Some suggestions please

I always been a long term trader in stocks, and recently started trading just daily spot gold against the USD index and for the past 14 days i had managed to increase my portfolio by 120% but this morning the market was so slow, and i lost the control,entered even it wasn't in a trend and lost all the hard for from the past 2 weeks
Just wondering how does any of you experienced guys manage to control your emotion so that you can maintained your profit thru hard trading days? and can control yourself to keep away from non profitable trades?? to maintain a positive profit balance til the end of the month?

Sorry that i am quite inexperienced so hopefully i am not asking a very stupid question.
Thanks
Clark

The first thing we experienced guys do is not trade as big as it sounds like you've been doing. A gain of 120% in two weeks screams too much risk (or extreme luck). If you cut back there is should make things less nervy.

ok thanks for the advice i dont really know if my trades are that big but in terms of money i only use around £30 totally because i am learning and practicing. I am trading with IG index i don't know at all are there traders that can make a living out of trading on financial spread bet. I just use £2-£3 pounds per points and trying to fold it as many times as i can. I don't really know what is the average or rough gain for financial spread betting. But thanks for your advice i will go read some of the trading journals hope i can learn from everyone

Thanks again for the advice

I hope you're not deluged with the same advice now in different forms but for me the battle has been with discipline, not the unpredictable markets. You have to know 100% what you will do, even though you can only know 50% what the market will do.

I have had to discipline myself to very simple trades, one per day, with minimum of variables and plan them in detail. So -
1) I know what I need to see in Monday's market: if I don't see that picture, Monday will be a no-trade day, like today
2) I know what I will do regardless of what price does because I know where my two exits will be - the target and the stop
3) I know already how much I can win or lose on Monday in £ and therefore as a % of capital. Your % losses per trade should be kept under tight control so that event the worst conceivable run of losses will not prevent you from using the surviving capital to recoup the losses, based on statistics, not luck. In the end, you only give back to the market what you want to give back.

But overall don't be disheartened, keep at this game.

lightclark, I think the emotions and discipline are hardest bit to learn.. I think tomortons advice is sound but the key is being able to stick to the rules you set. I know this from experience having lost £££££s. I believe I have a basic knowledge and fairly good understanding of when to and not to trade but i simply dont have the discipline. I am beginning to believe that this can't be learnt and that someone who has this discipline naturally and obviously some good experience could do well... good luck

I agree with the sentiments here. I think you need to be well informed as well. I read the morning commentary from Capital Spreads, that gives me quite a good insight on anything that i might have missed and helps me refocus on what is happening to stop my impulse taking control. You can subscribe to it here I think http://www.capitalspreads.com/public/dailynews.shtml and then it's there when you need it.

Hi Clark,

Fellow newbie here. I suffered similar issues when I started trading as well but I think my emotions are under check now. I have devised an Excel spreadsheet with all the rules I have developed which I complete before I place a trade. This practice has given me greater control over my executions and improved my results (mind you I am still losing small amounts each week but that is another matter!).

I also learnt some valuable tricks by reading the book 'High Performance Trading' by Steve Ward. According to him, your trading results are an outcome of how the markets trades and how you trade the markets. His formula is:

Market + Trader = Profit and Loss

Hope it helps.

Guys all I would say is this.

K.I.S.S

Keep it simple,stupid. lightclark, the 100%+ gain sounds like random success this off course is shown by the blow out you experienced.

If you are trading stocks successfully why not keep to them? If you want to move onto something with more volatility or more short term opportunities then I would consider staying away from spread betting. Look at Futures contracts and maybe FX but FX is still a scam.

On the issue of discipline, its a must. Don't trade again until you know your mentally capable of sticking to your pre-set rules. I tend to try and not mechanise things, because the market is not a logical entity. For your stop and target, you do not want to be using less than 1:1

I hope this was of some value.

Lodian

lightclark said:

I always been a long term trader in stocks, and recently started trading just daily spot gold against the USD index and for the past 14 days i had managed to increase my portfolio by 120% but this morning the market was so slow, and i lost the control,entered even it wasn't in a trend and lost all the hard for from the past 2 weeks
Just wondering how does any of you experienced guys manage to control your emotion so that you can maintained your profit thru hard trading days? and can control yourself to keep away from non profitable trades?? to maintain a positive profit balance til the end of the month?

Sorry that i am quite inexperienced so hopefully i am not asking a very stupid question.
Thanks
Clark

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Trade with money you are not afraid to lose. When you are in profit let the trade run to target or move the stop to breakeven. Emotion does not have to be part of it.

Bint_Crusher said:

Trade with money you are not afraid to lose. Emotion does not have to be part of it.

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Sorry, I disagree with the above.

Protection and preservation of capital is a fundamental aspect of trading. You cannot be cavalier about it (otherwise you are gambling not trading). Secondly, trading should be treated as a business/profession rather than a mere passtime. As in most business decisions, one has to weigh up all the pros and cons before taking a decision. The same goes for trading.

Emotion is also part of trading (as in other businesses/professions) no matter what people say. I am fortunate enough to see a number of trading rooms in the City and they are normally highly charged macho environments. Traders go through a variety of emotions every day in those trading rooms. The OP wants to know how he can stop the 'adrenalin rush' after a series of successes and making irrational decisions during these times as he has found out that it cost him money/capital.

You need a very precise trading plan; so many people trade with out one. I treat trading as a business, I expect to get stopped out occassionaly but its all factored in, as long as I stick to my rules I'm happy.

Think about it, it's the same business model as the insurance industry; as long as I know how to mange myself and my account I can make a living and grow my account.

Mike Hamilton

Rasi said:

Sorry, I disagree with the above.

Protection and preservation of capital is a fundamental aspect of trading. You cannot be cavalier about it (otherwise you are gambling not trading). Secondly, trading should be treated as a business/profession rather than a mere passtime. As in most business decisions, one has to weigh up all the pros and cons before taking a decision. The same goes for trading.

Emotion is also part of trading (as in other businesses/professions) no matter what people say. I am fortunate enough to see a number of trading rooms in the City and they are normally highly charged macho environments. Traders go through a variety of emotions every day in those trading rooms. The OP wants to know how he can stop the 'adrenalin rush' after a series of successes and making irrational decisions during these times as he has found out that it cost him money/capital.

Click to expand...

Stop the adrenelin rush? Analyse your trades, properly.
CAVALIER, No place in trading, measure the risk management, be consistent in your approach.
I have also been part of highly charged "macho" environments, it has nothing to do with trading and the rules can still be followed with discipline. Think of soldiers in Afghanistan. (By the way female soldiers are not regarded as equals, much as on a trading floor).
If you are prey to your emotions then you are trading like a woman so why don't you go out and think about buying yourself some fragrant candles to help you over the emotive adreneline rush testosterone filled REAL MENS trading environment.