How can you stop thinking in money terms?

Quote from AAAintheBeltway:

This approach has apparently worked for you, but it is not one I would endorse. You are basically saying that 7% weekly equity swings are nothing to worry about. I would have probably agreed with you at one time, but now I see that sort of volatility as very dangerous.

The key stat for a speculative trader is drawdown. Not percent winning trades, not profit factor, not return on equity. Drawdown, because drawdown will blow you out. Drawdown will cost you your job or turn that 200k account into a 20k account.

I believe it was Paul Tudor Jones who said he aimed to return three times drawdown per year. You have to play a very tight game to do that.

Totally agree. bln's approach is not sound. $65k swing on a $200k account is a humongous swing and an incredibly large percentage hit to take on account. It doesn't sound like a trader's approach, it sounds more like buy and hope it doesn't fall further.
 
Quote from AAAintheBeltway:

I disagree with the idea that you shouldn't think about the money.
"if you think you can,you can,if you think you can't ,you can't ."Henry Ford..... Money is secondary,if you think about it,you are taking your mind off the primary,winning the game, money is just the by product
 
Quote from bln:

Dont worry, you get detached as your account grow and you get more of an "air bag". Your confidence in your abilities and trading method grows.

My account is currently at 200k and sometime I see weekly swings of +/- $30,000 on open pos, I don't even care anymore, no excitement, no grief, totally numb.. :)

You are a disaster waiting to happen...
But don't worry about it.

A good way to not think about money...
Is to create a large amount of trading statistics...
Orders sent, volume, profit, margin, etc...
Focus on driving the stats higher and higher.

That's what multi-millionaires do...
The money means little, the STATS mean a lot...
Just like the BRK Financials mean a lot to Buffett...
Whereas money means little.
 
Quote from turkeyneck:

I remember reading that in Market Wizards. How can you stop doing that? It's easier said than done.
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T-neck;
something else that may possibly help. Study M Marcus, not that you should use futures leverage, but things like he lost 100% over a long period of time-real estate, all his losses were caused by emotinal trading he said.He also asked God a question no doubt that helped.

But to lose 100% in the CA, RE market over a long period;
that kind of money or %% may help. Education is never cheap.
 
Should you feel pain after taking a loss? One of the Market Wizards said you are finished if you can't feel the pain like sticking your hand in a hot oven and not feeling hurt. The pain itself is a protective mechanism to keep you out of trouble. However, Jesse Livermore said taking loss didn't bother him. He just forgot about it and moved on to the next trade. Who's right?
 
Quote from turkeyneck:

Should you feel pain after taking a loss? One of the Market Wizards said you are finished if you can't feel the pain like sticking your hand in a hot oven and not feeling hurt. The pain itself is a protective mechanism to keep you out of trouble. However, Jesse Livermore said taking loss didn't bother him. He just forgot about it and moved on to the next trade. Who's right?

Probably they both are. They were just making different points. Livermore's point was that losses are part of this game, and you have to be prepared to take them quickly when the market says you're wrong. From reading his book, I know that some of his disasters did bother him deeply and he didn't just move on from them.

The other guy is right ,too. It is my original point. You can't avoid cutting a loser because you hate booking a loss, but the minute you lose sight of the fact that you are pissing away real money, you are in big trouble.

One of the big dangers of this game is motivation. Another of the Market Wizards said you will get out fo the markets what you are looking for. Some people are looking for excitement, others want to feel like a big player, others deep down want to punish themselves. If you're not focused on the money, you are one step closer to falling into one of those traps.
 
Quote from turkeyneck:

Should you feel pain after taking a loss?

One of the Market Wizards said you are finished if you can't feel the pain like sticking your hand in a hot oven and not feeling hurt. The pain itself is a protective mechanism to keep you out of trouble.

However, Jesse Livermore said taking loss didn't bother him. He just forgot about it and moved on to the next trade. Who's right?
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As AAA noted both are.

But pain/loss[hot oven/ouch!]is good [thats what really hurts lepers[they feel no pain].

If you ever get this statement from your head to your heart,
& that could happen simply by writing & speaking it enough -
times= NO such thing as a business without exspences[losses]
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So really both are.And with all respect to mr Livermore,
whose book is helpful;
he filed bankruptcy too many times[a bit more sensitive to pain could help]. Bk could happen to anyone once, even though its mostly debt caused...........Great Livermore line onRE-USING envelopes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
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