I am a prisoner. For years I live in a cell, a very small cell. Most debilitating is this Jail has no walls yet I cannot break out. Like the Elephant chained for so long she still doesn't leave when the chains are removed. Sometimes I imagine an exit but I get burned everytime I try since these times it seems easiest to leave are actually the worst times... i.e. I feel not in it at the worst of prices. My Prison is called FEAR. The Cycle: Dandy signal comes along and I ignore it, fearing a possible loss. A while later, I am paradoxically VERY comfortable taking losses at less ideal prices.. bizzare. This is because if I don't the pain will be so great and Mr. (or Mrs.) market will see to it I really regret not taking the signal. Sometime I find a reason to avoid being present when a signal fires as I fear loss. This cycle is like a broken record. I don't rely on trading for a living so that pressure is not there, although I do have a strong mental investment in the potential outcome of trading. I am profitable this year in spite on taking, maybe 10% of signals and feeding my broker on a daily basis. There is NO DOUBT in my mind the system CAN be seriously profitable... IF USED as I have verified it for quite a while. I am starting to wonder if Cybertetics.. NLP... and what not actually work though I haven't tried them. Has anyone at this depth ever escaped??
Ironically... I trade more if I begin the day with losses. I trade MUCH less or not at all if I am in profit, not wanting to "spend" any of it. Quite diabolical really... trading more when losing and less when winning.. THIS may be at the core of my issues... As account grows my risk appetite drops.. Just wish that should be at a much higher level.
It is not fear. It is DOUBT. If the signal can be represented by an algorithm, code it and convert it to a system in a program like eSignal. Then there is NO DOUBT. The SYSTEM made the decision. YOU are just following orders by punching Buy or Sell with wild gleeful abandon. Trust me on this. It is what I did.
I don't trade large. I know a guy that trades with a 50k account but he cannot leave the screen with $50 at risk.
I would seriously love to do this but how do you automate a fluid Price Level based system? (No indicators involved)
I cancelled 2 orders today, and I hear you. Fear is one of the 4 Kemdo sword fighting negatives. Fear, confusion, indecision and surprise. Hard to fight it. I was in vegas recently, and decided to try and gamble a little, because I was thinking it might help to get used to taking a risk. It wasn't easy, and although I made a little money, and was ahead, I stopped at that point and didn't feel good, even though I was ahead.
What about getting a friend/family member, etc to place trades for you? You do all the analysis and they simply throw the orders on when you tell them? Obviously this won't work if you are trading small time frames, but maybe this would be the small disconnect you need?
You see SOMETHING! WTF is is that you SEE? You are not a fucking intuitive genius who reads the mind of Bitch Market. She is flashing you some kind of squirrel shot. Figure out what the pattern is.
That's a great idea. I actually trade better with my wife around. She notices changes in my mannerisms when I get excited or nervous. Then she asks questions like, "Where are you in the market?" or "What's the most likely thing to happen?" Things that cause me to focus on the system and doing it right rather than my earnings. Meanwhile, I do a bit of writing on the subject of psychology for trading. Here's a short paper on Emotion Management you might find helpful.