Trading sucks - big time - doesn't it?

[Adamus]

If I were you, I'd get out of trading before falling asleep with your nose resting on the buy button.

 

[JTrader]

BAD LUCK -

Take today for instance -

My charts have produced 6 winning and 5 losing signals. This is a bad dayfor my signals in terms of W:L ratio.
Yet it gets worse. Purely by trading the wrong signals, I have made 7 trades, with 5 of them being losers.
.

This situation is not uncommon, rarely do i find myself in the situation of having LUCKILY avoided any losing signals in favour of the signals that turn out to be winners.

This doesn't show the whole picture, though as i haven't quite been that unlucky. Watching multiple pairs i will only trade once per candle max i.e. on one pair. So far today, from the 6W & 5L signals, i could have traded 4 definate losses, 2 definate wins, and on one candle there was a winning and a losing signal. So basically, 5 of the winning signals arrived of two candles.

The cookie can crumble either way I guess. On another day, the complete opposite scenario could have protected me from losses on a poor day. Rarely do i seem to land on the right side of the fence though.

 

[KLfutures]

Lets be honest!

Whether or not you have a holy grail strategy that maybe delivers 70% winners.
Whether or not you are looking at an M15, M30, H1, H4, D1, W1 etc. chart or a multi-timeframe combination of the all or some of these timeframes.
Or, perhaps you use a custom timeframe such as the custom 231 tick chart, yes the 231 tick chart, not to be mistaken for the 232 tick chart as this would make all the difference wouldn't it! -

As an activity, trading sucks - big time!

Trading sucks as follows -
Socially - you might as well buy a shell and live as a hermit crab
Physically - the job of a sloath provides a better workout
Mentally - sat looking at a flickering wick on screen for extendded periods of time

Need I say more???

Do you agree?

Brain numbing!

 

[jayjay121]

I am net + with my trading results, and expect to remain so, over the long term.

My strategic approach is far from something that makes me think - making a profit is simply a case of switching the PC on in a morning and waiting & then pressing button x or y. Some days it goes very well, other days it goes OK. Other days like so far today, are an absolute ****ing nightmare!

Trading does suck overall for me though, profit or not.
The main reason for this view boils down to the following -

On many occassions do i feel that luck simply evaded me -
eg.
1. price hits my SL, goes no further, reverses in the origina ldirection into what would be a big profit.
2. I click on a price, and in the split second delay between my decision to click and the click, the price changes by 1 pip against me, as opposed to in my favour.

I have said it before. Rarely after a trade do i think, damn i just got lucky! in the majority of trades, what i see as examples of bad luck, conspire to reduce my profits.

Please, i don't want any replies saying there's no such thing as bad luck, and if your SL was hit and price went no further b4 reversing andd into what would have been a big profit, this happened for a reason and your original entry was at fault etc. i.e. there's no such thing as random price movements etc. I've heard it before and its BS.

The fact is trading remains a tough challenge for all of us, and the odds are stacked against us, and it will always remain so.

i agree 100% with you jtrader and im too going throught the same ****.....

the thing is we all get good results and good runs some times but not consistently, the only trader on here who is consistently making money everyday is grey1, well he is to me the only proven person.

trading does suck i agree totally

 

[wiseass]

all least you're net +ve

maybe less time posting on t2w and more time spent ondoors will change your views. you have over 4000+ post ffs

 

[jayjay121]

i just closed a nice scalp down on the ftse for £420 profit, am i happy? no, why?, because i cannot do it consistently enough as TA is just so random and i will give half back on the next wrong move.

Just look at the guys over at the Dow 2008 thread, no offence but just like the famous Oscar they get it wrong more times than they get it right because they do not realise TA alone does not work consistently, they go on about r/r and thinking in probabilities but its all so tedious and the reward in my opinion is not good enough for the time im putting in.........Also please remember alot of the guys on that thread and here on T2W are more than likely retirees or already have enough wealth so less pressure when they are wrong and can afford to make like a tedious £100 a week net profit, to me thats no way near good enough, i need £800 every single week to live and pay my bills or im in the ****.............Trading works for sure but to me it's nearly impossible to do unless you have no pressure to make an income form it, grey1 is the only exception as he has proven it over time and always posts his p and l............people will disagree with me i know but i have seen so many people on here say they are good and making money without ever proving it and then the very same people later are hunting out new systems.

Just reading over at the sniper forex thread, absolute amazes me how people are believing this will work long term.......its a simple trend following system just the same principle as any trend following system, absolutely brilliant for catching trends and all you need, but when ranging days and chanelling days come you have had it and no good telling me you will know when its going to happen as you will not, markets are random....

unbelievable, well at least i suppose i don't think like the 95%, i try my best to be different come the crowd and i actually learn alot from the crowd and yet im still not consistent but least im honest with myself which is by far the most important thing as alot of traders here are in for a very painfull forced awareness sooner or later

Finally, why do you think there are so may traders who supplement their income by becoming coaches?, cos they enjoy it and love the stress of keep on going over the same things day by day?............Its because they can offset trading losses of course

 

[new_trader]

i just closed a nice scalp down on the ftse for £420 profit, am i happy? no, why?, because i cannot do it consistently enough as TA is just so random and i will give half back on the next wrong move.

Just look at the guys over at the Dow 2008 thread, no offence but just like the famous Oscar they get it wrong more times than they get it right because they do not realise TA alone does not work consistently, they go on about r/r and thinking in probabilities but its all so tedious and the reward in my opinion is not good enough for the time im putting in.........Also please remember alot of the guys on that thread and here on T2W are more than likely retirees or already have enough wealth so less pressure when they are wrong and can afford to make like a tedious £100 a week net profit, to me thats no way near good enough, i need £800 every single week to live and pay my bills or im in the ****.............Trading works for sure but to me it's nearly impossible to do unless you have no pressure to make an income form it, grey1 is the only exception as he has proven it over time and always posts his p and l............people will disagree with me i know but i have seen so many people on here say they are good and making money without ever proving it and then the very same people later are hunting out new systems.

You are correct in many things you say jayjay121 and this is the problem so many face when trying to become a profitable trader. The 'NEED' to make a trade greatly warps and impairs judgement. I also think that too much emphasis is placed on thinking in terms of probabilities rather than thinking in terms of skill. Naturally any trader will incur losses but the aim is to minimise them by learning from experience. To become more proficient with every trade should be the goal.

 

[jayjay121]

You are correct in many things you say jayjay121 and this is the problem so many face when trying to become a profitable trader. The 'NEED' to make a trade greatly warps and impairs judgement. I also think that too much emphasis is placed on thinking in terms of probabilities rather than thinking in terms of skill. Naturally any trader will incur losses but the aim is to minimise them by learning from experience. To become more proficient with every trade should be the goal.

I agree with you but how long has the process gotta take?, been 9 years now for me and im now at a stage where i trade 100% from an objective viewpoint which took me along time to achieve,

I run my own business and my income is from that......If i had to make my living from trading i would have been made bankrupt many times over by now.............It started out as a dream to work from home, being flexible, going to the gym etc, now isee the hard reality is Trading is very difficult to make it full time, of course there will be always be exceptions and naturally gifted people who can do it.

 

[0007]

Quote:
Originally Posted by jayjay121 View Post
i just closed a nice scalp down on the ftse for £420 profit, am i happy? no, why?, because i cannot do it consistently enough as TA is just so random and i will give half back on the next wrong move.

Just look at the guys over at the Dow 2008 thread, no offence but just like the famous Oscar they get it wrong more times than they get it right because they do not realise TA alone does not work consistently, they go on about r/r and thinking in probabilities but its all so tedious and the reward in my opinion is not good enough for the time im putting in.........Also please remember alot of the guys on that thread and here on T2W are more than likely retirees or already have enough wealth so less pressure when they are wrong and can afford to make like a tedious £100 a week net profit, to me thats no way near good enough, i need £800 every single week to live and pay my bills or im in the ****.............Trading works for sure but to me it's nearly impossible to do unless you have no pressure to make an income form it, grey1 is the only exception as he has proven it over time and always posts his p and l............people will disagree with me i know but i have seen so many people on here say they are good and making money without ever proving it and then the very same people later are hunting out new systems.

You are correct in many things you say jayjay121 and this is the problem so many face when trying to become a profitable trader. The 'NEED' to make a trade greatly warps and impairs judgement. I also think that too much emphasis is placed on thinking in terms of probabilities rather than thinking in terms of skill. Naturally any trader will incur losses but the aim is to minimise them by learning from experience. To become more proficient with every trade should be the goal.

I go along with that - it's much easier to trade profitably when the pressure's off (eg when you don't need or have a day job on which you depend financially). Or is it that you eventually achieve a state of mind that allows you to trade dispassionately?

All arty-farty psychological stuff I know, but it does seem to have some relevance for me.

 

[jayjay121]

sorry for being negitive but i can give a valueable opinion about this subject as i do not rely on trading for my income, so i have no bias either way.


The thing that finally made me realise how hard trading is to do full time is the fact all grey1 followers on his forum cannot even trade the way he does and not one of them do it like he does, and the guy has even been kind enough to hold free seminars and webinars over a period of time. Everyone tries to trade the same as grey but can't, what does this show you?, well it shows me yes its possible but if grey is willing to show how he trades daily and how he makes his money, which he very generiously does and is an amazing man truely....But even after all his help and actual free mentoring people don't do it or at least from what im seeing on that forum no one appears to be making it work for them but then again alot of the guys there have full time jobs and have never given it a proper go.

Still to me it shows grey1 has a inner working, a mentality made and fit for trading.....they do say trading is a feedback mechanism on a moment to moment basis for how much you like yourself, the more you like yourself and self value yourself, the more money you will give yourself........maybe this is where im personally going wrong, goes to show how pyschological things are important in trading

 

[0007]

sorry for being negitive but i can give a valueable opinion about this subject as i do not rely on trading for my income, so i have no bias either way.


The thing that finally made me realise how hard trading is to do full time is the fact all grey1 followers on his forum cannot even trade the way he does and not one of them do it like he does, and the guy has even been kind enough to hold free seminars and webinars over a period of time. Everyone tries to trade the same as grey but can't, what does this show you?, well it shows me yes its possible but if grey is willing to show how he trades daily and how he makes his money, which he very generiously does and is an amazing man truely....But even after all his help and actual free mentoring people don't do it or at least from what im seeing on that forum no one appears to be making it work for them but then again alot of the guys there have full time jobs and have never given it a proper go.

Still to me it shows grey1 has a inner working, a mentality made and fit for trading.....they do say trading is a feedback mechanism on a moment to moment basis for how much you like yourself, the more you like yourself and self value yourself, the more money you will give yourself........maybe this is where im personally going wrong, goes to show how pyschological things are important in trading

Good points. I can drive reasonably safely etc etc. Get Lewis to give me some lessons - i've already seen him do it; but I'll bet you I'll never be anywhere near as good as he is. That's life.

 

[Bladerunner]

Smile and the whole world smiles with you

another good post Jayjay

I have read quite a lot of Greys work (and re-read it) and listened to the live trade room (after the event) I agree with you....................Thanks Grey for time taken

A person would need to work with Grey daily like an apprentice for an apprenticeship kind of period. Then and only then might he be able to add to what he as been taught or be skilled enough to consider it. A trader would need to approach it with a I no nothing approach and start again with an open mind from scratch.

I read Greys work and that of Mr Marcus, really good stuff and the time taken to write those posts is I am sure appreciated by many

1st stupid thing that came into my head was ~ can I adapt it to fit in with me

OK caught myself doing it, so reason to be a little positive, but even so demonstrates the difficulty involved in teaching others etc



for J trader from another poster on this site some time ago ~

"Douglas' approach is best summed up in his own words:

"All traders give themselves exactly what they deserve."

He means this in many different ways, but the main one is: our successes and failures are the inevitable result of the way we think, usually unconsciously.

I think this probably applies to life, too!


Nick"

then something or a couple of somethings I found on my travels

this is great motivational information to read over and over again, print it out and post it all over your office and re-read on those days where life is trying to get you down.

A dream written down with a date becomes a goal.
A goal broken down becomes a plan.
A plan backed by action makes your dream come true.


1. Always maintain a positive, solution-seeking attitude.
2. To truly succeed at anything, your chances increase when you enjoy the task. When you do what you love and love what you do, you’ll have success your whole life through.
3. The only limitations you really have are those you give yourself.
4. The only expectations you need to fulfill are those you give yourself.
5. Nothing is as powerful as a positive attitude, and nothing is as detrimental as a negative one.
6. Morally speaking, if you have to wonder whether something is right or wrong, chances are it’s wrong.
7. When you focus on other people’s success, yours is sure to follow.
8. Live your word. Lead by example.
9. Share. (Wealth + Information + Glory = Success)
10. You have the best chance of reaching a goal by simply giving yourself one to reach.
11. Observe every obstacle as a learning experience. The greater the challenge, the greater the reward.
12. Do the hardest thing first, and the rest will be easy.
13. Treat others the way that they want to be treated.
14. Few great accomplishments have ever been achieved by anyone alone; seek support from those whose talents exceed your own.

All best J trader, :clover:

forgive me if I don"t subscribe to this thread

Andy

 

[darktone]

Trading sucks - big time - doesn't it?

Na it doesnt. Sounds like your going through a bad patch, probably trading a method that doesnt suit (specifically too much screen time by the sounds of it).. Be kind to yourself / stick at it and worm will turn!..

Gl fella.

 

[trendie]

Na it doesnt. Sounds like your going through a bad patch, probably trading a method that doesnt suit (specifically too much screen time by the sounds of it).. Be kind to yourself / stick at it and worm will turn!..

Gl fella.

I wonder if its working from home that causes these feelings.
When you are successful, you dont have anyone to share it with, as you would when in an office.
When things arent working too well, you dont have the support of others in an office to give you a pep-talk. and you do feel isolated. and non-traders cant really help as they dont really understand it all.

good points from jayjay21 too. its tough when your mortgage relies on your trading, and it is incredibly tough-going at times. but then again, I realise how easy it is working for someone else.

but, you have to really love trading, otherwise you're dead-meat.

EDIT: maybe trading sucks because of the peripheral issues as per JTs opening post, not trading itself.

 

[JTrader]

Guys I've changed my mind completely.

I now think that trading is the dogs ******** - man!

"Laugh and the world laughs with you. Sneeze, and its goodbye seattle!"

 

[BSD]

Guys I've changed my mind completely.

I now think that trading is the dogs ******** - man!

"Laugh and the world laughs with you. Sneeze, and its goodbye seattle!"

Way to go mate.

Plus, for those lonely moments, you might think about getting a new hobby:

YUMMY MUMMIES:

Bored stiff during the day, and in dire need of entertainment.

Low maintenance and hassle free to boot, seeing as how you get evenings and weekends off.




Yummy mummies, your salvation.

Lovely !

 

[steveborner]

im not a trader, but my job is stuck on excel screens all day. So I get what you mean by the boredom, and long hours mon - fri kill social life.

I recently strarted building a kit car that I will race on track days, just that extra hobby has kick started my social life and made me more assertive in going to meet freinds and making myself available.

maybe something like that which is more hands on may interest you JTrader?

 

[Priceman]

Another question you need to ask yourself is; what's the alternative? There are so many people out there that think their job sucks and would love to do something else.

If you're net positive then it's just going on to better that, slowly slowly catchy monkey. Same with anything you do in life, you have to strive to get better at everything or you stagnate and become disillusioned. Keep striving at trading and one day you may just become a great trader. We are always learning in our life and trading is no different, you have to move with how the markets are moving otherwise what works now wont work in a year, 5 years, 10 years.

Otherwise JT... go and get a real job :cheesy:

 

[JTrader]

Way to go mate.

Plus, for those lonely moments, you might think about getting a new hobby:

YUMMY MUMMIES:

Bored stiff during the day, and in dire need of entertainment.

Low maintenance and hassle free to boot, seeing as how you get evenings and weekends off.




Yummy mummies, your salvation.

Lovely !

i just googles YUMMY MUMMIES in the hope of finding some "interesting" website. No such look :whistling

 

[mb325]

you found a niche!