How do good and bad weeks affect you?

[adrianallen99]

Riding high on a successful week trading (+273pts so far) and a good month so far as well (340 pts), im starting to realise that winning seems to affect me far more Pyschologically than losing. For some reason I can accept loses and get on with trading.

Winning is different, although at the time it is great, it seems to impact me before I trade next. The more I win, the more worried I get about losing the next trade - I probably could make far more if I didnt. On the other hand it keeps me firmly in check when applying money management.

After a decent run, a few small losses seem to help me. In general I am successful and my trading style seems to work (although sometimes I risk too much), but in the back of my mind there is always this feeling that perhaps it is just luck and it will wear off.

I was curious as to how winning or losing affects other traders and how they deal with it.

 

[oatman]

Keep quiet about the good week. The bugger with the bleedin' great stick is waiting just round the corner.
Just quietly enjoy it and try to keep a level head. It shouldn't make any difference whether you win or lose........but it ain't like that. Just get to know yourself.
And, of course, good luck. :cheesy:

 

[TWI]

What's a bad week? ;-)

 

[donaldduke]

adrianallen99,

If you think you are just being lucky then you need to back
test your system(s) or otherwise atleast forward test them..

Once you have done this you get a feel for the probablities and
drawdowns that the future may hold and it wont feel like
luck anymore..

The funny thing about losses is that during a trade you dont
want to take them, however once you have a bit of experince you
get better at taking them. When i have a losing session
it gets me down for the rest of the day.. However the next
morning im completely fine, i forget about it...
Like Eckhardt says in New Market wizards the positions you have
on know seems to matter way beyond an statisitcal justification.

In the begging trading is an emotional rollercoaster ride you win
and you get a tremendous high, lose and you feel like a failure.

After 3 years of trading, wins no longer effect me that much
emotionally, if i made 5K today I would not feel very high,
however if i lost 500 today i sometimes still have a slight
sick/depressed feeling in my stomach for the rest of the day..

I think over time I will get better, and both winning and losing
days will feel the same, i.e. I wont feel any emotions at all.
Thats the ideal mindset for a trader to have.

 

[BBB]

Good point Oattie.

I used to get far too c0cky after a few winners (moi? c0cky? surely not! lol). I thought I was invincible. Then oatmans mate came after me with his big stick! Reverse would happen with the losers. I'm sure this is nothing new to anyone.

Thats why confidence in your edge is the key. You know you've got a winning strategy and so youre less prone to the emotional rollercoaster - which I believe is a result of lack of confidence - your wins were due to luck rather than an edge. This also comes with experience.

Of course, when you come to the stage where you refuse to take a loss, your account only has one way to go. Most traders are in the hole and broke before they realise this one though. This is why attitude is no1. money management no 2.

 

[chump]

If you are concerned about the impact of winning on your tradiing and thereby creating losses. This can negated by physically divesting some of the winnings thereby preventing the onset of losing through 'bad' psychology.

Ever eager to help you out please make your cheques payable to "Chump" and you may even feel like using this username to sign your cheques...... ..this may be the start of a new career..

Cheers

 

[raf110]

To be a good trader you need to accept losses and exit a position (always use stops). I started trading with other peoples money and have therefore developed this fairly quickly (i usually cut losses at 2 - 5% and do not mind if the price recovers later). Now that I am using my own savings it is harder, but it really has helped to start trading with others cash.