i learned how to trade futures and now i LOVE it! i am filled with hope for the future. i understand my emotions and don't let them interfere with my trading. i understand that when i read trading books before going to bed at night, it helps motivate me to be the trading warrior the next day. since i started doing this, my trading has improved tremendously, as has my confidence. although i think that, personality-wise, alexander elder is a little harsh, i like his whole AA likened to losers anonymous rap. "i have it in me to be a loser...." etc. i like his power of positive thinking shpiel, which to me is just confidence-building. i also like his advice that, when you're on a losing streak, just stand aside. i think he has helped me trade, but i guess if i could credit someone with starting me on the road to trading futures, it would be gary (alias 4re) on et. his thread helped me to build confidence to start trading futures. although i don't use his method, following his thread helped me to get started, so if you're out there gary, thanks!
Good topic. So far this year I've made 582 stock trades, this was my 5th year trading stocks full time. 4 trades accounted for over 75% of my profits. Last year I made 1397 stock trades (didn't look at my largest winners). This year I made approximately 4 times what I made last year. Less = more. From the beginning of the year I forced myself to only take trades that I *knew* had a good chance of working, in return for lower frequency I allowed myself larger size. This worked and I'll be further refining this method. Lesson learned: selectivity+size pays. I am not a very good futures trader yet (after 1.5 years). I was unable to adapt to the elasticity. I am very good at holding winners, however I do not take profits properly when trading futures. I was net profitable in futures but only by a small margin. My commission was 6x my profits, which is very poor performance. Lesson learned: high risk to reward trades are much more difficult to find in the futures markets. In terms of my psychological makeup, I do not know if I am comfortable with making this mental shift so as to allow 2:1 or lesser R/R. I am likely going to focus more on what I'm good at and get better at it, i.e. trading stocks. The moves are much more inefficient in stocks than futures.
That is also my most important lesson this year. I also moved out my timeframe to where I am holding things from 2-10 days (not very popular around here, I know). I learned that I can spend 20 minutes a day adjusting my positions and then spend the rest of the day doing something besides frying my nerves watching squiggly lines form. I originally started trading like this just temporarily because of some other time commitments I had in the short term, but those commitments are going away in a few weeks, and I'm not planning on changing back to my old ways. I also learned that I trade better without looking at charts, strangely enough. I go weeks at a time where the only chart I look at is the S&P chart on the main yahoo finance page.
I learned that: 1. If you dont understand business / economics, be careful when trying to trade the news. Now technical analysis accounts for over 90% of my trade decisions. 2. I learned that day trading is not for me. L2 and time and sales confuses the hell out of me, indicators become choppy, and a day trader has to use tons of capital to profit off small gains. 3. Playing earnings is dangerous business. 4. "Commodity stocks" , like gold, are a pain in the ass to trade 5. Gut feelings should not be ignored 6. Not setting stops is the best way to lose money 7. More knowledge cant hurt trading performance 8. Chart patterns can sometimes have more influence than indicators (GROW) 9. The burned hand is the one that teaches best 10. Dont forget to have fun. CM69
I confirmed that market volatility is the biggest key for my trading success. During the months of May, June and July, I had some of the best months I've seen in years. The rest of the year was mediocre. I'm hoping for increased volatility to return to the markets in early 2007 and stick around for a long time.
that when you think you will never find an edge again and see volatile markets again ... voila ! they can be seen again kachingo !!!