me
Scalping e-minis
- Thread starter Breakout
- Start date
Emotions, fear, greed and bathroom breaks (read distractions) make real trading much more difficult. Also, lack of an eraser makes real trading much more difficult that paper trading. That moment of truth where you realize that you are down $50, no $75, no $120 etc., and you "can't afford to lose this time" so when (if) it gets back to even you'll get out (this time).
The fact that you can't delude yourself (in the same way) while real money trading as you can while papertrading also adds to the difficulty.
Overall the hardest part is managing your emotions. There is also the reality check that some of your paper assumtions are not workable in real time. It takes a bit of time to learn that the market cares nothing for you, your buys and sells, or your P&L. The more truthful you are with yourself about your trading while papertrading, the less intense the pain of switching to real money.
Well, that is a good point about systems becoming hard to use during real-time trading. I think a trader goes through an evolution of sorts where it goes:
1) Mechanical Phase
The trader develops a system, learns to control his or her emotions and will generally break-even or lose during the training period.
2) TA Phase
The trader, in a never ending quest to increase trading efficiency, begins to add more and more TA indicators and other linear tracking systems with their trading in the hopes that "more is always better."
3) Intuitive Phase
The trader, after years of experience, ditches all the TA and sticks with price, volume and simple moving averages. The trader realizes that the information was always right there in front of him in the form of a chart. The trader has mastered discipline while developing a "flexible" system that cannot be purely described in the mechanical sense -- hence, the trader has entered the "zone."
The holy grail that so many people look for isn't that hard to find and isn't that hard to use -- it is just the realization that, "oh my god, it really is this simple" and then sticking to discipline throughout the trading day.
Mental discipline beats TA hands down -- your mind is the most powerful computer in the world and it makes sense to use its "fuzzy logic" capabilities while maintaining laser-focused discipline.
....................
I don't see the market as "evil" or "bad." The market is actually a trader's best friend. The market is begging to give you money -- it is only your lack of emotional control that prevents you from successfully and consistently taking whatever it is you want. Once you get into the "zone," it really comes down to how much you want to make, and how much you want to golf during trading hours.
aphie
1) Mechanical Phase
The trader develops a system, learns to control his or her emotions and will generally break-even or lose during the training period.
2) TA Phase
The trader, in a never ending quest to increase trading efficiency, begins to add more and more TA indicators and other linear tracking systems with their trading in the hopes that "more is always better."
3) Intuitive Phase
The trader, after years of experience, ditches all the TA and sticks with price, volume and simple moving averages. The trader realizes that the information was always right there in front of him in the form of a chart. The trader has mastered discipline while developing a "flexible" system that cannot be purely described in the mechanical sense -- hence, the trader has entered the "zone."
The holy grail that so many people look for isn't that hard to find and isn't that hard to use -- it is just the realization that, "oh my god, it really is this simple" and then sticking to discipline throughout the trading day.
Mental discipline beats TA hands down -- your mind is the most powerful computer in the world and it makes sense to use its "fuzzy logic" capabilities while maintaining laser-focused discipline.
....................
I don't see the market as "evil" or "bad." The market is actually a trader's best friend. The market is begging to give you money -- it is only your lack of emotional control that prevents you from successfully and consistently taking whatever it is you want. Once you get into the "zone," it really comes down to how much you want to make, and how much you want to golf during trading hours.
aphie
> The market is actually a trader's best friend. The market is begging to give you money...
That was a good one. Stick with the 'keep it simple' stuff. People love it.
From the way you write, you should skip the 'trading your own account' phase and immediately go to the 'open a paid chat room and web site' phase.
That was a good one. Stick with the 'keep it simple' stuff. People love it.
From the way you write, you should skip the 'trading your own account' phase and immediately go to the 'open a paid chat room and web site' phase.
largets loss per trade 1 tick
max profit 1.75 pts
lessons learned
1. This notion that scalping is a frantic pace is nonsense. I can't remember when I have had such a relaxing and enjoyable day trading.
2.Indicators are worthless, by the time they change it's too late.
3.Never fade anything
4.Understand what a big profit is. 2 pts is like hitting the lottery.
5.Forget about the 30 pt down day in the market, you weren't reaping that full days move anyway.
end result, profitable day until public enemy #1 came and collected their commission. Not only did they get all my profits, but some of my TC to boot.
I think it is very hard to overcome a $5 round turd.
What? Why is everybody laughing at me?
max profit 1.75 pts
lessons learned
1. This notion that scalping is a frantic pace is nonsense. I can't remember when I have had such a relaxing and enjoyable day trading.
2.Indicators are worthless, by the time they change it's too late.
3.Never fade anything
4.Understand what a big profit is. 2 pts is like hitting the lottery.
5.Forget about the 30 pt down day in the market, you weren't reaping that full days move anyway.
end result, profitable day until public enemy #1 came and collected their commission. Not only did they get all my profits, but some of my TC to boot.
I think it is very hard to overcome a $5 round turd.
What? Why is everybody laughing at me?