Diary of a very bad trader!

Brian, here's one suggestion, you may, or may not like it.

Restrict yourself to a maximum number of trades per trading day.

Set a max and DO NOT exceed this number of trades.

You can paper trade after you have executed the max, but no real $$$ trades.

This may make you take only the very best trades, and more importantly stop you trying to 'get even' at the market.

As to the max number, start with something pretty low, say three trades.
 
Quote from Brianharvey:

Experimenting in market replay today with a random day's data.
Using very tight stops, and trying to get out as soon as it starts going against me.
As suspected, lots of stop outs, a few 'bad' stops where it stopped me and then went in the anticipated direction without me. Some where I thought 'OK. Just get back in the trade then!'' for it to then just chop me up due to very tight stops, and then finally a lovely large trade which I let run in my direction until it looked like it was moving the other way.

In hindsight the day was a strong trend down day, though.

Naturally, advice received has been very mixed so far
(stops are too tight. Stops are too big. You need to be trading reversals. You're trading against the trend- trade with it. You're trading WITH the trend but didn't manage the position well etc etc.

Brain hurts, but still grateful for peoples posts.

Will update my live chart on Monday showing my activity

And here's todays replay stuff (21st october)

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The good trader that i know who get out of trades when they go against them before it hits there stop, don't just get out because the markets went against them, its more market feel, the order flow changed. Something in the market changed, therefore it doesn't make since to be in. I get out of winning trades sometimes because the market changed. When in doubt get out. Does the market end up doing what you expected it to do after you got out, of course, sometimes that happens but thats just trading. Another good rule to put in your trading plan is to have time stops. If the market is just chopping around for hours theres no point in sitting in a trade.
 
Done one more random market replay day.
In real life I don't think i've ever had a day as good as that!

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In hindsight it turned out to be an unusually 'clean' day. Much less choppy than lots of days.
 

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Maybe:

Think about whether you want to be rich or want to make a living. Tough to become rich from day trading imho.

Easy to make money from smooth trends. Maybe there are markets and time frames which are smoother than others?

Without sufficient follow through, you can't make money. Again, maybe there are markets and time periods which are more, volatile(?) perhaps than others?

Nothing wrong with risking more than what you expect to gain as long as you intend to have far more winners than losers.

Yesterday was very choppy in 5 min. 15 min was better.
 
Quote from Mo06:

Brian, here's one suggestion, you may, or may not like it.

Restrict yourself to a maximum number of trades per trading day.

Set a max and DO NOT exceed this number of trades.

You can paper trade after you have executed the max, but no real $$$ trades.

This may make you take only the very best trades, and more importantly stop you trying to 'get even' at the market.

As to the max number, start with something pretty low, say three trades.
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It is a very good suggestion.
 
Thanks for your input, Mo06.
Lots of ideas to take on board from various posters.


Anyway, decided to do a few MORE random days in 'replay mode'.
I seem to do a little bit better in 'replay' for some reason.
Still not good! Don't get me wrong. Just that I get the more winning days rather than consistently losing 50-60 ticks per day!

Here's my last replay for this weekend.
I've done about 12 days worth over the weekend.

This is from September.

Was a bit of a horrible day in hindsight. Chopped around lots with a general downside bias. Didn't make a 'move' until the latter part of the session, which I was able to catch, recovering the day

It does seem that 'choppy' days really are very difficult to trade (unless you somehow know that the day will be choppy, and then I guess you could just keep fading the moves, but even then, you'd need to pretty much somehow catch the exact high/low due to the 'spikey' nature of each bar)

Here's the replay chart/summary.

Will update with tomorrows chart around the market close.

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my suggestion: never day trading

why?

in a day session, time is so short.

the intra-day chart is hard to predict, like gambling to me.

but in a long-term chart,it is easier and reliable to predict, if added some fundemental study, it is very reliable to predict.

look Down is at record high, those guys who bought at jan 2013 are all winners now, but look at intra-day Down, there is no systematic consistent intra-day movements there. if you study the movement of a particle of a steel ball, you will never figure out which direction/which way it goes, since it is totally random.

but a stell ball's movement (though particles made of the ball moves randomly,but the wholeball moves according to natural laws!) can be studied and its movement follows consistent God made laws. under what force, apply at which direction, you can easily deduce/predict how fast/howfar/whichdirection the steel ball go under what conditions!

that is why you should never daytrading
 
bear in mind

the smaller the timeframe, the higher the movement becomes randomly

you need gamble to win, but donot gamble like a sucker or an idiot
 
Interesting analogy there with a presumably solid steel ball. I don't think it is totally apt, since there are times where intraday moves could not be described as random. Still, would agree that larger time frames are more like the steel ball.
 
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