Help needed - I overtrade after 11am

[KCalhoun]

Disappointed, took losses today trying to trade FOMC but it was choppy af. Traded both bullish SVXY SOXL & bearish UVXY TZA.

tried really hard too, but took stops with eod reversals, whipsaws.... anyone else?

Lessons learned:

Avoid trading inside hod/lod ranges, with rare exceptions

NO TRADING ALLOWED INSIDE CONSOLIDATION RANGES

Limit number of stops, eg if I take 5 stops I've got to stop, or cut size in half every 5 stops

Things done right: I did take frequent breaks and used tight stops

 

[Mesida]

I would recommend to broaden your investing horizons.
It is much easier to overtrade if you do short-term trading. You don't notice how fast the time goes by and then you realise that you've made millions of trade during a trading session and most of them are in the red. I believe that swing trading can make you more disciplined because it presupposes only several trades a day and that is fine. I do appreciate long-term trading more because, from my point of view, the market analysis in this case is more precise and comrehensible. I need to take time to analyse the market, to calculate take profits and stop loss. When I have such a routine, psychological factor is tamed and I feel fine with that. Try to do it, maybe it will improve your overall trading results.

 

[easymon1]

up nicely by 11 a.m., overtrade after 11am

You never know. Maybe it ain't so bad. Have you plotted your trades by yield at Hour of day? Chart that up and it should tell the story. If it costs you more per month than it is worth, then maybe ease into doing something else during that time. Get good at online poker? Play sax for some old folks home afternoon events, they Love when they get a change of routine. Hit the hotel lounge bar for after lunch fox hunting. Go for a hike. Chase a little ball around the golf course. Resume some of what you used to do careerwise. Chat with some of your career associates and connections and schedule out some seminars on 'How to Change Behavior and Improve Results'. Hell there's all kinds of stuff to do.

Changing behavior by substitution - https://duckduckgo.com/?q=Changing+behavior+by+substitution&t=h_&ia=web

 

[777]

I'm really pissed off at myself. I should write a book called The Undisciplined Trader.

For the umpteenth time I gave back morning profits by over trading in the afternoon. I was up nicely by 11 a.m., then I gave it all back and ended up in the red by a few hundred dollars at the end of the day today. Again. I'm a trading junkie. I did 75 round trips today, virtually all the ones after 11 were stop outs.

I really appreciate any ideas, especially from any of you who struggled with the same challenge and somehow made some progress.

I know how to make winning trades, and do so frequently. The big truth of the situation is that your trading odds are much lower after 11 a.m. most days, even if you're using the same strategies that have been successful before 11 a.m., and that's tough to reconcile.

It's like the puzzles are waiting to be solved everyday from 9:30 a.m. till 4 p.m.

a good poker analogy is that I'm playing against the fish in the donkeys and am taking their chips before 11 a.m., but after 11 a.m. the sharks of low volatility come in, making it much tougher to win. I wish I could just simply walk away from the computer at 11 a.m., that's probably the best solution. Any ideas? Thanks guys.

Just say no!

Don't trade after the morning prime time for three months and see how you do and how you feel.

There are no doubt a lot of pleasurable or simply just productibe things you can do with that extra time.

 

[nyxtrader]

I have never held a real job...been a trader for 22 years. I trade for the first 90 minutes most days...and come back at the close. I walk into the close with the attitude of not making a trade unless something peaks my interest. Hit it & quit it!

 

[easymon1]

I have never held a real job...been a trader for 22 years. I trade for the first 90 minutes most days...and come back at the close. I walk into the close with the attitude of not making a trade unless something peaks my interest. Hit it & quit it!

What time do you sit for afternoon session, 3:00? If you see something you like do you enter and work it to an intraday close or set up overnight holds and pick it up the next morning come what may?

 

[KCalhoun]

Great points....thx all.... it's just a matter of loving to trade plus fomo.

There's no bigger rush than to catch a 1point plus winning breakout, being in 1600 shares deep (scaling in 200-300sh increments), tightening in stops to within a dime of what turns out to be the top, and banking a great profit.

Such a thrill - never gets old.

Like buying breakfast for the hottie you brought home for the night from the club, lol.

I think the solution is to drop size significantly eg oddlots, from 11-3, unless really strong action.

fwiw I did over $20m worth of trades last year.... busy af, I discuss just a fraction of my action here.

 

[nyxtrader]

What time do you sit for afternoon session, 3:00? If you see something you like do you enter and work it to an intraday close or set up overnight holds and pick it up the next morning come what may?

I come back at 230 EDT. Unless I am playing earnings, I don't hold anything overnight.

 

[nooby_mcnoob]

Hit it & quit it!

Good life advice tbh.

 

[Frederick Foresight]

I wish I could just simply walk away from the computer at 11 a.m., that's probably the best solution.

Why can't you? If you're making good money before 11 and are comfortable with what you are doing, then why not end it there and find something else to do with the rest of your day? You found your strength; focus on it and leverage it rather dilute it. Who declared that you need to trade longer? Why make life more difficult, or your work longer, than it needs to be?