I'd like to become a better trader

[Scataphagos]

You'd "like to become a better trader". Who wouldn't?

1. Be more observant of setups.

2. Be more disciplined about taking proper risk.

3. Be more disciplined about stopping losses.

4. Learn new things which correlate to market behavior.

That's all there is.

(As my old bowling coach used to say... (wasn't really my bowling coach, but liked to claim such.. I was a star and he wanted to glom onto my success and claim some credit for what I did... anyway)... "the mind is the Devil's weapon".

IOW.. either (1) you're weakly disciplined about what you "know", or (2) you don't know enough yet.

Both have a remedy.

 

[PO]

Quote from ddaytrader:

If you are going to do this through a public journal, I would suggest you jot down your notes and thoughts down as you trade throughout the day, and then post an end of day summary to your journal. I cannot see how your posting of a blow by blow of your day trades is going to do you any good, but I can easily imagine it doing all kinds of harm.

OMG, another blogger is telling me that having a journal is bad. care to elaborate why? what kind of harm are we talking about here? Some examples please, besides the expected insults (and I don't mean your post btw)

I'm planning to post daily summary anyway.

 

[PO]

Quote from Best Looser:

short 4es 1301.25, stop at 1303, target AH low 1298
YM rejected 1200 yet again, YM, ES and NQ look like H&S formations.

closed at break even. no selling again.

 

[brokenmarkets]

tip:

Don't trade the ES unless you have $100,000 more cash in your brokerage account.

ES is for institutions cause it can scale large size...ES is mostly for daytrading and trading.

trading spy is same as ES,

Quote from Best Looser:

A little introduction
I've been trading on and off, not full time for almost 3 years.
I've lost money for the first 2 years and made a little money last year.
The time has to come to either make it or break it - I have till the end of this year to see if I can do it.


Objective
The purpose of this journal is to keep me accountable to myself and to keep my emotions in check.
I've hit the rock bottom in the last few days of this market's roller-coaster ride and desperately need to change the way I trade.
I will accomplish this by documenting here my trades and experiences.


Main issues could be summed up as lack of discipline, overconfidence and fear/greed of missing a trade
1. Overconfidence - I work hard on making money for weeks and to gain confidence in my trading, only to loose it all on one stubborn/overconfident counter-trend trade.
2. Lack of discipline - I hold on to a loosing trade instead of cutting the losses short, even worse, I add to my loosing trade.
3. Revenge trading sometimes clouds my judgement.
4. I often fear missing a good trade and not make money, so I get greedy and end up rushing into a trade without a plan.
5. I know what I should do, but don't do because emotions cloud my judgment and I think 'this time is different'.


My Resolutions --- I will need help to stick with them. I don't know why I break my rules... But I cannot longer afford to do that.

1. I'm trading ES exclusively.
Never adding currencies, stocks or options into the mix.
They take away from my focus.

2. Take only selective high probability trades.
It's better to miss a trade then to rush into it.
When in doubt - stay out.

3. Always have a catastrophic stop loss in place.
Don't ever add to a loosing position.
I need to learn how to loose.

4. Don't trade until I assess the market's trend.
Will try to write down reason for a trade, stop loss, target.
Publish my EOD p&l here.

5. Keep tabs on my emotional state.
Take a break after a loosing trade.
I don't need to be right, I need to be wrong small.


All comments and suggestions are welcome and appreciated, although I will be responding only to some of them due to the limitation of time and desire not to start any fights.


******Trading is a losers game and not a winners game. He who loses best will win in the end*******

 

[PO]

Quote from Scataphagos:

You'd "like to become a better trader". Who wouldn't?

1. Be more observant of setups.

2. Be more disciplined about taking proper risk.

3. Be more disciplined about stopping losses.

4. Learn new things which correlate to market behavior.

That's all there is.

(As my old bowling coach used to say... (wasn't really my bowling coach, but liked to claim such.. I was a star and he wanted to glom onto my success and claim some credit for what I did... anyway)... "the mind is the Devil's weapon".

IOW.. either (1) you're weakly disciplined about what you "know", or (2) you don't know enough yet.

Both have a remedy.

thanks for your theoretical lesson, but this is exactly what I stated in my opening statement. I don't need more theory, I need practice and accountability, that's the reason for the journal. if you have any particular suggestions, do post them.

 

[Scataphagos]

Quote from Best Looser:

thanks for your theoretical lesson, but this is exactly what I stated in my opening statement. I don't need more theory, I need practice and accountability, that's the reason for the journal. if you have any particular suggestions, do post them.

My post was not a "theoretical lesson"...

Much of a trader's failure is because...

1. He wasn't paying close enough attention... didn't "see" the setup, for whatever reason.... maybe was focused upon some other market or security.. maybe was watching porn?? Maybe thinking about "A", when he should have been thinking about "B".

2. Didn't "know the trade setup when he saw it"... something new to learn

3. Didn't "take the trade and its appropriate risk", for whatever reason. Didn't have the discipline to fade/chase as required.

If you can't make money based upon what you know/think, then either your understanding is flawed or you're poorly disciplined. Over time, you learn "new things"... new reasons to make strategic plays.

I believe the single biggest weakness which leads to traders failing... lack of discipline.

 

[PO]

$tick indicates selling is back now,

back short 4es @ 1301, stop 1302.25

 

[jokepie]

Quote from brokenmarkets:

tip:

Don't trade the ES unless you have $100,000 more cash in your brokerage account.

ES is for institutions cause it can scale large size...ES is mostly for daytrading and trading.

trading spy is same as ES,

+1, if you have enuf for daytrading trade stocks,
You can control your size, lossess and therefore emotions.
ES specially on a day like today will get you killed and you will loose confidence after a few bad trades. I hope you have a big a/c and willing to loose during this journey.

Most of your symptoms are very basic and seen in starters. I hope you know wht you are doing.

 

[PO]

Quote from Best Looser:

$tick indicates selling is back now,
back short 4es @ 1301, stop 1302.25

closed @ 1301.5, no follow through again. Chop/chop. Will take a break.

 

[ddaytrader]

Quote from Best Looser:

OMG, another blogger is telling me that having a journal is bad. care to elaborate why? what kind of harm are we talking about here? Some examples please, besides the expected insults (and I don't mean your post btw)

I'm planning to post daily summary anyway.

If I were trying to do what you are doing, I would be afraid that I would not be able to maintain the concentration and focus I find necessary for my own trading if I were concerned with also generating a running post history of my every move. But that is me.

I don't think having a journal, whether public or private, is bad at all - quite the contrary, in fact.

But my view is that the journal should be part of your daily routine like checking your charts at night, checking your equity run, going over your open overnight positions,etc. and so on.

As for myself, I find it better to focus on my trading when I am trading, and give my attention to everything else after I am done for the day. But that is me.

Good Luck,

d-day