. i expect jack could expain whats going on in my head better than i can.... just roll with it baby.... push the envelope. its the challenge.
Well, getting results like means what in terms of percentage? Buffett, trading 34bn, can make 3,4 millions per day and it is ONLY 1% of 1% profit! If my account is $100, and I trade a poorish $1 per pip/point/whatever and I 'get' an average of 4 pips/points/... per day, in Buffett's terms my performance is 400 times that of his traders'. But when will I be able to say "I am rich"? He needs to define what he means by "Consistently profitable" In my terms it is : I get to my OBJECTIVES consistently. If my objective is $10 profits a day, then even my astounding 400x Buffett's performance is a sign of bad performance. This is just mho
The Subconscious mind is not made for trading, it hates taking losses and it also cannot handle winning and it doesnt like uncertainity either. The trick is to lead a balanced life and make your trading results unimportant, focus on other things and have other income streams, this will keep your Subconscious satisfied and too busy to sabotage your trading. You subconscious mind is more powerfull than your consious logical mind, it evolved over millions of years and will nearly always be able to overcome your rational thoughts which havent been around for nearly as long. When it comes to trading, its much easier to keep it happy and busy rather than trying to retrain it.
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Steve, Try "The Power of Your Subconscious Mind" by Joseph Murphy, Ph.D. Despite the rather tacky title and some religious undertones, it has been popular for over 40 years. Best regards,
I have one bit of advice when using "subconcious thoughts" and that's not to confuse what your concious mind perceives which is often jumping to conclusions...
I like zen. clue is: "yield to the inevitable". if you make $200 - $600, accept it and be happy, until you are ready to make a different amount.