reminiscence of(yet) a (novice)trader

[aag100]

another new understanding.
cut losses and control risk they say.but as a newbie it gets frustrating to keep cutting a loss and taking the hit only to see that you cut at the worst possible time and that if you had held just for a little longer you would now have saved some of that loss or now even be in profit.and time and again it happens so then you do away with stop losses and now where you would have been stopped out,you find yourself still in the game and perhaps down only another few points but it comes back your way and now you have a win because you werent stopped out if you had had a stop loss.
is this the holy grail you wonder?
it works for a few trades and now your in the green ,making money.until one day it doesnt come back and it just keeps going and going and going against you.taking back your winnings and putting you back in the red and then some.
i'll probably have said something along those lines before.luckily it hasnt happened lately as im becoming more aware of risk but its always worth remembering and reminding yourself of this,which id say is the biggest hazard to trading.
a market up/down 100 200 points and you would think its now time for it to reverse? NO!
this is the riskiest time to enter!
chasing the best price is the riskiest thing you can do.lately ive found its best to come in later(albeit not at the best price),and then the risk is more defined and your reward will be lower.
the reward is biggest when you cant clearly see the risk but this is also the riskiest.hence risk v reward.i think im getting a better understanding.
just reminding myself for tomorrow

 

[Pat494]

keep working at it.
I use 100 stop and target price 300.
Not perfect but about as good as it gets imho

 

[aag100]

keep working at it.
I use 100 stop and target price 300.
Not perfect but about as good as it gets imho

its maddening and infuriating but the trick is to keep working at it and cutting those losses.your stop and profit targets look based on bigger time frames.
i prefer smaller time frames whereby im proved wrong or right quicker and now that i am beginning to cut losses earlier,to cut and get out rather than be holding on for hours.im also trying to incorporate into my strategy to hold no more than an hour or look to be out by the 'third cycle'(based on my own patterns i believe are playing out) so i know i wont become a zombie and be held hostage to the trade like i used to,sometimes for days or even weeks watching the trade going against me and shutting myself off from the real world

 

[Pat494]

its maddening and infuriating but the trick is to keep working at it and cutting those losses.your stop and profit targets look based on bigger time frames.
i prefer smaller time frames whereby im proved wrong or right quicker and now that i am beginning to cut losses earlier,to cut and get out rather than be holding on for hours.im also trying to incorporate into my strategy to hold no more than an hour or look to be out by the 'third cycle'(based on my own patterns i believe are playing out) so i know i wont become a zombie and be held hostage to the trade like i used to,sometimes for days or even weeks watching the trade going against me and shutting myself off from the real world

Just a 5 min timeframe.

 

[aag100]

Just a 5 min timeframe.

last year i managed to build up my patience/discipline/tolerance up to the 5min and was doing well until i started wanting more action and dropping to the 3min and 1min and blowing it up.
now im building back up from the 1min,getting more action but more importantly knowing where i should get out.

 

[arigoldman]

1min chart, that should be fun!

 

[Pat494]

last year i managed to build up my patience/discipline/tolerance up to the 5min and was doing well until i started wanting more action and dropping to the 3min and 1min and blowing it up.
now im building back up from the 1min,getting more action but more importantly knowing where i should get out.

Too much noise which will chop you out too early and often.

 

[aag100]

Too much noise which will chop you out too early and often.

certain times,even bigger time frames are choppy.so now i try and be out around news.most of the time the patterns play out the same on any time frame,only quicker the lower time frame you go.theres nothing worse than being up 20 points on a larger time frame then down 20 the next but i suppose that tolerance comes with experience.

 

[aag100]

1min chart, that should be fun!

its not fun but gives you more to do rather than having to sit waiting for ages and then missing it and having to start waiting all over again.the key thing is to know where you will get out if it goes tits up and then actually having the discipline to get out.also bigger the time frame,the more you need to risk.

 

[aag100]

was stuck in a trade that i managed to get out of break even and an analogy came to me,thought id share.
that market is a worm.it looks boxed in and seems it can only go in one direction.so you enter.it then goes no where for ages.it wriggles about.goes a little against you,comes back.goes a little your way,comes back.it continues wriggling about,not even giving you your spread back and you dont want to cut it at a loss.time passes and it continues to wriggle.
then all of a sudden,the worm that you thought was boxed in and could go in only one direction has wriggled round and is now facing the other fking way!
anyway,update.im getting better.look more now for stops and where to get out.take my losses more calmly,not letting them run into hundreds,cutting them a lot sooner and have the confidence to get it back.

 

[malaspina]

I like your posts. How is your trading so far ?. Have you tried to trade futures like the emini s&p 500 ?.

was stuck in a trade that i managed to get out of break even and an analogy came to me,thought id share.
that market is a worm.it looks boxed in and seems it can only go in one direction.so you enter.it then goes no where for ages.it wriggles about.goes a little against you,comes back.goes a little your way,comes back.it continues wriggling about,not even giving you your spread back and you dont want to cut it at a loss.time passes and it continues to wriggle.
then all of a sudden,the worm that you thought was boxed in and could go in only one direction has wriggled round and is now facing the other fking way!
anyway,update.im getting better.look more now for stops and where to get out.take my losses more calmly,not letting them run into hundreds,cutting them a lot sooner and have the confidence to get it back.

 

[aag100]

I like your posts. How is your trading so far ?. Have you tried to trade futures like the emini s&p 500 ?.

im getting better but it feels painfully slow.i can scalp 1s and 2s taking a couple of hundred points over a week or two and then give it all back in a day all because of 1 or 2 newbie mistakes i keep making.1st taking a trade that isnt there and 2nd not cutting the loss.1st can be forgiven but not the 2nd.
the strategy i am beginning to develop works across all markets.i have traded dow/dax/ftse/euro/aus/gold but i am now just focusing on the ftse as generally it is less volatile than the others but at times when its going against you,feels just as volatile.
i have not traded the s&p as its minimum £10pp with my broker which is too much risk for me.
today i have managed to scalp just over 30 points on ftse but i made hard work of it by breaking my own rules.
a little more patience and discipline required.i shall persevere and conquer.
coming up to uk close and i will pack up for the day and try not to break a rule- NO TRADING ON MOBILE!

 

[malaspina]

You are right, never trade on mobile. Try to add some price and volume analysis, it works wonders. Use a risk management system to size your trades depending on risk per trade (this can be done in Excel). Every trade is different so it is important to size each trade accordingly. Please keep me posted on your progress. Take care.

im getting better but it feels painfully slow.i can scalp 1s and 2s taking a couple of hundred points over a week or two and then give it all back in a day all because of 1 or 2 newbie mistakes i keep making.1st taking a trade that isnt there and 2nd not cutting the loss.1st can be forgiven but not the 2nd.
the strategy i am beginning to develop works across all markets.i have traded dow/dax/ftse/euro/aus/gold but i am now just focusing on the ftse as generally it is less volatile than the others but at times when its going against you,feels just as volatile.
i have not traded the s&p as its minimum £10pp with my broker which is too much risk for me.
today i have managed to scalp just over 30 points on ftse but i made hard work of it by breaking my own rules.
a little more patience and discipline required.i shall persevere and conquer.
coming up to uk close and i will pack up for the day and try not to break a rule- NO TRADING ON MOBILE!

 

[aag100]

i was asked if im still here and the answer is i am and here for the long haul.
i am working on my system which is about 95% there but what i need to work on most is myself.i still do not like accepting losses but i shall persevere.this is the final piece of the puzzle.
took a few points today(not worth mentioning) but what i have been doing is watching the ftse trend up for hours,just bouncing up and up and up.normally i would have got caught up in it and kept adding and been about -300 but i was just watching.and if id followed my strategy,i would still have been down about a tenth of that,which i would still be pissed off with.the skill is to accept those losses.
anyway,more to follow.keep bashing away

 

[aag100]

a review of todays trading mainly to step back and think what the F im doing.
its around 11am im having a cup of tea and watching cnbc(why i even bother i dont know),they reel off numbers like they know what they are talking about but in reality it has zero impact to your trading.i would even say it has an adverse affect as you are wasting your time watching it and would be better off watching your charts instead.
so its 11am and ive just lazily got out of bed whereas the masters of the universe have been up since 5am(if theyve slept at all) analyzing the markets.
i open up my mobile just to look at the charts.JUST TO LOOK but in the back of my mind i know i cant trust myself and may well be tempted(breaking rule no2.rule no1 is no trading in bed(so i havent broken that one today))
then i think if i am to break rule no2,surely rule no3(accept stop) will save me.
i identify a stop of 5 points and enter!
seconds later im down -4 and break another rule of adding with a tight stop in mind,which if i was disciplined to accept would result in a net less of about -7.
stop comes and goes and i do not want to close out with a loss(its only -7,i should give it more room)
and seconds later im -30.
well annoyed with myself for a)trading on mobile b)not accepting stop and c)adding i take it over to my desk and for next 2 hours and have to scalp my way back from -50.finally closing out for less than -3 net..
if i had been set at my desk,maybe i wouldnt have taken the trade in the first place as i may have noticed the 50ma.
i write this to remind myself.theres plenty more i could write but ive probably said it all before.
NEED TO ACT WITH MORE DISCIPLINE AND ACCEPT STOP LOSS.

 

[Pat494]

Get tough with yourself.
Mistakes cost money.
Write a list of frequently made mistakes and pin it to the wall.
Write next to the mistake - xxx push-ups. Make it hurt. No - just oh dears.
Reward yourself when mistakes are avoided, with fav. food, drink etc. which are kept in sight on shelf.

 

[aag100]

Get tough with yourself.
Mistakes cost money.
Write a list of frequently made mistakes and pin it to the wall.
Write next to the mistake - xxx push-ups. Make it hurt. No - just oh dears.
Reward yourself when mistakes are avoided, with fav. food, drink etc. which are kept in sight on shelf.

your right pat,time to get tough.
need to dig deeper and psychoanalyse.might even try some therapy sessions.

 

[paszkman]

surely rule no3(accept stop) will save me.
NEED TO ACT WITH MORE DISCIPLINE AND ACCEPT STOP LOSS.

you don't use hard stops?

 

[aag100]

you don't use hard stops?

no i dont use hard stops.maybe i would if they were guaranteed.there is nothing worse than being spiked out plus another 10-20 points to then see it reverse.
a hard stop also keeps you on edge,will it or wont it get taken out adding to stress levels.
my way gives me a bit more breathing space and time to think.
i just need to act on my thoughts and pull the trigger and accept i was wrong.
as crazy as it is,in 5 years i have never willingly accepted a loss.ive had a number of blowouts over the years and each one could have ended better if i had accepted a stop loss.
ive ran losses to hundreds,got them back to a manageable -10 to -50 points and then refused to give up,wanting now to get out with a win after holding for hours or sometimes even days.then,to watch them reverse back to -100s.
a couple of bad habits i have dropped 1)no trading in bed 2)no trading sunday nights as soon as market opens which sometimes meant little or no sleep.
its coming to me slowly!

 

[aag100]

good morning all.yes its still morning,11.35am uk time here and im logging on for my trading day.
normally i open up and find myself in a trade within 5mins or even less.and those 5mins or less can feel like ages but today i thought id come here to collect my thoughts and remind myself to try and not make those last one two or three mistakes i repeatedly make.
1)do not trade on mobile(accomplished(for today(upto now)))
2)accept stop and do not hold for hours-think i'll try and limit it to no more than an hour

something interesting i came across here at t2w.a very thorough trading plan with some of the very same thoughts i have-eat properly/sleep properly/exercise properly.......do everything properly!
i got bored after a few pages but will be going back to try and read all of it.

http://www.trade2win.com/boards/att...mplate-forex-trading-system-jaco-ferreira.pdf