Confession

Hi

I used to make good money trading. My methods were very simple - look at the daily and 1hr chart, identify the broad trend then wait for retracements to appropritate supp/res to get an entry. Often I look at the moving averages, esp the 21/50 dma`s.

I made money last year when I followed the above system but LET MY WINNERS RUN. Unfortunately, in march 11, I let my losers run as well and ran 23k to 2k in just a month. I had originally started with 5k in sept 2010. To say it was painful is putting it mildly.

And now I grew £100 ( yes just 100) and spread bet with small size and grew it to £1500 in a few weeks in august. By letting my winners run again. So I scraped 10K together and started again.
First few days went great but then again I took some big losers and crashed again.
And now I just cannot ride my winners anymore.
5ticks and I take bloody profits. I trade euro stoxx 50.
The fear, the fear......the fear is will lose again....and after 15-30 min even I could have made 20-30 ticks. It is excruciating.

I know what you will say. This is trading 101 - cut your losers and run the winners.
I take 5-20t profits and then have 10-15t losers - no wonder I`m stuck in a losing streak.
But dammit I know how to trade - and have been successful with reasonable size before.

Again,I know what you will say.
I havent found a trading methodology to suit my personality si ?
Well comrade I happen to be a crap scalper. It drives me nuts going in and out endlessly.

I make money on days I pick my spot, wait for it then put my stop on and let the thing go, with a limit order at my target.
In fact made almost 20k that way.....so why not now ?
Well I find myself glued to the screen watching every tick. My heart jumps with every tick. I am itching to make money....

Does anyone else have this problem ?
AT this rate I am going from having a promising career to being another casualty, which is just nuts.

Thanks comrades
CT.

get a hobby/girlfriend/horse/anything that gets you away from your trade once you're in it.

I used to **** with my trades, I only check the markets twice a day now unless I need to wait for a certain market to open to put in orders.

You already know your problem and the answer to it.

Trading is 80% psychology which you haven't mastered. Take time and be disciplined.

"I let my losers run as well and ran 23k to 2k in just a month"

Sorry to hear that mate, that must have been hard. How many trades did that take out of curiousity?

T

petedeluiz said:

You already know your problem and the answer to it.

Trading is 80% psychology which you haven't mastered. Take time and be disciplined.

Click to expand...

Automate. This is the answer. Let the system place the trades and the stops.

Hi mate

Sorry to hear about your difficulties. I think it's human nature not to want to take a loss. But the difference between the results you get when you run winners and when you run losers is clear from your email. If you were to ask me I would advise lowering the leverage until you get your confidence back, run a few winners, cut the losers quickly and mercilessly and you will soon get back in the saddle. Someone once said trading is as much about being a professional loss taker as anything else. Good luck!

Good trading

Nigel

I agree with Nigel lower your size right down £1pp set the trade then walk away come back at end of trading, assuming you are after catching intraday movement.

get into the frame of mind that good day or bad day you are indifferent about, try and get away from the "I could have got more"

then slowly increase size many go down this path only to jump back in with size and hit a few losers which puts them back at square one

First thing you have to do is take 1 month off. You need to recharge your batteries and allow soak time for your actions and acceptance thereof. You clearly have trade management problems but they are rectifiable. What you are going through is a natural journey in understanding yourself as a trader. How many times you repeat this mistake is a function of how well you understand yourself. Dont fuss because you will get there again.

Thank you all comrades.

Automation is a possibility but my edge actually is watching my market and getting to know it really well. Tragically, this also means I take profits too quickly.

Forker - interesting name, you american ?

Your advice resonates strongly withing me - this being a natural part of the journey and also how well I understand myself. And I also agree that the wins will return - I have no doubt in fact, because if I drop my size I get my big winners back.....I feel like a durakh - that means stupid in russian.

CT

British actually. Wish I could change my nick but I'm stuck with it.

combotrader said:

Hi

I used to make good money trading. My methods were very simple - look at the daily and 1hr chart, identify the broad trend then wait for retracements to appropritate supp/res to get an entry. Often I look at the moving averages, esp the 21/50 dma`s.

I made money last year when I followed the above system but LET MY WINNERS RUN. Unfortunately, in march 11, I let my losers run as well and ran 23k to 2k in just a month. I had originally started with 5k in sept 2010. To say it was painful is putting it mildly.

I know what you will say. This is trading 101 - cut your losers and run the winners.
I take 5-20t profits and then have 10-15t losers - no wonder I`m stuck in a losing streak.
But dammit I know how to trade - and have been successful with reasonable size before.

Again,I know what you will say.
I havent found a trading methodology to suit my personality si ?
Well comrade I happen to be a crap scalper. It drives me nuts going in and out endlessly.

I make money on days I pick my spot, wait for it then put my stop on and let the thing go, with a limit order at my target.
In fact made almost 20k that way.....so why not now ?
Well I find myself glued to the screen watching every tick. My heart jumps with every tick. I am itching to make money....

Does anyone else have this problem ?
AT this rate I am going from having a promising career to being another casualty, which is just nuts.

Thanks comrades
CT.

Click to expand...

I am inspired to reply to this post given as you say you are a crap scalper.
I found that hte beast way to cope with this was "Put on Womens clothing and hang around in Bars"
Lumber jack song - YouTube

Running winners is only an essential element of a trading strategy if you have a very low win rate, less than 50%, and/or if your ratio of points gained to points lost per trade is usually negative, so that you need some immensely strong winners to rebalance your account. Modify the strategy so that you have a win rate over 50%, set stops so that your losers are cut before a pullback becomes a reversal, set targets so that you bank money before a pullback, manage your position sizes to 2% of your account risked per trade and be more patient.

Running winners was also a motto of long-term buy-and-hold shareholders when faced with illiquid shares or tax implications or excessive dealing costs on rotating their positions. All that's nothing to do with us here and now.

Hi combo,

I was in a very similar position to yourself and can relate strongly to this thread. One thing that made me smile was that you came back and turned 100 into 1500, i bet you were really pleased with that as it gets rid of the doubts you may of had about you and your trading.

Running winners is very easily said than done. Can often be a case of watching a profit dip back into a loss only to come back again. There is absolutely nothing wrong in taking a profit to early. So what ? Youv increased your capital and have made a profit, not a loss. As you know you can always get back in.

It sounds to me like you base trades on price action and watch the screen alot, thats also my strategy and i too was very profitable.

In response to your questions, i think someone already mentioned, you should WITHOUT DOUBT, reduce your position sizing right down to £1 or £2 pp and no more. This is what I look back on and wish I had done as it will preserve the majority of your capital and allow you to stay in the game.

Watching the markets recently, indices especially, we are in a sell on strength trend.

Good luck

sorry about your losses but trading isn't only winners,
and fear is just a feeling.
have you thought about if you are going plus in the long run,
if you just win 50% of all your trades
you are still doing incredibly good arent you,
I hope that loosen up your fear a little bit,
loosing trades are a part of it,
just don't let the fear making you tighten your stops
or do anything else stupid.