2. taking a 2 point profit vs a 10 point profit doesnt really feel that much less/better and flipped that much greater. 3. taking a profit say 3 ticks on a 5 lot which is 1.5 points or 75 dollars than say making 5 points on a 1 lot. eventhough 5 points is 250 dollars profit. it feels better to be RIGHT on more contracts even if less money made so your dealing with right and wrong instead of profit and loss. see the difference. this is theoretical trading psychology yeah i made it right now i thought about it for years though. right wrong are emotions profit loss are numbers no emotion on the loss side it is much more complex and those feelings of loss cut deep no matter what dollar amount. but the size and the timing really matter same example. 1 lot you are down2 ticks or 25 bucks. u dont take it..it drops 4 points. ur down 400 then u exut when down 600. n mkt reverses. u feel badly but your glad ur out. thats a feeling glaness. describe all day long on a sheet of paper your thoughts and the feeling in a 1 word list then see how much emotuon is really running your trades! so taking bigger losses feels less painful emotionally than taking quick losses again emotions.
Not exactly. How's this for a story. So I go long in Dec MNQ yesterday before the open. My target is at a level, ~70 points up. I watched the T&S window/price ladder. My limit exit price became the ask. It was right there. it was RIGHT THERE! IT WAS RIGHT THERE!!! I was staring at it, and could have pulled that target down a couple points to make the new ask, so a bidder would have hit it. I did it many times in the past, but I did not do it yesterday. And what happened shortly thereafter? The NQ/MNQ proceeded to drop ~700 points from my exit price. By EOD it almost got back, but not quite enough. Position is down, oh, I dunno, 200 points or so. You want an emotional roller coaster, there you go. But don't try to couch everyone's scenario as a better/worse situation, because for everyone the scenarios and/or emotional states are different. NOTHING pisses me off more than the situation above. I can take the "Well, I entered a position and it immediately fell, that is the nature of the swinging." What I HATE HATE HATE is when my target is basically touched, and for the rest of the day the position disintegrates at a velocity that makes people's hair stand on end.
overnight, appreciate the lengthy post however im not sure if you are venting a little, sharing some psychological mkt reaction experience which was good, or if you want a critique of what that style of trading sounds like on the surface. but aporeciate the share and anyone who traded thurs or friday felt that same velocity many of those same emotions many felt them anf corrected the problem and many didnt. some were prepared and some were not some were immersed in long bias and bathing on it as their accounts got cooked on bull soup as the bears slurped from the edges. But funny isnt it the new explanation the one they want you to believe. the one they want you to tell everyone to believe. the one that all fake tradere and so called online gurus are chatting up. yes of course softbank. what a crock of bullshit. the mkt is weak and they are unloading massive qty to the 401ks the pensions the day traders and people keep buying. we lost 10% in 2 days maybe more from high to low. thats volatility on almost no news. imagine real news or something bad and tangible outside of just mkt buys n sells a shock you know. liquidity will evaporate like dry ice in a punch and then who will they blame? not the fed not the gov. they wil blame you and me and the robin hooders not the big banks the real culprits but sure volatility has risen and its going to a bumpy ride into elections so buckle up and for value of your dollars overnight looks like you need some risk management.
im down to debate nicely the finer points of the point you were making about emotions and how everyones are different. i agree but i think they are more the same than different. most of is still recognize funny right. the same funny might me laugh and might make you yawn but yhe underlying factor is we both recognize the funny
my entire reason for showing random people traders onlookers whoever the part about small loss vs big loss was that sure it does feel different for everyone but how deeply have you analyzed your own feelings under mkt participation. how or where ru down x or down xx or up x or up xxxx..i mean if ur not running a reproducible a+b= c in your trades then you are discretionary and that is what opens the door to constant emotions and up and down. so i was trying to point out readily that selling quickly with a small loss right after putting on the trade may be more difficult than selling that same trade later at a bigger loss. eventhough losing feels tereible sometimes stopping the huge pain is easier and feels better actually than taking that small loss. lets assume people are motivated by good feelings that we are good seeking like we are for our drugs n sugary foods or salty foods we seek them out we are motivated to have them make us feel good. stay with me here..so there is almost no feeling of good at all when u initially out on a trade and 30 seconds later u are out at a small loss. eventhough that is good on paper! however if you seek out feeling good and you avoid taking that small loss and it grows bigger you now have more emotion put into that trade more of your time and analysis is involved. you dont want to let it go because man then it proves you were wrong a real loser. a nad trader. everyone was right oh crap im going to be part of the 90% who lose! But you say it looks ok im down pretty bad but it feels like its going up and many times it does and u feel good again for holding but if it drops and you double your loss you are now not actually seeking out to stop the bad. you are searching to feel good again and guess what is going to make you feek good again. finally selling on that big loss at the bottom. now that u lost 10 points instead of 4 ticks you feel good taking that big loss initially but right after like a sugar high you crash n realize how your account is screwed and maybe no matter how much u study or tweak that the problem might be you and your emotions which is exactly what it is for me and the 90%