Desperation

To Mike805,

I'm sorry. I messed up my previous reply. I have followed Ripley's thread from time to time; there may be some issues there that are different than mine.

My negativity is actually very recent, and stems from the realization (and I think this is good) that my strategy is not well-enough-defined to make consistent money in the markets, and that I am not guarding my risk carefully enough (probably also a factor of lack of positive expectancy which makes me want to turn every trade into a home-run). It's not something I feel I need councilling for, as I'm generally a pretty optimistic guy, and my pessimism here is more like realism.

Now a mentor, who could help me develop a consistent methodology, that's a different story.

Thanks for your reply. (And I'm sorry you don't like the thread name. It's how I felt when I wrote it. Perhaps you've never felt that way.)

I would be interested, some time, in hearing more about how you trade and use market profile, if that's okay with you. But before I could do that, I would have to do my own homework...

Thanks again.

HGL
 
JMowery,

In my replies to others, I outline why I don't feel I'm your typical gambler. Lazy yes. Greedy yes. Want to believe that I can extract money from the markets with ease, and without putting in enough effort yes. Cavalier, at times.

I know the tendency is to stereotype, but if you read my posts, perhaps you'll change your mind. Then again, maybe not.

Thanks for responding all the same. You're a young guy, but I enjoy your posts.

Quote from JMowery1987:

Gamblers will never quit, they are so self confident that one day it will all come together.

It's unfortunate, but there have been a few other cases on this board that I have participated in, and I'm not seeing a few of those other traders around right now, even though they blocked me and said I was crazy.

A gambler will never give up on this until he ruins his or her life. I don't have facts to prove this, but I do have examples on ET.

To the OP, if you in anyway, shape or form feel like you have a tendancy to gamble, I must urge you to seek help before you ruin your life.

That's all I got, and if this is not the case (I hope I'm wrong), then just work hard and find a strategy, but I like the suggestions of taking a break.

I'm not an expert on this or anything, but I have studied things that have related to this, and it's bad, and if you can't suck it up and admit you have a problem, then even though you might not deserve what you get, you will suffer.

Some of the greatest remembered people in our time were great, not because they never gave up, but because they knew when to give up and move onto bigger and better things to propel them to greatness.

Time to take a vacation and reflect. I suggest a cruise, when I came back, I felt like a new person.
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Mac,

I know it sounds absurd. But if you went to a doctor, and he diagnosed you and gave you all the right medicines, but you failed to follow his regimen, and remained sick, you might still be grateful towards the doctor, even as you fumed at yourself for being so lazy and careless.

ET is a tremendous source of information for all traders. I am sure there are many traders that can directly or indirectly attribute their success to ET. I am grateful for what it has given me, even as I grow more ashamed at my own laziness and greed.

Perhaps I will (still) be the next ET success story... ;-)


Quote from F-Trader:

How can you say this?

You average down, blow out your account several times, blow out 40k in a futures account in 2 fuggin weeks, quit your job, put your family at risk, etc...

And you still have NO strategy after all this time.

I make good money but it's a grind. Same thing day after day after day... I make $500 - $1,500 consistently. On a bad day I break even minus whatever commission cost, so maybe a couple hundred bucks.

I cut losses immediately, I NEVER move my Stops, I NEVER Average a Loser, don't make foolish trades, I go for Singles only, F'k Home Runs, follow good money management, etc...

How can you say you've gained a lot from this board?

I think you should leave trading for a while and concentrate on YOURSELF and your family.

Get a job and if you can save some money then trade small and start back after you have tested your system.

Good Luck

Mac
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Obviously one possible solution would be none of your systems in the past had been fully/ properly backtested on paper before trading with small/ big money.

Can youn point us to the backtesting method(s) you found useful on ET or any books for reference?
 
Lazy yes. Greedy yes
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Two things that don't work well.

Unfortunately, easy money is out of the question.

Your gonna have to work hard, just as I have. Studied so much, asked so many questions on ET, pm'd so many good traders on ET to try and learn from them.

You can change, it's why humans are #1, we can adapt, we can change *this sounds like a movie*, and the ones that will survive in the long term are the ones that can do just that.

So, start working hard, start studying, start working on new systems.

If you truely want to trade, you will do these things, otherwise sooner or later you will run out of money and do something else, and either stop coming back, or you will come back with the same results.

So many people in their life are lazy, and amount to nothing, and I don't feel bad for those people that have nothing.

I feel bad for those people who don't have the opprotunity to make themselves better. But in the USA, although not EVERYONE is given the same opprotunties, it's gotten to the point where you can change your life with hard work and determination, and hard work is key.

Some will claim on ET that hard work doesn't make you a great trader. Well I'll say that I highly doubt that someone who didn't put in the work is a great trader either.

Step up your game, or step out.

It's up to you to change and adapt and learn.

Ask yourself if you have the opprotunities to achieve something, and just are not putting in the work, and if you feel that way, don't feel bad if you fail, because in this business, you have only yourself to blame.

So many people fail because I believe this career attracts lazy people who think that they won't have to put in the work and dedication but can still make a decent living.

It just doesn't work that way.
 
Quote from volente_00:

HGL, What you are looking for you will only find within.


I will offer you this, you will never trade for a living with scared money. Never.

Have you read this book ? If not I suggest you buy it.


http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbnInquiry.asp?z=y&isbn=0132157578&TXT=Y&itm=1
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Good book, I actually enjoyed Trading in the Zone by Mark Douglas even more, but both would be good reads to you if you have not yet read them.

Trading in the Zone changed the way I traded and I might not be here if it wasn't for that book allowing me to realize what I need to do.

Just like volente says, you will have to find it from within, which is why I said, you have only yourself to blame if you don't put in the effort to learn. Got to change yourself immediately.
 
I do not believe you should trade and try to find an edge at the same time. Allow an open ended time for yourself to find an edge and learn to trade it like a pro via simulations, reading books, etc. When and only when you have something that works, and you can test it right up to the point of trading it in a simulated account that very much mimics the real market, then you should trade it, and you should start out small.

The other good choice is to sign up with a prop firm that has training and mentoring and let them help you. You will need to have money to live on for a while most likely.

I am a natural at Montessori style learning. I can learn on my own, at my own pace, I have done that since I was a kid, slept through school, went home and started learning something I was interested in. There were occasions where I could show the teacher something, there were lots of classes that I got a C or D in, it just was a matter of the curriculum matching what I was doing on my own. I can study and trade by myself and after a lot of years it is all fun now, and not difficult, and it is good like canned peaches. It took a lot of time. I had a job and no pressure to earn, and I am glad because it took me an awful lot longer to get it figured out than I ever dreamed it could.

If you are not a natural Montessori style learner then you should not try to learn that way, find a situation where the trainers have a vested interest in your success [that will not be in a "guru" type setting will it?] and let them help you.
 
Quote from maxpi:

I am a natural at Montessori style learning. I can learn on my own, at my own pace, I have done that since I was a kid, slept through school, went home and started learning something I was interested in. There were occasions where I could show the teacher something, there were lots of classes that I got a C or D in, it just was a matter of the curriculum matching what I was doing on my own. I can study and trade by myself and after a lot of years it is all fun now, and not difficult, and it is good like canned peaches. It took a lot of time. I had a job and no pressure to earn, and I am glad because it took me an awful lot longer to get it figured out than I ever dreamed it could.

If you are not a natural Montessori style learner then you should not try to learn that way, find a situation where the trainers have a vested interest in your success [that will not be in a "guru" type setting will it?] and let them help you.
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That's funny, i was exactly the same way in school. I slept through it, but I did for the reason I felt I already know a lot of what I was learning about because I did it by myself.

My favorite subject was/is math and I learned everything about it and always slept in math classes and A'ced the classes, but got C's and D's in everything else. (I got B's in History and Government though, those classes interested me)

After school I took the time to study music production, programming, game design, investing, trading, graphic design, photography, reading books. I settled down with trading, and I still actively create music when I'm not dealing with the markets.

Interesting......

Well at least I now know the way I like to learn things and everything.... Sweet.

Thanks for that. I guess I can still learn new stuff on ET :)

I'm done yapping in this thread now.
 
I haven't read through everyone's responses so forgive me if someone already said this, but it seems really simple to me.

Stop being an idiot and start using everything you've supposedly learned from reading ET.

You said you would trade cautiously and make money, then after a while, take more risk or not cut losses and then blow out nearly all of your account on one trade.

Why not continue trading cautiously and continue making money?
 
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