Please please help

Quote from lescor:


And of course you must establish a stop price before entering the trade, but that should go without saying.

One book I highly recommend you read is Trading in the Zone by Mark Douglas. It deals with these issues very well. [/B]
More...


Wow, I was just gonna recommend Trading in the Zone - it has saved me mega-thousands.

It's the bible of loss-taking psychology IMO.

Good Luck - you can conquer this once you practice the specific exercise listed in this book.

Paul
 
to quote a famous Far East general...

Comprendre?!!!

if you go in >without knowing where you will exit<, or at least a reasonable idea within a parameter then you will be unable to make that decision when the emotion and noise raise the stakes higher and higher, and the notion of "as son as I exit it will reverse" becomes louder in your brain... like a Faux Siren Song !

If you set a first or intial stop "limit" in your head where you will begin to seriously consider exiting some or al; of the position, and correlate that with a level where it is probable you won't immediately be whipsawed with a move back in the intended direction (immediatley after you pull the trigger), this will help give you a strategic decision to rely upon.

Set a second limit where you will >>leave the trade<<, NO questions asked; and accept that you will live to "fight" another day... maybe even re-entering the same position on better confirmation and set up.

Ice :cool:
 
If you are not already using one, I suggest you get backtesting software. The cheapest one I of know of is Amibroker with Telechart 2000 data feed. Once you start playing around with trading system ideas (even if your specific system isn't programmable), and playing around with profit stop levels and loss stop levels, you quickly come to the conclusion that a profitable system is a probability game were you finely balance your profitability percents and your profit taking levels against your loss taking levels. If you get backtesting software that displays each trade taken (as Amibroker does), and analyze each trade over so many months as if it were a trading log, you will quickly come to the conclusion that taking losses is part of taking profits. Once you are shown how that works out over time as a mere matter of statistics, it helps you take your losses quickly and move on.
 
Quote from Hitnruntrader:

I have been trading for approx. 1 year. I have learned lots and love trading stocks but i have a very very serious problem. Most of the time i make money on a regular basis. The problem is every so often i get wired into a trade. What i mean is i buy lets say 1000 shares of abc. The stock drops real quick when i anticipated it going up. Immediately i am down 6 or 7 hundred in the trade.

Some of the time when something like this happens i refuse to sell and actually add to the loser. My loss grows rapidly now and i may be down 3 grand. Many times i buy even more and sometimes the loss continues to grow to mass proportions. Finally my loss could be as big as 5 digits (massive when on an average day i make 500). The loss knocks the shit out of me financially and psychologically. How do i respond. I literally smack myself in the head a couple times after the trading day is over. Then i think about what i did and try to learn from it. I then determine to trade smarter and tougher than ever. For the next while i trade great making between 300- 1000 a day for a while.

Then out of the blue i seem to find myself with way to many shares of something again. I am now in another losing position with the same cycle starting all over again. I refuse to sell, i say the specialist is just trying to shake me so i buy more. Before i know what happened im down 7 grand and i realize it will take a month of great trading to get back what i pissed away in the last 2 hours.

My problem is terrible discipline skills, but i am having trouble correcting this problem. The bigger problem now is that it is starting to happen more frequently. I am still up cash for the year on the whole but i know i will go broke if i cannot cure this pattern. It is only a matter of time. It frustrates the heck out of me because i feel i have other skills that are really really good compared to the average trader. But my ability to pick nice winners or my ability to read the tape means shit if i cannot cure my discipline problem.

If anyone has any advice it would be so much appreciated. In my early years i use to gamble on sports casino horses etc....
Is this why i do what i do? I know my problem can be cured, and i feel on a conscious level i can be ok, but to change subconsciously is the key. Should i read a certain book?

Any replies much much appreciated.
More...

Who on earth can teach you "self-discipline?"

This is an inside job.

You are getting all kinds of advice about how to set "external" controls on your trading, but we both know that the real problem is clearly stated in the first paragraph in which you said "The problem is every so often i get wired into a trade."

Being "wired" into a trade is a psychological disorder, not an execution or trading plan problem. People always set up these external controls on themselves, but they rarely work in the long run....as they don't address the psychological cause of the problem.

Self-discipline begets self-discipline. There are no easy answers to the questions of why we don't do what we know to be right.

Trading is easy, just follow the rules, right? But what prevents traders from following the rules in a disciplined manner? This is THE most important question which begs an answer for those who suffer from the inability to stick to the rules. Successful traders are either "wired" to follow the rules from the get go, or they have overcome their tendencies to break the rules.

If the problem is chronic, see a shrink who specializes in overcoming this kind of problem.
 
>>>"There are no easy answers to the questions of why we don't do what we know to be right."

no "easy" answers, but there are answers... and a large "answer" is having a notion in advance of what FOR YOU, is the right thing to do. A plan, a strategy.

We all know Aristotle's (and Shaq's) view of success:

"We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit."

Get in the "habit" of accepting a time and place where you ACT to exit the ride... and by "repeatedly" doing this... each time and over time, better and more proficiently... albeit always imperfect... you will move in the direction of excellence.

A key for me after doing this for over 18 years: acceptance that I'm imperfect; acceptance that the market is always open and will never run out of bountiful, in our lives.

I would add that if you do not find you are moving in the direction that you seek.. you may consider doing other things besides trading, with your given skills and ability.
 
Quote from iceman1:

>>>"There are no easy answers to the questions of why we don't do what we know to be right."

no "easy" answers, but there are answers... and a large "answer" is having a notion in advance of what FOR YOU, is the right thing to do. A plan, a strategy.

We all know Aristotle's (and Shaq's) view of success:

"We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit."

Get in the "habit" of accepting a time and place where you ACT to exit the ride... and by "repeatedly" doing this... each time and over time, better and more proficiently... albeit always imperfect... you will move in the direction of excellence.

A key for me after doing this for over 18 years: acceptance that I'm imperfect; acceptance that the market is always open and will never run out of bountiful, in our lives.

I would add that if you do not find you are moving in the direction that you seek.. you may consider doing other things besides trading, with your given skills and ability.
More...

I agree with what you are saying.

However, like Shaq who didn't reach his potential until he found the right coach whom he respected, some people need to find the right coaches and trainers they will finally listen to.
 
Quote from OPTIONAL777:



Who on earth can teach you "self-discipline?"

This is an inside job.

You are getting all kinds of advice about how to set "external" controls on your trading, but we both know that the real problem is clearly stated in the first paragraph in which you said "The problem is every so often i get wired into a trade."

Being "wired" into a trade is a psychological disorder, not an execution or trading plan problem. People always set up these external controls on themselves, but they rarely work in the long run....as they don't address the psychological cause of the problem.

Self-discipline begets self-discipline. There are no easy answers to the questions of why we don't do what we know to be right.

Trading is easy, just follow the rules, right? But what prevents traders from following the rules in a disciplined manner? This is THE most important question which begs an answer for those who suffer from the inability to stick to the rules. Successful traders are either "wired" to follow the rules from the get go, or they have overcome their tendencies to break the rules.

If the problem is chronic, see a shrink who specializes in overcoming this kind of problem.
More...

That's it. This is a psychological condition, not a fundamental one.
 
Agreed...

but in the final analysis, no one can do it for you... when you stand at the foul line, YOU still gotta make the shot!
:cool:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top