Excellent points you made... I only have a few hard and fast rules... the remainder are pinciples and standards I seek to diligently apply to my trading thereby trusting my experience, instincts and trader intuition by allowing for some discretion. The 'few' rules I refer to are ones to deal with situations that have gotten me into the most trouble repeatedly... and thus a need to have some codification and a more mandatory edict on trading in given circumstances. As you note trust is a large factor in honoring any trading code... and needs to be tweaked as a trader "grows" and perhaps even to suit different market conditions. Iceman
If I break any rules I have set forth, I hit my shin into something really hard, it hurts like a bitch, I cry and then I know that next time I won't be breaking anymore rules. It's easy. Try it, hit your knee into something also, that works well OR you can ask someone to hit you as hard as he/she can. If it's a she, you're not allowed to wear protective gear on your parts. HEY, you broke the rules remember ? Take it ez, and remember: breaking the rules will break your bank account.
LOL If it's all the same to you, I'll stick to my written Trade Logs, Daily Trading Inventory and Screenshots to track and weed out my mistakes - you are way to hardcore for me. I flog myself mentally bad enough for the chronic mistakes without letting some chick kick my nuts over it. Smiles, Paul
Kind of depends on whether you lost on the trade, won on the trade, or...failed to make the trade. For me, failing to make the trade is the biggest killer, and the most frustrating. I missed four points today on 2 trades, because I let fear enter into my thinking. I trade sharp pullbacks, and know full well that generally my trades trigger at the maximum point of fear in the market. But even with full knowledge of the situation, as humans the fear factor is so strong in our basic wiring, we still often flinch. Then we sit on our hands while the chart prints five 60 minute up bars, like it is laughing right in our faces. Now, that's frustrating.
Chop off a finger every time you break your rules...eventually if you break your rules 10 times, you won't even be able to press the buy and sell buttons anymore. Seriously, one of the best things you can do after breaking one of your rules is to step back from the market and re-assess yourself...are there underlying psychological issues you are going through, either in your trading or in your personal life? If you have to, take a day or two off from trading...breaking your rules is often a sign of trader's fatigue. In other words, carelessness due to burnout. Take a break to "recharge your batteries". PEG LEG JOE
You evaluate your rules and whether that system is even for you. If you keep finding yourself exiting early, then you're probably a scalper at heart. Anything else would be painful to trade.