1. Go to the bank and withdraw a few hundred dollars in small bills
2. Walk outside, throw it up in the air, and watch the wind blow it all away
When you can do that, and not get sick at your stomach, you've got the losing part down.
Learn To Take Losses
- Thread starter ironchef
- Start date
1. Go to the bank and withdraw a few hundred dollars in small bills
2. Walk outside, throw it up in the air, and watch the wind blow it all away
When you can do that, and not get sick at your stomach, you've got the losing part down.
Sounds like you arent trading big enough,or you have a high pain threshold
Misery loves company.
Why learn how to take losses is still my #1 problem.
You set your stop where the market has proved you wrong.Misery loves company.
It is not simple setting a good hard stop. How wide a stop do you preset? Too tight and you would be stopped too often and too loose you would lose your shirt.
Why learn how to take losses is still my #1 problem.
For whatever reason you have entered a trade, when you look at the chart or orderflow there must be a point where the trade is no longer valid. That's whwere your stop is.
Digging deeper, what is it that you are afraid of? What is worse in your mind, losing money or being wrong? I know it hurts when you close a trade and the market reverses the next second.
It's something that you remember, but how many times does it actually happen.
Look at your last 100 trades and see how often it actually happens. Get an actual number. You might be surprised at how often it actually happens. If it turns out to be a big number then you might have to rethink where you are placing your stops or where you are entering the trade.
How about the other side of the equation? Are you selling too early and cutting your winners short?
Ughhh, tell me about it. This happens quite a lot actually. You know what's even worse though? It can happen to not only your exit stop but also your entry stop.
- Stop loss: it invariably gets hit and then the damn price quickly reverses.
- Entry stop: price comes sooooooooooooo close to my entry price (or profit target) but reverses.
That suggests your placement is in what some call "in the noise".
Wouldn't it be great if there was something to use to show how "noisy" a particular price level was in the recent past? It would need to be something that can't be seen with only past "price action"... Maybe something like volume by price would help.
%%Best feeling is when you even can do some better than the plan
For example plan says to sell at price x.
Sometimes one can sell even for more, by first trying higher prices...
THAT's a good trend or great trend, or super trend for you;
sideways slop-chop, shorts[inverse ETFs] trends ,stick to the battle tested plan.
IF that market really ''reversed '' a lot after our stops,[LOL happens some];
scale out@ least twice, or + have Re-enter plan.
FED days are known for whipsaws..........
SPY benchmark stronger longer than usual , most FEBs are down.
MUR had a new Hershey's choc display, retail with no prices=looked like a trap for hi prices LOL, but i did not ask price LOL
Misery loves company.
It is not simple setting a good hard stop. How wide a stop do you preset? Too tight and you would be stopped too often and too loose you would lose your shirt.
Why learn how to take losses is still my #1 problem.
I have built a few templates in TOS, such as stop at 1 unit ($) and target at 2 units ($) and stop at 0.5 unit and target at 1 unit, etc. Usually, it’s 1:2 risk/reward ratio. I choose how big a position to enter, say 100 shares or 200. If the market clearly goes my way I add another position. Depending on what I expect market to move I pick a template for each trade. Often I have to adjust stop/target while in a trade but as a rule never widen the stop. When market conditions change I build more templates as needed.
Once in a trade you need to manage it even with preset stop/target. Sometimes I enter a trade and immediately realize it’s a wrong trade so I just exit right there not waiting for the stop to be hit. Be flexible. The templates are just a tool to help you control loss and take profit to reduce manual work and the need to make decisions in a trade.
I have determined to never trade without a preset stop (target). Too many big loss lessons finally learned.
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LOL this happened to me so many times as if the market knows exactly what you’re trying to do.
I had a big loss last Thursday. Took Friday off. Then had sushi (flown in from Japan!). I treat myself to nice things to counteract the depression/frustration. And I know this sounds weird, but I super brush my teeth, shave, shower, massage, etc.
To let the Universe know, YOU CAN'T FUCK WITH ME.
The rest of the time, I am following Tom Brady's boring ass diet, and get 9 hours of sleep, etc. Google it!
O-Toro flown in from Japan does WONDERS!!!
To let the Universe know, YOU CAN'T FUCK WITH ME.
The rest of the time, I am following Tom Brady's boring ass diet, and get 9 hours of sleep, etc. Google it!
O-Toro flown in from Japan does WONDERS!!!