Losses just aren't that bad. Even long strings of them.

jnbadger said:
I run a strat which requires very tight risk management, which means my win rate is lower than what some would consider to be "professional" (It's <60%). But it has served me very well because one win can make up for 10 losses, and I can't remember the last time I had 10 losses in a row. But any loss can be very frustrating. Especially when you're new and you're trying to get into your flow. Multiple losses can make you question your abilities, your judgement, and ruin your confidence. More importantly instincts tend to take over after a string of losses and make you want to take profits as soon as you have them. Then you look back and a couple of those trades could have made you profitable for the day/week/month. This still happens to me once in a while, but I push through it and still follow my exit plan for winners.

I live in a small town in western Wisconsin, and when I hear sirens, I sometime get curious and turn on the scanner radio on my phone. Turns out there was a head on collision about a mile from my house with multiple injuries about 20 minutes ago. PD, EMT and fire are on the scene, and a life link helo is on its way from the Twin Cities.

My point? (helicopter just went over) What's the worst that's going to happen during a drawdown? Ok, so you get emotionally distraught. If you're new, it's natural. Just keep putting in the work. If you've been around awhile and you have a system in place which you know to be profitable and you still succumb to these emotions, all I can do is repeat what Lescor said a long time ago (one of the most profitable traders ever on this board). "Think like a pro and act like one".

Again, what's the worst that's going to happen if you're up a little in a trade after a string of losses? You get stopped out again. Big deal. Man up and deal with it. You're not getting a phone call from the police telling you your loved ones are in a helicopter after a serious accident. It's just another loss.

I'm in my 26th year, and I've simply just turned it into a mathematical game, and it's helped me so much.

Good luck to all, and for God's sake, keep it in perspective. It's just a fucking game after all. We're just lucky enough to play it.
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We have no control over how much we can make when we win. That is the reality of it. Nobody can predict how far a stock will run up to. On the flip side, we have control over our losses, 90% of the time atleast. Small losses can be recouped with one large win. My win rate is 30-40% and I am fine with that. What has hurt my profitability is when I allow small losses to turn into large losses. Avoid the large losses and winning and earning monies is that much easier. Also, those large losses eat into your profits.
 
Overnight said:
Next time, tell them yer a "stock operator" like Livermore.

Many moons ago as a cab driver in Florida, I picked up this totally drunk guy and drove him home. I told him the fare, was like $12. He said "Well, I'm a stock *insert weird word here, I cannot remember what word he used but it was not broker or operator*, and I had a really good week."

He gave me a $100 tip. I was like, dayum!
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I can only imagine the word he used. Lol!
 
smallfil said:
We have no control over how much we can make when we win. That is the reality of it. Nobody can predict how far a stock will run up to. On the flip side, we have control over our losses. Small losses can be recouped with one large win. My win rate is 30-40% and I am fine with that. What has hurt my profitability is when I allow small losses to turn into large losses. Avoid the large losses and winning and earning monies is that much easier.
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Yes. As I stated in another thread, you just don't know how far they're going to go when you are in the money. I learned the hard way that it can actually be frightening when you get out of a trade too early, and it could have been the best trade of the year. THAT IS PAINFUL.
 
jnbadger said:
I know. And thank you. I'm a pro by definition. (licensed, working prop), but it doesn't matter. When someone asks me what I do, I just say "stock market". It saves a lot of hassle. I told a couple of people I was a professional stock trader about a year ago. What a pain in the ass.
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Was referring to w/l rate. Only.
 
jnbadger said:
Yes. As I stated in another thread, you just don't know how far they're going to go when you are in the money. I learned the hard way that it can actually be frightening when you get out of a trade too early, and it could have been the best trade of the year. THAT IS PAINFUL.
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It is worst when that trade runs up huge, just after you sell it. My big winner, BKKT last year, I made huge gains however, when the market closed, I could have made 300% more profits had I waited to sell atleast, 1 hour before the close of the market that day. I sold middle of the day thinking, profit taking will take it lower. Boy, was I very wrong. It was one of those windfall profits type of trade too.
 
jnbadger said:
I run a strat which requires very tight risk management, which means my win rate is lower than what some would consider to be "professional" (It's <60%). But it has served me very well because one win can make up for 10 losses, and I can't remember the last time I had 10 losses in a row. But any loss can be very frustrating. Especially when you're new and you're trying to get into your flow. Multiple losses can make you question your abilities, your judgement, and ruin your confidence. More importantly instincts tend to take over after a string of losses and make you want to take profits as soon as you have them. Then you look back and a couple of those trades could have made you profitable for the day/week/month. This still happens to me once in a while, but I push through it and still follow my exit plan for winners.

I live in a small town in western Wisconsin, and when I hear sirens, I sometime get curious and turn on the scanner radio on my phone. Turns out there was a head on collision about a mile from my house with multiple injuries about 20 minutes ago. PD, EMT and fire are on the scene, and a life link helo is on its way from the Twin Cities.

My point? (helicopter just went over) What's the worst that's going to happen during a drawdown? Ok, so you get emotionally distraught. If you're new, it's natural. Just keep putting in the work. If you've been around awhile and you have a system in place which you know to be profitable and you still succumb to these emotions, all I can do is repeat what Lescor said a long time ago (one of the most profitable traders ever on this board). "Think like a pro and act like one".

Again, what's the worst that's going to happen if you're up a little in a trade after a string of losses? You get stopped out again. Big deal. Man up and deal with it. You're not getting a phone call from the police telling you your loved ones are in a helicopter after a serious accident. It's just another loss.

I'm in my 26th year, and I've simply just turned it into a mathematical game, and it's helped me so much.

Good luck to all, and for God's sake, keep it in perspective. It's just a fucking game after all. We're just lucky enough to play it.
More...

First of all, you need to focus more on your trading. Trading is a business regardless whether you trade to manage other people's money or you trade for yourself and it requires 100% of your concentration so you shouldn't be concerned about some freaking sirens going off let alone checking some scanner radios. When you are trading, the whole world should disappear from your senses and you should nothing about everything related to your trading in front of you.

Second, regarding your losses, the only way you will be comfortable with your losses would be if you are absolutely confident, without a shadow of a doubt that the next win will always be able to cover all of your losses, no matter how many and no matter how large. If you are, then you shouldn't be questioning any of your abilities or your judgment. The fact that you still are makes me feel that you are not that confident in your trading strategy and that the mathematical game is not that guaranteed to always net you a winner.

Imo, you should go back to backtest your strategy more and ignore the sirens and the helicopters.
 
jnbadger said:
I'm not sure, but it may have been Richard Dennis who said all of my profits have come from 5% of my trades. I think that was in the first Market Wizards book. Not sure it was him though.
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some people hit lots of singles, others aim for home runs. Both can make it to the hall of fame.
 
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