As i am going through my trading journal, i'm trying to pick up my most common mistakes so i can be aware of them in the future. Please, do post some of your flaws. What do you usually do wrong? Which mistakes do you do? What are your flaws? (if you've overcome them, then post what you used to struggle with). OK so here are mine: afraid the trade might turn out as a loss(fear of uncertainty) i don't look at multiple timeframes for confluence prior to making the trade i don't identify key levels in advance(then i'm pissed for not seeing it - being unprepared) i see the potential trade, but don't set limit orders(only to later see it wick into my area) i see something happening, but i don't act on it(and it turns out exactly as anticipated, but i'm left empty-handed) Not listening to intuition having no self-belief, not trusting myself looking at Twitter for trade ideas, which impacts my bias and makes me doubt my trades(i tend to think others know better than i do) reluctant to take the trade, but if the idea is shilled by my friends, i'm very quick to put the risk on not looking at correlated trading pairs for confluence/cues too focused on micro-timeframes(you can get lost in the chop) looking for a perfect entry and insane multiplier RR risking a lot to make litlle anticipating/predicting too much, instead of just trading level to level Imagining too much what will happen, instead of being more reactionary too focused on the breakout/final move, when i could've scalped the range for great profits instead not keeping track of recent big movers for relatively easy trades after the trade fails or succeed, i don't keep track of the ticker for new potential trades when the market is trending, i'm reluctant to chase, i don't want to buy first support, then i usually buy deep retracements after the trend has already turned against and it dumps on me Not letting the winners run(taking profits quickly)
Wanting to be in the market instead of waiting for the right time. Most trades I plan go well, and losses on them are typically limited. I get reamed when I want to be in the market for the sake of it. Like playing a bad hand in poker just to stave off the boredom of waiting.
I think I specialized too much. Studied micro structure, auction theory, market making, derivatives, pro trader techniques, and every kind of basic trading theory/techniques there ever was. I obsessed over quant finance, advanced hedging, statistics, programming, history of markets and even taught myself the theory of stochastic processes and the modern day applications to financial markets and trading. I earned a degree in mathematics high honors and love math more than anything. Not cut out for research though (there is no money in it unless you are a traditional student). I figure getting the edge on US equities has to be easier than winning the millennium prize. I am starting to think that I neglected swing trading too much. Even though I don't need to do that, can't help but feel like an idiot because I feel like I have no edge on longer term time frames. I just don't trust any kind of analysis on medium to long term time frames. Doesn't matter what it is.
Same, except my degree is in Computer Science with a minor in Mathematics. I've gone from reading every book on option trading theory to just doing it and the results are finally showing themselves. I only build what I need now, nothing more and nothing less. I guess it came down to accepting that I am a retail and while I leverage my knowledge of math and computer science to make informed trades on volatility and such, the amount of actual "hard computation" needing to be done is very limited. It's more just learning market sense now, and for that I consider myself still a beginner in the option trading world.
mr orbit23 mine lately - lack of focus while futzing with elitetrader, lol. which of course leads naturally to missing entry triggers. there's two. measured error log valuable as a trade log. hey, the list you've made - if you could eliminate the four most destructive of the bunch, which four would those be? salute!
Or adding too much too winners to have them charge the other way and the nice winner turned quickly into a big loser