How composed are you when you took big loss?

multiple trades in one day when you're new is a surefire way to lose lots of money pretty quickly. In my limited experience that is one of the things I learnt pretty early on.

Last week, only 20% of my trades were profitable - granted it was a very bad week but by Wednesday I withdrew to being a spectator. I knew I just didn't have the skill or capacity to extract profit from the movements.

I'm happy with the decision and never mourn theoretically potential (but unrealised) gains.
 
How composed are you when you took big loss?


you make it sound like there is something wrong with getting a new phone and monitor......


They were kinda old anyway
 
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My system forces me to take profit distributions at X account balance, so I don't run into problems losing more than "three digits" per day. On those days, about once a quarter, I turn off the PC, take the rest of the day off from research, take my family up to 15,000 ft for a nice flight, then to an indoor waterpark and dinner. On those days, they'll say, 'thank you daddy, sorry you had a bad day.' They know why we're out and having fun, but I don't say a word about it. I'm having a great day!

I take off the days after losing days, to analyze my system the following day. I do not sit there and stare at the stupid screen, wishing I was trading. I am not punishing myself, I am taking a break. If the losing day is a Wednesday, I take the next three days with my family out-of-state. This last happened in Dec '07, and I flew us down to Vegas for the weekend. Actually, we wound up staying longer for a show (buy tickets ahead of time in the future), but I traded from my laptop in the hotel room on Monday (only because the previous trading day was green for my system).

I don't frequent trading chat rooms or signal providers. Those who can, do. Those who cannot, teach. Yes, there are exceptions but it is not worth the money to try and find them, understand them, mimic them or keep them. Write your own damned system so you know how to fix it when it breaks, or when the market breaks it.

My system fits my personality. I made my system this way, so there is never alot of money in my account (in case of a crooked broker), so emotions are KNOWN RIGHT NOW if I have a bad day , so I know how much I can make and how much is at risk. I know of no other way under the sun to both manage emotions in trading and stay sane in high volatility (like now).. I only need a few thousand in capital to double it every week, and that is plenty for us. With every fourth check, I simply endorse it to the IRS, so I can get a nice refund at tax time.

OK, more than you asked for, but it's my two cents.
 
How composed was I?

I've learned over the years that frustration and being pissed off on occasion are simply part of the game; the occasional horrible day is figured into my expected return over the long run.

To make it short - shit was thrown, shit was broken. Composed? Not at all.

Did I smile because it felt good to throw shit, and because I knew I will win over the long run? Absolutely.
 
i was on a wild winning streak....then boom. this has happened before. i made it back and then some....this is price of tuition....learn the most from these.....also good to put things in perspective

the market went from easy to trade due to volatility to extremely difficult due to daily gaps./lack of liquidity

will now only trade the long term trend by selling rallies. and go back to only taking the best of the best

appreciate the ability to process this with others:)
 
Quote from turkeyneck:

Say in double-digits? Are you as composed as Paul Tudor Jones who can still meet and greet visitors while he's taking it on the chin in the market?
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I don't take a "big" loss. Taking a big loss would imply that I was uncomfortable with the percentage drawdown. Now my emotional capability to accept a particular % drawdown compared to yours might be different - for instance, you might treat 10% as a normal dd, where as for me 1% might be the limit. It's all relative.
 
It depends on your trading style, i've had double digit losses several times this year...and i've had losses of 1/3rd my account in a day more than once because i take on a lot of risk and it's common in my pairs style of trading. Now if i was directional trading it would be different, but when i have 15-20 times leverage and several positions go out on me i see huge open losses and more often than not the next day or two they all come in...i used to get pretty rattled in the beginning but not so much anymore because overall my gains are still very high and i know i can make back any losses...
 
Quote from chrisdunn:
I trade e-minis and never risk more than 4 or 5 ticks. With a W/L ratio around 60%, you can be extremely profitable and keep your sanity! LOL
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4 ticks on the E-minis during the past few weeks wouldn't have worked out too well. Generally speaking, I'm sure it works for you if your entries are sufficiently accurate.
 
Quote from GermanTrader:

My system forces me to take profit distributions at X account balance, so I don't run into problems losing more than "three digits" per day. On those days, about once a quarter, I turn off the PC, take the rest of the day off from research, take my family up to 15,000 ft for a nice flight, then to an indoor waterpark and dinner. On those days, they'll say, 'thank you daddy, sorry you had a bad day.' They know why we're out and having fun, but I don't say a word about it. I'm having a great day!

I take off the days after losing days, to analyze my system the following day. I do not sit there and stare at the stupid screen, wishing I was trading. I am not punishing myself, I am taking a break. If the losing day is a Wednesday, I take the next three days with my family out-of-state. This last happened in Dec '07, and I flew us down to Vegas for the weekend. Actually, we wound up staying longer for a show (buy tickets ahead of time in the future), but I traded from my laptop in the hotel room on Monday (only because the previous trading day was green for my system).

I don't frequent trading chat rooms or signal providers. Those who can, do. Those who cannot, teach. Yes, there are exceptions but it is not worth the money to try and find them, understand them, mimic them or keep them. Write your own damned system so you know how to fix it when it breaks, or when the market breaks it.

My system fits my personality. I made my system this way, so there is never alot of money in my account (in case of a crooked broker), so emotions are KNOWN RIGHT NOW if I have a bad day , so I know how much I can make and how much is at risk. I know of no other way under the sun to both manage emotions in trading and stay sane in high volatility (like now).. I only need a few thousand in capital to double it every week, and that is plenty for us. With every fourth check, I simply endorse it to the IRS, so I can get a nice refund at tax time.

OK, more than you asked for, but it's my two cents.
More...

Excellent way to handle it. Take a mini vacation rather than beating yourself up. I just hope you use oxygen up at 15,000' or have a pressurization.
 
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