Huge Losses

Quote from LordMelbury:

Ripley,4 questions

1) How many books have you read?

2) Which were your two favorites?

3) Can you explain what your edge is?

4) How old are you?

You remind me of me when i first started trading 5 years ago,i would get a notion in my head and go up the wrong track for a few weeks at a time losing consistently.

Reread FuturesTrader71 and NihabaAshi`s posts and take them in.
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1) Lots

2) Two that stands out as in I look through my shelf, not necessarily two that I found to be most helpful, but the two that captured my attention in a way that I had to finish reading it before I put it down are The Logical Trader: Applying Method to the Madness by Fisher, and Intelligent Futures Trading by Chick Goslin. And ofcourse, those Market Wizard books etc, which I think are OK, but I think I am kind of stuck in the middle on those because I haven't found them to be all that interesting. My goal is to finish reading one chapter each week, and hopefully I can get done with it this year.

3)I found patterns from my previous trading. As in, where and when was I losing and winning the most, and I just try to do the things where I used to win. I really think my money management is my edge, and taking losses is something that I am fighting very hard. If I could avoid taking one or two huge losses, then I would be set.

4) An unemployed and broke college graduate (took me a while) with a lot of student loans who recently turned 25.

Yeah, those posts are great and I have read them.
 
If you ever reach a point in trading where is is "lose and you die," I would be willing to take the other side of every one of your orders. The emotion that you are most unwilling to face is the one that you will inenvitably experience, in this case the death of your trading career. Send me a PM if you want to take me up on my offer. :cool:
 
Just looked at your chart, I hope you meant you were getting short @ 270, or do you step in front of frieght trains on the weekend?
 
I know I am not the only one who has to fight this tendency to let the losers get too big.

Can someone tell me how they overcome this. Did you trade on the simulator till you quit taking large losses? Because I traded on the simulator and I was cutting my losses short, but now I am finding it to be very tough.

Also, I think I have an edge, and my charts that are displayed are not my usual set up.

Thus, how did you overcome our natural tendency to let the losers run? and how long did it take you?
 
Quote from Ripley:

Guys, the question is where would you've gotten out of that trade. Because it is a perfectly normal thing to short when it is just plummenting down.
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I haven't read the entire thread so not sure if someone has given you this advice already..

But that selloff that you are referring to was an exaggerated sell off.. and a lot of times the market will bounce back after these type selloffs and head in the oppositte direction.

I personnally would have been skeptical once the selloff returned back to the previous congestion level at 10,225 - 10,230.. if the market was truly weak it most likely would not have come back this far from the breakdown

At that point the market consolidated from approx. 12:15 - 12:30.. then once it broke out above that consolidation area at approx. 13:05 or so should have been a sure sign the market was strong... and would not return back to those lower levels..

ONe other thing.. it made a Higher High at 13:15 or so then a higher low at 13:45 area.. this is usually a sure sign not to be short...

Took me years to learn this and many lost $$$.. but its finally sinking in..

Have more to say about this but don't want to bore you.. if you'd like PM me...
 
Quote from FuturesTrader71:

Unsubscribed.
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Ditto.



Ripley,

I have been there. Believe me, this is NOT trading. This is self-mutilation.:( You are doing a lot of damage to your psyche.

Step back and regain your emotional composure. The markets will still be there.
 
Quote from Ripley:

Thus, how did you overcome our natural tendency to let the losers run? and how long did it take you?
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After reading enough good books, and going over the mistakes I made for the previous three years, I just decided one day that I must cut losers short, and stuck to it. So you could call it three years, or one day that I took. In fact, now I cut my losses with glee, because I know I'm reinforcing a habit that will keep me in the game for many decades.

Mind you, all the time I've been trading it was with my own disposable savings, and I had no debt. With the kind of equity swings in your account and your debt, your trading career is literally measured in days. I just hope you'll consider it a lesson when the account is wiped out.
 
LOL some people are getting bent out of shape over a guy learning with a $1,000 account. Oh no! he's gonna blow a thousand dollars!!! LOL

A thousand doesn't pay for a good night on the town depending on the city.

C'mon let's give the guy some credit. He's 25. I only wish I had his opportunity when I was 25. When I started full-time I put up $50,000, the minimum required, and had to pay for a $3,000 "training" course to trade at an office. This was before broadband became widely available, of course. A thousand dollars? Damn, I didn't realize YM margin was that low LOL.
 
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