Reviewing my trades

J

Jdesey

I am reading the Jesse Livermore book written by Livermore (vs. those written by others) called "How to trade in Stocks" In one of the first chapters is the story of how he got the bank Manager at Chase Bank to lock him in the vault on the last Friday of December and not let him out till Monday morning. The vault was stocked with food, table, chair,,, and a whole lot of Cash money. Jesse would cash out all holdings and have his Money there in cash, up to $2,000,000. He felt he needed to see the actual $$. He would then analyze every trade he made for the year from his handwritten journal.

I do this weekly and monthly,,, but not in solitude. I usually do it at a Starbucks. This year for Dec 31 I will lock myself in a hotel room to do a Jesse style review..
 
Jdesey said:
I do this weekly and monthly,,, but not in solitude. I usually do it at a Starbucks. This year for Dec 31 I will lock myself in a hotel room to do a Jesse style review..
More...
To what end? What are you gaining by reviewing the trades weekly and monthly?
How many trades will you be reviewing at year end?
 
deaddog said:
To what end? What are you gaining by reviewing the trades weekly and monthly?
How many trades will you be reviewing at year end?
More...
That’s simple. To learn from my mistakes and to reinforce what I did good. Jesse Livermore is the greatest short-term traitor that ever lived. I wanna know what he did and do the same, not just the way that he went long or short but his habits as well. Livermore was a loaner and I am as well. Livermore never listen to anyone and said he always lost money following tips and so forth. I have disconnected my television over 11 years ago as an example.
If I was a long-term investor I would be studying buffet and emulating everything that he does.
If I wanted to be a great golfer I would be studying Tiger Woods, Jack Nicklaus etc. Basketball you study Michael Jordan. There are always those one or two people that stand out as the best of the best and it’s easy to learn from them if you’re willing to study.
 
Jdesey said:
That’s simple. To learn from my mistakes and to reinforce what I did good. Jesse Livermore is the greatest short-term traitor that ever lived. I wanna know what he did and do the same, not just the way that he went long or short but his habits as well. Livermore was a loaner and I am as well. Livermore never listen to anyone and said he always lost money following tips and so forth. I have disconnected my television over 11 years ago as an example.
If I was a long-term investor I would be studying buffet and emulating everything that he does.
If I wanted to be a great golfer I would be studying Tiger Woods, Jack Nicklaus etc. Basketball you study Michael Jordan. There are always those one or two people that stand out as the best of the best and it’s easy to learn from them if you’re willing to study.
More...
What exactly do you look at when you review a trade?
You didn't mention how many trades you plan to review at year end.
 
I make some short note on every trade on the spreadsheet. Especially where I did good or where I made a mistake. I asked tonight I will be doing constantly 8 to 10 trade for a week on the tractor I’m on right now so that’s about 500 trades or so. This isn’t gonna be some in-depth looking at charts on every trade. or something like that. I have already found great benefit of the meanest weekly and monthly and I’ve been doing that for a while.
 
Wow,I must be an OCD freak because it's become a fun hobby of mine to go over my past trades, usually once a day. But then I'm a swing trader and only average about 1 or 2 trades per week. I guess I feel like hidden in those numbers is a code to be broken or a secret riddle to be solved that will lead to The Holy Grail. LOL
 
My review is fairly simple. Did I follow my plan? If not what caused me to deviate from it?

For the most part, if I'm honest with myself, it's because I didn't want to take a loss or was afraid the price would increase without me.

Even if the trade is profitable in the end, I grade it as a fail if I ignored my plan. Sooner or later ignoring the plan will bite me in the ass. There is very little I can control and if I can't control myself I shouldn't be trading. I have to be responsible for my actions or lack of them.
 
tomkat22 said:
Wow,I must be an OCD freak because it's become a fun hobby of mine to go over my past trades, usually once a day. But then I'm a swing trader and only average about 1 or 2 trades per week. I guess I feel like hidden in those numbers is a code to be broken or a secret riddle to be solved that will lead to The Holy Grail. LOL
More...
No you’re not OCD you are taking it very seriously. Mini traders just take this way too lightly. There’s a great story about Tiger Woods that comes to mind. So it’s the end of day one on a tournament and Greg Norman is up on the second story of the clubhouse schmoozing with Sponsor’s. He looks out the window and they’re in the dark is Tiger Woods practicing hitting balls on the driving range. He knew it that time tiger would be one of the best ever.
 
You may wanna read the book till the end before you cast such grand judgment. He was perhaps the greatest gambler but a lousy trader who went broke multiple times and killed himself to end his painful mental misery. Not recommended for imitation.

Jdesey said:
That’s simple. To learn from my mistakes and to reinforce what I did good. Jesse Livermore is the greatest short-term traitor that ever lived. I wanna know what he did and do the same, not just the way that he went long or short but his habits as well. Livermore was a loaner and I am as well. Livermore never listen to anyone and said he always lost money following tips and so forth. I have disconnected my television over 11 years ago as an example.
If I was a long-term investor I would be studying buffet and emulating everything that he does.
If I wanted to be a great golfer I would be studying Tiger Woods, Jack Nicklaus etc. Basketball you study Michael Jordan. There are always those one or two people that stand out as the best of the best and it’s easy to learn from them if you’re willing to study.
More...
 
Jdesey said:
I am reading the Jesse Livermore book written by Livermore (vs. those written by others) called "How to trade in Stocks" In one of the first chapters is the story of how he got the bank Manager at Chase Bank to lock him in the vault on the last Friday of December and not let him out till Monday morning. The vault was stocked with food, table, chair,,, and a whole lot of Cash money. Jesse would cash out all holdings and have his Money there in cash, up to $2,000,000. He felt he needed to see the actual $$. He would then analyze every trade he made for the year from his handwritten journal.

I do this weekly and monthly,,, but not in solitude. I usually do it at a Starbucks. This year for Dec 31 I will lock myself in a hotel room to do a Jesse style review..
More...

Jesse Livermore committed suicide at the end just so you know. Reviewing your trades is a great way to learn from your trading and improve it but is not a guaranteed way to profit and is certainly not the only way.
 
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