============ Kson ; Also had an amazing consistency as a new trader also; very hard , consistant,time taking losses properly also. Figure you will learn, because you have to; or simply blow/run account into nothing/negative. What helped me a lot, write a detailed business trading plan[like a SIGNED CONTRACT]; a loss not taken, allowed to get bigger is, a STINKING,STINKING,STINKING, unnecessary BUSINESS expense!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Pause & think about that.
Losses? How much are you willing to lose before you throw the towel in? Do you have a set amount to trade with i.e. 10K, and when it's gone, it's gone and thats it! Or do you pump money into an account on a weekly/monthly basis? Where does it all end? Nobody! No doctors, no professional traders have ever written a book about the amount of time it takes each and every individual person to learn the markets. Can the learning curve fit everybody in such an exact way that it actually makes sense to an individual at any given time? Losses are just the tip of the iceberg. The doctors and professionals will tell you what to think, ask them how long it will take before you realise thier 'promises'? See what answer you get from the PHD's then? What am i trying to say? Any idiot knows or should know when they are getting into hot water. DON'T DO IT! People can't help themselves.
Excuse me. Are you talking to someone here or what? If you have something of value to say, now would be the time to say it. So far I am not impressed. Do you trade? or just type for a living? We have a special section for you if it is the latter. It is called "Chat".. Try it. There are a few others there who talk to themselves. Maybe you can all get together and post simultaneous word salad. See ya Steve
Steve. 1300 and odd posts? Shut up, matey! You should be the last shouting about 'meaningful posts'? How many of your posts have meant anything?
Ah British: No wonder you are so ruuude. Well sweetheart that tells me everything. What we know from experience here, is that brits who come on strong but have no real comment to make are often crossdressing hairstylists, who happen to have bought a new computer. You sound quite like one of them to me. So, we know you don't trade, you have nothing of real value to say here and you like to type and see your boring comments on the screen. Yes, I can see you are going to be my entertainment for the weekend. Talk to you later darling. Steve try to stay on the subject.
Steve, you need to calm down. I hope you don't trade like a nervous wreck? Come on, let's be ammicable, here? Stevie, this is not you!
ksonsinc, I've struggled with this problem as well. I win a very high percentage of my trades, and because of that I've let myself get sloppy with stops in the past. The downside to a high winning percentage is a long learning curve on taking losses gracefully. Unfortunately, I've had a couple of cases where a trade with no stop has run away from me, and I've sat there a like a lump watching the loss grow and money drain out of my account. One of the worst things that can happen is to have a horrible trade come back to even because you held on to a loser. There eventually will be a trade that just doesn't come back in any reasonable timeframe and your equity will suffer hugely. What I've concluded is that I'm still green enough that I can't always trust myself to close the tap on a losing trade. I now have a sign taped to the bottom of a monitor that asks "Where's your stop?". Even though scalping requires quick decision making, I now pick my target and my stop before I put on the trade so I'm clear on the risk/reward equation before I pull the trigger. I believe it's helped me to avoid some rotten trades that I probably would have taken in the past. It doesn't make sense to risk $5 for a $1 reward. Assuming my edge is functioning properly, I will never suffer from a small loss. Regards,
What I had learned about not accepting losses is like having two sword that simultaneously stab in the chest. 1. When wrong: losses continue to grow since not exiting, in fact whatever exit or hold, a loss was already built up, it's a real loss. 2. When right: Cut the winning quickly since the scare of losses of what had built up. The attitude in 1) come to play again. Conclusion, always wrong in both 1) & 2). Why? Because the winning trades were sold early (wrong) due to loss aversion attitude. It's easy to know what the right thing to do and the bad thing to avoid, but very hard to implement. Like Wall Street famous phrase: Do as I say, not as I do.