Turns out that the market IS out to get you

But here's the beauty of what I proposed: GO GET A JOB in another area that occupies you, STAY AWAY from the computer and let it do its own thing. STAY PHYSICALLY AWAY working in a different job.

Or depending where you live, work hard on non market hours and SLEEP during the market, letting the computer do the work.

whatever you decide, best of luck for you!

 

lol.. and Bob's your uncle, right? A Ferrari full of coke and hookers shows up at your doorstep.

You make it sound like it's the simplest thing in the world to create and maintain a winning automated strat.

To the member who said you can always work on your discipline, although that may be true, it has become apparent to me, listening to people post here, that not everyone can achieve it.

 

Vespasian

What the hell…….

Why the hell didn’t you pull the trigger to exit?

Why the hell are you trading POT in the first place – especially if you didn’t have a handle on pulling the trigger?

Now why in the hell didn’t you pull the trigger?


If you’re done with this business – leave, and don't look back...– else the same reason you can’t pull the trigger – will be what draws you back in – after some time passes and you fool yourself into believing that you can/ or will with certain – pull the trigger on a loser

You decide to stay – time to buck up and put the responsibility directly where it belongs – you and your damn ego

I consider you a friend and this flat pisses me off – you know better – and I know you know better – obviously we’re both wrong

I wish with all my heart your ego is completely crushed – then maybe you can resurrect a trader


BTW The fact you didn’t know to go long – is immaterial – no real trader “knew” to go long today – OW77 is full of crap


Cuss me out if you're so inclined after reading this

RN

 

There were long and short trades all day today in the market and in all kinds of stocks, including POT. I netted $33K scalping ES in my sim account 90% short plays and 10% long plays. Being able to trade 50 cars a pop in sim was helpful But even 1 car would've provided a great day. Some day I'll start trading this thing live...

I understand exactly what the OP is going through. I get in the way of myself and continually break rules despite having read a dozen great books, having gotten a ton of great advice, and having the ability to trade really well.

Vesp, my husband and I are developing and ATS so I don't have to fight myself every step of the way. I will let him run it when it goes live, because I;m certain if I was watching it, I'd be messing with it non-stop :eek:

 

You haven't quit trying to succeed as a trader Vespian, you've merely stopped at the next mountain that you would have to climb to become one.

The thing is, that mountain is still going to be there, whether you choose to actively pursue a career as a trader or not.

Even if you pursue a career doing something else, to succeed at it you're going to have to apply the same knowledgeable discipline that we all have to apply to succeed as traders ... the only difference is that you will be giving your power over to someone else, whereas, what Redneck Trader is telling you here, it is much better, to keep that power for yourself.

 

Red,

I was hoping you didn't see this thread lol.


Since last time we spoke I went back and simmed for a few months to get my confidence / head right and then went live for 3 solid profitable months with no mistake, only to wake up today and throw it all out the friggin window.

I wish I had an answer to your question but when this happens I swear I'm possessed.

Error 1, Executed at the wrong level = exited fast for a small loss.

Error 2, Entered the trade on the wrong SYMBOL at the right level = exited for a small loss.

Error 3, Chased the right symbol and got a bad fill.

Error 4, Added to the trade when it backed up to lower average cost at the right price.


Error 5, Trade went against me (of course) with double size and did not exit at stop because I "thought" I had miscalculated my resistance levels slightly higher, so I held and when it hit my resistance added again because I was certain it would hold and it did but not nearly as long as I thought they would.


Error 6, trade went against me again and I went into hope mode like a zombie until I could not take the last thrust up and covered.


It seems like there is always a chain of events like this when this happens and while the day plays out I go through short periods where my analysis "looks" spot on only for it too turn on a dime but those short periods lull me into complacency and hope.


Long story but the end result is still the same.


Hope your doing well and give my best to the family.

 

And my best to You and your Family as well Sir


DAMN

 

Thanks for the feedback and I agree and that's what's kept me going for so long but some mountains are easier then others to climb.

At 46 I'm feel like I'm getting too old to scale Everest.

 

You are missing one key thing that you need to be a successful trader. I wrote about it in another thread, but I'll state it here again.

What you need, and what you lack, is a "shut off switch". You need an internal mechanism that makes you STOP TRADING when you are screwing up. It is amazing what a difference a simple half hour break can do. If you had this mechanism, and if you had actually walked away while you were losing, you would have regained your sense of perspective and either come back successfully for the rest of the day or else taken some time off and eventually come back the next day, or the next day after that. Instead you continued to trade and took large losses.

The only advice I could give you is to actually visualize yourself placing a bad/stupid trade. Visualize yourself getting angry about it, and placing another one, causing even more damage to your account. You need to visualize this scenario because it IS going to happen.

Now continue with the exercise, and visualize yourself stopping and walking away. See yourself calming down, and then returning to the computer in a restful state of mind and doing whatever needs to be done.

There is no point in only visualizing positive outcomes and great trades. Those things are important, but if you don't prepare for and practice those times when you are going off the wall, you will not be able to handle them when they occur.

It is ridiculous to expect that you can trade without making mistakes, and equally ridiculous to think that you will never get mad at yourself. The #1 thing that successful traders have is an internal "self monitor", that allows them to analyze themselves (not the market), and stop themselves when they are screwing up.

When you screw up, the goal is not to fix whatever mistake you just made and get the money back, the goal is to make yourself WALK AWAY. You can't possibly fix your mistakes in an emotional state of mind, so step #1 is getting away from the computer.

If you ever decide to trade again, make sure that you spend a heck of a long time visualizing and practicing what I said. You need an internal shut off switch, and if you don't have one naturally, then you'll have to practice getting one. If you can't do that, then for god's sake just walk away from trading because you are 100% doomed without this ability.

(And by the way you're absolutely right, the market IS literally out to get you. It is nothing more than all the other traders in the world doing actions that are specifically designed to screw you over and part you from your money.)

 

If there was a "Credit" key here I'd be crediting FB123's post.


Building the habit of stopping after an event is one of the most important in trading. If emotions affect you at all, positive or negative, you must learn to stop.

Also, slowing down the trades and keeping the max number per day very low are highly recommended.