when turn recognition replaces guessing, you are there....too much guessing, hence the financial and emotional losses too high.....for most...storm blowing and big trees are falling so I will let fear overcome greed and exit.....I am in hole....sound familiar?
big, there has never been a trader to the best of my knowledge who hasn't suffered severely before finding success...i worked for a man who had bottomless accounts many millions assets and thought hismoneywould do it for him overnight...it didn't happen...i will only tell you not to read me as a pessimist or a antagonist.....i have spent about 10,000 hrs working this stuff and 4 1/2 years emini's only......i have literally cried as an older man shouldn't admit over such crap........i didn't ahve the proper tools such as tradestation or those that would allow backtesting on the fast track....cost of those tools prohibitive for poor folks.. those years also required working for a living....sometimes...sometimes not...waking up @ 3 A.M. with an idea/ideas and getting up to check them out....24/7 dwelling on it......keeping the good and throwing out the bad...posting here and lurking and seeking things to try and the enormous combination of everything in sight....keep the good and chunk the bad....pretty soon, u might have all good all the time.....focus on the market u r comfortable with, DO NO TRADE SYSTEM WITH BAD RISK/REWARD RATIO.....it is possible to discover a system such as mine though I would never recommend going that far with it.....75% is more realistic for most....buy low and sell high ...the trend is your friend....cut losses, let profits run....or just simply set a point target and trade it when you see it on the screen, not discretionary....when u c it on the screen.....10 pts??8?6???who cares, just know that making money beats the crap out of losing....if you can accomplish that, then experience will advance the system as u wish.... DEMO TRADE REALTIME ONLY,,,,,,THIS IS FOR YM INTRADAY TRADER NEVER THROW MONEY @ A TEST OR DEMO... NEVER LIE TO YOURSELF ABOUT WHAT U WOULD HAVE DONE NEVER ANTICIPATE WHAT THE MARKET IS GOING TO DO YOU DON'T KNOW AND SQAWKBOX DOESN'T EITHER TRADE THE SYSTEM THAT U HAVE CONFIDENCE IN THE SHORTER THE CHARTS THE MORE U SEE AND THE MORE THE PICTURES YOU TRADE ON ARENT' THERE AT END OF DAY... WHEN REAL MONEY TRADING STARTS TRADE ONLY 1 CONTRACT FOR A LONG TIME....IF YOU CAN'T BUILD ACCOUNT WITH 1 YOU SURE DON'T WANT TO LOSE IT FASTER....DO YOU? PUT ME ON IGNORE IF I'M TOO MUCH..
porgie, I am still not sure how you can spot a turn and get out at B/E at worst if the trade goes wrong. What is your average draw down? I think we all have to find our own methods of trading. What works for one person probably wont work for another but how do you find out if you don't try?
Big, You hit the nail on the head....volente likes his, i like mine, and we all could come up with systems that work...some better than others and then maybe a different operator could have success with a method that slaughters another...... I am convinced there are hundreds of profitable systems...that win more than lose...I can give you a few dozen myself....but I don't want to make more enemies than my neighbor and my brother, both of whom wanted it instantly....without the sacrifices...
Porgie, I agree with most of what you say and I am working on a few systems of my own. Still interested in the draw down you have with your system. I can get out at B/E on most trades but some of them take the scenic route. I also prefer looking for times when a trend is going to continue or break out, rather than looking for turning points. I tried all sorts of ways to spot turning points but couldn't find anything that worked as well as I wanted it to. While a more systematic approach suits me, I am sure that there are some discretionary traders who are far more than merely gamblers.
Done for the day... +11. Thats actually a good day for me! Oh well... Hopefully the shorts made some serious profit for a few of you. Good trading.