Trading pyschology.. avoiding mistakes key to being a great trader

[bullsandbears]

tradeyourtrend.blogspot.com

I am a full time trader by profession. Looking forward to learning different concepts, systems of my fellow traders here.
As my contribution is my blog on trading psychology and mistakes a rookie trader mostly makes(even pro's do it sometimes).

Eliminate the mistakes and you are half way there to path of trading success.

 

[Windlesham1]

My greatest regret is not having a trading buddy- 2 heads are better than one,and psychology is everything-trading alone is really hard-it's the edge the pro's have

 

[bullsandbears]

well then lets get together and discuss trader pyschology issues here my friend
i agree with you, discussing market analysis and other trading ideas with someone helps you understand them better and exposes them to another person's views and criticisms

i have for one learnt, that mistakes are good if you learn from them..
usually when i make a mistake i get upset and angry. After sometime when i reflect on it, i really get to understand why i made that mistake, is it possible i make it again? what was i thinking when i did that mistake, how can i avoid making this mistake again..

 

[vimal1]

Yes a buddy is good. Trading can be lonely. Good advice to yes get a buddy, attend meet ups and even talk through your own risk and money mgt approach with others to get their opinion

 

[SlowlyButSurely]

Having to explain to someone who understands the field adds pressure not to make bad trades which is good.

Sometimes we can get lazy/go on tilt/fancy a punt. If you explain to a trading partner why you are placing a trade, you are less likely to take a bad one. I also find discussing things and saying it out loud often makes mistakes easier to realise, and also can help you come to your own conclusions on something you were stuck on.

 

[bullsandbears]

absolutely true.. one of reasons why i started blogging was because it would enable me to never make the mistake i am writing about again.
Every single psychology related mistake posted has happened to me in my trading so far.. i think everyone should not only keep a journal but also have these things in public limelight and discuss them so that they will improve and not make such mistakes again..

 

[J10BLN]

Keep up the blog, it's great stuff

 

[chocabloc]

Like this idea i am a real bad typer though so how about doing this via a web meeting goto meeting software for example . i do not mind taking care of the fees to make this happen so that we could use our mics to get our views across and disscus things and show charts etc . it would be good to have buddy that you can actually here and interact with in real time . like i say i will pick up the fees involved . i fly off on holiday this afternoon for 12 days so if anybody is interested make it known and we can schedual meetings via the software .

let me say : i am aware that this is selfish and want to comfirm that i am all for this discussion to happen on the forum it will just limit my contribution as i really do not type a great deal therfore i will be reading the discussion rather than asking questions due to my typing skills and the struggle i will have getting my point across on a forum for me i will be more sucsecfull doing it verbally. i have read some of the post on this forum and some of them posts would take me half a day to put into text !

I think a webinar for t2w members where we discuss things like trading phycology , risk managmet , leading indicators, trade themes, trade ideas and a t2w watchlist/portfolio to see if our group analysis and discussions were correct . the more i think about it the more i think this is a fantastic idea . I have 30-50 years of data on the leading indicators drilling down to the monthly numbers upto date .
i have all sector/industry groups for us uk and euro area in my spread sheet all with link straight through to the sector or companys . i have a friend that will be putting some code into my spreadsheets so that the important numbers update gdp ,building permits, ism ,etc automatically in my spreads sheet also the spread sheets will be linked for ease of viewing . so this could come in useful .

I love the way i say i do not type much and just looked at my post and shocked my self at how much i have typed not sure if some body will make heads nor tails of it though .
what ya think

 

[Jason101]

not sure if some body will make heads nor tails of it though .
what ya think

What is there not to understand? Seems perfectly clear to me.
The amount of work you put into trading, makes me feel really lazy.

 

[Jason101]

I think the biggest mistakes are made when your emotions revert back to your emotions of a child.
Often after a big win or run of wins, when you feel invincible and are likely to get sloppy and a make a mistake, or put down to much size than you should.

And conversely also after a loss or run of loses, when you feel a loss of confidence and you are likely to get to cautious or change your risk profile either by trading to big, chasing your losses or by going to small and not recovering once winning again.

I think some of the answer can be found in just growing up! And some of the answer is in placing yourself in such a position that any one loss or run of losses is small enough not to do any emotional damage to your account. The trouble with that is that each trade needs to be big enough to keep you focused and grow your account according to your plan. The answers are not easy.

 

[SlowlyButSurely]

I think the biggest mistakes are made when your emotions revert back to your emotions of a child.
Often after a big win or run of wins, when you feel invincible and are likely to get sloppy and a make a mistake, or put down to much size than you should.

And conversely also after a loss or run of loses, when you feel a loss of confidence and you are likely to get to cautious or change your risk profile either by trading to big, chasing your losses or by going to small and not recovering once winning again.

I think some of the answer can be found in just growing up! And some of the answer is in placing yourself in such a position that any one loss or run of losses is small enough not to do any emotional damage to your account. The trouble with that is that each trade needs to be big enough to keep you focused and grow your account according to your plan. The answers are not easy.

This sums up my struggle perfectly.

I have a system that works and once I have proven works. The only thing that ever hurts my account is myself, either due to over-confidence (after winning a lot) or due to rashness and desperation (after a run of losses). It's all just about staying alive long enough to learn how to control and overcome these emotions.