Why is it difficult to be consistent ?

I'm afraid that "1./ Technical knowledge and skills" is not the most important.Getting your own head right is.

Market Psychology, read 'Trading in the Zone'. I tell people who I teach that they must not even come to me with any trading problems if they haven't read it.

Case in point: I don't have a lot of technical know-how or skills. Not nearly as much as a lot of people do. I only have enough to do what I need to do to win. But I am successful and consistent.
 
I like "Trading in the Zone", there is stuff in there which you can apply to aspects of life outside of trading, for example the section on counterbalancing negative emotions.
 
I have tried to make money and use indicators that should be the ones used . I started reading a book called "trade The Markets" and the author said, " the stock market is stacked against you" or words to that effect. I have used and studied the candlesticks, been through classes and repeated them. I am giving up and do what he says and go to futures or even the E mini.. I could go on and then what else could I say.
 
Hi Marty,

Having a plan and the discipline to follow it ---especially when the going gets tough is the most important thing. You need a method of trading that you are comfortable with and you need to understand it completely. Pay particular attention to its limitations, and every method has them.

Managing your money is of paramount importance. I have found "Better Stock Trading" by Daryl Guppy very useful. He discusses many approaches to every aspect of trading and money management which are widely applicable.

Be patient and dry run your ideas before going live. It can get dangerous out there and you don't want to get shot to pieces on your first day. So, train train and never stop training yourself.
 
why dont you go to my post ? I use avg down and up techniques.
and I do agree I would not trade stocks but futures. ( u pay less taxes & much higher leverage, no need 25k to trade scew that, lower commissions in my perspective).

I been there done that. and now im profitable and consistent on monthly basis.
been scewed a lot this month by Gold like 3 times my account feel below 10k and I have to make it back above 20k. not easy but i made it.

I am net positive this 2010 ,netting ~130% return. I start consistently making money since April until now.

what's the key ? I do not use same techniques of what average people do or think.
just read my posts and u can see a lot of ppl are against my techniques yet my broker statements is the living proof.

marty221 said:
I have tried to make money and use indicators that should be the ones used . I started reading a book called "trade The Markets" and the author said, " the stock market is stacked against you" or words to that effect. I have used and studied the candlesticks, been through classes and repeated them. I am giving up and do what he says and go to futures or even the E mini.. I could go on and then what else could I say.
Click to expand...
 
What about someone who has a plan and follows it consistently until it wipes the account, i.e. the system wasn't that great/money management was off/market turned hostile.. ?

It's all very well saying "be consistent" but you need to know when to adapt as well.
 
Here's what I think.

There's one thing you need to do in order to improve/be consistent.

Keep a log for EVERY trade.

- reason for entering
- entry price
- reason for exiting
- exit price
- max intratrade drawdown
- max intratrade profit

Do this. If you find yourself omitting trades from your own log, then you have some issues to resolve. Just write it down, all of it. As silly as it sounds, even if you never read it again, the process of writing it down at the end of every session (or during) is what will help you to be consistent.

Seriously.
 
in other words, you must know different scenario depending on what days, what news, price position.
technical and money management alone are not enough. u must know the following above. that will come up with experience.
again experience on money management and technical analysis alone is not enough. why? because not everything can be quantified. means you need to know qualitative side as well. (news and days, etc in ur experience).

I am sucessful so far and consistent on monthly basis thats why i can say this.
most ppl are terrible they only depend on technical which is impossible

meanreversion said:
What about someone who has a plan and follows it consistently until it wipes the account, i.e. the system wasn't that great/money management was off/market turned hostile.. ?

It's all very well saying "be consistent" but you need to know when to adapt as well.
Click to expand...
 
Goldmansucks said:
I would disagree with it being unnatural I would say it is habit . Yes this is true in the learning days. It is more to do with habit and how YOU have adapted to the learning curve. I am not sure if the market changes as much as how little we actually change.

Yes the trading plan is important and allows one to adapt. The main problem here is not the trading plan but the traders understanding. Most newbies make a trading plan and think that if they follow it they should arrive at success. That is not always the case because the plan is incorrect. There are moves in the market which they have not understood and dont know when they will be confronted by them. So they cannot compensate for this in the plan thus end up second guessing their own plan.


With this approach are they actually breaking the ciruit or just turning off the power to feel safe? The two are very different.
Click to expand...

The more risk you take the less consistent you will be for a variety of reasons. Your emotions could get the better of you when using high leverage and even if you are profitable your equity curve will be anything but a smooth curve. More like an equity zigzag.
 
Consistency is over-rated. We should be asking "Why is it difficult to be regular?".

An insufficiency of figs and prunes perhaps?
 
I have lost quite a bit of money, I should have traded in simulator, I am finally becoming more profitable. I sat last night with someone and went over all of the indicators and would have made much money. I traded real money and became fear and greed intolerant. when you have a lump come into your throat you need to go back and simulate some more. I maybe should still be on a simulator but I no longer get the lump and you should always use stops. I have a friend who trades for a hedge fund and he said," I have a mental stop" someone asked him a question and there went the mental stop.

I blamed the trading company, the indicator, everything but where it should have been. I am back on simulator and finally doing well. do not get distracted. MSNBC watch it and they will distract you for sure. Education, practice, and learning what the indicators are for and HOW TO READ THEM. I went throught online trading academy 3x but was the one, I know what I am doing and lost.

Listen to the right people not the local stock tip. regularity comes from practice practice and then when you know what you are doing practice some more. I have bought this indicator and that and I never use them now. The one I would like is the T-3 fibs from nextgen but I cannot afford them but you still have to practice with them,

Please take the advice and talk to other profitable traders, not someone like me until I rally learned and still learning Happy trading
 
It is all mental, nothing is tough once you knew it. just like me

marty221 said:
I have lost quite a bit of money, I should have traded in simulator, I am finally becoming more profitable. I sat last night with someone and went over all of the indicators and would have made much money. I traded real money and became fear and greed intolerant. when you have a lump come into your throat you need to go back and simulate some more. I maybe should still be on a simulator but I no longer get the lump and you should always use stops. I have a friend who trades for a hedge fund and he said," I have a mental stop" someone asked him a question and there went the mental stop.

I blamed the trading company, the indicator, everything but where it should have been. I am back on simulator and finally doing well. do not get distracted. MSNBC watch it and they will distract you for sure. Education, practice, and learning what the indicators are for and HOW TO READ THEM. I went throught online trading academy 3x but was the one, I know what I am doing and lost.

Listen to the right people not the local stock tip. regularity comes from practice practice and then when you know what you are doing practice some more. I have bought this indicator and that and I never use them now. The one I would like is the T-3 fibs from nextgen but I cannot afford them but you still have to practice with them,

Please take the advice and talk to other profitable traders, not someone like me until I rally learned and still learning Happy trading
Click to expand...
 
Why? Because you are dealing in worthless products. You are trying to make a profit by exchanging one losing product for another.
Even when you figure out what products to incorporate into your data for direction bias, these figures are totally manufactured and completely manipulated.

Our regulatory bodies are corrupt, our governments are dog sh!t.
 
Depth Trade said:
Why? Because you are dealing in worthless products. You are trying to make a profit by exchanging one losing product for another.
Even when you figure out what products to incorporate into your data for direction bias, these figures are totally manufactured and completely manipulated.

Our regulatory bodies are corrupt, our governments are dog sh!t.
Click to expand...

Might as well look for a normal job then
 
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