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Interesting thread! For the past six months I was taking profits way too early. On average my average win/average loss ratio was 0.35. However I had a profitability ratio of 75%. As you can see, I wasn't losing money but I wasn't making any either. So I decided to change things. I tried to...

It seems like I have just now reached the "moment of clarity". According to John Carter's "Mastering the Trade", I am now moving from phase II - fear based trading - to phase III - the search fo the holy grail! The bad news: Quote: "many traders stay on this search for the rest of their...

Great! It took me almost a year to learn how to be disciplined and keep my emotions in check ... only to discover that my trading system is not profitable when applied correctly :(

At this stage, my trading strategy is still pretty much "work in progress". I have managed to significantly improve in certain areas but I get the feeling that everytime I fix something, something else breaks. By entering a fixed target I have managed to keep my emotions in check and let the...

Thanks for your help Jaytrade. it seems like you are my only friend out there. I understand your point and it makes perfect sense to me. However I think your strategy is different from mine and I am not sure whether this would work for me. Looking back over my past 15 winners, only 3...

Hello everyone, I have now managed to switch the risk/reward ratio in my favour! For over 5 months now I have been taking tiny winners and medium losers. I now trade only near support & resitance levels which allows me to keep my losers extremely small. On the other hand I manage to keep...

Hi Jaytrade, thanks for your reply and for sharing your strategy. At this stage I prefer to stick to my strategy simply because the main problem is not that strategy but my emotions. Only when I can fully implement the strategy will I know whether it will prove to be profitable over time...

Hello everyone, "Trading is a journey not a destination" I am trying to improve my trading by identifying problems and looking for solutions. However it seems that as soon as one problem is solved, another one is emerging. I guess if I manage to become a successful trader one day, I...

This is in my view the reason for the development of my bad habits. I started trading in january and slowly improved my trading each month. After several months I was a break even trader before commission. So far so good. Then in June I had a terrible month. I completely lost all discipline...

Thanks, that makes sense. However I am currently trading only 1 contract. Also I am not convinced that trading in simulation will help. All problems reappear when I switch back to live trading. Just started reading "The Disciplined Trader", again. Hopefully that will help. LL

Hi Jaytrade, I really appreciate your help. So far I haven't been able to turn things around. I have attached the chart of a short trade I took today. I closed with 4 points profit. That's so damn frustrating and there's no one to blame except myself. You said I need to ask myself whether...

Now comes the embarrassing part, my winning trade. Still the same old problem. Great entry, lousy exit. Actually lousy is not the correct word. Please look at this chart. I could have made 485 points by simply holding, without ever turning negative. I closed the trade with a 15 point gain. I...

Good evening everyone, I took 2 trades today, both in the afternoon session. I did not feel comfortable in the morning. Actually I had the impression the market was on steroids. It just moved to quickly for me. Here is the graph of my first trade today. It was a 25 point loser. I expected...

Hi Jaytrade, first of all thanks for your posts. I really appreciate your help. Of course you are right and I agree with your point of view. I am aware that I need bigger winners but I am unable to control my emotions. For example before a trade I tell myself to be patient. I enter the...

Thanks IronFist, I see what your mean. I think I will try to take that concept a bit further and try not look at the P&L at all. I have to learn to only focus on the chart and base my trading decisions on price action instead of my personal profit or loss. Enjoy your week-end, LL

I suppose the volatility isn't much of a problem if your risk / reward ratio remains favorable. Instead of risking 15 points to make 30 I would need to risk 50 to make 100. Several weeks ago I used an (arguably too tight) standard stop of 15 YM points away from my entry. In the current...

Hi guys, The Dow has just now gone up by almost 900 points, then reversed and lost 500. It is impressive and certainly experienced traders can make good money in this environment. However since I don't see myself as an experienced trader I find this market very difficult to trade without...

Hi guys, Some of you might be surprised to see me posting again after my last post. But I did not have the discipline to stop trading! However I managed to change my trading style and therefore my trading results significantly. The tipping point was when I discovered that the description...

well guys f.... it, I give up. This is my last post. I just don't have the discipline to do this... Time to get myself a real job...

Good evening, today I was satisfied with my discipline. Trade management could have been better though. Unfortunately I could only trade for a limited time today which is a shame because I think trending markets are much easier to trade. Well anyway I am pleased that my cumulative loss is now...