I took some genetics in grad school. During the course we discussed Klinefelter's (Syndrome) at length. Up until the mid-70s there were no documented cases of men (with the syndrome) fathering children. AFAIK there still aren't any. You have kids (plural), correct? Adopted, right?
There is no "last" thing. It's not like you do this one thing, the light switches on and it stays on forever. Far from it.
being ok with the loss i just made, i always tried to cover it with the next trade even it was out of my strategy. That's why i'm coding to get my emotions out of the trading and leave it to intelligent robot
As the OP said, there's no last thing you mastered. But you eventually learn from your mistakes and CHANGE for the better. And over time, you will make less and less of your dumb mistakes. Then you'll get steady profits though the big losses can always happen if you are not vigilant. For the longest thing I was constantly countertrend trading. Not that counter trend does not work. It does work, but you gotta know when to countertrend and when to trade with the trend. That's the billion dollar question But in some cases, it's obvious it's in a big trend. Today with ZW (wheat futures) it was moving so fast and downward. For years and years, I was AFRAID of BIG POWERFUL TREND (either up or down). I was afraid of entering those kinds of trends. I like the steady up or steady downward trends better. I'm still somewhat afraid of the big trends too. But my secret to that fear is ENTERING in the big trend EARLY when it's not as violent in its movement! Like today I enter it just when it was about to move. And once it did its violent moves I just sat back and wait and enjoy the ride. So as Brett Steenbarger, the trading psychologist suggested, to get rid of your bad habits you gotta find something good to replace it. You gotta accommodate yourself. Earlier on in my trading days, I would constantly lose BIG TIME in these big trend days. I would always countetrend. Not even waiting for a bounce to get in. And worst yet, I would ADD to loser thinking it would go up. I've blown a few accounts that way in the beginning(small accounts). But of course, it would just go lower and lower and creating HUGE losses that would wipe out my meager gains during those early days. The same goes up POWERFUL uptrends. I would SHORT it and get RUN over by the herds! But today, I saw the pattern and in my head and RECOGNIZED it to be one of the patterns that I used to get killed in. So, I went with the trend and SHORTED at almost the perfect spot. Good entry. check! Then more importantly, I HELD ONTO my short position and rode it all the way down! That was the most cathartic experience. The pain of all those early days of ignorance, stupidity, poor risk management, etc. went away. I conquered one of my worst trading habits. I FELT FREE! The money wasn't that much. But the feeling of conquering one of your worst trading habits was a feeling of elation. But there's always MORE bad habits to change. So, good entry check. Holding onto winners. Check! Exit. That's always hard. So, I know from spending thousands of hours of screentime during the early part of my losing trading career(not career since I no longer trade fulltime. But today I was on PTO and decided to get in a few hours of trading. hehe.) that it will go even lower from the DAILY chart. But intraday, my daytrader instincts tell me to get out near "bottom" since there might be a small reversal or bounce coming up. But I said the daily chart looks so good. So, I held on. It came back a little. Then continue to go down. Then started to really come back. That's when the tension between my intraday minute reading chart and my daily chart reading fighting against each other. I had 10 POINTS on the ZW. I let it come back to 5pts and got out. Still a very good trade of 5 points. But of course, after i exit it resumed it downtrend trend as my DAILY chart reading would say. ACK!!! Went down another 8 pts after I exit at the reversal. So, that's the next area I need to work on: Protect open profits especially if I'm daytrading. When you are at your maximum gain intraday, then get out! At the earliest sign of trend reversal get out even if the DAILY CHART is good and downward trend. Because I can't stand the heat when it reversed and I get out at a bad price even though I "know" it might resumed its downward trend but I want to bank something. So, here are some ideas I need to work on getting better at my exits: 1) either believe your daily chart and hold on longer. 2) Learn to be more deft. Get out on the 1min chart. And RE-SHORT when it comes back up and start rolling down again. 3) Ultimate Goal: Cover at intraday lows (or highs when longs) and GO LONG again and then RESHORT. Aww.. Holy Grail. The reason I don't want to go re-long because years of failing at countertrending trying to catch a falling knife have led me to create rules against counter trend to protect myself. I still countertrend when the pattern is very sure. I'm happy regardless. Overcoming one's bad trading habits is an amazing feeling. I'm still working on my trading. I give myself 5-10yrs to get to a point where I would say I have succeed in this area. The reason I give myself such a long time is because I work fulltime in another profession. But everyday that I'm making progress is a good day. I'm not even concerned about how much I'm making from my small account trading. I want to get my trading habits to be consistent and correct. I want to work out all the kinks in my trading. Then I can scale! Once you are consistent and know how to stay out of trouble and do the right things, the money will come easily. Good luck my fellow traders! It's a long journey but it's doable and achievable!
The other thing you have to master(actually probably the very 1st thing you should master) is CUT YOUR LOSSES!!! Yesterday, I had a small backslide into countertrend trade. But I cut my losses fast so it was not much damages. But then I short at the lows and got whipsawed. Another thing to master. Patience. Find the sweet spot to enter. For that to happen you gotta be patient. "It never was my thinking that made the big money for me. It always was my sitting. Got that? My sitting tight! It is no trick at all to be right on the market." - Reminiscences of a Stock Operatr He was talking about trend trading and holding onto your winners. Even when you are scalping you gotta be patient to get good entry and exit prices. Whoever says entry is NOT important is pretty sloppy. Yes, I know exits are totally important and determine how much you lose(cut your losses or let them become big) and how much you make (let your winners run). But in many market conditions, a good entry can be a life saver because with a good entry you don't have to sit through so much noise and heat. A lot of people can't sit through all that heat and get out at bad prices. Including myself Both entries and exits are important.
What did I have to master? Me The cause of all my problems before turning profitable? Was me. Trading is a career that is full of seeming contradictions. It's a great life. Freedom. Money. But the emotional and psychological demands it can place on you can be very extreme for some folks. I honestly believe it's why you see so many people crash and burn, or become walking wrecks. At a certain point, and I see this all the time, a new person sometimes sits back and thinks: WHICH IS IT? Their first introduction to the seeming contradiction is: Well, if it's a loss, cut it, and cut it quick. But naturally, you have to be willing to sit through some amount of drawdown. Which progresses to ... Well, if it's a winner, let it ride. But you can also take profits. Which devolves to ... Be humble and willing to learn ... but believe that you can do what other people literally commit suicide trying to learn and do. Believe that you are literally better than everyone else attempting this Be consistent and don't drift ... but always be adaptable and seeking to improve It's fascinating that so many in our species is even capable of doing this really. But learning the nuances between those seeming contradictions? That's when I learned that the problem I was having in resolving such issues? Was me.
One big point that deserves more discussion is that once a trader has "become" profitable - staying profitable is not guaranteed by any means. The only certainty about markets is that they are in a constant state of change, and that most traders are frustrated and downright pissed off about that truth. "The good 'ole days" never last. Staying profitable or at least preserving your capital until your trading system becomes viable again or better yet you have tweaked your system accordingly is an even better question to ask. As mentioned in previous posts, from what I have seen the biggest challenge is to avoid sabotaging your own trading system and rules. Every good trader I have ever seen or taught has exceptional patience, discipline, and the ability to call bullshit on himself. Brutal powers of honest and critical introspection.
That's so well said I want to frame it. Myself, I keep freakishly miticulous records. That in essence, becomes my trading log. Spreadsheets I go through each Friday evening, and I compile my numbers. Teaching helps improve me as well. The numbers, become my guide and I always credit reviewing and knowing those numbers, as to why my performance is as good as it is. But a professional currency trader I know out in NY loves to stress it as the importance of a trading log. He always says his best friend in the world is his trading log. How you feel, and how you think about any trade, before you make it, then being able to review your log later, and do exactly what you said ... Call yourself out when you need called out