This statement is a piece of crap. Never blame someone else for your mistakes. Part of becoming a winner is excepting the responsibility of your mistakes and learning from them. If you keep a journal, analyze it; you might find the problem there. Also, as mentioned, take a few days off and trade with smaller size when you come back. If your still not profitable, paper trade for a while till you are.
What do you do when you take a big hit in the markets? I don't take big hits anymore. I stopped hoping and started using stops. I use stops and honor them. Individual trade stops, daily loss stops and weekly loss stops (if need be).
ditto for me too... however, from time to time, the 'evil me' sticks his head out of the cage, where I put him in, to whisper in my ear and move my hands : " ...Psst! Doji ! ... Cancel the stp loss, don't get fool by a little a jiggle!... sssss...." And after I take a big loss, I could hear him laughing out loud in his cage ! Cheers!!
Ah the reason why traders can't make the big bucks. Handling the big losses is a tough thing, but you have to overcome it. Never lose sight of the bigger picture. It is not the daily p&l that matters but the year end. Last January I had my first losing month, who am I kidding I had my head handed to me. It took me 3 month to get my groove back. That butt kicking made a better trader. Once you lose confidence, you are done. Gertsman
"Ah the reason why traders can't make the big bucks..." Gertsman, I have to disagree. As you are well aware, it isn't necessary to take huge risks. It's only important to be consistent. It's a cliche day for me, so I'll say, "There's more than one way to skin a cat," but I'm afraid some of the Southeast Asian traders might take me literally. Although I happen to know your "first losing month" was a doozy, you did recover nicely (perhaps an understatement). Let's review unmarried young Gertsman's vehicle purchases in '02: BMW M3 Cadillac Escalade (because, "it's too cold here in the winter to drive the Beemer"). I've heard you say, and I know you believe, "I LOVE losing money." I just think this strategy is going to eventually end badly, because of the ever increasing position sizes. I hope not, because I really admire your cockiness.
well, i know where you are coming from. i was on my way to having my first 20K month (and i took the first week of Jan off) until friday the 31st i lost 8K. I lost 9K in one position, made 2K trading but after costs i lost 8 K. It was a crushing blow to my pride and my goals- i have never lost even close to that much before and it made me realize that even though i had been doing really well up until that point, the reason i took that huge loss is becuase i didn't honor my stop loss (-1000) and i didn't trade my plan. also, I had a 4000 share position in a stock i never traded before. big mistake, I know i can make it back, but the loss, as badly as it hurt me, was an education to stick to my stops, my plan and my discipline. If you lose a lot of money, you damn well better learn from it and never let it happen again- I know I sure won't lose over 3K in a day again- that is my new limit to quit trading for the day.
I hope it is when my P+L goes slightly neg for the day that is when I should stop trading or go really small again ... so hard to do though ...