Staying focused while trading

[DevBru]

To give a little more insight on how the swing strategy performs: it works best during reversing markets.

So this year has been quite good for the swing strategy, however from september 2019 until almost end februari 2020 the returns where quite low with some months just breaking even.

The past 3 months definitely do make up for those periods, but i need enough capital to survive those periods before i can live from swing trading only.

To indicate what the system can do: for example from august 2018 until the end of the year the strategy generated close to %150 with very low DD, perfectly calling the bottom on december 26th 2018. Unfortunately i was still developing the strategy and trading it in an demo environment only. The system also made a very nice return from the reversal in februari but not much in actual profit since i am still largely trading the strategy in demo due to lack of funds. I have yet to work out all the numbers about the returns so far this year.

I did however do significant testing with real money to make sure the system would work in a live environment as well (commission, slippage, ...).

 

[Nobert]

To give a little more insight on how the swing strategy performs: it works best during reversing markets.

So this year has been quite good for the swing strategy, however from september 2019 until almost end februari 2020 the returns where quite low with some months just breaking even.

The past 3 months definitely do make up for those periods, but i need enough capital to survive those periods before i can live from swing trading only.

To indicate what the system can do: for example from august 2018 until the end of the year the strategy generated close to %150, perfectly calling the bottom on december 26th 2018. Unfortunately i was still developing the strategy and trading it in an demo environment only. The system also made a very nice return from the reversal in februari but not much in actual profit since i am still largely trading the strategy in demo due to lack of funds.

I did however do significant testing with real money to make sure the system would work in a live environment as well (commission, slippage, ...).

Do you make a basic check/research on fundamentals side, when selecting products for swing trading & which are those that your system trades, equities ?

 

[DevBru]

Do you make a basic check/research on fundamentals side, when selecting products for swing trading & which are those that your system trades, equities ?

No fundamentals however i am still working on some kind of useful way to maybe implement some FA in my strategy.

My current manual strategy for day trading is ES only, the swing strategy trades equities.

 

[Nobert]

he swing strategy trades equities.

When doing swing trading with equities, make sure, that your system trades, only fundamentally strong companies.

Here's the thing :

System might be a good one, but it picks an absolute garbage (based on fundamentals) to trade. That by default reduces your chances of success.

I shared this list recently ;
although it's imperfect , it has many decent low cap companies on it ;

an updated version of it, with more names, above $1.3B market cap -
will be added in part #2 (in the future,maybe this summer).


Check it out, try using it for your system (no other random garbage), and do the same when updated part #2, with more names, shows up.
(just press in the bottom, follow this topic)
It would be interesting to know the results,

might be - better.

https://www.elitetrader.com/et/threads/thats-a-nice-lake-part-1.343269/#post-5070574

p.s I will drop you a pm, with updated version of the part #1 tomorrow, going trough the names right now.

 

[DevBru]

When doing swing trading with equities, make sure, that your system trades, only fundamentally strong companies.

Here's the thing :

System might be a good one, but it picks an absolute garbage (based on fundamentals) to trade. That by default reduces your chances of success.

I shared this list recently ;
although it's imperfect , it has many decent low cap companies on it ;

an updated version of it, with more names, above $1.3B market cap -
will be added in part #2 (in the future,maybe this summer).


Check it out, try using it for your system (no other random garbage), and do the same when updated part #2, with more names, shows up.
(just press in the bottom, follow this topic)
It would be interesting to know the results,

might be - better.

https://www.elitetrader.com/et/threads/thats-a-nice-lake-part-1.343269/#post-5070574

p.s I will drop you a pm, with updated version of the part #1 tomorrow, going trough the names right now.

Thanks, really appreciate your input.

I will definitely look into it and post about the results.

Currently my system screens the entire NYSE and i often run out of funds to open more positions so having a way to filter them down without negatively disturbing the return could be a great addition to the strategy!

 

[Hooti]

I am trading ES and probably get 2 or 3 trades a day and i find myself getting very distracted during the waiting, sometimes even missing trades because of it since i often leave my desk to do something. It sometimes results in me running out of patience and taking on trades that i shouldn't take on.

What do you guys do to keep yourself entertained without losing to much focus?

Decision Fatigue...
has 3 results.
1. Easily distracted.
2. Eventually take any trade just to get it over with.
3. Loss of the big picture... losing sight of what you are actually trying/planning to do.

Others have said the above in different ways.
Don't just sit there and constantly make decisions, scanning for an entry... because even to not take an entry is then a decision.

For me, I can spend time with my charts looking for and making adjustments to identify Key Entry Points where I will make decisions about an entry. Doing this KEP work doesn't fatigue me very much, it is a different energy.

...as to entertainment, it is whatever keeps me fresh and able to focus when i need to. Exercise. Meditation. Sometimes chores...

 

[DevBru]

Decision Fatigue...
has 3 results.
1. Easily distracted.
2. Eventually take any trade just to get it over with.
3. Loss of the big picture... losing sight of what you are actually trying/planning to do.

Others have said the above in different ways.
Don't just sit there and constantly make decisions, scanning for an entry... because even to not take an entry is then a decision.

For me, I can spend time with my charts looking for and making adjustments to identify Key Entry Points where I will make decisions about an entry. Doing this KEP work doesn't fatigue me very much, it is a different energy.

...as to entertainment, it is whatever keeps me fresh and able to focus when i need to. Exercise. Meditation. Sometimes chores...

I absolutely agree with number 1. However number 2 and 3 don't really apply to me. I used to over trade, not anymore and i know what i want to do, the problem is that it often happens while i am not at the desk when it happens because i got distracted or bored.

Working with KEP doesn't work for my strategy since volume can enter the market at any given time and at any price.

I do look at certain levels to get signals to validate them. 50% of my trades are around those levels and 50% are not. So i could set alerts for 50% of entry's and leave the desk until an alert goes of and then go check if i get a signal around those levels. However in this case i would still miss the other 50% than can happen at any given time.

I am not looking for a way to leave my desk and still being able to trade. I am looking for a way to not get distracted/bored so i can stay at my desk. So leaving the desk to do chores, meditate, ... isn't an option

 

[Hooti]

I absolutely agree with number 1. However number 2 and 3 don't really apply to me. I used to over trade, not anymore and i know what i want to do, the problem is that it often happens while i am not at the desk when it happens because i got distracted or bored.

Working with KEP doesn't work for my strategy since volume can enter the market at any given time and at any price.
...
I am not looking for a way to leave my desk and still being able to trade. I am looking for a way to not get distracted/bored so i can stay at my desk. So leaving the desk to do chores, meditate, ... isn't an option

Trading is such a personal thing... different for everyone.
I do kettlebell free weights while standing in frt of my monitors. And biofeedback practices work for me, which I can also do while keeping an eye on my monitors. Meditation as most think of it doesn't work that well for me. Alerts don't always work for me either.
Hope you find what you need...

 

[zoned_post_meridiem]

Unfortunately not everything can be automated, at least not with my programming skill.

How would you program something like this, this is a setup that i trade every now and then:

[..] No fixed rules at all.

You would need fixed rules, so if it's more of a feel approach, then you're right, automation isn't your friend. If you wanted to work toward some more fixed rules, you could consider automatic checks on
- Vix making new lows every x candles (or: Vix candle closing lower than average of past n candles)
- ES candle High/Lows staying within x% or 1 standard deviation or half an ATR range or whatever over n minutes
- Then use a Momentum function (EasyLanguage has it built-in) as buy trigger if the above conditions are met.

 

[zoned_post_meridiem]

But since you're asking how to stay focused on the screens: how about picking up a small side hustle that's purely screen based ... transcription jobs off Mechanical Turk, etc. You're working on that on one monitor, keeping yourself occupied while making a little cash on the side, but it's low-focus enough that you can regularly check your other monitor with the trade setups.