Top 10 Entry Mistakes?

Hello All.
Dow-Boy here.
My 1st post ever, just joined today!

I would like some feedback if possible regarding entries.
I would like to list entries, be it if they are;
Poor, Fair, Good, or Excellent.
But was wondering what were the most common entry mistakes etc.
IE.
Lets say within a day trading environment, where 1 is trying to catch the main 3-4 major swings of an index for example during a trading session, what could be construed as a poor entry? or Good entry.
I think in a bullet point, 1 sentence or short phrase answer?
examples;
Poor= Not sticking to Trading Plan
Poor= Wrong Contract Size
Fair=Entry To Soon-Still slightly Overbought(Technical)
Good= Entered with Multiple Time Frame agreement
Excellent= Totally In 'the zone' a perfect emotionless trade

If anyone has any suggestions it would be most helpful.
Also I am looking to compile a list in the same manner for exists.

I hope some people could help and give me some feedback.
Many Thanks
Dow-Boy

Every Entry is totally useless unless it meets all the pre determined criterior.
Welcome to the site

julian said:

Every Entry is totally useless unless it meets all the pre determined criterior.
Welcome to the site

Click to expand...

Thank you for your reply Julian.
Emotion plays a big part in many a bad trade.
Entry & Exit.
Sometimes a trader will trade on impulse, or not to plan, these are mistakes.
If everyone could trade to pre-determined rules etc, they could/ should trade within a fully automated way.
But, not many traders do.
Hence, emotion money management, lack of discipline etc can set in. Trying to chase previous losses, another well documented cause for bad results.
Thank you for welcoming me to the site.
I look forward to interacting with other traders.
Thank you Julian

Another thing a trader needs to consider is if he/she is looking at the charts and squinting to produce a trade signal. I'm sure nearly every trader has done it, including myself. Sometimes we loose our objectivity - especially if we're bored. So everytime I put on a trade I always ask myself "I am being objective with this entry or am I forcing a trade?"

"Forcing The Trade@

HammerMan87 said:

Another thing a trader needs to consider is if he/she is looking at the charts and squinting to produce a trade signal. I'm sure nearly every trader has done it, including myself. Sometimes we loose our objectivity - especially if we're bored. So everytime I put on a trade I always ask myself "I am being objective with this entry or am I forcing a trade?"

Click to expand...

Many thanks for your reply HammerMan.
Forcing the trade,,, seems emotional, (Impulsive?)

I would like to try and compile a list of about 10, lets call them Events into 4 categories.
So categories would be
1. TIME
2. POSITION SIZE (IE £/$ AMOUNT)
3. EMOTIONS
4. OTHER

So really I am looking for 10 in each for entries & exits.
Here's a kind of list,,, working on it now, but everyone's help would be most appreciated.
1. TIME
T1 A Perfectly Timed Entry
T2 Full M.T.F. Agreement Entry
T3 Entered Slightly Too Soon
T4 Entered Too Late
T5 Entered Far Too Late
T6 Reversal Point, Got It Wrong
T7 Terrible Entry, Not to Plan
T8
T9
T10
2. POSITION SIZE
P1 Perect Position Size
P2 To Little
P3 Needed To Add But Didn't
P4 Slightly Too Much
P5 Far Too Much
P6
P7
P8
P9
P10
3. EMOTIONS
E1 Totally 'In The Zone'
E2 Calm & Observant
E3 Bored
E4 Excited
E5 Fatigued / Tired
E6 Too Impulsive
E7 Too Indecisive / Procrastination
E8 Too Greedy
E9 Fearful Of A Loss
E10 Paralysed
4. OTHER
O1 Not To Trading Plan
O2 Faulty Chart Pattern
O3 Stop Placement - Incorrect
O4 Bad Trade Management
O5 Bad Order Entry
O6 Platform / Internet Failure
O7
O8
O9
O10

If anyone has any ideas, please, I'd love to hear.
Regards
DowBoy

Letting the demon take thee... that usually hurts. You completely dump the rules after a couple of losses and chase the market.

For me,
1. Too soon.
2. Too late.
3. Too big.

On a serious note, the idea of rating your entries is very good and should lead to increased self-awareness, more accurate signal identification and more decisive action. Good work Dow-Boy.

Entry is only a stage in a process though, nobody should forget that poor position management can throw away a really good entry.

And of course, emtries taken are only one side of the coin, the decisions not to enter can also save a huge amount of money but I don't see an objective way of analysing these in this same way so entries are the place to start.

Dow-Boy said:

Hello All.
Dow-Boy here.
My 1st post ever, just joined today!

I would like some feedback if possible regarding entries.
I would like to list entries, be it if they are;
Poor, Fair, Good, or Excellent.
But was wondering what were the most common entry mistakes etc.
IE.
Lets say within a day trading environment, where 1 is trying to catch the main 3-4 major swings of an index for example during a trading session, what could be construed as a poor entry? or Good entry.
I think in a bullet point, 1 sentence or short phrase answer?
examples;
Poor= Not sticking to Trading Plan
Poor= Wrong Contract Size
Fair=Entry To Soon-Still slightly Overbought(Technical)
Good= Entered with Multiple Time Frame agreement
Excellent= Totally In 'the zone' a perfect emotionless trade

If anyone has any suggestions it would be most helpful.
Also I am looking to compile a list in the same manner for exists.

I hope some people could help and give me some feedback.
Many Thanks
Dow-Boy

Click to expand...

For me, the biggest entry mistake is NOT entering a trade when I am supposed to.

mrsoul said:

For me, the biggest entry mistake is NOT entering a trade when I am supposed to.

Click to expand...

A very good point and one to keep in mind. I normally take a paper trade to see if I was right, usually with a STOP placed where it would have been if I had entered when I should have. This will help give you the courage and conviction to enter the next time. You must keep a faithful record of ALL your trades so that you can study and revise and be certain your judgement is sound. If you do not keep records it will be nearly impossible for you to find out what you are doing wrong, or right! Maybe your methodology is reliable and your judgement is trustworthy but it is only fear and hesitation preventing you from being more profitable.

1)stop loss
2)fully understanding patterns/technicals
3)stop loss
4)proper exit point
5)proper entry point
6)stop loss

new_trader said:

A very good point and one to keep in mind. I normally take a paper trade to see if I was right, usually with a STOP placed where it would have been if I had entered when I should have. This will help give you the courage and conviction to enter the next time. You must keep a faithful record of ALL your trades so that you can study and revise and be certain your judgement is sound. If you do not keep records it will be nearly impossible for you to find out what you are doing wrong, or right! Maybe your methodology is reliable and your judgement is trustworthy but it is only fear and hesitation preventing you from being more profitable.

Click to expand...

You really like that "Reminisciences..." book, new_trader?
It really is a classic.

I would say entry/exit is just a small part of a trade. There would be 4 steps in a trade process:

1/ Analyze
2/ Choose a strategy base on the analysis
3/ Plan the trade with Entry/Target Profit/Stop Lost
4/ Execute the trade

Unless you trade using signals from a system

mrsoul said:

You really like that "Reminisciences..." book, new_trader?
It really is a classic.

Click to expand...

Absolutely. I first read the book a little over 2 years ago and enjoyed it. But I picked it up again recently and I am astonished at how much more sense the 'lessons' of Livermore make to me now. It is as if I am reading my own trading journal.

new_trader said:

I normally take a paper trade to see if I was right, usually with a STOP placed where it would have been if I had entered when I should have.

Click to expand...

the only problem with that is no 2 trades are alike. you could have the exact same setup, same looking chart, and even the same time of day. the outcome is nothing more than a probability. the only filter i place on my setups is time of day. apart from that i will take every setup i get because there is no way of knowing the outcome.

MORE - Comment Codes

forker said:

the only problem with that is no 2 trades are alike. you could have the exact same setup, same looking chart, and even the same time of day. the outcome is nothing more than a probability. the only filter i place on my setups is time of day. apart from that i will take every setup i get because there is no way of knowing the outcome.

Click to expand...

Many Thanks for everyone's Replies.
If anyone can give some more input into my 'Comment Codes' that I'll list below.
It's for a excel order sheet I'm creating.
I won't go into detail now about it,,, purely as that would be a different post, and a lot to type.... but the reason for this original post was to get some bullet point phrases related to Entries,, and also exits actually.
I'll list them now below,
and if anyone wants to look at the sheet (excel 2007 xlsm),, macro enabled,,
I'll upload to server soon.

Here's the list so far,,,
ENTRIES
========
CODE TIME ENTRY TYPES
T1-EN A Perfectly Timed Entry
T2-EN Full M.T.F. Agreement Entry
T3-EN Waited Patiently For The 'WHEN.'
T4-EN Entered Slightly Too Soon
T5-EN Entered Too Late
T6-EN Reversal Point, Got It Wrong
T7-EN Entered Far Too Late
T8-EN Terrible Entry, Not To Plan
T9-EN Was Affraid To 'Pull The Trigger!'
T10-EN
======================================
CODE £/$ SIZE / STOPS ENTRY TYPES
P1-EN Perfect Position Size
P2-EN To Little
P3-EN Needed To Add But Didn't
P4-EN
P5-EN
P6-EN
P7-EN Stop Placement - Far Too Tight
P8-EN Slightly Too Much
P9-EN Stop Placement - Too Far Away
P10-EN Far Too Much Position Size
=====================================
CODE EMOTION(1) ENTRY TYPES
E1-EN Totally 'In The Zone'
E2-EN Calm & Observant
E3-EN Bored
E4-EN Excited
E5-EN Fatigued / Tired
E6-EN Too Impulsive
E7-EN Too Indecisive / Procrastination
E8-EN Too Greedy
E9-EN Fearful Of A Loss / Panicked
E10-EN Paralysed
=====================================
CODE OTHER ENTRY COMMENTS
O1-EN Platform / Internet Failure
O2-EN Terrible Slippage
O3-EN Had To Call Broker To Exit
O4-EN Stop Placement - Incorrect
O5-EN Bad Trade Management
O6-EN Was a Low Probability Trade
O7-EN Was Trading My Account-Not The Chart
O8-EN Lost All Objectivity - Forced The Trade
O9-EN Not To Trading Plan - Poor Analysis
O10-EN Other (Attach A Comment)
======================================
EXITS
=====
CODE TIME EXIT TYPES
T1-EX A Perfectly Timed Exit
T2-EX Full M.T.F. Agreement Exit
T3-EX Exited On TA Chart-Technical Study
T4-EX Exited Slightly Too Soon
T5-EX Exited Too Late
T6-EX Reversal - Resistance Point, Got It Wrong
T7-EX Exited Far Too Late
T8-EX Terrible Exit, Not To Plan
T9-EX
T10-EX Other (Attach A Comment)
=============================================
CODE £/$ SIZE / STOPS EXIT TYPES
P1-EX Perfect Position Size
P2-EX Perfectly Added / Adjusted Stops
P3-EX To Little
P4-EX Needed To Add But Didn't
P5-EX Trailing Stop / Sluggish
P6-EX Slightly Too Much
P7-EX Far Too Much
P8-EX Added To Much - Too Late
P9-EX Adjusted Pre-determined Stop
P10-EX Ignored ALL Exit Rules / Stops
=================================================
CODE EMOTION EXIT TYPES
E1-EX Totally 'In The Zone'
E2-EX Calm & Observant
E3-EX Bored
E4-EX Excited
E5-EX Fatigued / Tired
E6-EX Too Impulsive
E7-EX Too Indecisive / Procrastination
E8-EX Too Greedy
E9-EX Fearful Of A Loss / Panicked
E10-EX Paralysed
=================================================
CODE OTHER EXIT COMMENTS
O1-EX Platform / Internet Failure
O2-EX Terrible Slippage
O3-EX Had To Call Broker To Exit
O4-EX Stop Placement - Incorrect
O5-EX Bad Trade Management
O6-EX Was a Low Probability Trade
O7-EX Was Trading My Account-Not The Chart
O8-EX Lost All Objectivity - Forced The Trade
O9-EX Not To Trading Plan - Poor Analysis
O10-EX Other (Attach A Comment)
==================================================

I would be very grateful of any feedback, and to keep it on topic, if anyone has any suggestions,, ie,,,
"Yes,, Dow-Boy,,,,o10-EX could be blarr blarr blarr" that would be very appreciated.

Thanks to;
new-trader,,, Used your "patiently waited for the when." in T3-EN
Thanks to;
Hammerman87,,, used your "Lost all objectivity - Forced the trade." in O8-EX

Regards
Dow-Boy
(JUST UPLOADED SCREENSHOT TO SERVER)
http://tinyurl.com/q96c2d

The mistake that took me ages to shrug off is the one where you anticipate a move.. ie a breakout or something. You got to remember that there are many much bigger fish who know you'll be looking to do this. Always wait for a confirmation before you enter. It's the old trading adage, trade what you see not what you think..

bottomdollar said:

The mistake that took me ages to shrug off is the one where you anticipate a move.. ie a breakout or something. You got to remember that there are many much bigger fish who know you'll be looking to do this. Always wait for a confirmation before you enter. It's the old trading adage, trade what you see not what you think..

Click to expand...

If you are a proponent of indicators, you could try this: add 2 of the SAME indicator to your chart, one set to "Fast" settings, or "aggressive" entry. The second set to "Slow" or "conservative" entry. When your "fast" one triggers you sit up and pay attention, and wait to see if your conservative, safe one also triggers. You therefore use the "fast" one as the "heads up", hopefully 3-5 minutes before the safe entry.

Execute 30 safe trades, which meet your setup critria, with proper money-management, stop loss etc. If you can execute 30 in a row, then IMHO you should then be able to execute your set-ups without hesitation in the future. If your expectancy is > 60% for example then you will make money IF you take EVERY set-up that meets your criteria.

Of course, the above is far easier said than done!!!!!!!!!!!!

However, if you can have the self-discipline to do the above, you should be well on your way to success.