Originally posted by Pabst
I have removed Dan's name from Commisso's great post. Dan seems to get it. Dark I'm surprised!! Commisso is describing the bane of traders. I've made and LOST as much money as anyone on this board. We're not describing newbies or as Livermore would put it the "permanant sucker class". We're talking about here, at least a half dozen of us who are seasoned good traders, insightful guys, whose performance would be clearly enhanced if not for the humanistic responses mentioned by Commisso. Trading is an art not a science. If not some guy with a black box would own the world. Please, all of you, respond to Commisso's quote, with insights as to how you deal with these situations.
I am the first to admit I may have come off as insensitive on this issue, because I don't have any issues with discipline and trading. None. I just don't. I never lift stops, never trade for revenge, never trade because I'm bored, etc. etc. etc....my response to that kind of stuff is similar to what Spock might say: 'such actions are highly illogical.'
It's not that I am good at resisting temptation- I just don't feel temptation to break my rules. I change and modify my rules from time to time as I grow and my methodology evolves. But switch up midstride and blow my plan? Doesn't happen.
I am an emotional person with a wide emotional range, so its not a stoicism thing. I think when it comes to trading my knowledge is what keeps my feet firmly planted. I look at my trades like a mathematician would look at an equation, or a scientist looks at the properties of chemical compounds.
I know other guys who never break their rules so I'm not a freak show in that regard. I think the key is understanding as much about the markets as possible and as much about your methodology as possible. The more you understand, the less tempted you are to do something illogical or out of line with your understanding.
That's why I am so big on internalizing things too. I have to really wrap my mind around something, get a 360 degree view of it and a bone deep sense of it, before I am willing to rely on it.
The deeper your subconscious integration, the more consistent your overall line of action can be. Instead of fighting the temptation to lift stops, for example, try studying probability and market movements and risk analyses, embrace risk until you are blue in the face and you have that 'eureka!' moment where you say I thought I saw it before, but now I SEE it in ten foot tall letters. At the end of the day, I still think its a knowledge thing.
