Started doing things opposite to text book theory. Average down; take profits quick; over position size when I thought "this is it"; only buy when prices are cheap; only short when prices are high; don't use stops.
Forgot to add that I never control emotions. The controlled "master trader" oblivious to heavy losses is a lot of BS. When I take a heavy loss I decimate calculators and monitors. I have worked in a number of trading arcades and I have seen some of the best of them curse and swear to no end bashing their fists into the furniture in a rage.
you start out with one setup, and the hard part is sitting on hands for sometimes days ,without making a trade,til that setup presents itself,as you gain setups,there are more chances ,but the hard part is still sitting on hands,when you don't,you lose,so to stop losing,you have to realize how important that step is, especially now when the volatility rises and the moves are quicker
Your post really does scope and bound the conditions, circumstances and situations you have created for yourself to have to deal with. Everyone empathizes with your plight and viewpoint. everyone should work thoroughl to define just where they are situated. I. I know the system of the market. A system has a structure. I know the complete finite structure. The system conducts a process in the structure. I know the complete finite process. the process in the structure delivers the offer of the market as the market's operating results. I take the full offer of the market. The standard of performance is to compare the full offer of the market to your "take". This is a multiple of the ATR. 2. My Alma Mater uses the motto "Knowledge and Thoroughness". As a scientist and engineer, I follow this admonition. I work in a routine that is a SOP. I work in parallel with the market in a timely manner. By annotating and logging, I always "know that I know". My performance is at 100% and in synch with the the market. Thus I take the full offer of the market. Your 19 items do not come up for me as I trade trend segments. 3. Building the bridge to Mastery. I studied "Knowledge and Thoroughness" to be able to percieve how to build the complete system. The trend concept was examined completely. Monitoring and analysis was a requirement. The discovery of the events in a trend led me, directly, to discover that the events follow an order. As an engineer and scientist, it was easy to create a mechanism for knowing how to know the details of all of the n-1 and n events pairs. Trends flow. Trends build themsleves event after event. By examining a flow of events it is possible to work back from the end of a tend to its beginning. by completing this deduction it is possible to "know I know" in real time as a trends build in real time. Mastery comes from one engineering task. the task is doing work. Work is an engineering term that involves expending energy to accomplish a task. My task was to build a complete spectrum of knowldege for the operation of the market system. This process, at first, is a manual process. At some point, it becomes an automatic process. I notice no one who poasted in this thread has gotten to the automated part. since there is no experience, of this, then it may not be possible to understand either. at some point the spectrum is framed and most of its components are consciously there. For you, you just have a formal list of 19 gaps in the spectrum. you also couch them as negative contexts. the mind does not store negatives it turns out. I the expresssion: "don't fall down on the ice", the mind has only one picture. yes you can view it eeach time you read the quotes. you cannot change the picture stored in your mind. I use a spectrum that is storable in the mind. I work in terms of space, shapes and shape movement. These are the three most powerful ingredients of the perception that comes from merging sensing and inference. So building the manual part of the spectrum of the system of operation of market come first. As one sleeps, the unconscious and conscious are merged in this spectrum. when a goodly postrion is done, then the mind, at night while you sleep, begins to focus on the welding together of the weakest parts. The mind then gives you a conscious wakeup call, daily, after this tipping point is reached. this call from the mind directs your interests to the answers to the question the mind is raising in a seemingly spontaneous manner. Examine this from your history in another field. If you have had the experience, look particularly at the events of time with a noobie very naive partner in the world of relationships. Getting new ideas is this mind automation concept. A spectrum of ideas became long term organized memory. To fill in the gaps, is an automation mind job. you post your status. You reveal the gaps that your mind is NOT taking care of. Why does not your mind work while you sleep to fill the gaps. It is trying its utmost. You may see spuratic progress occassionally. BUT ..... I feel most people can ID with you much more easily than they can ID with me. The spectrum of traders has a central mode where you post you are at. So your type uses stats to see if you are getting better or worse. You do not perform as yet as you say. To become a master it is very important to avoid the 19 pitfalls you HAVE. this avoidance comes by working in a systemic context. Is there any possiblity that you can formalize item 1. under the true topic of the system of the market's operation? speaking statisitcally, probably not. Too bad.
jack, your post is off topic so i shall follow suit. jack, you never went to college but pretend you did. you have read a ton of books. you posses a lot of knowledge. you were raised in a small town. you live in a small town. you have an inferiority complex. no offense intended. your posts beg such a response.
I try to control my emotions during the trades because I know emotions are not good for trading and I can loose all my money if i can not control my emotions.
For me a master trader is someone who has learned to be completely detached from the outcome of each trade. This is indeed the most difficult thing to do, that's why trading is such a difficult (but highly rewarding) business.