The hard road to consistency

Quote from calmeurotrader:

Oldtime,
Let's say you have a long position and you didn't put a hard stop in place. Euro drops 300 pips in a day due to a very bad news from Greece or Portugal. If you decide to close the position it means that you have just executed a mental stop to protect your capital. If you don't close...well it might not come back for months...
Maybe you prefer to adjust your position somehow ?
More...
yes sir, I'm always spread, but that is none of your concern. You're doing just fine.

No, I don't execute mental stops, I add more.

But that's neither here nor there.

You'll do just fine as long as you stay calm and disciplined. On Dec 31 you can look back and see if maybe you want to make some adjustments.
 
my entries were very sloppy. nothing strategic. puts me still long at 2929.

we'll see if they want to come down and get me

thing is, we are very strong, and will just buy more
 
November P/L: -1371$
cash deposit: 1024$
December starting balance: 10861$
Obviously I would have a positive month if I didn't go on tilt one day..
I will continue trading with a reduced position size in December.
 
Quote from calmeurotrader:

November P/L: -1371$
cash deposit: 1024$
December starting balance: 10861$
Obviously I would have a positive month if I didn't go on tilt one day..
I will continue trading with a reduced position size in December.
More...
that's cool, you got off a lot easier than I did when I went on tilt one day

The most valuable thing about that day I went on full tilt was to realize that it was possible

and never again will I believe that if I just keep trading I will get back to even

and I also know what it feels like to fall into that deception

so all in all, it was a good month for you

Lost a little money, but learned an important lesson which will come in handy later
 
I also am going to be trading at a reduced size in December, about a quarter of what I usually trade.

For one thing 2012 has been good and I just don't need the psychological damage. Highwater mark was in August, up 78%

and just eeked out 71% at the end of November

which in traders terms is not much to brag about

but the money I am trading was just sitting in bonds and I would have been lucky to make 6% on it this year.

but I trade at a reduced size with the idea that I will add more at a loss

not something I like to advocate since it is generally considered an unsound trading practice

but it's something to think about

especially when you are getting stopped out of a small position when you know you should be adding
 
Quote from oldtime:

that's cool, you got off a lot easier than I did when I went on tilt one day

The most valuable thing about that day I went on full tilt was to realize that it was possible

and never again will I believe that if I just keep trading I will get back to even

and I also know what it feels like to fall into that deception

so all in all, it was a good month for you

Lost a little money, but learned an important lesson which will come in handy later
More...

It's much better to learn when account is still small. I can't imagine trading a big account and making this kind of mistakes. Psychological damage would be enormous.
 
Quote from oldtime:

I also am going to be trading at a reduced size in December, about a quarter of what I usually trade.

For one thing 2012 has been good and I just don't need the psychological damage. Highwater mark was in August, up 78%

and just eeked out 71% at the end of November

which in traders terms is not much to brag about

but the money I am trading was just sitting in bonds and I would have been lucky to make 6% on it this year......
More...
Congratulations ! This is a respectable return on capital.
 
Quote from calmeurotrader:

It's much better to learn when account is still small. I can't imagine trading a big account and making this kind of mistakes. Psychological damage would be enormous.
More...
I've never traded a big account. Back when I was raising a family on it, the most it ever got to was 160k. And that was just because I got lucky in some Swiss Francs and cattle.

I've always been small and will always be small and never try to pretend I am something I am not.

For crying out loud, the rent on my new apartment is only $500/mo.

and I really think if I had to, I could pay all my bills starting with just 25K (maybe 50k just to be safe.)
 
the point is, I couldn't be doing today what I am doing if I didn't first learn what you are doing.

Classical trading

Look for the set up

Be patient

Don't be ashamed if there are no trades for the day, even when everybody around you is making money everyday.

And most importantly getting stopped out. Day after day, trade after trade.

I don't use stops anymore, I don't need them. But I can take a loss at anytime. Lord knows I have taken enough of them. A hell of a lot more small losses than big profits.

You're doing just fine.

One of the few people on this board that I think has what it takes to make it.

But you're not going to make it with those bracket trades.

and when it's going bad, I think, "I should just trade like calmeuro trader, he's doing better than me."
 
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