How to treat the 'cannot pull the trigger' symtome
- Thread starter ADX_trader
- Start date
This could simply be an ego problem, he is afraid to pull the trigger because he knows he will feel lousy when this is met with failure. He may not be as much afraid of losing $2,000 as of simply losing a single trade. A single trade can sometimes be more important than $2,000.
Ego is not rational.
Yes. Ego is hard to handle. I hope I was a Robot! Then it is easy to trade.
Quote from ADX_trader:
I have a $50k a/c and try to trade only one T-Notes contract. I plan to use 3 points stop loss that is only about $100 or 0.2% of my capital. But I still cannot put on the trade!Really depressed!
Have you explored the possibility of trading a different market? Maybe T-Notes are not right for you. In addition, have you considered trading a different time period? If you are day trading, perhaps longer holding periods would make it easier for you to trade, or vice versa.
I read "The Nature of Risk - Stock Market Survival and the Meaning of Life" by Justin Mamis a while back. That book helped me with pulling the trigger. At least in some respects.
Good luck,
Banker
Fear of pulling the trigger happens to everyone.
Especially when one has had a prolonged drawdown.
Not easy to trade at all.
But it is like getting back on the horse once it has thrown you.
And there were a lot of great answers already.
You need to treat it like a new business,
the first few years you are lucky if you break even.
But in the end you will find out how to make it profitable.
You might change vehicles, or times of day or make new charts. But in the end you just might make it work.
This is my 4th "business". They all had points where I questioned if it was for me. Electrolysis was worse than trading.
Especially when one has had a prolonged drawdown.
Not easy to trade at all.
But it is like getting back on the horse once it has thrown you.
And there were a lot of great answers already.
You need to treat it like a new business,
the first few years you are lucky if you break even.
But in the end you will find out how to make it profitable.
You might change vehicles, or times of day or make new charts. But in the end you just might make it work.
This is my 4th "business". They all had points where I questioned if it was for me. Electrolysis was worse than trading.
Actually, I moved from stocks to futures and fom position trade to day trade. I am sure holding a position overnight isn't for me. I like a market that is smoother and liquid. I feel TNotes/TBonds are not as choppy as other markets, although I can't prove it.
You may be simply encountering two great truths. All the worlds a stage and we are the clowns. Nothing is more demonstrative of this than the markets. One day the realization comes to the fore of your awareness that you have absolutely no control over any portion of this game. The game itself is in fact insane. A bunch of expensive suits telling us the supposed value of pieces of paper we never even see that represent a portion of value of some entity whose true value or circumstances is unknown to us and those that do know are lying through their teeth to protect their own positions. If we accept this state of affairs and decide to continue we line up at the gate in our respective stalls with the other willing participants and wait for the bell. Then we try to get a handle on where it's going, what are they doing, why is it doing this or that? We realize we really don't KNOW anything, we are simply gambling. Arriving at this state of awareness that not only are we gambling but we are gambling on bullshit handed to us can be unnerving, freak us out and lead to paralysis. As traders evolve they go through states of awareness of what the game really is. A trader has to be comfortable knowing that he is playing a truly insane game. He has to recognize that he can never know all the realities he would have to know to feel comfortable in a sane sense, buying a piece of real estate for instance. He has to know his every move is a gamble.
Take some time and decide if you are comfortable gambling for a living, because that's what you are doing. If you settle into recognizing that and believe you can successfully find a way to duel with the market you must develope an edge. The markets move, all edges must accomplish the same end, capture some of that movement. Good luck with your evolution.
Take some time and decide if you are comfortable gambling for a living, because that's what you are doing. If you settle into recognizing that and believe you can successfully find a way to duel with the market you must develope an edge. The markets move, all edges must accomplish the same end, capture some of that movement. Good luck with your evolution.
The way I help myself overcome this fear is first I simply place limit orders way far from the market price, and cancel them. This helps me get comfortable committing myself to placing orders. Then I tell myself that it is highly unlikely that if I open a position it will be at the all time low/high and will go against me hence forward untill the end of times.
It has to at some point swing into profit.
It has to at some point swing into profit.
ADX,
For each trade, consider your stop-loss to be the amount of money necessary to ante for a chance at a winner. If you adhere to your stop-loss rules, then your stop-loss is really all you have at risk, so there's nothing to fear. Be perfectly willing to give up the amount of your ante every time as you enter an order, and you'll be OK.
Also, think in terms of probabilities and a winning percentage instead of 100% perfection. It's a natural law of trading that you will not be right every time; don't fight it. You say your system paper trades really well. For your system to work, you must enter a quantity of orders every day. Accept that you'll win some and stop-out some, but with a winning percentage, you'll be profitable over the course of the day.
Stopped-out trades are just an unavoidable normal cost of doing the business of trading. You can't run a business for free, fearful of every little cost, and you can't avoid something that's unavoidable. Just limit your per-trade cost to your stop-loss, accept that small amount of risk every trade, and move on to entering orders and making money. Don't hesitate to make money and feel great about it when your system gives you a signal. After a number of winning trades, fears and hesitation will subside.
I highly recommend that you read this book:
Trading in the Zone : Master the Market with Confidence, Discipline and a Winning Attitude
by Mark Douglas
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/t...f=sr_1_1/103-9395705-9886236?v=glance&s=books
It addresses your issue and a lot more.
Good luck.
For each trade, consider your stop-loss to be the amount of money necessary to ante for a chance at a winner. If you adhere to your stop-loss rules, then your stop-loss is really all you have at risk, so there's nothing to fear. Be perfectly willing to give up the amount of your ante every time as you enter an order, and you'll be OK.
Also, think in terms of probabilities and a winning percentage instead of 100% perfection. It's a natural law of trading that you will not be right every time; don't fight it. You say your system paper trades really well. For your system to work, you must enter a quantity of orders every day. Accept that you'll win some and stop-out some, but with a winning percentage, you'll be profitable over the course of the day.
Stopped-out trades are just an unavoidable normal cost of doing the business of trading. You can't run a business for free, fearful of every little cost, and you can't avoid something that's unavoidable. Just limit your per-trade cost to your stop-loss, accept that small amount of risk every trade, and move on to entering orders and making money. Don't hesitate to make money and feel great about it when your system gives you a signal. After a number of winning trades, fears and hesitation will subside.
I highly recommend that you read this book:
Trading in the Zone : Master the Market with Confidence, Discipline and a Winning Attitude
by Mark Douglas
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/t...f=sr_1_1/103-9395705-9886236?v=glance&s=books
It addresses your issue and a lot more.
Good luck.