five years later (the previous 5), still struggling!

[momoNY]

Mark: I guess you are Nihabashi (???) Japanese Candlestick?
Anyway, whoever you are you are definitely right. I hope that my addiction may have been caused by losses only. The more you lose (money and time) the more you want to get it back fast, which leads to addiction and being jack of all trades.

 

[momoNY]

Quote from Eddiefl:

I will keep this very short and simple. PLease dont do as most do and think its too simple so it must not work. Length of explanation has no corellation with its validity.

1. Stop fucking daytrading.
2. Stop fucking daytrading.
3. See #1 and #2.
4. Throw away multiple time frames, too lagged and too many things have to "line" up to make it work.
5. Dont ever open another 2 or 5 min chart !!! HFT-bots have changed that world, it is not for you or I, anymore.
6. No charts under 15min time frame, with 30-60 minute time frames being superior. Hell, daily charts works well too.
7. trade one time frame
8. trade small for 6 months, stops will be a little bigger, but you will be surprised, not much bigger than the daytrading junk stops.
9. After 6 months of trading large time frames profitably, add size.
10. Test your system/methodology back for 10years of triggers, notthing less. (very important)
11. Chances are you wont do this and you will keep feeding money to HFt bots, you will never beat them
12. Tired of typing, you have it laid out, JUST DO IT.

Shortcut: just do 1-12.


EF

I tend to think the same, but 15mns is too long, you need to hold overnight to make it worth the risk/reward. I hate overnight because that's where the hunting for stops becomes a national sport. Did I mention that I trade only ES?
I have to confess that the months I was up, I was relying more on 15mns than anything but then, it was during the run from November up. The market goes down, then the first two bars break in the 15mns to the upside, it stays up until the close. Since January there are many ups and downs within a day, you get stopped very often for no profit if you use 15mns.

 

[momoNY]

Quote from HedgeItYourself:

The problem isn't daytrading, per se. The problem is the failure to have the proper tools for daytrading TODAY.

HFT bots have change the interday playing field, certainly. But they have not made it harder to play IF you understand HOW they play.

I believe that the HFT bots, clumsy things that they are, have made it easier for us wetware-based drones. That's why I see these are the golden days of daytrading -- for the next ten-to-fifteen years, anyway, until Watson's great-great grandchildren take us all out with their superior AI. Only then will it be over.

As oddly as it may seem, I agreed with multiple posts that may seem contradictory but in fact they are not. Money can be made at anytime frame with different strategies. The shorter the harder that's obvious. The longer the less harder but less money to get.

I definitely agree that all this bot thing is put out of proportions. I think, just like you hedge, that bots make it easier to daytrade, because they need a trend as micro as it could be, but they need it. I have never seen trend following work and clean than the last few years intraday. If you know how to read a trend and when the trend is violated, you can make a lot of money. I coutinue to believe I achieved a high degree of knowledge in market structure, if I can get disciplined I could be rich ;-)

 

[momoNY]

Quote from the1:

This is the most important thing. Market behavior changes throughout the day. Lunch time is a great time for a perfectly good trader to lose a lot of money. Don't forget to eat right and get plenty of exercise. Have you done anything to work on yourself mentally?

I haven't tried prosac yet, but it is in the plan
More seriously, I started to exercise today!!! and I'm sleeping a lot better than previously.

 

[momoNY]

Quote from bighog:

A penis does not make a trader.

Size matters in other areas though. What would work better when dating chicks........a 1 1/2 incher pencil thin frail one or a "BIG FAT JUICY" throbbing, purple veined, soft umbrella capped hum-dinger, supported with a set of nuts that would make a Gorilla jealous?

Trading is a mind game, anything to do with money messes with your mind. PERIOD!!

Speaking of fashions...........OSCARS tonight. The industry that entertains us, they make heavy dollars, they have a gift to share. Love Hollywood.

Hate it. Long live the independent cinema, the real one. Go see Biutiful, you'll be shaken like hell.

 

[momoNY]

Quote from Eddiefl:

That says a bundle. There is a difference from SIM to LIVE, but not as big a difference as you are stating above.

This might be a pysch issue here and trading a time frame that isnt suited for you.

Read: Trading in the zone.

Ef

Eddie, I read the book twice, I don't think there is a book you name I didn't read (exaggerating a little bit but not too much). It just seems that fixing one problem takes more time for me than average. For instance, I spent a lot of time before respecting my stops and not moving them. Pulling the trigger, I have no problem with that now. Letting my trades run a lot more than I used to. Not switching to longer time frames when the market goes against me, I'm more atient. I think I solved a lot of problems; my first trade is most of the time a winner. As I stated, if I can fix the problem of revenge trading I'll be ok.

 

[Laissez Faire]

I highly recommend that you read both of Mark Douglas books. They will help you a lot.

Quick comment on a few of your rules:

- Staying in the trade until a reversal or descent profit of at lest twice the risk.

This rule may mess with your objectivity in that you are looking for a "descent profit" instead of looking at the market. Some times you should be happy with a small profit. Personally, I have let many small profits turn into losers, because I was not satisfied with a small winner even though that was all the market had to give on that trade.

- The most serious of the most serious ones, stop for at least 30mns after a stop loss. This is my top one problem; I end red every time I have a loser. I don't wait for another setup, I invent them myself ;-).

This could indicate that your risk per trade is beyond what you`re comfortable with, yes? Opening the door for an emotional frenzy of overtrading?

If your risk per trade is small, you should be able to accept a loss and then immediately re-evalute the market conditions and move on. Especially, if you are trading during the open and there is lot`s of movement and opportunity.

In my experience, there are countless times during the open where I start the day with a loss or two and then immediately change my opinion and catch a winner on my next trade.

I have however experienced with my own trading that I should use a similar rule if I take a trade during a slow time of the day and am stopped out for a loss. So you might consider that.

What do you think? Just some thoughts...

 

[momoNY]

Quote from HedgeItYourself:

I mean this in the nicest possible way, but those are not good reasons:

1) You're afraid of receiving input on a strategy that, by your own account, is not working for you because you'll start adding elements in a willy-nilly fashion? If that is the case, it suggests discipline problems of a magnitude that may well prevent you from ever trading successfully.

This may be well the case. But seriously I have been around longer than you can believe, I have seen this many times. People start with a strategy to find themselves trading a completely different one.
My strategy was inspired by Annekdoten, few years ago he started a thread with price action only, that has a lot of foundation, at the end of the billion pages thread the strategy evolved to a completely different one than the original. It is human nature that when you see something working you want to jump and include it in your arsenal. That's good when you are profitable and well disciplined but not when you are not. There were excellent thread few years ago, but not anymore. I didn't invent anything I just refined what was public domain (books, boards, etc...)


2) You're afraid that newbies will see your underperforming strategy as some kind of Holy Grail? I'm sorry, the logic of this concern eludes me as well.

Performing or under performing is not the problem. When you are desperate for a strategy, you grab anything that's out there. A strategy that works for you, won't necessarily work for me, that's what I meant. My strategy is not rocket science, I'll answer any questions regarding my trades.


Am I correct in my hunch that there are, in fact, other concerns at
work here?

The more serious concern is that my strategy is difficult to state in bullets. It is years of experience in reading the markets. At the same time, it is as simple as: find the direction of the market (up or down), by pullbacks when they come down at your risk tolerance. See? are you going to buy that? it is the truth!

 

[wrbtrader]

Quote from momoNY:

Mark: I guess you are Nihabashi (???) Japanese Candlestick?
Anyway, whoever you are you are definitely right. I hope that my addiction may have been caused by losses only. The more you lose (money and time) the more you want to get it back fast, which leads to addiction and being jack of all trades.

momoNY,

Yes, my former user name is NihabaAshi (martial arts and Japanese Candlestick term). I switched names because I grew tired of people thinking the name was something else. Yep, just like the prior user name...the psychological aspects of trading is at the top of my list from personal experience.

Mark

 

[momoNY]

Quote from cap'ncod:

It started getting better for me when I stopped trading for a tiny profit and started trading for an intraday swing. I lowered my exposure to the point where I was comfortable with my predetermined potential loss. Now I think 'fuck it! it's a small loss', if I feel the squeeze. I never jettison until I'd planned to. I don't get all emotional anymore. I am far more objective. I have learn't to see the bigger picture and try to be in sync with the market sentiment through my news feeds and daily bar analysis etc. I am still nimble if problems suddenly pop up. The big players WILL try and shake you out of your trade, just accept it. I don't hold positions overnight. I simply try and figure out which way the market is likely to head and get out if I'm wrong. I try and get in as early as possible but stay in as long as I can. This, for me, is the hardest part and I often take much less than I could. Everyone needs something to work on though.

On a psychological note: the markets can fuck you up big time. I've been there. They can potentially destroy you if you let them. IMO you have to feel as relaxed as possible with what you're doing. See the bigger market structure, the sentiment for the trading day and take what you can. Scalping noise will drive you literally insane and that's why the bots do it now. I also think some markets are better suited to taking decent trendy moves than others which are more dominated by machines.

I have a 1.5 point stop, I don't hesitate to take trades. But again my problem is going back to a failed trade. That's what I need to fix before I go bust or nuts. Last year is the first year I had 8 points winners, I don't take less than 2 points anymore.