ok folks, i dunno whats wrong with me. i am such an impatient prick that i just can't seem to wait for the market to be in a condition that is conducive to my style of trading. such as today, kept trying to trade the short range stuff just breakin even and got so discouraged i just shut down and didnt catch the strong movements at the end. im a chronic overtrader!!! i keep trying to analyze the situation and myself and the answer seems obvious yet it's just been a hurdle i've yet to overcome. anyone... advice? what did you do to overcome this?
serious psychological issue
- Thread starter antincedo
- Start date
You need to plan your day before it starts, vision your setups
and in no way do you stray from them, you are getting in early cause you think your setups will never come, trust me they will.
You need to read Mark Douglas "Trading in the zone"
Brett Steinbarger does a great job as well he has a blog
that is great!
Trading Psychology is over 80% of your trading, so you have no choice but to work on it, we all have been thru it
Take Care,
Joe Baker
You have a compulsive behavior - it can be "fix"
1 - you need an outline plan written on paper that you can see every single day while you are trading
2 - you need to follow that plan, no matter what....like death and taxes
3 - Once you have that established, you will know when you start to deviate from the plan. If or when that happens, you need to start all OVER again.
If you don't do this, you will surely be poor house for a VERY long time.
Try it....only YOU can be honest about it!
1 - you need an outline plan written on paper that you can see every single day while you are trading
2 - you need to follow that plan, no matter what....like death and taxes
3 - Once you have that established, you will know when you start to deviate from the plan. If or when that happens, you need to start all OVER again.
If you don't do this, you will surely be poor house for a VERY long time.
Try it....only YOU can be honest about it!
The addiction model is useful in understanding sub-optimal trading behaviour. You aren't likely to be able to overcome the problem until you blow your account out (or do serious damage) step back and take some time off, come back and make exactly the same mistakes agian, lose more money, do it again and repeat until you absolutely reach the bottom of the barrel. You may then be able to do what you know you're supposed to do.
That's the way it went for me, even in swing trading which is what I do, mainly. I used to have a win/loss ratio of something like 3/1... except for the fact that I allowed myself to get stopped out of so many of my winning trades for pennies or small losses, only to see them run away. I had way too much money in my account for the volume of trading I was doing, so I took a bunch of it out and said to myself that I would lose what was left, I didn't care, but I was going to follow the rules no matter what.
That made a big difference for me. In any case, you just have to lose and lose some more until something clicks. If it ever does click.
Maybe some guys just start trading and never make these mistakes, I don't know.
That's the way it went for me, even in swing trading which is what I do, mainly. I used to have a win/loss ratio of something like 3/1... except for the fact that I allowed myself to get stopped out of so many of my winning trades for pennies or small losses, only to see them run away. I had way too much money in my account for the volume of trading I was doing, so I took a bunch of it out and said to myself that I would lose what was left, I didn't care, but I was going to follow the rules no matter what.
That made a big difference for me. In any case, you just have to lose and lose some more until something clicks. If it ever does click.
Maybe some guys just start trading and never make these mistakes, I don't know.
Quote from Compulsive:
You have a compulsive behavior - it can be "fix"
1 - you need an outline plan written on paper that you can see every single day while you are trading
2 - you need to follow that plan, no matter what....like death and taxes
3 - Once you have that established, you will know when you start to deviate from the plan. If or when that happens, you need to start all OVER again.
If you don't do this, you will surely be poor house for a VERY long time.
Try it....only YOU can be honest about it!
after some more thinking about this issue, this is the best way i can narrow it down..
compulsion, this is my main issue that i am dealing with right now. i believe we all have compulsions but the problem is giving in to them.
No offence but you are completely f**ked up the butt. Serial jerk off trading then retreat. Or put differently panic/relief trades followed by blanking/freezo mode. You don't have the temperament to be trading. Maybe stop trading, huh, and consider putting your energies to work elswhere.
When you get burned badly enough, you'll either throw in the towel or do what it takes to make great trades.
I find myself in this situation from time to time, and I can give you this advice:
1. Wait for the last candle on the time frame you trade, to CLOSE before you take a trade. Sometimes you might see a spike in price, and you want to go long, but WAIT. If you're trading say a 5min time frame, and in the 1st minute of trading on the new bar you see a spike in price, you need to wait to see what price will do in the next 4 mins. It might close in the red, or price could drop off quickly either stopping you out or putting you at a loss as soon as the trade is taken
2. Only trade the setups that you know best and are part of your plan. Dont enter a trade "just because".
I trade fibs as my primary trading style, and have been waiting 7+ hrs for a retracement to be over before getting in, and even then, I might not enter.
I find myself in this situation from time to time, and I can give you this advice:
1. Wait for the last candle on the time frame you trade, to CLOSE before you take a trade. Sometimes you might see a spike in price, and you want to go long, but WAIT. If you're trading say a 5min time frame, and in the 1st minute of trading on the new bar you see a spike in price, you need to wait to see what price will do in the next 4 mins. It might close in the red, or price could drop off quickly either stopping you out or putting you at a loss as soon as the trade is taken
2. Only trade the setups that you know best and are part of your plan. Dont enter a trade "just because".
I trade fibs as my primary trading style, and have been waiting 7+ hrs for a retracement to be over before getting in, and even then, I might not enter.
The problem with scalping is its the most difficult type of trading to accomplish successfully - both psychologically and in terms of money gain.
On paper, I can scalp. But in real life, I hold winners and losses too long. Too long = 4-5 *seconds* longer than I should, which is enough to make the endeavor a losing proposition.
Scalping demands LIGHTENING QUICK decision and execution.
That is no small feat. Perhaps after a few years, I'll get better at it.
Second, risk to reward in scalping is usually 1 to 1, or less. You've got to time the market perfect in scalping. And then execute on a DIME when it turns, or you'll lose the trade.
Difficult and stressful. Some people are great at it. Most aren't.
Use longer term time frames for setups. Much better risk/reward profile and much easier.
On paper, I can scalp. But in real life, I hold winners and losses too long. Too long = 4-5 *seconds* longer than I should, which is enough to make the endeavor a losing proposition.
Scalping demands LIGHTENING QUICK decision and execution.
That is no small feat. Perhaps after a few years, I'll get better at it.
Second, risk to reward in scalping is usually 1 to 1, or less. You've got to time the market perfect in scalping. And then execute on a DIME when it turns, or you'll lose the trade.
Difficult and stressful. Some people are great at it. Most aren't.
Use longer term time frames for setups. Much better risk/reward profile and much easier.