pulling the trigger

[fleetwood]

I have a nice simple system which I think stands a good chance of working. I'm also trading very small size but I still just dont seem to be able to pull the trigger and prove my system right or wrong.
Please people whats wrong with me????

 

[LostPigeonCoo]

I have a nice simple system which I think stands a good chance of working. I'm also trading very small size but I still just dont seem to be able to pull the trigger and prove my system right or wrong.
Please people whats wrong with me????

So you not traded at all? How many times have you paper traded your System?
What are you going to trade?

 

[Rhody Trader]

If you haven't already, definitely paper/demo trade it on a forward basis. Doing that will help you build confidence in the system and your application of it. Once you get comfortable, make the switch to live trading with the smallest possible position you can and work from there.

 

[Black Swan]

I have a nice simple system which I think stands a good chance of working. I'm also trading very small size but I still just dont seem to be able to pull the trigger and prove my system right or wrong.
Please people whats wrong with me????

Ah ha!! Been there done that....you simply have to 'breakthrough' (cue Freddie Mercury tune) You've said it yourself in your statement, you need to prove it "right or wrong". You cannot do that without being in the market.

Here's a thing, why not test it with a set amount of cash, or x-amount of trades. Often that can take away the emotion, it's as though you're off setting it versus your overall research..."I'll test it with 200 quid or twenty trades and then methodically review the results..."

Also lower your overall expectations, given its ultimate possibilities we can all be guilty of dreaming where the market profits can take us (heh some on here even live that dream), but for now you have to slow it down and set yourself achievable/realistic targets; both in terms of learning and profit.

I also found it's good to have a routine before taking a trade, that mechanic can often help you relax into the trade, similar to driving a car; handbrake/mirrors/signal/gears/clutch...vroom vroom... Good luck, be interested in learning how you breakthrough.

 

[fleetwood]

Thanks for the replies guys.

So you not traded at all? How many times have you paper traded your System?
What are you going to trade?

If you haven't already, definitely paper/demo trade it on a forward basis. Doing that will help you build confidence in the system and your application of it. Once you get comfortable, make the switch to live trading with the smallest possible position you can and work from there.

I have made a few trades just not many. I cant help thinking it might be best to trade with real money so I get real experience. Im using a small amount of money so dont worry Ive got no intention of losing everything.

Here's a thing, why not test it with a set amount of cash, or x-amount of trades. Often that can take away the emotion, it's as though you're off setting it versus your overall research..."I'll test it with 200 quid or twenty trades and then methodically review the results..."

Sounds like a good Idea, I might set up a diary as well so I can record my 20 trades.

Also cant help thinking maybe theres some sort of block in my head, maybe subconciously I dont really want to be a success?

 

[LostPigeonCoo]

Thanks for the replies guys.



I have made a few trades just not many. I cant help thinking it might be best to trade with real money so I get real experience.

Also cant help thinking maybe theres some sort of block in my head, maybe subconciously I dont really want to be a success?

You should be excited as a new trader, do you want success? Are you trading UK or US? Maybe you are just hesitant?

 

[montmorencyt2w]

Picking up on what someone else said, you could try thinking of it as a research project or an experiment (if your mind works along those lines).

You are keen and genuinely interested in the results of the experiment, but you don't have any emotion or ego invested in it.

When the results are in, you will analyse them, build on the good points, eliminate the bad points, and look generally at how it can be improved.

Then run the experiment again.

If possible, focus on the pips and not the money.

 

[Black Swan]

Thanks for the replies guys.



I have made a few trades just not many. I cant help thinking it might be best to trade with real money so I get real experience. Im using a small amount of money so dont worry Ive got no intention of losing everything.

Sounds like a good Idea, I might set up a diary as well so I can record my 20 trades.

Also cant help thinking maybe theres some sort of block in my head, maybe subconciously I dont really want to be a success?

I'd re-phrase this/re-shape it, you're fearful of getting out of your comfort zone and discovering whether or not you can actually make a success of trading.

 

[glyder]

I had a similar problem for a long time .when I started. I thought I had good judgement but couldn't back it by executing a trade. I just hesitated and hesitated.
Worse still I absolutely no way believed that I should ever have a demo account. Cash trading was the only way forward.
Probably after reading Lefevre, I thought testing theories with hard money was the only way to learn.

Well, I was wrong. Its true that trading real money tests your psychology and nerve, but a demo will test your system quite OK. And why not learn as much as you can on how to back your own judgement without risking funds?

In the end I got over the hurdle of not pulling the trigger by learning risk / reward and applying good money management whilst on demo. No problems anymore on demo or cash.
Give it a try. FXPRO has a good forex demo.

 

[montmorencyt2w]

By the way, it doesn't have to be an either/or on demo versus live. It's quite possible to be trading live, but testing / trying out different methods on demo - think of it as research again.

 

[Shanghai]

Sounds like a good Idea, I might set up a diary as well so I can record my 20 trades.

Also cant help thinking maybe theres some sort of block in my head, maybe subconciously I dont really want to be a success?

Seems like you should be reading Trading in the Zone. We often do have something subconcious that stops us from achieving things. The 20 trades thing is also mentioned there as a useful exercise.

To get confidence in your system how much backtesting have you done? Do you know what your expectancy should be per trade and your typical number of winning and losing trades? You really should do plenty of backtesting to give you confidence that it will work.

And you really should get away from the idea that your system is either right or wrong, as you mention in your first post. You need a system that has an edge, that's all, i.e. a system that over a number of trades will put the probabilty of winning in your favour. In that system you will have losing trades and that's fine. It doesn't mean that you were "wrong' with those trades, providing that you execute them in accordance with your system.