Whether it's refining your automated system, refining your mental hangups, working out a new system, or just studying a new market, what are you currently trying to improve?
1) cutting losses faster 2) holding into winners longer 3) going with the trend more often. don't be afraid of big powerful trends..
Exits. It's always exits: I don't think there's been a time during the last 4-5 years that I wouldn't have answered this question with the word "exits".
Indeed; if there is a trend, the odds that you are going to "catch the knife" and get the turn perfectly are much slimmer than the odds you'll catch a little bit more of the momentum.
Jumping on opportunities on time. I've had a few good reads but don't pull the trigger and miss the breakout (case in point, night of Trump's win there were several sectors I knew were heading up). Didn't help that I had most of my cash tied in Fidelity and had not started an IBB account. Also, sizing the stop loss/limit gap on protections. Keep getting kicked out of profits because I'm not willing to risk more.
The systems and methodologies, nothing, they are all in place. The problem is the third party backend systems such as brokers and platforms. They are failing, Bloomberg just went down today. Any trade is only as good as the weakest link, for most people that link is themselves, our systems are too well tuned, they show up third party, and in one case systematic, flaws. Working around them is difficult because you have to build in for unknowns, so we've built everything ourselves to date. But wanted to avoid launching a platform and setting up a prime brokerage, looks like that cannot be avoided any more. Which on writing this now explains why the broker deleted confirmed stops, the methodology places targeted trades with 20% return on a single rt with a few percent risk. And of course the brokers make their money in rts, been wondering for a few weeks why they did that, now all makes sense. Fortunately we'll be the only one with that problem, always good to answer your own question.