TOTW What are the trading rules you live by?

Sharky

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For this week's TOTW, we delve into mindset of trading success by asking what are the rules your live by? (or at least try to!)

Some examples from T2W interviews with well known traders, revealed:

Joe Ross: Keep losses small and controlled and the winners will take care of themselves.

Alpesh Patel: Discipline. Never get excited about trades. Don’t treat it like money, but like counters.

What are the trading rules you live by?

Last week's TOTW: Share a photo of your trading desk
 
Gambling studies have shown that the shorter the time between initiation of a gamble and the subsequent outcome being realised, the greater the emotion and the more the addictive qualities of the gamble.
So a scratch card will be more addictive than a weekly lottery ticket and a weekly lottery will be more addictive than a premium bond and casino and slots being very emotionally charged and addictive.

So with this in mind one of my rules is (try) to always open and close trades with orders to open. Rather than opening orders directly into the market.
If you try this you might find your trading is more relaxed, thought out and you may also get better prices.
 
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I can relate to Jason101 and find order trading provides greater control if candle watching not practical, owing to proper planning and acceptance of risk.
My ruleset is rather slim, but taking profit at +x% appropriate to my recent sucess. Ie running a small acct with relative high risk (compared to you regulars) means a poorly run trade causes havoc while a % profit take kills the potential but adds coffers !
 
"Alpesh Patel: Discipline. Never get excited about trades. Don’t treat it like money, but like counters."

With discipline I agree. But "never get excited about trades?" Why not?

It's the same as how people are telling kids not to get emotionally involved in winning or losing in sports. To just "play your best" and be happy is enough? Is it?

You have to be excited about your trades. If you're excited, you have confidence in your trades. If you have confidence in your trades, you (hopefully) have a strong trading system.

So here's my trading rule: Get excited about all your trades - if you don't feel excited, don't make the trade. If you're not excited about a trade, you're probably making a bad, lackluster or foolish trade.
 
For this week's TOTW, we delve into mindset of trading success by asking what are the rules your live by? (or at least try to!)

Some examples from T2W interviews with well known traders, revealed:

Joe Ross: Keep losses small and controlled and the winners will take care of themselves.

Alpesh Patel: Discipline. Never get excited about trades. Don’t treat it like money, but like counters.

What are the trading rules you live by?

Last week's TOTW: Share a photo of your trading desk

Yes, i always try to keep my loss small :)
 
Rules --whose rules ?

Yes, i always try to keep my loss small :)

Treat anything written on a forum (including my prose) with an abnormally heavy dose of skepticism.

How many people here actually make money ? Don't answer that because I don't know and don't care. You only have their word which will not improve the way you trade.

Don't expect traders, who have sweated time and tears to make a profit, to respond with kindness to your outstretched hand and a request for the holy grail system of profitable trading.

Read the approaches adopted by the few useful posters on this site, shuffle them into an approach that suits you and test it, Wash and rinse.

I would write more but I have lost interest.

read:

www.trade2win.com/boards/first-steps/89078-essentials-new-trading.html
 
My Rule : Become a specialist in a single commodity.
 
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Killing Gods creatures for "sport." ?

I don't see my self at the level to convey my own thoughts but as the forum allows then let me place my thoughts.

First of all one should be very serious about trading , it should be taken as a career in which one should reach to a specialty level, just use common sense,
a doctor doesn't treat all kind of patients but he may be specialist in a cancer disease, gynae, paeds, orthopedic , oncology etc etc specialist, same trader is like a hunter, a whale hunter doesn't go for hunting lion and bird shooter is not going for dear hunting because all got different (i)Fundamentals (ii)Technicals (iii)Emotions and (iv)Sentiments (v)Seasons.
i think a trader should choose his style of trading according his personality and go for just a single instrument to become a specialist in it. It will be very difficult to trade all instrument in futures, stock index, forex etc. try to master market in a single personality (instrument) so one can speak and place his thoughts, in forex trading if someone wishes to go for EUR/USD trading then he should seek knowledge in detail i.e its behavior and reactions, after that use those fundamentals as its market edge (example lion hunter know where he can find lions by knowing their natural behavior to season, weather, environment and reaction to any threat or searching to be fed) and technicals as gauging indicators (like radar, barometer, binoculars and of course gun to fire). and use money management as a hunter use to have first aid box and emergency plan if lion escaped then he knows what he have to do by not waiting in hope that lion will stand again in front of him to be shot. and most of all peering his emotions with targeted lion so both breath as one.
in short to sum up one cannot go jumping around as crazy monkey and wish for success.
Rule 1 and last : Become a specialist in a single commodity.

One had hoped that killing wild life for sport was consigned to the dust bin of ignorance and barbarism. I find it difficult to believe you would support killing whales and lions in today's enlightened ? world.
 
One had hoped that killing wild life for sport was consigned to the dust bin of ignorance and barbarism. I find it difficult to believe you would support killing whales and lions in today's enlightened ? world.

Yes you are right my illustration of trading with wildlife resemblance was not a good idea.
 
"Alpesh Patel: Discipline. Never get excited about trades. Don’t treat it like money, but like counters."

With discipline I agree. But "never get excited about trades?" Why not?

It's the same as how people are telling kids not to get emotionally involved in winning or losing in sports. To just "play your best" and be happy is enough? Is it?

You have to be excited about your trades. If you're excited, you have confidence in your trades. If you have confidence in your trades, you (hopefully) have a strong trading system.

So here's my trading rule: Get excited about all your trades - if you don't feel excited, don't make the trade. If you're not excited about a trade, you're probably making a bad, lackluster or foolish trade.

Well maybe everyone is different and excitement suits you.
For me I find if I get excited I am more likely to make emotional decisions rather than thought out and considered decisions. I am more likely to profit take to early, not give enough breathing space, or risk to much.
I have even told my wife, if I ever show any emotions about trading, to please take an apposing stance to my emotion. So if I feel like a trading king then put me down, tell me its temporary and just luck. And if I feel down about my trading, to build me back up again.
 
Treat anything written on a forum (including my prose) with an abnormally heavy dose of skepticism.

How many people here actually make money ? Don't answer that because I don't know and don't care. You only have their word which will not improve the way you trade.

Don't expect traders, who have sweated time and tears to make a profit, to respond with kindness to your outstretched hand and a request for the holy grail system of profitable trading.

Read the approaches adopted by the few useful posters on this site, shuffle them into an approach that suits you and test it, Wash and rinse.

I would write more but I have lost interest.

read:

www.trade2win.com/boards/first-steps/89078-essentials-new-trading.html

I know just how you feel Neil.
Maybe you should be using T2W a bit more under your own terms and if other users pick something up to help them, then that is a good by-product.
 
Barjon sums it up nicely, Momentum.... when I enter a position I always anticipate the entry will usually be retested for the shakeout, but with momentum & market weight behind you, usually the shakeout is brief & then wooosh (usually)

no momentum, no weight... exit !
 
Always know your risk (which means your maximum loss) before ever entering a trade and if that stop is hit then exit the trade. Make sure that stop is a logical failure point for the trade, not just a random amount that you have decided to risk on the trade.
 
Well maybe everyone is different and excitement suits you.
For me I find if I get excited I am more likely to make emotional decisions rather than thought out and considered decisions. I am more likely to profit take to early, not give enough breathing space, or risk to much.
I have even told my wife, if I ever show any emotions about trading, to please take an apposing stance to my emotion. So if I feel like a trading king then put me down, tell me its temporary and just luck. And if I feel down about my trading, to build me back up again.

Good one. I seem to remember that in the past, wise kings had someone in the background all the time (maybe a court jester) to remind them they were mere humans and not gods.

Maybe traders need a court jester looking over their shoulder.

(Fortunately, T2W has no shortage of jokers ... :whistling )
 
Good one. I seem to remember that in the past, wise kings had someone in the background all the time (maybe a court jester) to remind them they were mere humans and not gods.

Maybe traders need a court jester looking over their shoulder.

(Fortunately, T2W has no shortage of jokers ... :whistling )

Good to see some things don't change, I am glad to see you are still trading too.
 
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