If I try to win I lose

H

Hamb-ltrd

I have been trading 2 months full time now.
I already had some experience from my part time trading in the
90's.

Well it looks if I try to win being aggressive I LOSE.
If I try not to lose being defensive I don't LOSE.
Trading two months now and all profits went to cover expenses.
Any of you have similar experience?

Hamb
 
Yep, no plan. First thing--figure out how to deal with your own psychology so that you know your weaknesses and how to keep them from tripping you up. There are plenty of books on trading psychology--just search through the archives here and on amazon.com

Second, start studying trading systems--even if you decide not to use them to trade, you'll at least get an idea of how hard you can expect to push and still win. Studying trading systems will cause you to get familiar with measuring performance (In other words, you are being too aggressive now--but how aggressive can you and should you be?)
 
2 months is not enough time to evaluate yourself. not to mention, you need to come up with a system that works for your own mental state
 
It looks that when I trade not to lose I make some money.
I know that many of you disagree with this approach but this is my experience so far.

Hamp
 
Naw, I don't disagree. I trade both aggressively and defensively. You've got to protect your capital, AND you've got to grow it too.

Sounds like you empirically discovered some of your own psychology--trading to avoid losing seems to overcome some of your foibles.

Keep on doing it if it works!
 
Ok...let me take a stab at this.

If I am trading too much....it is because the market has choppy conditions and it shows in the bottom line. 20 trades to break even.

If I trade very little.....it is because the market is trending and I have nice profits. 3 trades to make a fat profit.

I have an idea.

If you are in a hole after 2 trades in the morning....stop for the day.
If you have 3 winning trades, also stop for the day.
 
when you stop saying things like 'it looks like' (you've said this in both your posts here -- usually refers to the fact that you don't really have a plan nor a way to measure performance) you will find yourself in a good place. until then, 'it looks like' you need more experience :)

i agree with the pursuit of trading systems. study them, and see how you make money as a trader. see what things work, and what doesn't. and most of all, keep an open mind -- don't get stuck to a particular way of trading or a particular market. these are the killers of a trader-in-training -- will waste more time than you could ever imagine!

good luck
 
Trading System is not the key...

That's what you personally compromised to pursue and not true for all.

"What looks like it" is the first key to finding keys of changing markets. This is something that "conventional" system traders who cannot discretionary trade say to make themselves feel better.

But... "What looks like it" isn't necessarily true. It's gotta be taken further into "What is it" or "It is 'This' " and taken further.

Don't listen to most of the guys in ET... they have no idea giving textbook answers, too biased or just projecting their own problems in your shoes...

dbphoenix is the only guy who says it well... rest is BS. (Cathy... you're neutral on this)

Shit... It's Christmas Eve and I get an E-mail alert... I gotta stop working... :) :D

Good luck trading though.
 
Quote from WDGann:

But... "What looks like it" isn't necessarily true. It's gotta be taken further into "What is it" or "It is 'This' " and taken further.
More...

If anyone understands this piece of advice to help one make a decision as to when to buy or sell, please elaborate.


I think your original post contains the answer you are looking for. When you are trading not to lose, you are focusing on the risk. Risk management is a key to successful trading.

DNAJ65000
 
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