What was the ***last*** thing you had to master before becoming profitable?

Discussion in 'Psychology' started by Kovacs, May 27, 2009.

  1. bating
     
    #301     Jan 9, 2017
  2. algofy

    algofy

    The lines grizzlybull tried to sell me in PM
     
    #302     Jan 9, 2017
  3. Fear and greed are emotions felt when you don’t have specific rules in place. Follow your rules, and the only way to have confidence in them is to test them. I had to master this.
     
    #303     Jan 10, 2017
  4. Practicing risk management is essential to trading successfully. Some traders ignore this only to run into one loss after another.
     
    #304     Jan 10, 2017
    murray t turtle likes this.
  5. Turveyd

    Turveyd

    For Stocks yes, for day trading I'm all in on every trade cause I can be, hard to manage that risk at all.
     
    #305     Jan 10, 2017
  6. %%
    Good one; LOL. Unless Jim Rogers is on-- not real often. One market maker said , others get the news before i do[ better things to do]Great 2009 quote ;still up to date
     
    #306     Jan 10, 2017
    comagnum likes this.
  7. Amen. The reason that is so important, even if [ IF]someone could hit 80% all the time , could still be wrong 20 month$ in a row. NOT saying that is the way it will work ;but it could work that way................................................................................................The turtle$ made plenty of money with a low[lower%%] hit rate. Good one Co- magnum
     
    #307     Jan 10, 2017
  8. It's 2017. never forget that after deciding what position to open, it is also important to identifying the exit points in a trade, whether it is profitable or not.
     
    #308     Jan 11, 2017
  9. KDASFTG

    KDASFTG

    Greetings BobbyJ,

    You Said: Never forget that after deciding what position to open, it is also important to identifying the exit points in a trade, whether it is profitable or not.

    Commentary: It’s an interesting quick point that you’re making here about identifying your exit after you enter. But I must question whether you were attempting to make a blanket statement across all the different types of trading. However, if this was indeed the case and your statement was for all types of trading, I must disagree with your statement. But as a long time student of the markets, I would be interested in learning about the line of reasoning that forms the basis of your point, because as opposed to your point, I learned:

    “It should be a standard procedure that a daytrader always identify their precise exit point before they enter into a trade”.

    Here are the reasonings that supports this statement:

    1. In daytrading, if one enters the trade first, immediately after the entry, one has to mentally shift their "center of focus" to the determination of “what qualifies” as a loss in this particular trade, since they obviously haven’t already pre-planned a precise exit point. This selection of a loss point could be as a result of any number of arbitrary factors, and some factors may later be shown to have little to do with the actual trade at hand. This unwitting routine procedure introduces an element of "randomness" into ones trading routine. If they haven’t already pre-planned this exit point, one also has to wonder about the kind of criteria that was used to determine their overall Risk to Reward Ratio and Trade Expectancy.

    2. Typically while daytrading, and especially in today’s markets, one may not have the time to think and decide about where they should exit in a running trade. This can cause confusion. And this potential “trade induced confusion” could result in freezing at the screen while attempting to make a decision and the adverse ever present possibility of opening the door to any number of trading “fears”, while at the same time in the act of trading.

    3. Again, the consistent and routine use of an entry procedure such as this, due to frequent, abruptly, and instantaneous price spikes after entry, may have the unfortunate potential to subject the trader to change their focus from the execution of the trade, on to the object of their “fear”. Since fear is a stronger emotion than reason, and since they will be in the very act of reasoning, it is highly likely that their fears will dominant regarding the execution of the trade, and will percolate to the top of their consciousness. And this fear may become their center of focus as the most predominant “issue” in their mind, and not the execution of their trade.

    4. In daytrading, since one should only be at the screen only when one is ready to execute. And anything that is in this routine, that is a matter of routine which forces the trader to have to, “Think While Trading”, has been proven to be hazardous to ones Account Equity. And obviously, with a constant and never ending concern over ones account equity, this is never an ideal state of mind for longevity in trading.

    Again, out of a curiosity to learn, if your statement was in fact meant to cover all types of trading, I am interested the line of reasoning that forms the basis of your point in the daytrading arena.

    Big Thanks,

    KDASFTG
     
    Last edited: Jan 11, 2017
    #309     Jan 11, 2017
    Alpha Trader likes this.
  10. Thank you very much KDASFTG.
    I quite agree with everything you have written. “It should be a standard procedure that a day trader always identifies their precise exit point before they enter into a trade”. FX veterans understand this and have an exit strategy mapped out before they get into the trade. But the point of emphasis from my last post was that quite a number of traders, especially beginners, who fail to recognize their exit point is shocking. And you know problems arise when the market starts moving and the decision to exit is determined by the emotions of the trader rather than solid analysis.
     
    #310     Jan 12, 2017